A/N I am going to continue Turning From the Sun! I promise. I just had another plot bunny nestle in my brain. Well... actually there's like fifty million of them. They get to breeding ya know? Anyway. This story I've actually been fiddling with for about a month now. I'm super excited because it revolves around one of my favorite characters!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"Refreshing, isn't it?" we say
A summer sky as clear as day
Let's breathe the air, try not to cry
It's time to say our goodbyes

"Hikari-chan! It has to be a steady stream! If you keep on like that you're going to fall." I chided the eight year old as she waved her arms to keep balance. Yagami, her brother, snickered next to her as he ducked to avoid a flailing arm. Twins until the end those two. A grin found my lips as the green haired girl stabilized. Despite their antics I had to hand it to them, they were going to make great shinobi.

"Eh, Gami-baka keeps pushing me!" she whined. Yagami threw his hands up innocently, but I knew the brat better. He was quick, but I saw him nudging her foot. Nothing escaped my eyes. Even as his sister accused him he nudged her subtly. Previous statement retracted. They would make great shinobi's if they ever figured out how to grow up.

"You'll be a lot worse off if you fall Hikari-chan." the two were hanging upside down on a branch. Would I actually let her fall? No, but she needed to learn to stop whining. Threatening seemed to do the trick with her. Hikari was so used to being treated like a princess. A little tough love would do her good.

"Yagami-kun, how do you expect your comrade to trust you if you keep sabotaging them?" I chided the boy. He gave a defeated sigh and grabbed one of her arms.

"Hai." he droned in a bored manner. "When can we learn the cool stuff? This is boring."

"Oi, bratling, don't you start whining too." Hikari let out an offended scoff and her brother simply sighed. "Besides, Akio-sensei will have my hide if I don't leave him anything to teach."

Words I'd repeated before. First to the the blonde haired boy in Hacho Village. He'd been the least promising of them all. I'd only been thirteen then, but I wanted to help him defend himself from bullies. When I was fourteen it was a girl in Saga valley. Her mother was a whore, and I didn't want to see the same thing happen to her. So I taught her to fight. Now I was sixteen and the twins of Kisaragi Village were my pet project.

All I wanted to do was make a bit of difference in this harsh world. Having no village to truly call my own gave me literally no direction in my life. There was no governing body to tell me what to do. No one besides my mother to keep me from being idle.

Kaa-san was a shinobi I think. She'd taught me since I was young how to fight. Every where we went she did small jobs that were to sensitive for nobles to use shinobi from hidden villages. In other words, she was a mercenary that did the dirty work of nobles. We moved constantly from place to place. Never staying for to long in the fear of being caught. I don't know what she was running from, but our constant movement made it hard to make friends. Kaa-chan and I had always been on our own...

"Midori-san!" a shrill voice called from the trees behind me. Turning I looked to to see a dark haired woman running our way. She paused a good distance from us to catch her breath. That look on her face told me enough. Fear bubbled in the bottom of my stomach. Hikari made a questioning noise.

Show no emotion.

"First one to fall has to do the others chores for a week. I leave it to you brats." I winked before darting off to the new comer. Both of the twins shouted after me. Not but a second later I heard them both com crashing down. Normally I would find this amusing, but my sole focus was now on the dark haired woman.

"Hana?" there was a shrillness to my voice as I appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye.. Not now. Please not now.

"Akane-sama.." the drop in her tone made my stomach do flips. Her mouth turned down in a frown, and what little of a good mood I had disappeared. She didn't need to say any more to me. Not bothering to wait on her I took off towards the elaborately styled building not far from here. As I lept away the only thought on my mind was that she better not die before I get there. If she died I would never forgive her.

The amount of noise I made entering our home would make one hard pressed to believe I was trained in the shinobi arts. A passerby probably would think me a terrible ninja instead of being the complete bad ass that I am. Even though it was structurally superior to most of the buildings around us, the home we'd been 'given' by the local lord shook as I flung the door open. Servants scattered as I stormed past them. Not bothering to take off my shoes I tracked a line of mud behind me. Let them glare at me. Glaring was better then the sympathetic stares I got most of the time. I didn't want their pity. I didn't want their understanding.

