DISCLAIMER: I do not own any rights to the world of Naruto or anything else in the least bit profitable. You should know I'm not making money off of this because if I was I would be charging you to read this, and it would be much better written. Any questions or comments concerning the legality of this work of fanfiction should be submitted to the author's e-mail address.

AUTHOR'S NOTE / INTRODUCTION: Ever wonder why in Naruto all of the main characters are in their early teens and the next oldest character is like 23? I've always wondered why there are no characters in this fairly large gap. While I was pondering this, I began daydreaming and started coming up with these characters and their personalities, their appearances and more. As time went on, I really began to get attached to these characters that I had created so I decided to tell their story. You might be surprised at how things might turn out with all of these new characters thrown into the mix. Keep in mind that this is my attempt to create a very realistic world. Character's will die, personalities will change, and relationships will grow. My character's are not children, and this is not a children's story. This story will contain graphic violence, foul language, sex, drugs, and rock and roll. (Okay, so maybe not that last part, but you get the idea, right?). I've also always thought the idea of twelve year olds acting as assassins and soldiers was a bit absurd, so the character's you all know and love are 15-16 years old at the beginning of the story. Also keep in mind this story is based off of the manga up to the current Japanese release. You should probably guess that this story might contain considerable spoilers for anyone who isn't up to date with the manga storyline.

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Please take the time to read my attempt in telling a tale of a group of people, the Forgotten Generation, and how they changed everything. It isn't anywhere near perfect (in fact, I'll probably rewrite some of it later) but I think you'll enjoy it. And before you say anything, keep in mind this is the prologue, the main story starts in chapter 1, so read and review so I'll get off my butt and write more. :)

NARUTO: FORGOTTEN GENERATION

By Snake89

PROLOGUE

Her many years training told her what would come next. All female shinobi from the leaf were taught what happened to captured kunoichi at the academy.

She just didn't want to believe it.

There was no way out and she knew it, having tried to escape from the bonds that held her for nearly a half hour, although she had no idea now long she had been in the dimly lit cell. For all she knew she had been in that slightly damp room for five minutes or five days. She only knew two things for sure: she hurt like hell all over and she wasn't supposed to be there.

Nothing could really prepare a person, especially at the age of fifteen, for what had happened, and most definitely not for what could...would, she mentally corrected herself, happen. She remembered wanting to become a ninja from a very early age and the goal gave a sense pride and honor to the orphaned girl. This was certainly not how she had hoped everything would turn out - tied up and badly beaten. The metallic taste of her own blood was in her mouth, yet her mouth felt dry.

When she had woken up, she had been suddenly hit with a wave of emotions. She had never liked waking up in a alien place. Thinking back, she could remember the first time she had gone on a mission as a shinobi only three weeks ago. This mission was only her second outside of the village and her fifth mission in general. She hardly even knew her fellow teammates or her jonin sensei, having only met her instructor a month and a half ago. On her first such mission outside of Konoha she had awoken in the early hours of the morning so see the mass of forest around her which made up most of The Land of Fire, nearly screaming due to her unfamiliar surroundings. Only through her sensei's quick thinking did he run and put his hand over her mouth before she could scream, although in the excitement the hyperactive man nearly screamed himself. Under different circumstances she would have smiled or laughed at the thought, but now it was merely just another thought in her aching head. Sensei and student had talked about it later and he told her it was common for beginning ninja, and she also remember him attributing it to her youth or something like that. Her thoughts made her wish her sensei was here to save her. She knew something must have happened to the highly competent ninja (although most people failed to realize it about the man) because his loyalty to his teammates was very strong, even after so short a time, he would have risked life and limb to save any of them. She just hoped he was doing better than she was right now...

...Gai-sensei...

That brought Tenten out of her thoughts and back into her present situation. She was beginning to become more and more aware of her condition and her surroundings, first noticing the cut somewhere above her right eye which bled into her eye, making it even harder to see at all since her left eye bruised and nearly swollen shut. As she tried to move her legs (only her hands and feet were bound) she experienced a sharp jolt of pain sear through her right leg. 'Shit,' she thought, 'there goes any chance of escape.' The young shinobi knew that she was in no shape to make any sort of escape attempt, as she probably at least had a cracked rib or two judging from the ever present pain in her torso, not to mention the many other pains she could feel all throughout her body, probably nothing very serious though, just cuts and bruises.

She briefly took the time to look at her surrounds. The entire structure she was in seemed to be made out of concrete, and the absence of any sort of natural light and the cold, damp air signified that she was probably underground in a bunker of some sort. It's not really surprising how many of these structures were left abandoned after one of the great shinobi wars. After all, there are only so many nin to do the many jobs at hand, let alone guarding some old bunker, a reminder of a bygone era. The only objects in her small cell that she could see was a bucket in the corner and the metal door on the far wall.

A sound caught the semi-conscious shinobi's attention. She could hear what sounded like a mix of laughing and cursing echoing from the hall outside her cell door. The noise died down for only for what seemed like an instant, and it was replaced with the sound of distant footsteps coming her way. Fear began to take hold of the wounded girl, her heart pounding in her breast. Memories of the time when the kunoichi teacher at the academy, Suzume, told them about what could happen in this very situation terrified her. She was even younger then, only thirteen, working on her second year at the academy. She remembered some of the girls later even joking about what they had been told.

