Chapter 1: How to Fail and Live (A Thieves Guide)

She looked up at the moon as the cold wind blew right through her ragged clothing.

She tried to sleep. She had been trying for hours. Usually, only a wave of exhaustion could put her to bed after doing a hard day's work, but the wave never came. She rolled over onto her side looking at her cousin's back as it moved up and down slowly. He would shiver, slightly, every time the wind came by.

She could hear shuffling around her from the other members sent on the mission with her and Neji. But other than a very select few, Neji included, she didn't trust a single one of them. Which suited them fine, because they didn't trust her one bit either. This wasn't a place of trust, this was a place of protection. You had to decide who to face your back to, and who to face your blade towards.

It wasn't an ideal situation, but it was the one they needed.

Scooting closer so that her nose was placed just between her cousins shoulder blades she tried to share their heat and help them both get through the night. For what awaited them tomorrow would take all the energy they had.

The places she had been, the things that she had seen. Their vastness and separation in similarity, could mirror that of the stars in the night sky.

Once the princess to a powerful family of a kingdom in the water country. (Then everything changed when the fire nation attacked. Couldn't help myself! XD Anyways…) Now reduced to nothing but ash and memories. Going from the most beautiful imported silk dresses to mere rags. It made her want to laugh, she didn't care for extravagance in the first place. But at least those were warmer. They were functional, too. Who knew.

"Mmmm… Hinata?" She looked up to see grey eyes like her own staring back at her sleepily.

She looked down at her hands and saw they were gripping the back of Neji's shirt so tightly that her knuckles were white. She immediately released and looked up with a shy smile.

"You weren't having a bad dream again, were you?" Neji asked the sleep gone from his eyes leaving concern in its place.

"No," she answered casually. "It was the cold this time." She chided as he turned to face her now.

"You know I'm always here. We're going to look after each other, right?" She could only nod. Knowing full well that they only had each other now.

She didn't remember much from that fate changing night, actually she hardly remembered anything at all. She had the faint memory of a fog filling her lungs, blocking her site, and it burned and ached everywhere from her head to her toes. A familiar voice; and a familiar hand as they ran. Everything past them, a blur. And she ran and ran following the familiar hand into blackness. And then… nothing.

It's funny she can remember wearing dresses of fine silk, but can't even remember the name of the place she had grown up in, her home. I guess painful memories were very selective of what they wanted you to keep and what they held behind closed doors. The worst part of it was not remembering the one's she loved. She had a father. Pretty sure she had a sister. And biology dictates she had a mother. But their faces were just shadows and their voices mere echoes. The more she tried to picture the laugh lines that their eyes would have made, or the goosebumps on her arm every time they gave her a warm embrace. Her heart would ache and the oxygen would be sucked from her lungs as darkness crept from the corner of her eyes threatening to consuming her being and soul. She couldn't remember, or she wouldn't. Then the same hand and voice would guide her back. Back to a terrible reality brought about by distant past covered in a disappearing memory. He was the only one she had left, her only family. And without Neji she wouldn't even be alive. He was her protector, and she was his. And at this point, all the gratitude in the world could not describe how desperately thankful she was that he was with her. A physical face, evidence that her past wasn't just a dream.

She looked up to see Neji's eyes drooping again, as sleep overtook her as well.

She woke with a sharp shake from a hand placed on her shoulder. She flicked her head swiftly to the side inhaling the crisp morning air.

"Time to get moving." Spoke her broad mysterious companion.

He wasn't a friend, per say, but Shino was one of the one's she trusted the most out of the group. She was glad he came along to this mission. Because of his skill set, prime for spying; but also for his presence. He always kind of hovered over her protectively. She hardly knew anything about him, but he felt trustworthy.

She gathered what little things she had and walked over to where everyone was standing. She crept towards the outer ring of the circle stretching to see if she could see Neji anywhere.

Not paying much attention she could see Deidara, one of the group leaders assigned to this mission, standing at the head of the circle cloaked in black and red and was already relaying the plan to the rest of the members.

He blew his yellow bangs covering his left eye making his ponytail swing. "Listen up, it's a pretty straight forward mission. We get in. We grab the keys. And we get out. Any objections?!"

Of course, there weren't any.

"You! Girl!" He shouted pointing directly at her.

She froze. The crowd started to part as he walked towards her.

"Pain sent you because he told me you have a special little ability underneath those creamy eyes." He stated as his hand moved to caress her cheek.

She jolted away.

"Got a little fight in'ya too, huh?" He whispered learning towards her ear as his hand swiftly grabbed her wrist, his nails digging into her white skin.

"I can accompany her, sir."

He froze as his eyes rolled from staring her down, to across the crowd.

Deidara's head turned slowly, and just over his shoulder she could see her cousin had broken through the crowd and was firmly standing in the middle of the circle.

