Disclaimer - I do not own any of the Naruto characters or anything else from Naruto-land. Sadly.

Warning: some liberties have been taken with the Naruto time line in this fic, largely because I prefer to write about older characters. This story is set in the events following the chunin examinations in the Naruto time line, but all characters ages have been increased by 2 years so Gaara, Naruto etc are 15.

Also some Japanese words/honorifics are used as I feel they add to the story, however as my understanding of the Japanese language is non-existent these may be incorrect (although I have tried my best to only use ones I am fairly certain about). SO if anyone notices any inaccuracies please let me know.

Prologue: A New Begining

Aoi bit her lip as she slowly walked home, cradling a small bundle of blankets in her arms. Another failed mission.

How was she going to explain it to her elder sister?

Unlike Aoi, Kin was an excellent shinobi who excelled in combative situations and had recently obtained the rank of ANBU. A veritable genius, she was both widely known and respected throughout Suna. Which only seceded in making things even worse for her younger sister. People always assumed that just because they were related, Aoi would show the same talent and confidence in her abilities that Kin displayed so naturally. However it only took a single glance at her mission success record to see that this clearly was not the case.

To put it bluntly, Aoi was a failure. The reality of the matter was that she just didn't have what it took to be a shinobi.

A sudden movement in the bundle she was carrying pulled the blue haired ninja from her somber thoughts. Looking down she was confronted with a small sleepy face.

"Hello there little one," she chuckled gently as the small creature blinked at her with wide brown eyes. "Don't worry, we're almost home now." The tiny ball of fuzz regarded her for a few more minutes before chattering happily at her and returning to its nest of blankets. Aoi felt herself smile softy. 'Well at least some good has come from this disaster of a mission' she thought as her new charge wriggled in her arms.

Slowly Aoi creaked the open the front door of her home and made her way to the kitchen. Gently placing the now still bundle on the table, she proceeded to start boiling water for tea, hoping to bring it to her sister as a conciliatory gesture before breaking the bad news. She had just reached up to the top shelf to retrieve the tea leaves when she was startled form her task.

"Aoi," the cool voice drifted from the doorway. The young girl flinched, dreading what was to come. Squeezing her eyes shut and taking a deep calming breath, Aoi slowly turned around. In the doorway stood her sister, leaning casually against the frame with her arms folded beneath her ample bosom. With her long golden hair pulled off her handsome face in a tight braid, still dressed in her ANBU black, with her white mask held loosely in her right hand, Kin cut an intimidating sight. But then, she always did.

"Hello Nii-san," Aoi mumbled nervously, trying to avoid her sisters severe gaze.

"You're back from you mission early," Kin observed. Aoi swallowed.

"Hai. I... there was..." she began.

"You failed another mission." It was not a question. Aoi dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Hai," she muttered dejectedly, "Gomenasai." There came a loud sigh from her sister's direction. Aoi remained staring at the floor as she heard her sister push off of the door frame and make her way to the kitchen table.

"Aoi, look at me," she commanded. Hesitantly the younger female obeyed, slowly lifting her gaze to meet her sister's dark brown eyes. "Good. Now sit down. We have something we need to discuss." With a small sigh of her own, Aoi slid into the chair opposite Kin.

"Aoi," the blond haired shinobi began, "you've been a shinobi now for almost a year, and yet your mission failures still far outweigh your successes. Why is that?" her voice was firm and cool, as though she were interrogating a prisoner. Aoi shrugged self consciously.

"I... I don't know," she muttered.

"Aoi! Do not lie to me. You must have at least some inclination," Kin growled, causing Aoi to bite her lip nervously and drop her head forward so that her pale blue bangs hid her now teary eyes. She hated this. Failing Kin the way she did so often. She knew that her shortcomings reflected badly upon her genius of a sister and she hated herself for it, but no matter how hard she tried she could not seem to make things right.

Kin sighed and leaned back in her chair, noting her younger sister's distress.

"Aoi," she said again, this time in a much gentler tone. Slowly her sister lifted her head, allowing her moist aqua eyes to meet with Kin's dark ones. "I have watched you train countless times. You have spectacular reflexes, chakra control that shinobi twice your age would envy, high intelligence and excellent stealth. Yet somehow you fail to master even some of the simplest offensive jutsu's and fail your missions time and time again. Why?" Lowering her head once more Aoi mumbled something under her breath.