This was certainly no laughing matter.

The young girls had been told that if they were ever captured by an enemy there was a good chance they would be raped. This had been one of the main arguments that some had used in the not so distant past to prevent kunoichi from participating in dangerous missions outside the village walls. She knew the consequence for being captured, just as they all did. It was just part of the risk they all had to take.

The footsteps were getting closer now. The thought of committing suicide flashed through her mind; swallowing her tongue perhaps. But she knew that it was too late now, the footsteps were nearing the door, and when her captor opened the door he would realize what she was trying to do and stop her. She could hear the sound of keys rattling on a keyring from the other side of the door, and the sound abruptly stopping as the correct key was found and inserted into the lock. The door opened, revealing a large, sinister looking man with scares, new and old, running down nearly every inch of exposed flesh. Their eyes met; she could see the hunger and lust in his eyes.

"Looks like lady luck has been kind to me today...," he said, bringing some light to the laughter and cursing she had heard just moments before. "...I was too busy taking care of those other fools before to get a good look at you."

It seemed that they had had some sort of a contest to determine who got the first go. Bastards.

That last comment forced her previous worries about her teammates to the surface again, now fearing the worst. The man moved, forcing her her wondering mind back into the present. She could see the what lay beyond her cell: a hallway, extending about twenty meters straight ahead and then making a sharp turn to the right, leading off into the unknown.. The beast of a man began to walk toward her, the lust in his eyes even more apparent than before. She had no idea what to do. She tried to scream, but her throat was suddenly too dry for to make a sound.

"We're gonna' get to know each other, you and I...," his voice trailing off as his hand laid on his belt, "...real well." His hand, the other being busy with his belt, reached down to the bound girl and took hold of one of her young breasts, groping it tightly.

'Oh Gods, he's actually going to do it!', her mind screamed as she tried to resist as best she could, considering her condition, 'Somebody help me!!!. Tears that had been kept at bay began to flow freely now; her fate sealed. She wanted to scream out for help, but all she could do was open her mouth and let out a pitiful whimper.

The man's eyes widened, an evil grin on his face. "You want it in the mouth, eh? Well, only 'cause you asked..." He reached for his zipper, his already hard member pushing against the fabric of his pants, when suddenly...

BOOM!

The walls surrounding her shook slightly; a small layer of dust and earth came falling from the ceiling.

"What the fuck was that?!" her captor yelled, his head turned toward the open door, listening intently.

BOOM!

The second blast was much closer this time, only coming ten or fifteen seconds after the first. A cloud of smoke rolled into the hallway from the right. She could distantly hear several voices crying out, no doubt because they were injured to be what appeared to be an explosion of some sort. The cries of pain however were quickly mixed with shouts quickly followed by the sounds of combat. After a tense moment of both captive and captor looking and listening intently, three men ran through the dust and smoke cloud at the end of the hall, one badly bleeding from a deep wound in his side. By their appearance they looked to be missing nin - their forehead protectors having deep gashes where their hidden village's symbol used to be displayed proudly. Two of the three missing nin had swords drawn, the third (the wounded one) lagging behind, and all three had terrified looks on their faces. The wounded nin was relieved of his burden soon after that thought passed through Tenten head however, as a kunai flew from the smoke, striking the man in the neck, killing him almost instantly, but not fast enough for him not to have his last waking moment be watching blood violently spray from his deadly wound. The dead nin's body crumpled to the ground, a figure nimbly stepping over it.

This new arrival was dressed head to toe in dark blue cloth in the more traditional ninja style of wearing all lightweight cloth. His right hand held the traditional two-handed killing sword, a katana, his left a shuriken. Tenten noticed the forehead protector this nin wore, the leaf of Konoha emblazoned in the center. The Konoha nin wasted no time before attacking the other two missing nin. The shuriken in his left hand was flung skillfully towards the furthest of the two remaining enemies, striking him in the chest causing him to stumble backwards against the wall wounded. As soon as the weapon left his hand, the nin grasped his katana with both hands and struck at the other foe, slashing him deeply across the chest before he could raise his own weapon. The Konoha nin continued the same arcing swipe and violently swung the blade at his other opponent, causing a shallow cut across both of the missing nin's legs. The nin cried out in pain as he tried to block the barrage of swift attacks. The missing nin, finally unable to counter and backed up against the wall, was caught off guard by a second (and much shorter) blade drawn from the Konoha nin's waist which was quickly thrust underneath the armor of his opponent.

By the time the kodachi (short sword) had been drawn, Tenten noticed that her captor's trance had been broken, and the powerful man lunged toward her comrade, kunai in hand. Unfortunately, the Konoha nin didn't have enough time to retaliate, only enough to shift his position to minimalize the chance of a fatal wound. Tenten winced as she saw the blurry image of her savior being stabbed in the left side of his torso with at least two inches of the weapon managing to find its mark. What her captor failed to realize until it was too late was that this provided an opportunity for the Konoha nin to attack him: the nin taking the opportunity to swiftly counter by grabbing the man's armed hand with his left arm and then swiftly with his right punching the scarred man in the nose, causing him to stumble backwards with the kunai still embedded within his opponent.

