The harsh snow of the winter months in the village hidden in the mists stabbed his skin with a piercing cold, but all he could do was shiver and twitch, hugging his arms closely in an attempt for warmth. His tattered clothes did little to help protect him; the only part that probably helped was the fact that he wore a black long sleeve beneath a white t-shirt that was filled with as many holes as a brick of swiss cheese. No shoes covered his gnarled feet, his little toe on the left foot missing from frost bite.

No one offered him shelter. No one offered him food, as he was clearly malnourished. His ragged white hair matched the flakes of snow, never cut in years and only held up by the blind fold that covered his eyes. Onlookers wondered how he could keep walking and not bump into anything or louse his direction. But they didn't bother to help him. No one ever did. Just because you were young and helpless didn't mean sympathy came easily as in fairy tales. Nobody cared enough.

"Seshiro?"

The young boy tilted his head up slightly to hear his name.

"Seshiro!" Arms wrapped themselves him, giving him goose bumps as the warmth met with the cold. "You must be freezing! Come on, follow me," the familiar female voice told him.

Seshiro shuddered, making the metal leash clink beneath his shirts.

"I don't wanna go back" he mumbled, his voice barely audible. "I'm done with homes and orphanages…"

"I'm not taking you back there," the girl replied quickly with a tone of spite in her voice. "We burned that place down a long time ago."

"Wait…" Seshiro said, stopping in mid-step. The girl stopped with him, her hands still on his back and holding onto his arm. Seshiro lifted his left, slowly feeling over her face and hair with his fingers. A girl with a thin face and blonde braided hair curling over a bandana came to his minds eye, and he smiled.

"Nata…I missed you."

Nata gave a warm smile before she gave him a gentle push to get him to start walking again.

"When did you burn that place?" Seshiro asked, carrying on with the previous subject.

"Not long after you left…maybe three months," Nata answered non shalant. "A new headmaster was hired. He was cruel…"

Seshiro chuckled "So was that woman before him…" he said almost with a mark of amusement.

"He was worse…" Nata replied darkly. "I'd show you my scars if you didn't need your blindfold on all the time."

"If I touch'm, I could see them," Seshiro told her. "but my hands are too numb for that.."

"Were almost there," Nata assured him.

With that, they walked the rest of the way in silence. Seshiro thought back to the old days at the orphanage. Headmistress Inga…A hardened and cruel elderly woman that would hit you over the head with her cane at the smallest mistakes. She was prejudiced against all of them, but then again, a lot of people were. All of them were victims of the Keke Genkai civil war that broke out all those years ago, left parentless and rejected with powers beyond imagination carried down by generations of families, only to be left to the last of there clans children.

Secretly, Seshiro had been taught since the day he could walk the ways of the ninja, which was the only way to keep the curse his family carried inside him truly under control. At the orphanage, Seshiro had trained many of them how to fight under the ninja principal, each gaining there own unique translation of the martial art. When the headmistress found out, he was harshly punished by her tenants. There were still a few deep red scars from the whip. But she got it in the end. Seshiro made his grand plan of escape, and his friends ended up killing the old bitch and still managed to make it look as if it was an accident.

"Were here," he heard Nata say, bringing him back the present. They were back down by the docks, heading down a set of steps beneath a long row of patched roofing consinting of tarp, old pieces of clothing and other pieces of cloth sewn together for weather proofing. It would have been a childs favorite place to play fort. A pile of rocks blocked the entrance with a young boy of eleven sitting on it as a guard. He too had a bandana, but his hair was spiked and cut short. He spat to the side as they approached, narrowing his eyes at Seshiro.

"Who the hell is this?" he asked with a froggy voice. "I keep telling you, we can't add new members!!"

"Shut your mouth Seichi," Nata snapped. "this happens to be an old friend of ours, who could easily kick your ass. Let us through."

Seichi glared at her, but with one last narrowed glance at Seshiro, he titled his head, gesturing for them to enter. Seshiro could sense Chakra eminating from Seichi, but it slowly faded after the boy had tilted his head and he climbed over the barrier with Nata's help.

"don't worry about him" Nata spat, taking his hand. "He came a little after you left, but he makes a great chakra wall that holds off anyone trying to destroy our home"

Hearing her voice bounce off the walls, Seshiro could see that beneath the long thatch roof, the friends from his childhood had made a makeshift home out of the walls on the right of the dock, blasting out large caves in the brick filled with hammocks and mats made from tattered and ripped pieces of clothing, quilts and other items they seemed to have taken from the dump. At the end of the long pathway there was a few barrels filled with dusty used coal and dead burned wood, a grill made of melded metal rods placed atop for cooking. At the moment, there was probably four people in this improvised home, but counting the beds, there was a total of six.

