Well, this idea's been swimming in my brain for a month or two now. I'm glad I've finally started writing it! Though I suppose I should be focusing more on some of my other stories (coughcough), but I'll get back to those! Eventually... Anyways, this is going to be a bit action-packed with some relationship building, so we'll just see how this turns out. Hope you all enjoy it the way I am!

Before anyone comments on this, I'd like to warn you that some of the things that are thought and said in this fanfic may be a bit hypocritical. That is on purpose, as I'm trying my best to emulate the way children of eleven or so act. They are still very young in this fanfic, and Team Seven is in the beginning stages of their time together, so don't expect cohesive fighting or bonding any time soon (or ever! Hahaha...ha.). Certain things will end up being canon, though I have a feeling as the fic goes on, things will change a bit.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or its characters.

Chapter One – My Tears For Naught

He was perfect. Absolutely perfect.

"I just don't get it! Why are we always stuck with D-rank missions? This really, really SUCKS!" The voice of a young boy resounded through the hall, making several bystanders turn to shoot the blonde dirty looks. He didn't seem to take notice, still frowning up at their sensei with all the will that an eleven year old could muster. And was having no effect.

Dark, smoldering eyes. Silky smooth locks of hair that her hands just itched to touch and run through. Perfectly formed lips meant for kissing, and even in their current sneer, Sakura wished he would look at her. Just one glance and she would be in heaven. The slightest acknowledgment of her existence and she would go home humming, telling her parents how great her day was no matter what boring task they were assigned.

"Naruto, you're just a genin right now. When you're a little more experienced, we'll be able to go on higher leveled missions, but at this moment, you just need to be able to show that you can be mature and patient." Kakashi beamed at him those fake rainbow eyes of joy, and all three teens felt a shiver run down their spines.

But Uchiha Sasuke only had eyes for one thing—to glare at Uzumaki Naruto when he was being particularly stupid. Or loud. Or even breathing.

"Yeah right. That dobe and maturity? They don't mix," Sasuke snorted, and instantly all of Naruto's attention was on the dark-haired boy, blue clashing against black.

Sakura sighed, mainly to herself. Just one look—that was all she wanted. But Sasuke didn't turn to talk to her, and Naruto was still throwing his arms and energy everywhere, maintaining the attention of everyone in the room. She wanted to roll her eyes; he just couldn't be normal could he? If she was one to say nasty things (which she was once in a while, but only to herself), she would call Naruto a glory- slash attention-hogger at his worst.

But she had promised herself ever since that day at the Academy when Sasuke had looked at her with such disgust in his eyes that she would be nicer to Naruto. So she held back her own temper, and simply smiled at Kakashi nervously. "Ah, Kakashi-sensei, what is our mission today?"

The tall, lanky jounin looked like he rather be anywhere other than babysitting three new genin who weren't satisfied with their current position in life, but he still patted Sakura on the head, ruffling her hair. "Good question Sakura. I think I have found the perfect D for you guys. Trust me, you'll love it."

Fixing her hair back in place with an inward grimace, Sakura felt her eyelid twitch. The three of them love it? Somehow she doubted it. A lot. And from the look on her teammates' faces, they felt the same way.

"Ahem, a-HEM." The lady giving out missions cleared her throat loudly, tired of the squad that was blocking her booth. Pulling a paper from the top of the stack, she nodded at Kakashi. "Yes, yes, your client should be here very soon to fill you in on the details. It is a D-rank, and you should be grateful for having a mission at all, young man." She eyed Naruto distastefully, but buried her attention back into her work, glad to be done with Team Nine for today.

Before Naruto could burst into another loud round of complaining, an old lady walked up to them, cane tapping against the floor. "Yes, yes, are you here for my mission?" Her voice was a thin reed and she reminded Sakura instantly of just another old grandmother.

"If you're the one who started the Fuji case, then yes."

She nodded, smiling at them congenially. "Yes that is my case. I was hoping you could check up on Hiro-kun. He hasn't been himself lately, and for the last few weeks I honestly don't think he's left his house." Her smile became knowing. "I'm his next-door neighbor, and we used to chat a lot whenever I babysat his children. They're all grown up now, but Hiro-kun has always been my neighbor since then. I just want to make sure he's still alive I guess." She laughed merrily and Kakashi managed a polite response of chuckingly.

"Well don't worry, we'll make sure he's doing just fine."