Tenten was amazed that just when it looked like her captor was going to lunge again, this time with only his bear hands, the Konoha nin almost riped the kunai from his waist and thrust it into the man's shoulder, causing both to grunt in extreme pain. Her captor quickly tried to grab the blade and push it away from himself and to avoid his opponent inflicting a mortal wound upon him. The two nin fought each other, both using all of their strength to push against the blade. After just a few seconds Tenten could see the Konoha nin had a slight advantage; her captor 's face was covered in blood from his broken nose and his shoulder wound almost completely disabled one of his arms. Her captor was soon forced to kneel to avoid the blade from sinking any deeper. Tenten knew it was only a matter of time before her captor was going to be overpowered; sweat was mixing with the blood and his arms began to shake with the strain. Finally, her captor used all of his remaining strength to push with all his might and at the same time letting out a terrible war cry.

Tenten had never seen people being killed like this before. Even though she was training to become nin of the Hidden Leaf, she knew that killing was a very serious and terrible thing. Yet as she watched her captor, who had just moments ago tried to have his way with her, she felt...something. Was it pleasure? Was it happiness at watching a man who was brutal and deserved his fate of being stabbed to death right in front of his victim that he could never have like he had with so many before her? Was it waves of terror every time she saw one of the missing nin had tried to kill the Konoha nin? She couldn't say...

The scarred man fell to the ground to join the three other bodies strewn across the floor. Her gaze drifted back to the only person standing. She immediately noticed that he was holding his side where blood slowly soaked the surrounding cloth, and that his breathing was somewhat shallow - although she suspected that it was less from the wound and more from the following struggle with her captor.

Tenten's eyes suddenly widened as she realized that from the moment that she heard the explosion to the time that all of the missing nin had been killed, including her captor, no more than thirty seconds had passed. 'Is this what real battle is like?' she thought to herself. 'How many people were killed in that short amount of time?' What she had seen before her was not a match between two almost evenly matched nin in a training match like she was accustomed to at the academy. The Konoha nin had overpowered at least four nin by himself, three of whom were wearing flack jackets, while he only wore a traditional ninja outfit with a katana and matching kodachi held by a simple sash worn around the waist.

He had won with his skill alone.

Not with the newest equipment.

Not by having a numerical advantage over his opponents.

Just skill.

That was the kind of ninja she wished to be.

After resting only a moment, the Konoha nin walked to her, quickly looking her over for any severe wounds. Finding none, he removed a kunai from his sleeve and began to cut her loose. As soon as she was free he gave her his hand and tried to get her to stand up. After he helped her stand (despite the broken bones) she tried to find some words of thanks the only thing her dry throat would let out was a pained, "arigatō."

His only response was a nod and brief squeeze of the hand that lay her shoulder.

However, just as it seemed to all be over, she could hear footsteps once again running toward them.

"Shit."

She barely heard the Konoha nin mumble the word; the fabric covering his face didn't help ether. From the sound of it he had a rather fitting deep voice. The man was around six feet tall, yet he looked like he had the body of a swimmer: lean, yet still well toned. 'He certainly has the look of a ninja,' she thought.

Two more missing nin stumbled into the hallway, both with several fresh cuts and bruises on them and covered in what looked like earth and bits of concrete. It seemed that her rescuer had planted explosive tags to trap/kill as many of his opponents as he could by having the underground passage collapse at strategic points. By his reaction to seeing the two free it would seem that he had either misjudged how long they would stay trapped or how much it would take to kill them

Either way, it wasn't looking good.

Her rescuer had only one kunai left; his swords lying too far away to grab. Not only that, the two missing nin seemed to have an abnormal amount of scrolls and pouches on them. By her observation it would seem that the two were ninjutsu users, and powerful ones at that. After all, they did manage to survive the explosion and subsequent chance of being crushed under the weight of the falling concrete above them without too much damage.

"There's the bastard now!" the first yelled.

"We got 'em!"

One of the ninjutsu users quickly stepped forward and began making hand seals. The leaf nin watched the nin's hands intently for about a second. His eyes widened once he recognized the jutsu that was about to be used. The leaf nin turned to Tenten and much to Tenten's surprise, spoke quickly.

"Stand in front of me."

At first Tenten was in shock at the request. Why the hell would he want her to do that? Was he really asking her to be his shield? But then she noticed something. She looked into the man's barely exposed eyes. Although she could not see his entire face, she knew a reassuring smile was on the other side of the cloth mask. His smiling brown eyes, much like hers, gave her confidence as if the Hokage had just asked her to personally carry out a task. He had only looked at her for a second yet she could tell those eyes radiated a confidence that generals strove after and soldiers admired.

Her broken body moved as quickly as she could and she suddenly found herself standing in front of her rescuer. As soon as she had begun to move the leaf nin quickly turned his gaze back to the missing nin and he also began to make hand seals at an astonishing rate, at least for the E-rank kunoichi that stood before him. The missing nin however finished making the seals first and placed his hand in front of his

mouth forming a circle with his thumb and forefinger as he yelled, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique ). The nin deeply breathed in and released an enormous wall of fire toward the two Konohagakure residents.

Tenten gasped as she stared down death itself. 'Looks like I'm done for...'

