Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto only my characters.

(AN) Hello all, this is my first story so please let me know how I do. Also a big thank you to my AMAZING Beta cheekylips, your guidance and critiquing has been incredible and inspiring.

(AN) All character thoughts are in caps.

Chapter 1 The Orphan

"This is too easy." A man scoffed as he pulled out a kunai.

"The easier it is the faster we can move on the next ones and the more we collect the happier the boss will be." His partner added.

They waited in the cover of a large tree as a family of four made their way back from a large village, their new provisions in their arms.

As soon as they were close enough the two men jumped down in front of them. "Well, looks like today is our lucky day," One man said to the other. "Two adults and two kids, easy pickin's." He paused while he spun his kunai around on his finger. "Hand over your valuables."

"Mercenaries," The father exhaled angrily and he pulled out a kunai as well. Turning to his wife, he motioned to their children. "Take them and run." He murmured.

"Oh c'mon, there are two of us; do you really think you have a chance?" One taunted.

"Please, let's just give them what we have. It's not worth our lives." The wife pleaded.

"These men don't intended on letting us leave," He turned towards his wife. "This is the only option."

"There are two of them and two of us, Dad." The boy was just short of twelve but like his father, he was willing to stand his ground for his family. The father hesitated, torn between wanting help and wanting his son to run. After a few seconds he tossed the boy a kunai.

"Take her and go back to town. It's not too far. We'll hold them off for as long as we can." The husband commanded.

The woman began to weep and pulled her daughter to her chest. "I love you." She whispered then she began to run back towards the village. She lowered her mouth so she could whisper into her daughter's ear. "Hold onto me. Don't let go."

The tiny girl began to cry and she called back out to her father and brother as her mother carried her away. "Close your eyes and don't look back." The young girl buried her face into the nook of her mother's neck. She could hear the sound of metal on metal, then the sound of the man and boy shrieking in pain. The woman knew it wouldn't be long before the two men would be on her and she was nowhere near the village.

If I can just hide her somewhere safe maybe she'll have a chance. They were on a frequent trade route so it would more likely than not that someone would pass by and see her daughter.

She happened by a hollow tree and shoved the three year old in the trunk. "You have to stay here, no matter what you hear, do not move." The woman tried to be stern as she spoke but she was crying too hard. She placed a hand on her daughter's cheek. "I love you." She backed away from the tree to continue on her own, hoping with all her heart that the attackers would follow her and leave the little girl alone.

The two mercenaries closed in on her quickly. She resisted telling them where the girl was and she tried to fight them off but her efforts were quickly cut short as a kunai pierced her abdomen. The men wasted no time taking anything of value from her body.

"Tsh, what a waste of time. Barely anything."

"What about the girl?"

"Don't worry about the little brat. She's too young to make it out here on her own anyway. C'mon, let's go." With that, they both bounded away, leaving behind the bodies and the girl behind them.

The mother waited until they were gone and clumsily made her way back over to the tree where she had hid her daughter. Upon reaching it she placed herself in front of the opening so the little girl would be somewhat protected.

"Momma!" the young girl cried out.

"It's okay. Momma's here now but I'll have to go to a special place soon and you'll have to stay here." The woman began to cough. Blood streamed from the corner of her mouth. It won't be long now. Please, please, please Kami, help her.

"We should be back to Konoha by first light." Kakashi said to his medic-nin mission partner, Ai.

Despite knowing the young shinobi could handle himself, the Hokage had felt that having a medic-nin's tag along on the missions would hopefully keep the more reckless shinobi in line.

"Another successful mission, great job Kakashi, you didn't even need me." she said as they bounded through the trees. Both ninja's kept on their guard as they moved. Their path was through hostile area and its native inhabitants had been more aggressive as of late with foreign ninja entering their boundaries.

Kakashi's head jerked up suddenly. "Stop!" He whispered loudly, bringing their movement to a halt. He listened to the surrounding area and picked up the sound of labored breathing and low groans of pain.

Ai caught the sound too and frowned as worry knotted in her stomach. "Kakashi we should investigate. It could be an injured leaf ninja," Ai whispered. He nodded in agreement.

Quietly and carefully, Kakashi moved in to survey the situation. They both jumped down from the trees and landed close to the father and son. Noticing they were both deceased, Ai glanced around to see where the groans could be coming from. "They are not from Konoha, we should move on." Though it was hard to hear anyone suffering, she knew that it was best to do as Kakashi suggested. Most likely they would not survive long anyway and trying to find the source may put them at risk considering the scene in front of them.

As they changed their course for home Ai heard a squeaky little voice that sounded distressed. "Momma!"

"A child," The little voice was clear and didn't sound too far away. Ai rushed towards the sound, leaving Kakashi behind her.

"Hey Ai!" Kakashi called after her.