Deidara smirked, "Huh, you can go instead 'ya say?" a curling smile crawled upon his lips.

He grabbed underneath her chin lifting it up. "Based off the speed she just dodged my sweet caress with; I'd say such a beauty can hold off a few enemies that get in the way, right?!" He looked around the crowd getting a few cheers and whistles.

"If it would please you, sir, I also carry the same ability. I'm sure I could do a much better job." He stated condescendingly with cold eyes directed right into Deidara's blue orbs.

Deidara let go of her wrist and in an instant, was standing in front of Neji.

He grabbed a handful of hair yanking it back. Hinata could see Neji's eye twitch with a slight wince of pain. "Every time we add a new person it multiplies the chances of getting caught. We brought her because her abilities make this. Part. Of. The. Job. Easy." He spat through clenched teeth, putting emphasis on the last couple words.

"I'm sure I would be more effi-"

Neji's words were cut short as he crumpled to the ground. She swallowed the lump in her throat. She didn't even see Deidara's hand move.

Her hand reached for the blade she always kept at her side as Deidara readied himself for another kick.

"Neji."

Everybody paused and looked in the direction of the low voice. It was almost a whisper. But the power in each enunciation held enough force to stop time. Nobody breathed.

The man in the corner didn't move, but he was now looking in Deidara's direction. Itachi Uchiha. Another prominent member of the organization. His emotionless eyes scrolled towards the ground looking down the length of his nose towards Neji.

He spoke through the robe covering his mouth. "You will be more efficient fighting the hordes of guards as the decoy. Her skills make her the perfect thief. If she isn't the thief she'd be useless to us. You know what we do to people who serve no purpose."

Neji glanced up with clenched teeth, still clutching his stomach.

"Hahahahaha! I tell ya Itachi, you're a hoot!" Deidara laughed breaking the silence.

Looking around at the rest of the crowd he continued, "Well, I guess it's settled then. Girl's the thief, dirt face here, is the decoy. I guess we'll just have to fill in the gaps."

He laid down the rest of the plan in detail, all the while making wise crack comments.

As Shino's "little spies" came crawling back, he described the layout of the castle. Under the cover of the misty dawn, Hinata was to scale the outer wall with Deidara until she reached the sewer drain. She would follow Shino's bugs until she reached the east wing storage room. Then she would make her way through the castle until she saw the bedroom door. This is where she would wait until the alarm sounded. Signaling that Neji, along with others would be carrying out the decoy part of the operation.

There would be a small window of time for her to sneak past the guards who would be rushing towards the commotion first. But before the servants who would poke their heads through the door curiously neglecting their daily duties.

She would then maneuver through the hallway, taking small detours into dark crevices until she reached the bedroom, take the key, squeeze past the towers barred window and jump onto one of Deidara's flying clay clumps.

Art. I think he called it art.

Just one mis-step or brushing her shoulder along the wrong curtain would mean game over.

When she looked up at the sky she could see small rays of sunshine just peeking over the hills.

Time to move out.

They walked off the main road for about half a mile. There were too many of them to go unnoticed to passing travelers suspicions.

She could only look at Neji from afar. He had glanced at her earlier wiping blood from the side of his mouth and giving her a small smile, saying that he was alright.

Her eyebrows bent in concern and apology. She couldn't run to him to help. She had to be strong and show no weakness to these people. If she faltered now, all that Neji had gone through. And all their hard work would amount to nothing.

As they approached the point of separation she looked at her cousin. Then, she didn't know it would be the last time for some time. Giving him a nod, signaling that they were going to make it past this no matter what. They had made it this far.

The first part of the plan went smoothly. It was only placement after all. Anyone who had survived in their thief guild up to this point, this was like picking up a fork. Now they would start cutting into the tough meat.

After they had made it to the wall. Deidara made a clay snake that, as she crawled up the wall, it would slither up from her right foot to her left until she had reached the sewer drain. Slipping between the bars that covered the opening. She looked down to see Deidara and looked forward into the murky black not sure which was worse.

She took a deep breathe. She felt trapped between two paths that laid ahead of her. Succeed and live. Or fail and die.

Dragging her hand against the side of the tube she could feel Shino's bugs crawling over it insinuating she was taking the right path. Walking down the many tunnels was like slithering further into the serpents stomach.

The plan barely made sense. Why were they so desperate for the key? Sending a bunch of untrained criminals to steal from the most guarded place on earth.

Maybe they were just looking to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Or the amount of minds that knew their secrets. Or-

She heard a bang coming from above her head. The bugs on her hand suddenly changing their path to a vertical direction. If she squinted enough she could see slivers of light poking through a latch door in the floor.

She could hear a man and a woman making strange noises up above.