"Thank you. I would like to talk to Hiro-kun again—we had such nice talks you know." She bowed to them politely and handed Kakashi a photo before weaving off, cane still clacking loudly against the ground with each step.

"All right team, let's get star—" Their sensei turned to face his students again, and all three had irritated expressions on their faces which had cut off his sentence with the amount of open hostility. He merely beamed back.

For once Sakura was in unison with the other two as they exchanged looks. Yes, Kakashi was definitely doing this on purpose. Truthfully, Sakura wouldn't mind having a more exciting mission too—maybe go somewhere outside of Konoha and see the sights. That would be wonderful...especially if Sasuke was there with her and Naruto had caught a mysterious cold at that same time. She sighed to herself again, blushing slightly as she imagined it.

"And what is there to love about this mission, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked in a dead voice, still sending him the fisheye. At least he was quieter.

Kakashi laughed cheerfully and simply hustled them off towards the house of Fuji Hiro.

Rap. Rap. Rap.

They waited for the door to open, but as expected no one came to greet them. Naruto looked ready to break the door down, but Kakashi stopped him with a smile. "I have a key." He pushed it in and turned it. To everyone's surprise it didn't quite fit. Sakura blinked. Had Fuji changed the locks?

"All right Naruto, try not to bust the door right off its hinges." He hadn't even gotten to the word "try" before Naruto had happily kicked the door open with a mighty shove. It would have slammed against the opposing wall if it weren't for Kakashi's quick reflexes, stopping the door from reverberating and announcing to the world where they were.

They filed inside quickly, each looking around for any sign of Fuji. "He's not here," Sakura said with some disappointment. She just wanted this mission to be over with so she could go do something else, maybe even get some of Sasuke's attention.

"Split up. Naruto, Sasuke, take the upstairs. I'll take the basement. Sakura, stay on this floor." They all moved swiftly to obey his orders, though there was a bit of shoving on the boys' parts as they tried to get up the stairs first. Kakashi gave Sakura a brief wave before heading down. She was alone in a matter of minutes, and began searching through the rooms.

Kitchen? Empty. She frowned at a rotting bowl of fruit. These hadn't been touched in a while. There were small fruit flies jumping from one orange to the next apple, and a few trailed up and down a particularly brown banana. Opening the fridge out of curiosity, she made another face. Empty. Completely empty. Was this guy for real?

Shutting it with a rough push of her hand, Sakura kept walking, eyes scanning for the missing Fuji. It could be that he was asleep or out of the house—even if that old lady had claimed that he hadn't been seen in a while, it could be that he was on a trip or just hadn't spoken to her in a while. A clock was slowly ticking the seconds away, an annoying background sound to her search.

It wasn't a noise or a glimpse of something that alerted her to another presence. It was the smell. She scrunched her nose up so tightly that it could have disappeared into her face, though she resisted the urge to cover her nose completely. Kami, it smelled bad! Reluctantly, she followed the smell with almost silent footsteps till she found herself at the back of the house. It was remarkably dark.

Blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the lack of lighting, she began to make out the form of a tall person, almost invisible and sitting, curled up, on the floor. As her vision improved, she noticed that he was dressed in what could have been mounds of clothing that hid his pale body from her eyes—if it weren't for his pale, pale face she probably would have just walked over him. Dark, lanky hair with streaks of white fell down his face, blocking much of his features and she wondered if he had even thought of taking a bath recently. But this may be the man they were looking for—though he looked quite different from the picture. He had been tan in the photo, and a little chubby.

This man though...he was obviously undernourished, the way his cheekbones stood out prominently and his eyes were sunken into his skull. At the moment, he seemed to be almost asleep, eyeballs sticking so far out of his drawn skull that his eyelids were like spheres. She almost hesitantly called his name. "Fuji-san?"

The reaction was shocking and immediate. Eyes flashed open and he was on his feet in another moment. His breath came out in pants, and he stared at her with something akin to horror. "What are you doing here? This is my house." If his voice was closer to a gruff squeak, he didn't seem to notice and when she didn't respond immediately, he grew more frantic. "Go away! Or I-I'll call the police on you! Go away!"

She cautiously took a step forward, trying to show she was harmless. "I mean you no harm. Please stay ca—" The minute she tried to move again, he started shrieking, shoving himself against the wall like a frenzied animal.

"Don't touch me!"

