Meiko woke up in the morning, confused as hell as to how she ended up in her bed, but she chose not to question it. She probably fell asleep at Izumo's house after they finished eating, and then they brought her back home. She sighed heavily as she swung her legs over the side of her bed, standing up and walking over to the closet.

At the closet, she grabbed her everyday outfit and got dressed, pulling her long hair into a ponytail on top of her head, shaking her head from side to side slightly to cheek the evenness of it. Once she was satisfied with how she looked, she tied her forehead protector around her forehead, and walked out of her room.

She didn't bother saying bye to her dad, or waiting for her brother to walk to the academy with him, because she planned on taking the long way to the academy. She wasn't all for being around people all the time, so sometimes she really enjoyed having the time to herself.

Though time to herself meant the awful thoughts, but that was okay with her. Any time alone was something she would love to have.

Meiko sighed softly as she walked the long way to the school, kicking pebbles out of her way. She was feeling quite good about this trip, until the voice in her head began to taunt her.

"You know, I bet Izumo and Kotesu only hang out with you because they feel bad for you." The voice said, and Meiko shook her head side to side.

"That's not true..." She thought back to the voice.

"Oh but it is! I mean, who would want to actually hang out with you? You're seriously nothing special. You never have been."

"A lot of people want to hang out with me..." Meiko said, but her voice showed the doubt that the voice in her head fed off of.

"Oh I doubt it! You can't even be sure that they truly want to hang out with you. Because honestly, who would? You're nothing more than a pathetic little girl who gets in everyone's way!" The voice mocked, a laugh escaping it's voice.

"Shut up." Meiko said to the voice.

"Oh, don't you wish you could shut me up? I'm sure you do! But guess what? You can't! I'm here to tell you how worthless you are everyday!" The voice said, an echoing laugh escaping it's voice.

"That's not true!"

"It is true. You're worthless."

"I am n-" Meiko started to speak to the voice, but it cut her off.

"And stupid."

"N-"

"And unwanted."

"That's n-"

"And ugly. And fat."

"St-"

"I bet even Asuma hates you, your dad too. I mean, who in the world would want to have you as their child or sibling?"

"Asuma loves m-" By now, Meiko had started to talk to the voice out loud, small tears falling down her face as she remembered why she was to never be alone.

"Oh don't make me laugh. Your brother doesn't love you. Your dad doesn't love you. Your mother obviously never loved you. Izumo and Kotesu, they don't love you. Gai and all of them, they think you're so weak that it's pathetic. No one would miss you if you died, you know that?" The voice spat, and she choked on her tears slightly as she shook her head 'no.', viciously rubbing her eyes.

"Look at you now! Crying your pathetic little eyes out." The voice said, and Meiko took off running. She ran and ran and ran towards the woods, shaking her head and sobbing. If she ran fast enough, maybe the voice would shut up. Maybe the voice would leave her alone, maybe she could just have some peace and quiet.

She ran for quite sometime, until she tripped over a branch and fell to her knees. Her hands slammed along the ground, her knees burying deep into the dirt, her tears rolling off her face and onto the ground, making small areas of the ground below her darker. Her face was squeezed together and she choked on a sob, laying down on the ground when her arms gave out on her.

Was the voice right? Was she really all those things the voice had told her? If she was, was she even fit to be a ninja? She didn't know. All she knew is that she couldn't stop crying, all of her energy having left her body as she laid on the ground, the only movement her body was doing was from the sobs that shook her body.

//

At the academy, Izumo and Kotesu were waiting outside for their best friend, smiling when they saw Asuma walk over the hill, but frowns soon replaced that when they did not see Meiko following after him. Instead, they saw the faces of Kakashi, Gai, and Kurenai following after him.

"Hey, Izumo! Is Meiko with you guys? She had already woken up and left when I woke up this morning, so I figured she was with you guys!" Asuma said, smiling at the two males, who shook their head slowly.

"No... We thought she was with you." Kotesu said, and Asuma stopped in his tracks, staring at the two boys.

"You mean, you haven't seen my sister?" Asuma asked, and Izumo shook his head. Asuma began to freak out, glancing around at his friends. "Guys, please help me look for her. If we don't find her, something bad could happen. Oh god, please." Asuma said, and the three around him, plus Izumo and Kotesu all nodded, before leaping away in different directions.

Kakashi was not one who was particularly close to Meiko, but he didn't want to think that something bad had happened to her. He couldn't tell anyone exactly why he wanted to make sure she was safe, but he really wanted to make sure she was okay.

Kakashi leaped through trees in the woods that Meiko had ran into, obviously he didn't know that, but he continued to travel through the forest until he saw a crumbled up mess of a person on the forest floor, the persons body shaking slightly.