"What was that?" Kin asked sharply. Clearing her throat, Aoi repeated herself;

"I don't like hurting people," she whispered. Closing her eyes Kin sighed, tilting her head back and massaging her temples. She had always worried about this. The gentleness of her sister's nature, her aversion to causing others pain, even at her own expense. Kin had hoped that it would fade, given enough time, that she would become desensitized to it. But deep down she had known that it would not. It just wasn't in Aoi's nature to cause others harm.

"Tell me Aoi, do you even want to be a shinobi?" The blunette looked up, startled.

"O-of course!" she spluttered. Kin opened an eye and lazily regarded her sister.

"Why? A shinobi's job is to hurt people. By your own admission, that is something you cannot bring yourself to do. So why do you want to be a shinobi?" The question was followed by a few minutes of silence. When Aoi finally answered her face shone with a determination that Kin had rarely ever seen in it.

"You're wrong," Aoi said softly, her still damp gaze meeting Kin's firmly. Kin raised an eyebrow at this. Aoi was actually standing up to her? This was new. "It is not a ninja's job to hurt people, although that is sometimes an unfortunate necessity. It is a ninja's job to protect people. That is why I want to be a shinobi. I want to help those that need it."

Kin sat forward in her chair, steeping her fingers and regarding the blue haired girl before her.

"Alright Aoi, if that's truly how you feel then I think I may have a solution to this little problem of ours." Aoi's wide teal eyes met Kin's hopefully. "Although I warn you now, it will take a lot of hard work and dedication and even then there is a chance that you will still fail to become a decent shinobi." The child leaned forward, closer to her sister, her eagerness clear on her face.

"Please Nii-san, I'll do whatever it takes!" Slowly Kin nodded.

"Very well. Tell me do you remember my former teammate Tomasu?" Blinking in confusion Aoi nodded. "Well as you may be aware he is currently our head medical-nin. Now as it happens, he still owes me a favor or two from our team days. I can ask him to train you as a medic if you like." Slowly Aoi's face broke out into a radiant smile.

"Yes Nii-san, I would like that very much!" she said eyes dancing with delight. Finally, a way that she could really help her friends and peers without hurting anyone! Kin gave her a small affectionate smile.

"Very well then, I shall speak to him immediately," she said as she made to stand. However as she rose her eyes fell on the tangled pile of blankets. Frowning slightly she reached out to pick it up, only to have it give an indignant squeak and flail out of her grasp. Raising an eyebrow she turned to her sister for an explanation. Aoi's eyes widened.

"Oh! Toshi! I'm sorry I forgot all about you!" she exclaimed as she quickly gathered the bundle into her arms, peeling back the blankets to reveal a miniature, very fluffy ferret. The small animal blinked its large black eyes several times at the sudden light, before turning to Kin and chattering angrily at her. Aoi chuckled at the animal's behavior.

"Aoi... why do you have a ferret in our house?" Kin asked. Aoi smiled at her older sister.

"I found him on the mission," she explained, "his mother was killed by a fox and he was all alone... I couldn't just leave him there!" Kin sighed and shook her head. That was another thing she would never understand. Aoi's love of animals.

'Although to be fair that's probably to do with Aoi's Kekkei genkai' Kin reminded herself. Although they both shared the same mother, Aoi had a different father, and it was from him that Aoi had inherited the strange bond that she had with animals. Or at least that was their mother's explanation. Never having met Aoi's father Kin couldn't be sure. Still odd though it was, Kin couldn't deny that it was useful. They were possibly the only house hold in all of Suna that did not have to worry about snakes and scorpions invading their home. Aoi simply asked them not to.

Aoi's stifled giggle brought Kin back to the present. She eyed the noisy ferret warily.

"What's he saying?" she asked. Aoi glanced at her older sister, tying her best to control her laughter.

"You don't want to know," she told the older woman gravely, cuddling the cheeky little ferret to her chest to stem the flow of insults that he was directing to the blonde. Kin shook her head.

"Fine, whatever. Just don't let it bother me and I don't care what you do with it. Now I'm off to talk to Tomasu," she muttered as she turned and walked out of the room.

Aoi smiled to herself as she watched her sister leave. This was it. Her last chance to make her elder sister proud of her, to stop being an embarrassment once and for all. 'From now on,' she promised herself, 'I'll do whatever it takes to be the best medical-ninja Suna has ever seen.'

Please review, constructive criticisms are especially welcome.

Thanks for reading!

Friglit