"Doton: Doryūheki!" (Earth Release: Earth Style Wall)

A stream of mud came over Tenten's shoulder from behind and hit the ground in front of her. The mud quickly began to form a barrier, but not fast enough. Before the jutsu could be completed, the leaf nin grabbed Tenten and threw her and himself to the ground. Tenten felt her face being pushed into the soft mud and a weight on top of her pressing her down just as the wall of flame hit. Suddenly the room felt like an oven as the flame exploded into small cell. Tenten could feel the contrast between the warm mud of the unfinished jutsu and the scorching heat behind her. She wanted to scream in pain but her lungs were already screaming for air, and breathing wasn't an option.

Almost as abruptly as the flame had come, it stopped. The missing nin who cast the jutsu was breathing heavily, his hand still in front of his mouth. The second nin had a smug look on his face. "Well, if the flames didn't get 'em, the asphyxiation did. Heh, like that pissant wall could stop my jutsu." It was a basic piece of knowledge concerning fire element jutsu that asphyxia was a danger to both unskilled user and target. In confined spaces, large flame attacks had the nasty habit of also sucking all of the oxygen out of a room, or in many cases, out of a person's lungs.

Tenten thought she was either dying or dead with her only bit of relief being the weight that had been pressing on her back was rolling off of her. A shaking hand grabbed her hair from behind and pulled her head out the muck. She managed to move one of her burnt arms and used her hand to wipe some of the mud away from her face so she could breathe once again. She slowly rolled over and stared up at the sealing of her cell, or what she had until recently considered as her grave, panting as quietly as she could. As she wiped some of the mud from her nose, a foul smell hit her. Not only was there the obvious stench something that had been burnt, but also the unmistakable smell of burnt hair and flesh. She turned her aching neck to her right as she saw the leaf nin, or what was left of him. Most of the cloth that had been covering his back had been burnt away, the flesh underneath having varying degree's of burns, ranging from red and white blisters to burnt and bleeding skin. By the look of it, mostly the second degree burns were relegated to the back of his calves and his lower back. The nin let out a dull moan and rolled over onto some of the mud from the incomplete barrier, the wound in his side still bleeding quite a bit.

Tenten could barely believe that he was alive, let alone what he did next. He slowly rolled over again, albeit a bit faster than before, and pulled out his remaining kunai. He glanced over to Tenten and could almost see his relief. Tenten knew what that weight was before – it was the nin throwing himself on top of her, shielding her from the flames. The nin had realized that he couldn't form a barrier sufficient enough to block the flames in what time he had from entering the small room, so he did what he could and had her be closest to the barrier so she would receive less harm. The realization that if he had not had her get in front of him she very easily could have been killed, and he would not have been nearly as badly injured. He motioned to her, bringing her out of her thoughts. She slowly crawled to him, trying not to make a sound. The nin pointed at her and then to his back. 'He wants me to climb up on his back?! In that kind of condition?' She didn't have to be a medic nin to realize the severity of third degree burns.

As she neared him she noticed that he had used the mud as a sort of bandage to both protect the wound as well as slow the bleeding. They certainly hadn't taught this sort of thing in her survival class at the academy. She was going to have to remember that if she made it out of here alive. As she was carefully getting on the nin's back, she could hear the two missing nin argue with one another. By the sound of it, it would seem the two were fighting about whether they should stay and try to help their comrades, or escape in the event more Konoha nin came.

Gently, she wrapped her arms around the nin's neck, trying to avoid the burns on his shoulders as best as she could. As she did this, the nin grunted in pain, nearly crying out. When she was done, he expertly placed the kunai's handle on his palm parallel to his fingers, and placed his thumb over the handle to hold it. He placed it in front of his face, ready to throw in a backhand motion. Tenten could feel the nin breathe in deeply, calming himself for what he was going to do next.

'I sure hope he can do this...'

As the thought crossed through her head she became somewhat afraid of what was going to happen next. Then an image came from the back of her mind. Smiling, confident eyes.

She knew that if she was going to make it out of here alive, that this man could do it. This man had risked his life many times and fought against seemingly insurmountable odds. She knew that many people would have given up at this point, especially considering his wounds. It would have been easier to wait and send for help rather then bite the bullet and do the job yourself. Although she did not know his name or what he looked like, she felt like she knew him. He was someone who stood up for those who couldn't help themselves. Someone who could laugh at the impossible and devote themselves to completing the task.

Someone who represents very thing I want to be.

Tenten quietly tightened her grip and nodded, trying to not think about the pain she was causing or the pain of her burned and broken body. For the second time the young kunoichi whispered, "arigatō."

The two missing nin were still arguing about what to do next, both on the brink of ignoring the other and doing as they pleased. The argument however came to an abrupt ending when one of the missing nin heard the sound of something to his right. Before he could turn, he felt something strike his head and he began to fall. His vision quickly began to blur as he crumpled to the ground, never knowing what had hit him.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

His partner heard the same noise, coming from his left, the direction of the charred cell. His eyes widened as a kunai embedded itself several inches into his partner's temple. The missing nin didn't bother to watch the body fall. He had been in combat long enough to know the man was already dead. His head spun in the direction of the throw, and he instinctively began making hand seals. His mind immediately began racing to make the hand seals for the correct jutsu.

The Konoha nin had thrown the kunai as soon as he stood and then jumped over the remainder of the now disintegrating and blackened barrier, which still had steam rising off of it. This acted as somewhat of an obstruction of the view of the two Konohagakure residents, which suited both of them just fine. Once the Konoha nin's feet touched the ground he broke out into a full run, deftly picking up his discarded katana as he ran past.