He hunched into himself, plastered against the wall with huge eyes that seemed to be his whole face, gaunt as it was. Sweat dripped down his chin, and he shrunk against the wall, a dry, skinny husk of a man draped into thick, heavy clothing—everything but his face was covered. "Please...please please leave me alone. Don't touch me. Please. Don't touch—don't touch me." His words had turned to whispers.

Keeping her distance so not to frighten him further, Sakura managed a thin smile. What on earth had happened to this man? "Um, are you Fuji Hiro?"

His eyes were riveted to her eyes, trying to find something within them. Hands shaped like black gloved claws came up to his face and rested there, shivering with tension and...fear? After a few silent moments, Sakura tried again, using her most cheerful but soothing voice. "Your neighbor has been worried about you. Remember? She used to, um, babysit your children."

He was mumbling, staring vaguely at the ground through his gloved hands. Straining her ears, she caught words and phrases. "...scared of snakes but not adders...twenty-three years ago...that ninja with blue eyes...oranges..." It was all nonsensical. Her smile twitched downwards slightly, but she kept the encouraging façade up even though it seemed that he had forgotten her existence.

She tried again. "She wants to talk to you. Like the old days."

His head whipped back up to stare at her through dark holes of eyes, shaking even harder. At first he was merely mouthing, but soon it turned to full-out screaming. "No. Nononono. NO. NONO—GET AWAY! Get away from ME!" Grabbing hold of the base of a lamp, he actually ripped it straight out of its socket, wire whirling as he threw it straight at her.

A tossed lamp was not something Sakura was expecting. Her body froze, and her mind seemed to turn to slug. Got to move. Move. Move. MOVE. At the last second, she snapped into action, dodging it with relative ease. "Fuji-san! Please calm down! We can get you help!"

The distraction had worked and he was gone. A back door was wide open and she caught a flash of a figure moving quickly away, immediately blocked by the forest—very fast for a civilian, and she could make out the way he stumbled over his own feet in his effort before disappearing.

'So much for an easy mission.' This man was hysterical. Insane maybe. And it looked like it was up to Sakura to catch him before he did anything crazy. Glancing back for a second, she hesitated, wondering if she should first alert her team.

And make them think she couldn't even catch a civilian? No thank you. Sasuke would never even look at her again without disgust in his eyes if that happened.

She would do this herself. Decision made, she burst forward with speed through the open door. Any self-respecting ninja could beat a regular civilian in a race, and she was no exception. Hair whipping back, she reached the forest area, dodging trunk after trunk as she searched for the missing man. A strange noise caused her to pause, feet easily coming to a soft stop. It sounded sort of like water, but not quite. Something thick streaming out. Then silence.

Making her way stealthily to where the noise was from, she came face-to-face with a shocking scene. Sprawled on the ground with papers lying everywhere as if he had tossed them up was Fuji Hiro, wrists running red with now silently dripping blood and neck halfway severed off in some mad attempt to behead himself. His sleeves were now rolled up and his gloves had been tossed aside along with the papers. She didn't need to check him to know that he was dead. It was obvious.

"Oh my Kami," she whispered, gorge rising. Of course she had heard descriptions, even seen some pictures through research. She had even gone to a funeral and seen a man lying peaceful within the coffin, ready to return to the earth. But this...this was something completely new. A violent, horrid ending to a man who seemed very, very ill.

She turned to begin heaving, unable to stop herself. That was a suitable distraction for several minutes, till the powerful pushes of her stomach finally ceased. After one last dry shudder of her body, Sauke wiped her chin free of spittle and what was probably lunch and shakily stood. Kami, there was puke in her hair. And she could feel something wet but thick clinging to her cheeks.

Though she was normally very vain about her appearance—especially her hair—she couldn't find it in her to care too much. Not with this man lying there. Forcing her mind to thinking logically, she scanned the local surroundings. A lot of strewn papers, his gloves, the body, and a bloodied kunai that even a citizen could get his hands on. Had he really...had he really killed himself?

Tears had started streaming down her face minutes ago, and it took her a moment to realize she was hiccupping with sobs with one hand up, unable to contain them. She didn't know this man outside of the mission, but whoever he had been, he did not deserve this sort of end. Nobody did.

Letting herself sit again, she held her knees tightly to herself, feeling goosebumps break over her skin. This was supposed to be a D mission. She wanted to throw up again, to get her system clean somehow. Her eyes lowered to read one of the papers close by—any sort of distraction from the body was good.

