Disclaimer: I wish I owned the NarutoVerse…Because Gaara would be mine, and I'd hug him, and call him my squishy, and he will be my squishy…

Gaara: -Dull stare. Kind've half glares at.- You…should seek help.
Dhizz: -Prances about, latches to Gaara, purr.- You could be my help? –Snicker.-
Gaara: ….-Attempts to pry off….fails. Face fault. - ..;

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"I said move!" A gloved hand reached out, shoving aside the still form of the blonde man. He stumbled, and eventually tumbled over himself, ending up looking much like some sick creation of a yoga god.

His legs had folded over his back, feet dropping down by his head, his arms outstretched across the leafy ground, and his face buried into it as well. A light groan, followed by a whine came from his muffled voice.

"Neeeee, Rin-chan, that wasn't very nice." Untangling himself, Tsume drew to a stand, brushing the dirt from his favorite red hoodie and dark colored pants. The whining only earned him an eye roll as the lithe, gloved hand reached down once more and jerked him up from the ground.

"Shutup, loudmouth. You want to get caught out here?" A pout found the boy's visage, his feet shuffling like a child who had just been scorned.

The trees rose in front of them, surrounding the two as they had been all day, it was difficult to see more than a hundred feet in front of a hand, but then again, the Forest of Death…dun dun dun…had always been like that. Though, Rin didn't much mind…the female preferred working in such an area, ironically. But not when working against the type of people they were. The Chuunin exams had once more come to Konohagakure, and this time, it was Rin's turn to shine in the exams.

Though, she'd already thoroughly impressed the teachers by the amount of correct answers on the pre-test…poor Tsume had just gotten enough right to pass. He never was the brightest crayon in the box, but he was decently intelligent…and annoying. A slight eye tic came from Rin as Tsume tried to bounce off after a butterfly. A hand snapped out, grasping ahold of his hoodie with a gentle huff. "Stop it, you retard. We still have to get to the compound place…"

A grunt, and then a thud…apparently Tsume had given up fighting, a smirk fell against Rin's visage, unseen by the mask that covered it. The two had gotten the scrolls very early into the test, but the problem had been the other teams..they were far more advanced that they should have been, and it rose some alarm.

Rin shifted, her hawk like hues darted about, before returning to her partner. Tsume was such a pretty boy…Though, not really. He never seemed to want to wash his clothes, or bathe…but he still managed to be pretty. Rin kind've envied him for it…and yet not, because at the same time, it was disgusting. His blonde hair was messy, but otherwise unscathed…and it fell about his face like a halo, accenting the high cheekbones and supple flesh of his facial features. The contrast against his olive skin and blonde hair made his crystalline optics stand out against everything else. His figure was thin, but nothing more than any other guy at 13, but he was tall, long legged and long armed…He stood a decent head above Rin most of the time, but he slouched, so it was hard to tell.

As for Rin…her body normally remained covered unless in the comfort of her home, and sometimes even then due to Tsume's remarks. Her own blonde hair cascaded from a ponytail down to her ankles, and eyes to match. High cheekbones and a slender appearance gave way to her facial features, but they were covered by a mask nine tenths of the time. Her figure was slender…with the beginnings of a woman's body trapped within a black jumpsuit with accents of white pouches and gloves. Her sandals were the traditional blue, and made little noise as she shifted upon the twig and leaf littered ground.

"C'mon…let's go." A sound of protest came Tsume, but he rose to his feet and followed after the blonde as she moved forward through the thick forage.

Three years later found Rin standing against the memorial stone in Konoha village, the largest hidden village in all of Japan, her hand rose, bare fingertips gently brushing against the stone, tracing a name.

"You know…It's not healthy to dwell." The ever familiar voice of that familiar annoyance, Tsume.

Though three years had passed, he hadn't changed. His hair was still an unkempt mess, and his figure was still tall and lanky…almost too large for him, it seemed. And he still wore that god damned red hoodie in which she despised so much.

Her teeth ground together, and she chose not to respond momentarily, her hand falling from the stone as the glove was placed once more upon it.

"And maybe it would do you some good to dwell. You can't just act like they never existed, Tsume." They both knew that, but Tsume was a guy…and a ninja, neither of which were supposed to show any emotion. Despite that, the two man cell had always worked together…alone and by themselves, living together had increased their teamwork efforts, but the loss of their teacher and several friends had left Rin in a rift. She knew it was wrong to dwell on something that she couldn't change, and while normally she would remain neutral, or stoic…Their teacher and friends were the only family she'd ever had.