The terrified missing nin was trying to finish the hand seals as quickly as he could. One part of his mind was telling him that he had to finish the seals or he was a dead man. The more rational part of his mind was screaming that he didn't have enough time. Once he realized this it was too late. The missing nin quickly turned away...

...but was impaled by the katana before he could begin to run.

Tenten watched in amazement as watched the injured nin somehow manage to not only run in his injured state, but to also bend over and pick up the sword with his right hand while keeping her from falling with his left, all without slowing down in the slightest. The kunoichi saw the fear in the eyes of the one remaining ninjutsu specialist as he franticly tried to release the jutsu. As he turned to run away, he was killed by the Konoha nin who drove the blade into his chest and ran past, leaving the katana protruding from the man. He never stopped running once.

As the Konoha nin ran through the halls of the underground building, Tenten saw what destruction had been wrought on the structure and its inhabitants. Tenten noted that they passed no fewer then seven bodies that had been killed in a fight and two had been crushed by falling debris. To a normal person, the gore would have been horrifying. Several of the bodies had been killed with explosive tags - those were the worst look at. Others had been either killed without knowing what was going on until it was too late or had died in some sort of close quarters combat. Combat had been quick and frantic, and these missing nin were clearly not prepared for that kind of action. From what Tenten had learned through her various bits of training, she knew that most of the participants of the battle were of low level, most likely lying in the D-rank category. However, she recognized the power of several of the nin she had seen fighting. She had surmised that most likely the scarred nin was a C-rank opponent as well as the two ninjutsu specialists could be of an even higher power, considering the damage one had done with a C-rank jutsu (Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu).

The young kunoichi was brought out of her thoughts once again as they turned around a corner. Just ahead was the light of the sun streaming through what looked like the smoldering remains of the entrance. She had never been so excited to see the sun in her entire life.

She ignored the slight cave in in the middle of the hall leading toward the light as her thoughts drifted to the fact that her freedom was a matter of seconds away. However, she soon realized that the one of the important lessons that she would learn that day would be that one should never let their guard down until the mission is one hundred percent complete.

As the pair passed the collapsed section, both noticed that not only was there still something behind the pile of rubble, but that something was almost free and most likely weren't too happy that they had been outsmarted and many of their comrades killed by a single Konoha nin.

At first, Tenten had thought that the Konoha nin had not noticed until his pace somehow quickened. Just as the pair burst into the outside, a large slab of the fallen concrete was pushed out of the way, revealing three very angry nin. They immediately began investigating the sounds of footsteps that had quickly passed by just seconds ago. However they didn't have to look very far, as even some of the most inexperienced nin could probably track a burnt and badly wounded nin carrying a wounded girl on his back.

Tenten immediately immersed herself in her surroundings, following the advise that her sensei had taught her team the very first time they had left the village on a mission. She glanced upwards – the sky was getting cloudy and was darkening by the second. The smell of rain was hanging on the cool breeze, mixing with the smell of the forest around them as well as the slight yet ever present burnt smell, which was most likely her rescuers hair (or what was left of it). With each passing second she was amazed at her rescuers endurance and stamina. She knew many people who would have given up long ago, but he continued forward, injuries seeming to hardly slow his pace. As soon as he entered the mass of trees, he nimbly ran between them, never running in anything resembling a straight line. At first Tenten thought the action was more of a desperate measure rather than a sound strategy until a kunai whistled past her right ear and firmly embedded itself into a nearby tree, nearly causing her to scream.

'Get a grip Tenten, you just escaped from what you thought was your grave. Don't flip out over some poorly thrown kunai,' she thought to herself. 'The hard part is already over-'

She tensed as she realized, 'the hard part was over as soon as he arrived...'

With that thought, she allowed herself a small smile. To any observer, it would have been quite a strange sight – a more than slightly crispy nin running through the forest as fast as his legs would carry him with a bleeding and broken young smiling kunoichi on his back. Somehow she felt as if this man could achieve the impossible or would die trying. How many men throughout her life would have given up long ago, let alone come in the first place? For an instant her mind wondered back to her time at the orphanage, then just as quickly ignored the fowl memories.

'Those bastards definitely wouldn't do that for me...' she bitterly thought, the smile now a slight frown. As much as she tried not to think of her time at the local orphanage, there were just too many strong feelings and memories having to do with her stay there; her entire childhood, really.

Only a few years ago when she was enrolled in the ninja academy did she have the chance to live on her own. With that thought a small bit of the previous smile returned at the memory of how she came to live on her own. The young kunoichi had just enrolled at the academy at the minimum age for new recruits, twelve, when she moved out of the orphanage to live for a short time in the Konohagakure shinobi barracks. The barracks was primarily used for shinobi who lived alone and didn't want to bother with an apartment, and was for the most part inhabited with younger male shinobi in their early twenties who had moved to the village from the surrounding countryside. Her short time living in the barracks had been one of her first pleasant memories from her childhood, the first probably being when she discovered she had been accepted to the ninja academy.