Yamamoto Tsuki – dream of flying; hates dogs b/c of T.O.; landed from N.B.; avoids M. w/ obsess. of D.

Nagato Yuri – 5 had E; I.N.M. still scars; loves I.P.; don't Q. when P.C.M

The list continued in a tiny scrawl of handwriting, stretching clear across the page for each name with strange initials and confusing words. A frown creased her face, thin eyebrows drawing together with puzzlement. What was this?

"Sakura-chan!"

She could have hugged that stupid boy for showing up. Quickly rising to her feet, she absently tried wiping her cheeks with her already dirty hands. "Naruto! Thank Kami you're here! It's Fuji-san; he—" The look on his face stopped her.

His eyes were wide, and there was a mixture of confusion and horror beginning to dawn in those blue orbs. "Sa-Sakura-chan, what happened?" He sounded a bit like he was going to starting throwing up too. Was his face paler than usual?

Behind him, Sasuke and Kakashi arrived quietly. Kakashi immediately looked passed her, taking in the scene with his usual casual aplomb. But her attention wasn't on her sensei, but on her crush. He was staring at her like Naruto was. But his expression was so blank and void of emotion that she flinched under his gaze. She had wanted him to notice her, but not like this.

"Sakura, report," Kakashi ordered, already behind her, checking the scene out. His cool tone jolted her back to reality.

"Um..." She swung around stiffly to face him, glad to no longer be locking gaze with the one she wanted to impress the most. "I went to the back of the house, and found Fuji Hiro in a weakened state. He looked as if he hadn't eaten for a long time, and he immediately saw me as the enemy. He uh...fled and I chased him into the forest. By the time I had arrived, he had killed himself."

"And how did a civilian outrun you?"

Ouch. She rubbed the edge of her elbow nervously, staring at the ground. "He threw a lamp at me. I wasn't expecting an attack, so my reaction time wasn't a great as it should have been."

He was disappointed in her—she just knew it. But his tone remained clipped and professional. "A ninja must always be prepared for attack. You know that, Sakura."

Nodding meekly, she continued rubbing at her elbow. "I looked at the papers, Kakashi-sensei. They're really strange; like some sort of code." As she spoke, he had begun to gather them. "Wh-what are you doing?" she squeaked, horrified that he was touching something that was part of a death scene.

"If this is some sort of code, the Hokage will want to know about it. Naruto, Sasuke, start gathering." Both boys immediately obeyed, neither looking that talkative or competitive for once. "Sakura." She up at him and inwardly winced at the coolness of his visible eye. "Search the body for anything else."

"Sensei?"

"Do it." He continued to collect papers, expecting her to obey his command.

She reluctantly obeyed, tentatively stepping towards the corpse. Kneeling next to the still wide-eyed body of Fuji Hiro, she felt her gorge rise again, but this time firmly held it down. Being this close to him, she couldn't understand. He still looked so...real. But he was dead. His skin still held a vague flush of life, though the blood coming out of his body had finally ceased. His lips were cracked and dry, and this close Sakura could see and smell that he hadn't bathed in what could have been days to weeks. Her small hand reached for the closest pocket, and once she touched the cloth, she flinched away.

"Sakura." His tone was just as hard. Was he watching her, to make sure she did it?

Not looking back, she tried to imagine that she was just looking through a bag for something important. Out came little pieces of paper, all covered with more words and strange code, followed by two pens (she scrunched her nose, noticing that they were funny-looking), and some identification, confirming his identity as Fuji Hiro. There was nothing else, and she sighed in relief to be done looking through his stuff. If she was shivering a little, it was only because it was cold outside. She felt like some sort of grave robber, desecrating all that was sacred.

Something small glinting on the ground caught her eye, and she picked it up. It must have fallen out of his pockets while she was searching. It was a tiny ring, big enough for a child's hand but not for a man's. There was a metal life-like spider on the top, and she wondered if it was one of his children's ring before they had grown up. Was this a clue of what had driven him to suicide? She added it to her pile.

She became aware of someone standing behind her. "Very good, Sakura." His large hand came out and ruffled her hair. She didn't know whether to be pleased or just turn and glare at him for making her do this. Saying nothing, she handed him the items.