There weren't supposed to be people in the storage room. Why were there people in the storage room?! This wasn't part of the plan. Her palms started to sweat as she tried to think of what to do.

Suddenly there was a high pitch scream as a pair of feet frantically ran out of the room.

Then a woman's voice spoke, "Wait! It's just a little cockroach! What happened to 'Only the bravest of men make it into the guard,'" Her mocking voice echoed as she followed the man out of the room.

She stroked the little bug lingering on her hand.

"You guys are a life saver." She whispered.

She placed a hand and a foot on one wall and the other hand and foot on the opposite wall. The plan was a little delayed, but if she quickly climbed up she could make up for lost time.

When she had scooted her way up the tube she slowly lifted the hatch door. Making sure not even a squeak made it out.

She gently closed it and sneaked to the edge of the door frame poking her head out of the room to make sure nobody was coming. Then in the corner of her eye she saw a train of black dots in the crevices of the stone floor.

Bingo.

She followed the trail of bugs, hiding at each turn before she moved onto the next hallway.

Every so often a pair of guards would march past her as she hung from a rafter or was covered by shadows in a corner. She slithered and snuck her way through so many passages and turns. This place was like a giant maze!

As she moved further following the insects, the amount of guards that passed her increased. She was getting close but it was making it more and more difficult to move from place to place without getting caught.

Then she heard it. Shouting, bells ringing, running feet and frantic voices.

It was too soon. The decoy had already started. She couldn't see the end of the bug trail leading to a room. She could feel her heard pounding as she waited for the guards to pass by. The room was close. Closer than turning back. Her only way to escape now was to make it to the room and jump onto Deidara's bird. But if she returned without the key… Well, let's just say she'd rather get caught by the guards.

She had little time left before the shock of the surprise attack wore off and the guards returned to formation. She sprinted following the bug path. Corner after corner, long hall after long hall. Until finally she saw it.

The bug path disappeared into the corner of a door frame. No guards at the door. Luckily, she had made it in time. She swiftly swung the door and stopped it with all her hand so not to alert anyone she was there. The force of the door dug into the back of her hand. Probably going to leave a nice bruise later, but her mind was more focused on finding that key.

She started opening drawers flinging belongings everywhere. Who cared at this point if she made a mess. She checked under the bed, behind paintings, inside the closet, even ripped open the mattress with her dagger to check inside. Even with her byakugan she couldn't see anything even resembling the shape of a key. Nothing! Nothing! Where was it?!

She paused.

She could hear faint footsteps turning the corner of the hallway that lead to the bedroom.

She looked around panicking. No time to bend the bar and jump out the window. She had to hide!

The closet. She remembered the closet. She carefully and quickly peeked the door open just wide enough for her to sneak through. Leaving a small crack in the door so that she could see what was happening. Crouching down in the corner of the closet, she awaited her fate.

The door to the bedroom opened with an eerie squeak.

She stopped breathing.

She could hear light yet irregular footsteps walking around the bedroom. The irregularity probably due to maneuvering around all the belongings she'd flung around.

Craning her neck, she tried to see who had entered the room, but her angle limited her to only seeing legs that were covered in orange pants.

They started to walk around the room and she would occasionally hear some drawers being closed and items being placed back on shelves. This person was taking their bedroom being raided rather calmly.

Then the tapping on pavement started getting louder. They were coming to the closet.

Secluding further to the back of the confined space she placed her hand on the hilt of her dagger. She could see the handle turning slightly.

"Sir."

The knob stopped as the figure turned around to greet whoever had come to the door.

Thank the heavens above.

She quietly released the breath she had held.

Hearing some mumbling she leaned closer to the door to hear what was happening.

"Well, you know, sometimes I have a bit too much fun." Spoke a smooth, male voice directed away from her. She assumed whoever had come in commented on the state of his room.

More mumbling.

"Well, yes, see to those matters. And check on the ladies and lords. They are my guests after all." He chuckled.

She heard the mumbling stop as the guard's steps faded outside the room, then were cut off completely when she heard the door click shut.

"How long are you going to hide in there?" The crisp voice spoke.

The hair stood up on the back of her neck. As her grip tightened on the hilt of her dagger.

"I wouldn't suggest killing me. It'd make your escape a whole lot harder." He snickered.

She squeaked as the door opened pouring in light. She looked up and met eyes colored a blue as vast as the ocean.

The ocean. She grabbed the sides of her pounding head clenching her eyes. She could see a sparkling body of water stretching past the horizon. It was… so… familiar.

He stopped snickering and cocked his head in confusing. The girl was now clutching her head with dread in her expression. Given, he had just caught her breaking into his room.

"Not too great at hiding, huh?" he chuckled looking down at her breaking her out of the trance.

She looked up once again, and was greeted with his smiling face.

Little had she know, there was a third path. Fail, and live.