Dozens of kunai whizzed through the air at lightning-fast speeds, aimed at a small silhouette leaning against a tree. The figure easily deflected them all with its katana and instantaneously leaped up into the high branches, using chakra to cling to the bark with its feet. An audible "tch" was heard from the one who threw the kunai. A single strand of blonde hair fell to the ground, and the figure cursed under its breath. Its soft voice carried on the breeze easily and gave the attackers not only the gender, but also a rough estimation of the location of their target. Judging from the silhouette's small size, she was the one they were looking for. Bingo.

The short woman in the tree realized her mistake a millisecond too late; a massive ball of fire was already coming towards her. She rapidly put her hands together, forming a seal for a water ninjutsu, but she was too late. Her attackers had won. Her charcoal corpse fell to the ground and two ninja-clad figures stepped out of the shadows.

They bore the white, animal-shaped masks of Konohagakure ANBU, and their arms had the correct tattoos. Their slender, curvy bodies were evidence of females, and their matching dark hair was pulled back into tight ponytails. The ANBU on the left removed her mask and smirked.

"That was easy!" she exclaimed, laughing. She took a step forward, but her dark green eyes flashed when her companion's arm shot out in front of her.

"Midori, hold on a second. That was almost too easy…" the second ANBU spoke, mask muffling her voice a little bit.

"Atsuko, calm down. We totally got her." Atsuko shook her head, her long brown ponytail swishing softly at the abrupt movement. She took off her mask and quickly assessed the area with her dark chocolate orbs. Her eyes perceived just her normal surroundings; trees, brush, undergrowth… but she could definitely feel someone's presence. She could feel somebody's chakra. She shouldn't be able to sense that if-

"Nee-chan, look out!" the warning made Atsuko lose her composure for a split second. Her eyes widened as she turned her head and happened to notice three shuriken making a beeline for her face. Out of instinct, she ducked and swiftly pulled two kunai out of the light brown pouch on her hip, glancing at her sister through the corner of her eye. The kunoichi that they allegedly killed had jumped from her hiding spot right onto Midori. The black-haired ANBU was blade-to-blade with their target: a short, blonde woman with a scar running across her left cheek.

What happened next was automatic for the two ANBU sisters.

While holding the blonde off with her katana, Midori's right leg swung out to deliver a roundhouse kick to the ribs of her opponent. Atsuko threw the two kunai at her target with perfect precision, one lodging itself between the blonde's bottom two ribs and the other slicing through her thigh. The latter cut through her skin-tight shorts and left a deep wound that instantly bled profusely. The sticky red liquid flowed down the blonde's leg and formed a puddle at her feet.

Midori noticed a pained expression on the blonde and took the moment of weakness as an opportunity to wound her opponent more. With lightning-speed, she sheathed her katana and punched the scarred woman squarely in the face with her right fist. The woman staggered backwards and reached for her shuriken pouch, but Atsuko was already standing behind her, waiting to knock her out. A senbon pierced the blonde's neck and she instantly fell into a coma. A soft sigh escaped Atsuko's lips as Midori checked the pulse of their target.

"What's wrong, Nee-chan?" asked the black-haired kunoichi. Atsuko stared down at the unconscious woman at her feet, as if pondering whether she should tell her little sister what was on her mind. How could she possibly tell the child she practically raised that their dead mother was on her mind? Midori wouldn't understand; Yobidasu Shizume died shortly after Midori's 6th birthday and Atsuko never spoke of her. Every time the brunette used her needles, the painful memories she tried so hard to repress managed to break through her barrier and attempt to take over her mind. It was all she could do to keep an impassive expression on her porcelain face.

"It's just another life uselessly being thrown away. She'll be tortured for the information the elders need, and then killed… She didn't do anything to deserve it."

"Well, she can't be too great of a person if the elders want her dead, can she?" Midori's inquiry made Atsuko bite back a nasty retort. The brunette had to keep her cool around her younger sister, and snapping at her for no reason wasn't going to teach Midori how to be a better shinobi. The only thing that came to her mind when Midori had said that was her mother's death, and she couldn't possibly begin to explain to Midori the horrid details of it. Shizume was not a bad person. She was loyal to Konoha up to her very last, choked out breath. She had died for the elders' sake. Atsuko knew this, Midori didn't.

"Let's bring her back to the village and go see Obaa-chan, I'm sure she has something for us to do," Atsuko replied without really answering Midori's question, moving her arm to indicate the passed out blonde at her feet instead. The green-eyed ANBU put her mask back on and vanished; leaving her older sister to carry the missing ninja they had taken out. Atsuko inwardly groaned at the fact that they had been ordered not to kill and erase the presence of this ninja. Even though she liked not having to kill someone, she did not enjoy carrying 120 pounds of deadweight, especially when that was 10 more pounds than her bodyweight.