The person was a girl, and the dress she had on was slightly torn, her hair was slightly messed up because she had her hands buried in her hair, grasping at it tightly. Her body was shaking with sobs that echoed through the forest very lightly, without Kakashi's keen skills, you probably wouldn't have even heard it, it was that faint.

Kakashi got closer to the form, and that's when he noticed that it was Meiko. He gave a small such as he crouched down beside her, and slowly lifted her up into a sitting position. He looked at her dead in the eyes and saw nothing but pain, tears rolling down her pale cheeks. When Meiko saw Kakashi, she choked up on another sigh and fell into his chest.

Kakashi jumped slightly when he felt Meiko fall on him, but he slowly wrapped his arms around her, unsure of what to do. He was never one to comfort people, hell, the only time he had any human contact was when he was with Asuma and all of them. His father had killed himself, and his mother died a long time ago. He wasn't sure exactly what he was suppose to do at this moment, but he figured that holding her close to him would help.

Kakashi slowly ran his hands up and down her back, until her crying slowly died down, and her body stopped shaking. When Kakashi glanced down at her, he noticed that she was fast asleep against his chest. She looks amazingly peaceful, much different than the girl he had found against the ground. He sighed softly as he lifted her up slightly, carrying her bridal style back to the town.

Every once in a while, Kakashi would look down at her sleep face, and a ghost of a smile would form over his mouth. He wasn't aware of how peaceful she looked when she wasn't crying, or screaming out because she ran into him after her shower and lost her towel. A faint blush formed over Kakashi's cheeks as he thought about what had happened the previous night.

He quickly shook the blush off of his cheeks as he entered the town, getting odd glances from everyone in the village. Kakashi just ignored them and walked back to the academy with her in his arms. When he got back to the academy, Asuma and everyone else was just now gathering back at the front of it, panicking until they saw Meiko in Kakashi arms, asleep.

Asuma rushed over to Kakashi, and looked at Meiko. "What happened?" Asuma asked, and Kakashi shrugged his shoulders slightly.

"I don't know. She was crying when I found her, and then she fell asleep on me so I carried her back here." Kakashi said, and Asuma nodded slightly as Meiko stirred in her sleep, before slowly opening her eyes. She was met with the eyes of her concerned brother, and she gave him a weak grin.

"Hi Asuma." She said, and he sighed.

"We're talking about this later." Asuma said, and Kakashi slowly let Meiko on the ground, making sure she was steady on her feet before watching her walk over to Izumo and Kotesu.

The three best friends were about to walk inside, but Meiko turned around and smiled slightly at Kakashi. "Thank you." She whispered.

//

They were currently sitting inside of the classroom, waiting for the teacher to announce all of the teams and then they would wait for their sensei. Meiko was staring at a window, hardly paying attention to her two best friends until she was shaken slightly.

Meiko glanced over at Izumo who had a concerned look on his face. "What happened, Meiko?" He asked, and she teared up slightly as she thought about all the things the voices had said.

"It's getting worse." She whispered so that only Izumo and Kotesu could hear her. Both of them paled slightly before Izumo grabbed Meiko's arm, and glanced at her wrist. There was nothing there, and he let out a sigh of relief.

It had gotten so bad at one point, that she threatened to take her own life because she couldn't take the things the voices were saying, and that scared her best friends, because they needed Meiko in their lives. So, from the moment that they heard that it was worse, all the wanted to do was try to make it better for her.

"What happened?" Kotesu asked, and Meiko shook her head slightly.

"I'll tell you guys later. Not here, maybe tonight." She said, and the boys nodded, dropping the subject as their teacher walked up to the front of the room, and began to go over the new teams.

"Team 7! Kakashi Hatake! Rin Nohara! Obito Uchiha!" He said, and the three of them nodded slightly.

"Team 8! Asuma Sarutobi! Kurenai Yuhi! Might Gai!" Asuma and Kurenai smiled at each other, and Gai just threw his arm up in the air with a smile, screaming about youthfulness.

"Team 10! Meiko Sarutobi! Izumo Kamizuki! Kotesu Hagane!" The teacher said, and the three best friends looked each other, before throwing their fist up into the air. The teacher continued to go over the teams until there was no one else to assign to teams, and all of the teams gathered together.

Lucky for the three best friends, they were already sitting together so no one had to move. "Oh my god!" Meiko said loudly. "I can't believe we're on the same team, it's totally fate that we are best friends!" She said with a nod of her head, her normal, cheerful personality over taking her self again, as if this morning never happened.

Izumo and Kotesu nodded their heads happily, and the three chatted as they waited for their sensei. But one thing was going through Meiko's mind as she waited.

Am I really not good enough?

///

End of this chapter! Yay!

I am sorry that this chapter was so sad, but it was necessary because I needed to show how the voice in her head talks to her!

but there was a little KakashiXMeiko action!

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