They stood at attention as the Hokage sifted through the papers. There was a rare focused frown on the elderly man's face—this was a most unexpected turn of events. For a D-Rank to turn to a shocking death and suspicious find of codes; something conspiracies were made of. Clearing his throat, he looked up at the four ninja, rapping the tips of the papers against his desk to line them properly. "Is this everything?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama. We searched the surrounding area as well as the house afterwards. Everything that we have found is there. If you would prefer a closer search, then I suggest checking the home for any hidden niches we may have missed," Kakashi replied, looking remarkably awake for a normally sleepy-eyed sensei.

He nodded curtly. "I may take that into consideration though I have faith in your team's abilities, Kakashi." Setting the papers on the desk, he motioned towards them. "I'll send these off to Intelligence, and we'll see what we can discover. Fuji Hiro is being looked in to right now, and his neighbors are being questioned. Is there anything else to report?"

"No, Hokage-sama. It's all in the report."

"Very well. Dismissed." They all began to file out the door, but the last figure froze when he spoke again. "Sakura, I'd like to speak to you right now, if you have a moment?"

She stared longingly at the backs of her companions, before nodding and closing the door that led to freedom. "Yes, Hokage-sama." Eyes lowered to the ground, she seemed unaware of the way her hands wrung against each other. There were the beginnings of bags under her dull eyes—she hadn't been able to sleep the last few nights, staring at the wall with the image of Fuji's corpse continually flashing into her mind.

"You were the one to find Fuji's body?" It was both a question and a statement.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

His stern expression softened. "A hard welcome to the world of death. Especially for one still so young. I am sorry that you had to see that, Sakura."

She jerked her head away, staring at the side rather than meet those gentle eyes. Shame pooled in her stomach, making her throat tighten up. Was she, or wasn't she, a ninja? She should not be so affected by the sight of death. Yet even now, she felt her eyes watering at the thought of how fragile life really was. It was hard to remember why she wanted to be a kunoichi.

"Unfortunately it is a lesson that all shinobi must eventually learn. And you must learn to cope with that. Have you been sleeping?" He nodded with understanding when she silently shook her head, pink hair shifting behind her. "I didn't think so. It will pass with time. It may help if you think of this as one of your first major steps to becoming a great kunoichi—one I believe you can become."

Her eyes shyly lifted slightly to his chin, embarrassed by the sudden appraisal in his tone. The idea of becoming a great kunoichi was nice, but she'd rather just forget this whole mission. As if seeing that in her face, the Hokage rested back on his seat and suddenly tossed a small object at her. She automatically caught it, and he nodded with approval this time.

It was cold and hard. Fingers splaying out slowly, she realized it was the spider ring she had found at the site. She looked up at him with confusion. "Hokage-sama?"

He smiled softly. "Keep it." His voice grew more serious and she knew she was now in front of the Hokage alone and not the kind Sarutobi. "It will remind you of your first taste of death. Let it strengthen you, comfort you, and help you to keep in mind that corpses will always be a part of your life now that you are a ninja. Never forget that again."

Her fingers closed over the small child's ring, and she bowed lowly, fist against her chest. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

He waved her off with a congenial mention of how much work he still had to do. "Take a few days off before your next mission. I've already arranged for that with Kakashi."

Slipping out of the room and quietly shutting the door behind her with her free hand, she let her body rest against the wood, face lowered. How embarrassing. She hated being singled out like that; the weak female who couldn't even stand the sight of blood. The Hokage meant well, but she just felt a bit worse. Maybe a few days' rest would make her feel more like her usual self.

She turned to leave, and almost ran face first into a tall man's chest. Immediately taking a step back, she realized it was Kakashi. He raised one hand in that nonchalant way, greeting her as if they hadn't seen each other for weeks instead of minutes. "Yo!"

There was that strange urge to laugh again—one she always started feeling when Kakashi showed up. He was so confusing. There were moments, like during their bell test, where their sensei was just amazing, a real jounin who could take them out with ease. But there were so many other times where he was just a regular, sleepy-looking man who stood out like a sore thumb wherever he went. A man who was gullible, relaxed, and unaware of his surroundings. She hadn't seen him in real action since that test, and sometimes it was hard to remember how good he had been. She vaguely wondered in the back of her mind why one of his eyes was always covered. Was the other one gone?

She had never had the courage to ask.

