Chapter 1: Short, Dark, and Gloomy

Yuffie clung to the tree branch, and with little to no force she rocked back and forth until she had enough momentum to swing up onto the branch. She steadied herself before sitting down and peering out into the unknown territory before her. She pushed her bangs to the side and tilted her head slightly. The view before her reminded her of her home. The buildings were almost identical.

A little ways away from where she sat two men were idly chatting away, but she couldn't hear what either were saying, whether it had to do with the distance or how loud they were speaking, she didn't know. She squinted her eyes to get a good look at them. One had long purple hair and was probably almost as short as herself. Even from far away Yuffie could see his monotone expression that didn't change even when the other person's did. He reminded her of Vincent: tall, dark, and gloomy. A grin formed on her lips. Whoever this mysterious man was, his new name would be short, dark, and gloomy. They could be freakin' twins! Well, if you ignore the height difference.

A giggle escaped her lips. Then she remembered why she came there in the first place. She was here on a secret mission, it was so secret, she didn't even know of it herself until she stumbled upon the place. It was huge, almost as big as her own home! There had to be loads of rare materia hidden somewhere inside, and being the expert ninja she was, she decided she had to sneak in and steal some. I mean, how could a place this big not have some super ultra rare materia?

The young ninja sighed with glee and stretched her arms out. For a second, she forgot she was relaxing in a tree and quickly lost her balance, tumbling down onto the ground below.

"Ouch, what the heck?" she moaned. "Stupid tree. I should show you whose boss-" As she sat up, her brown eyes met green ones. Anything she was going to say moments before were now forgotten. The man before her smiled devilishly, eyes shining with amusement.

"It's not what you think!" she started to ramble. "I was just checking out this tree, ya know? It looked kind of lonely, so I thought I'd give it a little attention! I mean, you were too busy talking to short, dark, and gloomy- you weren't even under this tree a minute ago! Eh, heh... You know what, I was just on my out, so let's just forget this ever happened-"

A sword found its way to her throat.

"You shouldn't point that a girl, ya know," she huffed, said-sword inches away from her throat momentarily forgotten.

The smile left his lips, but it still showed in his eyes. "I don't see any girls around here," he mused, shrugging his shoulders.

"Now listen here, I may be a little, ya know, small in that department, but in no way does that make me any less of a woman!" She reached for her shuriken, eyes firm on the man's shorter brown hair. She couldn't look him in straight in the eyes. Something about him set her nerves on fire, which was never a good thing.

"If you try and fight me, I just might have to kill you." He spoke so bluntly, Yuffie couldn't help but one quick peek at his face. A delightful look danced on his features. Gawd, what did she just get herself into?! All she wanted was some damn materia! Was that too much to ask?

He lowered his sword and knelled down in front of her. His face a mere inches away from her own; his brown hair tickling her cheek. Was this the time to realize how good-looking this guy was?

"You have a bug on your face," he said seriously.

"Whaaaaat?!" she yelled. She wiped her face with her hands vigorously in sheer panic. "Is it gone? HEY, are you listening to me?"

The man before her started to laugh, and in no way was he trying to hide it. Just what the hell was up with this guy? He deserved a shuriken up his-

"Okita Souji."

"Hey, Saitou-san," the man known as Okita greeted. It was the purple haired guy again! Exactly how long was he standing there before he decided to jump in?

"You do not have a bug on your face," the purple haired guy said in an indifferent voice. He turned his attention to Okita once again. "We should bring her to Hijikata."

"You ruined my fun," he pouted, arms crossed.

"It's short, dark, and gloomy!" she spit out, interrupting their conversation. "You even act like him. Do you by chance have a twin?"

Okita started to laugh loudly, unable to hold it in.

"I'll go tell Hijikata about the kid. Keep her company, Saitou-san." He waved his hand in the air as he walked away, another slight chuckle escaping his lips as he departed.

For some reason, she had a feeling she wasn't going to like this Hijikata character. She'd have to think of an escape plan, and fast. She glanced up at Saitou and grinned.

A/N: Not sure if I'll continue this. Not even sure on the couple... but I just had to write this idea down! Let me know what you think!

I know it needs major editing, so feel free to point out anything you see wrong.