Hey, new story. Just a simple little thing. It's 5 chapters plus a prologue. It's complete already and I'll be updating every Friday until it's finished.

Finding Ai

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Prologue: Kurogakure

"You'll be infiltrating Kurogakure and retrieving an item they found during the war. They stole a set of important scrolls," Kakashi explained further. Four Covert Ops Anbu members were standing before him in the room, devoid of their masks. "Hashirama wrote them himself and they contain secrets concerning what this village was founded upon. I'm asking you to retrieve them before they are damaged."

The shinobi nodded and looked at each other. They had worked together a couple of times before, but they still didn't know each other's real name.

"You won't need your masks. It'll be harder to infiltrate the shinobi while wearing them." Kakashi stood from his chair by the window. "I'll now give you your names. Ru,"

The brown haired male in the corner nodded, he looked over at the blonde on his team frequently. She started to act jumpy and skittish, nervous from his attention. Kakashi gestured at the twin brother and sister on the team:

"Ka and Shi." He finally pointed at Sanmari. She combed her fingers through her blonde hair, trying to show disinterest in the conversation. "Ai."

"When would you like us to leave?" Ka asked; his deep voice comforted them.

"Ru will be the team captain and he will decide. I would like you to head out as soon as possible."

"Thirty minutes to gather what you need, Kakashi-sama do you have Kuro headbands for us?"

"Shikamaru is collecting them now. I will have him meet you at the front gates in thirty minutes."

"Arigatou gozaimasu," Ru nodded and they made their way out of the office. "Ai, please wait."

Ai stopped, turning to look at the group commander. Her hazel eyes met his soft brown and he stared at her for a long while.

"I've heard your story, so I know you're a skilled, strike killer. We may need you when we get farther into where they will have the scroll sealed away."

"If you needed to make it clear why Kakashi included me on this team, then I feel that you aren't a suited commander. I know my place even if I have a captain, I'm not one to take orders from anyone but Kakashi-sama." Ai challenged and Ru gritted his teeth.

"I'd like to remind you to respect your superiors,"

"I have a problem with authority," Ai retorted before turning back and heading out of the government house.

She walked through the streets quickly; she only had twenty minutes now to pack her necessary belongings. Growling, she threw the door to her apartment open and tossed her shoes off for the moment, stepping over the clutter from the last few missions she hadn't had time to clean up. Ai glanced over at the ring on her dresser. It had been her father's wedding ring and her twin brother had left it with her when he left on a mission the week before.

She had been kidnapped as a small child and taken to Kurogakure. There she had been tortured and trained, turned into an elite assassin by the time she was seven years old. Her mind broke at twelve and after that, she wasn't particularly stable. Kurogakure had kicked her out of the village and left her to die with several broken bones. Konoha had happened upon her during another mission when the shinobi were on their way home. They brought her with and Sanmari explained what had happened to the Hokage Tsunade.

Sanmari was reunited with her twin brother and they now shared an apartment. She converted to work for the Konoha anbu as an elite assassin chosen only for some of the hardest missions. Anytime she was put on a team, she knew her role. Sanmari was strictly to be the assassin of the situation, so that was the only call that she would wait for. Honestly, she didn't want to go back to Kurogakure, but it was her job.

Once she had finished packing, Sanmari put the backpack on her shoulders. They wouldn't be going in wearing their jounin uniform as those only applied to official villages. Sanmari felt bare leaving without her familiar animal mask of a fox; it felt freeing to move without being a well-kept secret.

When she met up with the rest of the team at the gate, they nodded at her. Shikamaru smirked. She was right on time, as always. He handed Ai the headband and as she tied it around her left thigh, she felt like she was returning to her years of captivity inside Kuro. Sanmari paused for only a moment. She wasn't mean to be herself in this moment; she is Ai, someone retrieving an important scroll for her village as Anbu. Swallowing she looked at the team captain who signaled for them to move out. Shikamaru already moving away.