At least, as far as she could remember. She'd wandered into Konoha at the age of four, a strand of beads wrapped around her little body, that strand of beads remained, but it was much larger now, wrapping around her body quite a few times. Her technique was unknown to almost all of the hidden villages that she'd visited, and no books had mentioned the use of the beads before, but Rin knew how to use them…had known before she could walk.

A gentle sigh fell against her ear, and Tsume wrapped his arms around her neck, leaning inwards to rest his cheek against hers, breaking her train of thought.
"I don't pretend they didn't exist, Rin-chan…But I do not think that it is best to dwell on things you can't change. They're gone, and you need to move on. That's the way the life of a ninja is, your friends and family die, whether or not you can protect them isn't up to you." But he was wrong, it was up to her…Well, sort've. If the Hokage hadn't sent her on another mission, she would have been able to protect them. Sixteen and a jounin…Yeah, she could have protected them.

So could have Tsume, but he too, had been on another mission. Life just didn't seem fair, sometimes. Though their connection had been strong in the beginning due to both being orphans, they could relate…it had only grown stronger after dealing with the loss of so many great allies and friends. To most, their relationship could be said to be more than just friends, or close friends, but that was wrong. If anything, they shared a companionship; they were soul-mates destined to be with one another, but not be in love with one another. It was like tying two souls into one body, but one of those bodies had another entity sharing it.

And that other entity wasn't very fond of sharing. Of course, there weren't many demons that did enjoy sharing their host…hell, most didn't even enjoy having a host. However, Tsume was stuck with the two tailed panther: Kurohyou. Rin liked to call him Kuro-kitty just to piss him off…it worked, and often got Tsume and Rin into many play type fights, but she always won.

A huff erupted from her throat, the puff of breath blocked by the black mask that covered her facial features from view.

"Yes it is, you just say that to make it sound better that we didn't. You make it sound as though we had no choice. We could have turned down those missions."

"And we would have died with them, Rin-chan…" It was soft spoken, nearly a whisper against her ear, and an involuntary shudder rippled through her form. Her outfit didn't protect well from any possible winds that might attack, or any other weather for that moment, but neither were expected, even at that, his attack of gentle air wouldn't have done credit to the protection from her outfit anyway. The black mesh was covered by a top that fell just above her belly button, and her skirt fell just at the thighs to allow for more flexibility. One was white, the other, red. Beads adorned her body, wrapping around the hilt of the katana at her side, pouches littering the rest of her body in various areas. Ankle, thigh, hip, she wasn't particular as to where they went, as long as she had them.

Shifting, Rin pulled herself from Tsume's grasp, wriggling to make him let go before finally gaining freedom. Perhaps she was just being stubborn, but maybe not…It was ever known what Fate had in store for them, for anyone for that matter. Life was a mystery, Fate was a mystery, and Rin wasn't so sure she enjoyed trying to figure out this mystery anymore.

"Iunno, Tsume…I think you're wrong." Leaving it at that, Rin turned and started her way back towards the village, leaving Tsume there with his thoughts. And that's when the rain came…

"Suzume Rin, I have a request of you." The woman behind the desk shifted, lifting a bottle to her lips, savoring the liquid that came from it, before choosing to continue. "I have, a B ranked mission here…But the person who has given us this mission, has specifically requested your help." Another pregnant pause, the air was thick…thick enough that Rin thought she would drown if not careful. "It's …fishy, but I think that you should go. Of course…the option is always yours."

A gentle frown flitted over Rin's visage, though it remained unseen. "My help?" It was odd…very odd, not many knew of Rin. She'd made sure to keep her name out of most villages that she'd been to, going under an alias, if giving any name at all. So…how would anyone know her name, or better yet, to specifically ask for her help? Brushing aside these thoughts, a simple, curt nod was given to Tsunade.

"I accept."

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((Author notes!))
H-okay, I'm going to assume that most of you know what the Japanese words mean, if you don't, feel free to send me a message and ask.
I also know that a lot of you are probably going "Two tailed panther!?Nowai!" But, the character Tsume actually belongs to a friend of mine, and the two tailed panther was his creation and his addition to Tsume's character. I chose to leave that part of Tsume in, I felt that it gave the character something extra. If this is a problem for you, you can choose not read.

As for the story, I really don't have anything special planned, I'm just writing as I go, so if some things seem a little off at times, that's probably why. I don't expect to finish this story, but maybe I'll surprise myself, and you, and actually finish it. Who knows.