Ai noticed the woman propped up against the tree and approached carefully. She was still alive. "I'm a medic. Can I have a look?" At the woman's nod, Ai pulled the bloody hand away from her abdomen. Ai looked up at the woman. "I'm sorry, I can't do…"

"I know young kunoichi," The woman drew a long and painful breath. "Please take her with you…can't protect…wolves will rip to shreds." Her sentences were drawn out and incomplete as she gasped deeply for breath.

Ai looked behind the woman and into the hollowed out tree, finally noticing a young girl, no more than two or three, cowering in the darkness. She looked at the mother, hesitating for a moment, and then she looked at the large wound. "I will take her back to my village." Ai assured her.

"What you can't take her back to the village. She'll give us away and slow us down!" Kakashi blurted out.

"So you want me to leave her out here, is that it?" Ai stood and looked him in the eye, "You go on ahead if you wish but I will not leave this child behind."

"Tsh," he exhaled annoyed crossing his arms and rolling his eyes. "Ai, you know that I can't leave you. You're putting us in a compromising situation. The Hokage will not approve of your decision."

"You leave me to deal with that. I came to this verdict on my own and I will take whatever consequences that are handed down." With that, Ai took off her medic pack, unzipped her flak jacket and took off her shirt.

"What are you doing?" Kakashi asked his one visible eye wide.

Ai ignored him. She slid her jacket back on and zipped it back up. She then opened her medic pack and pulled out two injectable vials. While Ai explained the process to the woman, she draped the shirt over the wound, covering it from view of the child. "This one will take away the pain and the other will end it." Ai folded the edge over and placed the vials underneath.

The woman nodded. "Maiha, come here." She said softly. The child made her way into the sunlight.

"Mama." Maiha said quietly as she moved behind her.

Tears streamed from the woman's eyes. "Maiha, I need you to go with these nice people. Momma has to go to that special place now."

"I wanna go with you." Maiha cried.

"No honey you can't come with me, I need you to go with Ai-san and her friend. She will take you to a new place with many people and lots of children to play with," She managed a slight smile. "So please be a good girl and go with them. They will take good care of you."

Maiha crawled out of the tree trunk and took Ai's outstretched hand. "I love you Momma. I miss you."

"I love you and will miss you too."

Ai grabbed a cloth from the scene and made a sling to aid in carrying Maiha home. As soon as Ai had her settled in they were on their way back to Konoha.

Ai looked over at Kakashi. "Thank you for waiting."

"You can thank me when we get back to the village safe and sound."

Upon return to the village Ai took Maiha to the medical building and had the nurses and medics check her over. "Okay Kakashi, shall we go to the debriefing now?" Ai asked nonchalantly.

Kakashi stood with his arms crossed and gave her a nod. "Thank you, for allowing me to bring Maiha back to Konoha," Ai said as they continued on to the Hokage's office. Kakashi exhaled and continued along beside her.

"How reckless you were to stray from the mission." the Hokage lectured angrily. "You put yourself and one of our elite in danger. What were you thinking?"

"Honestly, Lord Hokage," Ai began with a rigid voice, "when we happened on the spot where the child was located it was determined that helping those found was futile. It was at that point I agreed with Kakashi and we began to proceed to Konoha. As a medic, I took an oath when I was instated to preserve life. It was hard enough for me to leave someone that was alive behind, even though they were not from our village." Ai paused.

"As we were about to take our leave, I heard the child and I just couldn't bring myself to leave her behind. For such innocence to die a horrible death was just unimaginable to me. I promised the mother on her last breath that I would bring the child back to the village. Kakashi did his duty, completed the mission and we both returned to the village safely. He is in no way responsible for my decision and was very opposed to the idea entirely. Though it does not help my case Lord Hokage, I must tell you that if I were in the same situation, I would make the same decision. I accept whatever punishment you hand down to me, but the child, she is an innocent soul, please consider not expelling her from the village."

Upon the conclusion of the explanation of her actions there was a tense air in the room as the Hokage took a minute to answer. "It is a shame that I have to do this, you are one of our best medical-nin in the field. As of this moment, you are stripped of your medic mission status until I deem it fit for you to return to active duty. It is obvious that your judgment has been compromised. I will take some time to think about this matter."

She stood still unwavering. "I understand Lord Hokage, I will accept whatever decision that you make."

"You may go."

Ai turned to leave, glanced over to Kakashi and then left the room.

Once the door shut the Hokage looked over to Kakashi. "Kakashi, please divulge all happenings through this entire mission. I need to make sure that Ai was of sound mind when she made her decision. I will use this information to assist me in my judgment of her future."

"Yes Lord Hokage."

After exiting the Hokage's office Ai went to the hospital to check on Maiha.

"This is a healthy little girl," the medical-nin smiled. He knew Ai well and that she would have a solid reason for almost everything she did. "I am sure that you have a story to tell us on why you brought a baby back to the village."

"I do in fact, would you like to hear it? I have to wait to be called back to the Hokage's office to hear my punishment and the decision of my future as a medic anyway"

"What?" the present medical staff collectively gasped.

"That is the end of the story," Ai smiled as she picked up Maiha to hold her. "Let me start at the beginning, it's not long but it's good."