Standing at the door to my Kaa-can's room was the medic and her assistant. I paused a moment and glared at her. She opened her mouth and spoke, but I didn't hear. Did they take me for an idiot? At sixteen years old I could handle the fact that mother way dying. I'd seen people die before. What difference did it make that this was my mother? Steeling myself I locked away the emotions churning in my belly. Stiffly I stood and waited for them to leave.

"Stop brooding." came my Kaa-chan's voice from the other side of the door. Biting the inside of my cheek I slowly opened the door. "Come, sit by me, little koi, Kaa-chan has a story to tell you."

I will not cry.

Quietly I went to my mother's side. In the dim candle light her brown hair gleamed red. Her name sake.. Green eyes that once sparkled were dull with weakness. Even motioning for me to come over seemed like a feat. Sighing I sat on the bed and curled in her lap like I was a child. Her hand ran through my hair, and I felt the smallest spark of happiness. If only we could stay like this.

"Its time I told you about your father." happiness slipped through my fingers as it evaporated. One thing I could careless about was the dead beat that left us alone. A chuckled slipped from her as her hands danced along my tensing back muscles. Softly she tugged at a long strand of my hair. "You will listen. There are things you have to know, and I.. don't have the time to go into detail."

"I don't see what he has to do with this situation." I said dejectedly. My cheeks puffed into a pout and I shifted to look at her.

"Quite a grudge you carry on your shoulders, koi." she said in an amused manner. "When I'm gone he'll be all you have left in this world."

"Sixteen years I've lived with out him. Besides, what can he do for me that I can't already do by myself?"

"Your father is a great shinobi. I suppose that's why I was so keen on having in my bed." her eyes got misty as she got lost in a memory. "Ah, and I was not disappointed."

"Kaa-chan!" came my mortified reply. Sitting up I held my head as I willed away the image of my mother mattress dancing with a man. She laughed again. Something rasped in the back of her throat and she coughed. The time was coming.

"You and him are more a like then you realize. I want you to find him."

"Absolutely not"

"Would you deny your mother's dying wish?"

"That's got to be cheating."

"Well?"

Tch, leave it to her to guilt me into doing something I didn't want to do. Despite the heaving of her chest as she strained to breath my mother was giving me a cheeky grin. How could I say no to that face? Completely and utterly unfair for her to force me into this, but seeing her carefree attitude unaffected by her impending death softened my heart.

"Even if I wanted to . I wouldn't even know where to start. Unless you can summon him or something." a last ditch effort to keep from doing this. Let me just stay. I wanted to hold her hand as she lef this world. I wanted to be here to comfort her.

"Jaa!" from nowhere she produced a scroll. The corner of my eye twitched."This should get you started. He left it for me that night. Said if I ever wanted to see him again I just had to use what was inside."

"So let me get this straight. You want me to use directions in a scroll that's over sixteen years old to find a man that could very well be dead?" I asked snatching it from her.

"That's the plan! Wait!" she stopped me as I went to open it. I raised an eyebrow as I looked at her. I was going to miss her. Spirits I was going to miss her. Don't think about it. Shinobi and emotion are not compatible. Squash it. Don't let her down.

"Promise me, Midori. Promise me you'll give him a chance." she was using my name. Shit, that means I can't say no.

"Yeah, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'll like him. Will that make you happy?"

"Very much so." she said with a content hum. Patting my hair she leaned back on her pillows. "I know you don't understand, but I think he'll love you as much as I do when he gets to know you. There's no one who could not like my precious Midori. Though I'm not sure he'll ever love you as much as I do."

"Well duh, Kaa-chan loves me the most. But I love Kaa-chan more then water, and that's saying something you know." it was an old joke of ours. We'd always go back on saying 'I love you' before bed. It turned into a weird thing. We'd always declare our love in some over the top nonsensical way. It got a laugh out of her.

"I love you more then life itself." my heart clenched. "Now open it."

Despite my effort to keep my face stone like a tear managed to worm its way down my cheek. Quickly wiped it away. I would not mourn until she was truly gone. Until then I would always be her smiling child. Until she drew her last breath I would keep her happy. Forcing a small smile I fiddled with the seal on the scroll. Slicing it with my nail I opened it.

"Ja ne, koi." was the last thing I heard from my mother as smoke erupted around me.

Question of the day

What are your favorite colors?!