Many of shinobi had been surprised to learn that a twelve-year-old kunoichi-in-training was staying with them, but most of them quickly befriended the young girl, particularly the only other kunoichi staying there at the time, a Mitarashi Anko. Tenten learned that for some reason, which she could still only guess, Anko had plenty of experience of living a life of ridicule. She had been the first person Tenten had been able to truly talk to as a friend. Her life changed the day she finally told 'Anko-onee-chan,' as she grew to call her, about how she was treated at the orphanage after she tried to befriend a blond boy a year or two younger than her. She told her that once she had been found trying to just talk to the boy she had been abused by the staff ever sense. She had waited to tell her that particular bit of embarrassing information for almost three months, and was surprised at how angry her 'older sister' had gotten at the news. At first, she thought she was mad at her, but she was proved wrong when the young woman grabbed her wrist and marched (still fuming) to the office of the Sandaime Hokage himself. The young girl had been scarred stiff as she had entered the office of the Hokage. But that feeling soon left as she saw the warmth in his smile and in his eyes as he looked at her. He patiently had stopped what he had been doing to listen to what the young woman had to say. As the story went on, the expression on the Sandaime's face changed from his charming smile to a look of complete and utter furry, or at least the closest thing the kind man was capable of. For some reason, when the conversation turned to the treatment of the young boy, the Sandaime slammed his fist on his desk, killing intent flooding the room from the old man.

She swore she had seen the wood crack a little.

Right there in front of her, the Hokage had made arrangements for her to be rented an apartment for her to live in, as well as the boy. She had been rather surprised when the Hokage had said that the rent money would be drawn from her 'inheritance' until she was able to support herself when she graduated.

Her heart had leapt when he had said 'when' she graduated. He hadn't said 'if she graduates.' He knew that she would graduate, which was no easy task. The dropout rate at the academy was well over 50 almost every year. That man could never know the amount of hope and determination that single word had given her. Tenten knew that one day she would make the old man proud, and she had. On graduation day when her name was called, she caught a quick glance at the Hokage and saw the warm smile on his face, as well as the small wink of approval.

The day after her first meeting with the Sandaime, Tenten moved into a small apartment that had been rented to her. She had been so happy that for the first time in her life she wouldn't have to worry about how she would have to act around the staff of the orphanage.

For the first time in her life she was allowed to be herself.

Those first six months had been hard on Tenten. After all, going from living in a place where everyone told you what to do and what not to do, to suddenly being all on you own would be hard enough for most adults, let alone a twelve-year-old girl. Thankfully though, 'Anko-onee-chan ' always managed to come by every so often and check up on her to see how she was doing.

Tenten smiled as a single tear escaped her eye. She knew if she was going to die then those were the memories she wanted to relive before she died. She could see the Hokage's warm smile...Anko's warm embrace...Gai-sensei's silly grin...and...

...those smiling eyes.

Yes, that memory belonged there as well. They were her important people, whether they knew it or not. The warm, reassuring eyes that she had just seen had given her hope when all seemed lost. Perhaps she was overreacting, but what he did was not in question. That man had shown her the light when all light seemed to have gone out...

...that man? No, it just wasn't fitting of the man. He was a special person...he was...her savior.

With that thought, Tenten got as close to the man as she thought without adding to the pain of his wounds. She rested her head gently against the base of his neck as another tear silently fell onto his skin.

Her savior dodged and weaved once again, trying to dodge a kunai with a exploding tag attached. The throwing weapon exploded harmlessly, although it was rather too close for comfort, creating a small cloud of smoke and debris which the nin used expertly to hide behind one of the larger nearby trees, trying to catch his breath. Tenten noticed that his breathing had become shallow and strained every time it came, which was becoming increasingly more often. Tenten was even more surprised when the silent nin tried to speak.

"Don...Don't cry..." he said, as her face began to redden. She didn't want the man to think of her as weak, and yet silent tears were falling from her eyes. But they weren't tears of sorrow or fear...

...they were tears of happiness.

Once again, his strained speech came again, this time it was barely audible, "...I'll...I'll protect...you..." As he said this, he turned his head to face her, and for the second time that day, Tenten saw those eyes, now full of pain and exertion, but still with the bright flame of hope burning deep within them.

She couldn't help herself – even though her face was swollen and bruised, she smiled at him and tightened her hold around him, giving him a small hug. For the third time that day, she quietly whispered "arigatō." Although she didn't think it possible, she could have sworn she saw the smile widen under the mask.

"SHIT, THERE THEY ARE!"

Needing no encouragement, her savior quickly pushed off of the tree with a newfound energy, and began running through the thick mass of trees once more. All of a sudden, a clap of thunder could be heard from nearby. At first she had thought it was their perusers, but then realized it's true source as it began to rain through the thick tree canopies. Once again the game of cat and mouse began again as if it had never stopped. Yet this time it was somehow different. The three pursuing nin were still managing to take pot shots with various ranged weapons and low level ranged jutsu, but this time Tenten had no fear of being hit. The dense forest itself acted as cover for the two, shielding the escaping nin from potentially deadly attacks as well as served to slow their perusers from the unfamiliar forest similar to the other forests that surrounded Konoha. Yet despite that, the real reason was that she felt invincible at that moment. The man just had that effect on her. He supplied her with a sense of hope and acknowledgment that had been scarce during the young kunoichi's life.