A young blonde boy standing beyond the barrels at the end of the tunnel was staring intensely at the waters with a long spear raisied in his hand, ready to strike.

"Takumi!" Nata called to him, but he suddenly twitched and threw the spear hard into the water before looking over his shoulder curiously. "Look whose come back!"

Takumi green eyes lit up with joy as he turned around and bound over to them. "Seshiro!" he cried, patting his old friends back, getting one in return as Seshiro smiled.

"Hey," he greeted, smiling. Takumi was small, and always had been. He was short, wiry, and living on the streets seemed to make him even smaller. His hair had almost grown to Seshiro's length, and looked just as rough and unkempt.

"Is Kiana here?" Seshiro asked, looking around.

"She's out with Satoshi," Takumi replied, "she'll be so happy to see you!"

Seshiro smiled a little, reaching out to hug Takumi. To be around old friends gave him an uplifting feeling that he hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe it was because they all respected him as a sensei, or maybe it was just friends were the best thing to have.

"Whats up with everyone wearing bandanas?" he asked, seeing Takumi was wearing one too.

"There no ninja headbands," Takumi replied, reaching up to straighten his out. "But they mark all of us as members of the Genkai elite."

"Genkai elite?" Seshiro chuckled with a smile. "Watch who you say that too, they'll try and kill you."

"We only say that to each other," Nata rebukes him. "You think we've become dummer since you left?" she added jokingly.

"Its possible…" Seshiro answered with a sly grin.

"Is that Seshiro I see?"

Down at the other end, Satoshi and Kiana appeared with wide happy smiles as Seshiro turned around to greet them, getting glomped by Kiana almost immediately.

"SESHIRO!" She squeaked excitedly, squeezing him tight as he stumbled back before stepping away. In that moment of contact, Seshiro was reminded of her attractive body and good looks. She had a sharp face, with eyes that pierced like knives if you were on the receiving end of her glare, one that would paralyze you if she chose to do so. Her raven black hair was tied into a tight pony tail that trailed all the way down her back and stopping just above her legs. She wore a simple vest that barely contained her rather well developed breasts, and short shorts only added to the temptations of her body, showing off her slender legs. She wore gloves on both hands, hiding scars from there training of her keke genkai.

Satoshi smiled behind her, waiting for his turn to greet his old friend. His hair was short frazzles of dark brown, matching his eyes. He had the kindest face ever, with brawn to match. He was probably the tallest of the group, wearing a dark blue shirt with the sleeves torn off to show off his bulgy biceps, his jeans the same color with a hole at the knee.

"You bastard, your supposed to send me a letter when you were coming back," Satoshi said teasingly as Seshiro was lead by Kiana over to him.

"When did I ever say that?" Seshiro asked, grinning back. "Its good to see you old friend."

"Like wise," Satoshi agreed, taking Seshiros hand in his and clapping an arm over his back.

"Lots have changed since you left," Satoshi told him as they parted. "We live on our own now."

"I noticed," Seshiro replied, tilting his head a bit. "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course you can join us!" Kiana answered before Satoshi could say the same. "We steal more food then we need anyway."

"And you can take over as leader," Satoshi said with confidence. "We need some one with more confidence."

"psh," Seshiro grunted. "You sure that would settle nicely with the other two you got here?"

"Who? Seichi an Aika? Nah, they wont question it." Satoshi assured him.

"Whats your keke genkai?" The voice of Seichi asked behind Satoshi, the teen looking a little miffed at the change.

"Shut up Seichi, he doesn't need to show you," Kiana spat.

"He's blind too, what use would he be?" Seichi continued despite the glares he was receiving.

"I'll show you," Seshiro said calmly. He tilted up his head to reveal the black collar clasped around his neck, and he pulled up on the chain attached to the side, the excess lifting out of his pocket until he pulled it out of his shirts and handed the end to Kiana.

Satoshi gave a small grin. It was rare to see this, and everytime Seshiro showed his curse, it seemed to bring him automatic respect and awe.

Seshiro's other hand went up to his blindfold, and slowly pulled down, making sure he would open his eyes to glare at Seichi.

The boys reaction was like all the others. His eyes went wide in amazement as two floppy pointed dog ears appeared in his hair, and his pale snow white iris' stared out at him with animalic ferocity.

"if Kiana didn't hold the leash, he'd probably rip you into pieces" Nata told him, hearing Seshiro growl.

Satoshi smiled as Seichi took a slight step back in fear, and stepped beside Seshiro and replaced the blindfold over Seshiro's eyes. The dog ears shrank back, and Kiana let go of the leash before Seshiro tucked it back under his shirts and into his pocket.