Yukihara Aiko. The 21 years old Amegakure kunoichi looked out of the window, to see the same scene as before. It was always rain, rain and rain. The sun rarely shone in this part of village.

'Well, what did I expect ? It's Amegakure after all. A village hidden in the rain—a very fitting name.' she thought idly.

She sat in the living room beside the window reading a book. She had taken a day off from the usual missions so that she could get a break from the constant war brewing between Amegakure and Konoha—after much persuasions, begging, and a promise to take an S-class mission right after her one-day break. It was actually a wonder that she could get the permission to take a break, considering Amegakure needed every shinobi it had on the front line.

She sighed and looked back at the window.

The street was eerily quiet, no one wanted to come out if it's not urgent. The only sound company was the constant pitter-patter of the rain. Everyone here lived in a constant fear. Fear of the war or shinobi suddenly coming and killed them.

As a shinobi herself, she wasn't really afraid of other shinobi suddenly coming and attacking out of nowhere, she was fairly certain that she could fight them off—at least with her life intact. But truthfully, She really couldn't care less about death. After all, being a kunoichi means that one must fight alongside death in every single battle. For example, one day, she was alive, the next day she could went MIA or KIA.

In a kunoichi's life, there was rarely a simple day without anything interesting happening whether it was in a battle or in everyday life.

A knock sounded from her front door, snapping her from her musings.

'Well, that's new. A visitor at this time, eh ?' She thought to herself as she crossed the living room to open the door.

The door opened with a creak and the sight of a dog with a red-haired-kid wearing a worn-out rain coat and a small backpack greeted her.

"Excuse me…do you have any food..you can share with me ? Please…I haven't eaten in so long…" the kid said timidly, looking at her, his eyes covered by his red bangs.

She sighed. 'It's one of those war orphans huh ? Well, I still have some food to go by, at least quite enough for a kid with a dog. No reason to turn him down.' She thought to herself as she opened her door widely.

" Okay. " she said, stepping aside a little to let the boy in. The boy didn't move an inch, it was as if he wasn't sure whether he had heard what she said before correctly.

"Hey, kid. Are you coming or not ? " she drawled out.

"Coming ? " the kid asked a little bewildered.

" What ? Don't say you're going to eat out in the pouring rain. " She answered with a little sarcastic tone.

"Oh. " he stepped inside, the dog following behind him with a bark.

" Hang your raincoat at the rack and leave anything wet near the door. " She added as she saw the boy's rain coat damping her floor. The boy obliged, hanging his raincoat and putting off his sandals before following her inside.

Aiko closed the door behind her and led the way to the dining room. The constant small footsteps behind her was the only sign that the boy was following her.

She went to the cupboard to set the table. She noticed that the kid was standing awkwardly at the entrance—unsure of what to do.

"Don't just stand over a sit. I'm going to set the table. " She motioned the kid to one of the chairs around the small dining table.

"Oh sorry. " The kid scurried to the chair hurriedly and plopped down.

She set a bowl of rice, chopstick, and a glass of water in front of him—and made a glass of hot chocolate for herself. She grabbed a plate of grilled fish and chicken katsu ( left-over from her lunch ) from the kitchen and put it down on the table.

Then she sat down across the red-haired boy.

"Are you sure I can eat this ? " the boy gulped, asking timidly.

She rolled her eyes, " Of course. Eat as much as you like, share with your dog too. As long as you don't mind eating left-over that is." She gestured to the grilled fish and chicken katsu.

The boy's face lit up and he took the chopstick—splitting it into two and muttering a quick "Itadakimasu."—before he ate the food down with gusto.

Aiko watched amusedly while she was sipping her hot chocolate when the dog started yipping near the boy's feet—making the boy paused for a moment and gave the dog half of the left-over chicken katsu. The dog yipped happily, wagging his tail and ate it with the same speed as its master.

Not even 15 minutes later, the boy and the dog had both finished their food—not leaving anything behind.

"You really are hungry, huh ? " the kunoichi asked as she put down her empty glass.

"Ah…, yes. Sorry for eating all of your food." The boy answered, looking downward.

"No worries. I did ask you to eat as much as you like. " She waved him off.

The boy shuffled in his seat—much to Aiko's amusement—as if he didn't know what to say anymore to her.

"Thank you." The boy said sincerely after a long pause.

She smiled kindly, " You're welcome, kid."

"Ano…my name is Nagato…not kid." He said softly.

"Okay then, Nagato. What're you going to do now ? " She asked out.

"I'm planning to…search for someplace to live in." He said after a pause.

" And no definite direction, I suppose ? "

"Well…no." Nagato said.

"Figures." Aiko chuckled, " So are you leaving now ?"

"Yes, Thanks for the food though, but now I can get back to search for a place to live in."

" Do you carry any provisions with you ?" she asked again.

"Yes…but It had run out a few days ago, so I don't have anything." He said quietly—looking downcast again.

She sighed, 'An orphan walking at random in the rain without any provisions isn't something I can ignore. My conscience won't let it go after this.'

" Wait a minute here. I'm going to take something. " She added as she went to her room without checking back at Nagato's answer.

She went to her wardrobe and took out her old backpack. She filled it with some money, a baggy white t-shirt and black short, a kunai, a first aid kit and some soldier pills. Then she went to the basket in the living room filled with some breads and put in two piece of breads—wrapped in a paper and picked one of her black umbrellas.

She trotted back into the dining room with the backpack to find Nagato.

"Here." She said, handing out the backpack and the black umbrella to him.

" Eh ? This is for me ?" He asked—a little incredulous tone in his sentence.

" Yes, you said you don't have any provisions, so here." She gestured to the backpack, "My conscience won't stop nagging at me if I let you go out there without giving anything. " she added.

Nagato took the backpack and the umbrella.

"Thank you…mm…" He said trailing off.

" Call me Aiko." She said.

"Okay, Thank you, Aiko-san." He said again, getting up from his chair and walked to the front door led by Aiko-san—his dog following.

Aiko grinned widely as she opened the front door, " Sure thing, kid. If you need anything, feel free to come knocking at my house again. "

"Yes, Aiko-san, Thanks for everything again though." Nagato said after he had put on his raincoat and sandals, bowing deeply.

He carried his old backpack and his new one on his shoulder as he opened the umbrella, walking into the rain—his dog by his side.

" Hope to see you later, kid ! And stay alive !" Aiko called out after him, waving her hand to him.

Nagato smiled a little and waved back at her before disappearing from Aiko's line of sight.


Aiko closed her front door after seeing Nagato off, smiling to herself. It seemed like her one-day break was quite interesting.

In a kunoichi's life, nothing's certain and everything's possible after all...


A/N: Hello ! I'm wondering whether I should try to continue this one or end it as a one-shot, anyway please review and tell me whether I should continue it or let it stay as a one-shot.