Then, seemingly without any reason, the Konoha nin took a violent right turn as he ducked behind a particularly large tree in an effort to dodge another shuriken. Tenten was surprised at first as thoughts began racing through her throbbing head, 'What the hell?...Wait? Does he know where we are? Maybe he recognized something!'

Tenten was surprised once again when the two emerged into a creek bed, which was slowly filling from the rain. Immediately the Konoha nin turned and began running down the center of the creek, water splashing everywhere. It was that moment that Tenten began to notice that something might be wrong with her companion. She began to notice that his breathing was beginning to become labored and strained, now even more than before, as well as his once nimble footsteps were beginning to become heavy and were increasingly flatfooted. Not only that, but he wasn't even trying to walk on the water as she had seen several nin do in the past. As they continued onward these signs became more and more evident. She tried not to worry though, as it would only serve to make the situation even more frantic, and she was just beginning to calm herself anyway.

It took Tenten several minutes to realize that whatever her savior had done, it must have worked, because the three nin were no longer directly on their backs. Of course, she knew that this was only temporary, but whatever bit of a lead the injured pair could get was a godsend.

It seemed as if the pair ran for several minutes before they left the creek bed and dived through a thick portion of underbrush once again. This time however, the pair emerged onto a dirt road. Tenten recognized it immediately:

It was the road that lead to Konoha.

Now that the pair were out in the open once again, they had no shield against the onslaught of Mother Nature's wrath. The rain seemed like an enormous burden at first, but Tenten found it to be rather refreshing after the time in the dark and dank underground cell. She could feel the southing rain wash away the dried blood and mud from her battered and beaten body. The rain also served to help remove the stench of blood that had been present ever since she had awoken in her cell, replacing it with the sweet smell of rain. Her mind began to wonder again, although she wasn't sure if it was because of the pain or something else, but she began to think of the wonderful time of year. It was nearing the first week in April, and the sakura (cherry blossoms) would soon bloom. It was probably her favorite time of the year – she loved sitting on a certain hill that would overlook a small, yet none the less beautiful, grove of sakura trees.

She was rudely awaken from her thoughts however, when one of the three nin jumped in front of them, katana in hand. The man didn't seem to be very acquainted with the blade, she thought. He was holding the two-handed sword with only hand, and it was being held near the bottom. 'Moron couldn't use a sword to save his live...' she thought as she watched the nin raise the weapon for an attack as his comrades once again began to come from behind.

'We're trapped! Looks like we're going to have to fight this once out...I don't know how, but we have to.'

But, for the seemingly umpteenth time that day, her savior surprised her once again. Instead of stopping and allowing himself to be attacked from all sides, he simply kept running toward the missing nin in front of them. Her eyes widened as she saw the blade begin to arc back down towards them. At what she thought was the last second of their lives, her comrade sidestepped to the right and twisted to try to avoid the blow.

She really thought it was going to work too.

She heard the agonized grunt of her savior as the blade connected with his right shoulder, making a four inch long wound. At first Tenten thought that he was going to fall, but he managed to somewhat regain his balance and continue running straight past one of their adversaries. The three dumbfounded missing nin stopped for just a moment to gape at what they had just seen. They thought they'd got him! However, just after the nin twisted to 'avoid' the sword, Tenten could feel a warmth on her right pant leg. She glanced down and nearly vomited at the sight. A section of her pant leg had been riped away during the escape and her bruised and broken leg was now covered in blood. It took her a moment to realize that the blood was not hers. The deep kunai wound that her companion had received earlier was bleeding much worse than it was before, now agitated by all of the movement. Tenten closed her eyes and wrapped herself closer to the heavily injured man. 'I hope that twist didn't rupture an artery or something...Gods, give him the strength to make it.'

Tenten decided she wouldn't go down without a fight, even if her teammate couldn't make it. 'I shouldn't be thinking like that...he'll make it, I know it!' she scolded herself. 'We're making it out of here...together!'

Tenten, now with a newfound energy, guessed that the trio were out of throwing weapons since the almost nonstop kunai and shuriken throwing back in the woods had stopped completely. She turned her head to see the three missing nin continuing their chase. 'Don't those three ever give up?!'

Her savior continued to run with all of his strength, or at least, what was left of it. Tenten could tell that he wasn't going to last much longer now – he had nearly tripped and fallen several times since their enemies had come to their senses and continued their pursuit. She felt ashamed that she was having to be carried, only making his situation worse. 'Why must I be so weak when someone needs my help the most?!'

The road soon split going two different directions. Tenten's companion took no time in making his decision on which way to turn; both knew the way by heart. The pair dashed towards the fork, taking the path on the right. Tenten noticed that her companion seemed to put on some speed, something she didn't think possible of the injured nin. What she did understand though is why he was speeding up. Less than 300 meters away were the walls of Konohagakure. For so long she had longed to leave those walls and go on missions as a Shinobi of the Leaf, so it seemed strange to feel so happy to see them again. Even though the steadily increasing rainfall was somewhat obscuring the view of their goal, the enclosed lanterns around the ramparts and main gate provided enough light for the two to keep their goal in sight.

She smiled, 'It's only a matter of time now...'