"We're having a bit of a break for the next few days before our next mission, but I think this will be an excellent time for training." He smiled at her even as she made a face. "It will be good practice for everyone. We'll start at 7AM, so don't be late."

'It's you I'm worried about,' she thought sardonically but managed that same obedient smile she had gotten better at. "All right, sensei, I'll be there."

"Good. I've already informed Naruto and Sasuke." Before she could say anything else, he had already whipped out his favorite Icha Icha Paradise novel and wandered away, giggling a little bit about whatever part he had bookmarked.

She went back home. Turning her key and opening the door, she called out as she removed her shoes. "Mom, Dad, I'm home." There was no response. They were probably both still at work—no surprise. If she was the betting type, she had a feeling her mother would come back home first in a couple of hours, while her father would eventually find himself back after staying a few extra hours at work, pouring over his latest project. She locked the door behind her, pocketing her key and heading upstairs to her room.

It hadn't changed in years. Ridiculously pink sheets covered her bed, along with posters of some of her favorite bands, and a long row of stuffed animals stood at attention on her shelf. Below that were her books—a mixture of romance and technical work. She had never even told Ino while they had been best friends, about her strange enjoyment over reading serious, dry material. Maybe that's why her bookwork had always been so good, while her actual physical skills had suffered.

Feet pressing against the soft featheriness of her rug, she placed her pack down on the ground, and dropped onto her bed, hair splaying over the sheets as she stared at the ceiling. The ring was still in her hand, warm to the touch now since she had gripped it so long. It could have been part of her skin. Lifting it to eye-level, she wondered whose it had been. Had Fuji missed his children, keeping the last remains of their childhood? Or was this a reminder of anger, rejection, and distrust between them?

She marveled at the intricacy of the spider, so detailed that it could have leaped off the metal band. If it had, she would have started screaming and tried her best to squish it. With that thought, she sat up and placed it next to her, unnerved by the idea that it could come to life.

Why had he killed himself?

The thought came unbidden, though she had tried to keep her mind carefully blank of all wonderings about his death. Still, it could not be avoided. She picked up the ring again, reminding herself that it wouldn't come to life, and began twisting it in her hands as she thought. How was she supposed to get passed this? How come everyone else seemed so relaxed about death? It was horrible and upsetting and...

She brought up a hand to her neck. It was easy. If she brought up her own kunai, she could slash her own throat and kill herself in a matter of minutes, and no one would be the wiser. How had she never noticed it before? Life was so fragile, and people died every day in the most ridiculous ways. A middle-aged woman down the street had drowned in her own bathtub four months ago, just because she had fallen asleep. One of the bakers from a nearby pastry store had died choking on one of his own newly-thought-of concoctions. Shinobi died in silent struggles between nations every minute of every day for their countries, no matter what sort of petty argument or unfortunate chain of events had brought them together.

"It's not fair," she whispered. Who would cry for them? Who cared? Why did everyone treat her like she was wrong to cry and grow upset over death? And suddenly it struck her that one day; she would become used to death—being in the profession that she had chosen. And that thought frightened her more than any other.

Sasuke had been avoiding her. More than usual anyway. At first, she had thought it was because of her embarrassing inability to catch a civilian, but the way his face seemed to harden indicated it was something else. Whatever it was, he was choosing to ignore it and her. Naruto, on the other hand, kept treating her like a porcelain doll with the way he kept looking at her like she might break to pieces. She didn't mind that as much, though the way he kept trying to ask her out was annoying.

She didn't even notice slipping the ring onto the ring finger of her right hand at first. Glancing down, she realized with some surprise that it fit well. Then again, she did have small fingers. Looking at it with a scrutinizing gaze, she smiled crookedly. It was cute; she could have just been another eleven-year-old girl wearing a plastic spider ring. Except it was a metal ring she had found on a dead man and she wasn't just another little girl. She was a kunoichi.

Reluctant to lose what little childhood she had left, she promised herself she would remove it in the morning before training. But just for this night...just for one night...she wanted to be a regular girl again who was allowed to cry and feel pain for others. So she read her romance novels, talked to her animals about nonsensical dreams she used to have before becoming a ninja and slipped into bed with the covers over her head, just to try and imagine what it would feel like to not think about fighting and hatred and fear. And when she closed her eyes, she dreamt of nothing and was content.

And that's it for Chapter One! Hope you liked it. If you've got anything to say, don't hesitate to write. Thanks and have a nice day!