Two hours and a few muscle cramps later, Atsuko, Midori, and their silver-haired grandmother were sitting at the table in the Yobidasu residence. Much to Yobidasu Kaori's annoyance, her eldest granddaughter was not sitting properly on her knees. Instead, she was crossing her legs Indian-style, absentmindedly petting a brown cat that sat in her lap. She was staring at her food, but Midori and Kaori knew that she was staring at much more than a meal. She was looking past the food, into whatever it was she was thinking of. Atsuko's brown eyes were clouded over with an unreadable emotion. An awkward silence hung in the air like a thick fog.

Atsuko's mind was filled with memories of her mother. She thought that after 9 years, the pain of losing a mother would just leave her mind, but instead it was Atsuko that withdrew from her emotions. Using the senbon needles made her recall the painful hours spent with her mother, learning the anatomy of the human body. It had triggered an emotion that no teenager should ever have to experience; sharp heartache.

The brunette did not blame her mother for leaving her, or for sending her to live with her grandmother. She didn't cry for days or distance herself from everyone. No, Atsuko had other ways of coping. She shut down the part of her brain that let her feel emotional pain. Nobody knew that the 8-year-old's happiness wasn't a façade; everyone thought that Atsuko's mother's death killed her inside and she was just hiding it from everyone. By age 10, Atsuko had managed to completely block off pain. By age 13, she was already a skilled Chunin, and it seemed like she had completely forgotten about her mother. She had.

Occasionally, she remembered. Something would happen to make her remember. These occurrences were rare. Atsuko avoided using needles as much as possible, for this reason. To erase a memory, you must erase all things associated with that memory. Atsuko had found herself unable to discard the long, silver needles, but she normally didn't use them, just kept them on her person in case of emergencies. Today's mission wasn't even that dangerous, and there are other ways to knock someone out. Atsuko came to the conclusion that she had a masochistic moment and she should fail to remember today's events when she woke up in the morning. It should be easy enough for her.

Kaori cleared her throat in attempt to break the quietude, but all she managed to do was make her granddaughter snap from her trance and look up at her female companions. Midori's eyes kept flickering from her big sister to her grandmother, hoping something interesting would happen soon. At 15 years old, she was always looking for entertainment. Her older sister gladly supplied it whenever she could, dying to see a smile grace the lips of the girl that had become her world.

"Atsuko," Kaori began, "get rid of that animal and sit up straight." Atsuko's eyes narrowed. She loved her grandmother, but her traditional rules and customs vexed the 17-year-old. Midori bit her lip, knowing that Atsuko wouldn't respond to that cheerfully.

"Obaa-chan, this animal is a ninja cat, and he has a name. Kouhei may be mute, but he still has ears and I can tell he's offended. Say sorry." Atsuko's tone of voice was level, but the mischievous glint in her brown eyes said it all; she was trying to instigate something. Kaori's face flushed, infuriated by Atsuko's defiant behavior. Midori would definitely get a show tonight. The young kunoichi had to suppress a giggle when her older sister winked at her.

"I don't care what he is, or if I offended him. I want him away from my table!"

Atsuko snickered. "Fine, but Kouhei's not above clawing up some furniture…"

"Put him outside!"

The brunette rolled her eyes, a grin plastered on her face. She had not completely lost her playful side, at least in private. She gazed down at the brown tomcat that was resting in her lap, and then bent down and kissed his forehead. The cat looked up and fondly nuzzled her chin.

"Kouhei, go back home, please," she murmured halfheartedly. The cat disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Atsuko straightened up, ready to eat her meal.

"Gomen, Obaa-chan. I just like messing with you." Midori inwardly pouted when she realized Atsuko was already done aggravating their grandmother. Atsuko smiled softly at her sister, sensing her disappointment. Her mind was worn out from thinking about her mother, and her spirit was dying down from exhaustion.

Tomorrow, when the two sisters were free from missions, Atsuko would treat her sister to ramen and a story about her childhood to make up for it. She decided that one about Uchiha Itachi would definitely keep her sister entertained. After all, Midori had a fascination with Itachi when she was younger. Before their father abandoned the village, Atsuko would leave Midori with him and disappear to hang out with the Uchiha prodigy. There was never a dull moment with him, and Midori loved hearing about it. Now that her sister was old enough and mature enough to not do the things Itachi and Atsuko got into, she revealed the mischief the two would get into at twelve and thirteen years old to her.

A chuckle escaped her lips when she thought of just the story.