As the pair neared the gate, she saw the two guards stationed there look up from what they were talking about inside the small guard shack to look at the newcomers. She recognized the pair as Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu, the famous duo who had just completed the Chunin exams together, and for their first official assignment were placed as the guardsmen of the main gate, a rather honorary if somewhat tedious job. The Sandaime Hokage had originally thought he would regret the decision, believing the two's want for adventure would keep them from doing their job. He had been pleasantly surprised to say the least, when he discovered the two had taken up the job with a passion to never fail their assigned task, whatever it may be. When he had questioned them after a week or so, they had both responded that they wanted to show him that they were capable of completing missions seriously, no matter the level of skill involved. After that, not only did he have a newfound respect for the two, but he decided that the two were most definitely ready to continue on to more advanced missions outside of the village, although he did have the tendency to give them duty at the gate, not as a punishment or test of skill, but just because they were so good at their job. Since taking the job, the pair had caught two dozen people trying to smuggle illegal goods into the village and had even gone as far as to kill two would-be missing nin assassins, not to mention the capture of a handful of wanted persons.

As the pair watched the group running towards the gate, they got into their standard positions for dealing with a possible threat at the gate. Kotetsu took the forward position, standing at the center of entrance to the hidden village with one hand extended with the palm forward and the other at his kunai pouch, ready to draw at any sign of an attack. Izumo took the support position to his partner's right and began to make several quick hand seals for one of his favorite ranged offensive jutsu.

"Halt! Who goes there?" It was looking like something serious was going to happen soon, so Kotetsu decided to play this one by the book. As he had expected, there was no response or difference in the 'hostiles' (as he now thought of them) movements. He decided it was more than appropriate to escalate the situation to the next level. After all, they had shown him they had no intention of stopping from just his words. He quickly drew the weapon from its holster and dropped into his favorite stance for knife fighting.

"Stop now or we will be forced to attack!" Once again, his calls went unanswered. It irked him slightly that so many people doing stupid things at the gate hardly even acknowledge his calls. No matter though. Now only a few meters remained between him and the first hostile, or hostiles as he noticed with surprise the girl the first man was carrying upon his back. What was even more surprising though, was the pair seemed to be covered in blood and mud, as well as the man had the Konoha emblem on his forehead protector. As he stared in surprise, his stance drooped, but as the paired neared it quickly returned. After all, how was he to know that it was not a diversion on the part of the missing nin that he could now clearly make out behind the first two.

In his preferential vision, he could see Izumo glancing at him to see what to do next. Although the pair were both the same rank, because Kotetsu had taken the lead position he was in control of the situation. The pair had worked with each other long enough to read the other fairly well, and this instance was no different. Izumo knew that his partner was serious enough to go into a fighting stance, so he decided the best course of action was to allow the first of the hostiles through for Kotetsu to handle, then swiftly destroy the others as quickly as possible when they least expected it. He was still amazed at how blindly some nin would run into a situation without first taking in their surroundings.

Izumo almost lost his composure when the first two ran through the gate, and not only did they not stop, they ducked Kotetsu's punch with his offhand and rammed into him before his knife hand could come up to attack. His partner stumbled slightly, only to realize the strange pair hadn't stopped and were already a ways down the road that lead toward the center of town.

Kotetsu shook off the attack and decided it would be better to focus on the missing nin intruders first since the other two were both wearing Konoha forehead protectors anyway, although if he was wrong the consequences were high. However, earlier he had heard that 's team had been ambushed and that Tenten was MIA (Missing In Action) and presumed captured by the hostiles. He could have sworn he recognized the young kunoichi's face on the young girl just then...

His thoughts were interrupted however when the first of the enraged missing nin ran through the main gate. For reasons only known to him, he seemed quite surprised that he was now in front of two experienced Konoha nin. Kotetsu could only guess that the pair had been chased by the missing nin, and their perusers had simply chased blindly after them with only their rage guiding their actions. 'No wonder these guys got kicked out of their villages. Geez, I can't believe we have to even guard against these morons...'

With that, Kotetsu skillfully parried several ill conceived blows from the first attacker as the other two neared the entrance. As the two stepped past the threshold of the village, Izumo yelled, "Katon: Karyū Endan!" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile) He understood Kotetsu's plan just by watching the way he fought – something the two had honed during their time in the Forrest of Death in the Chunin exams. Izumo knew that Kotetsu was pulling punches against the 'leader' of the group, a sign that he was trying to find an opportune moment to strike an immobilizing blow so the missing nin could be captured. If all went well, Ibiki would be having fun in a matter of minutes and a cleanup crew were going to have their work cut out for them with the remains of the other two missing nin.

Kotetsu watched with a slight smile the powerful stream of flame erupt from Izumo's mouth, almost instantly incinerating the two missing nin who, by his guess, had hardly even noticed the attacker, let alone the attack itself. 'It looks like Izumo has actually mastered that jutsu! Looks like I'll have to up my training regimen before the bastard makes me look bad.'

It would also seem that the only remaining attacker took the time to gawk at the B-rank jutsu, and Kotetsu took the opportunity to make his final strike. He was somewhat surprised when the missing nin turned and began to run before he could attack. Thinking fast, Kotetsu expertly threw the deadly weapon at his feeing adversary, striking him behind the knee, immediately causing the missing nin to cry out in pain and fall to the ground, unable to stand. Before the injured nin could react, both Kotetsu and Izumo had pinned him down and a squad of Konoha MP (Military Police) led by two ANBU (the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad) ninja arrived due to the commotion. Izumo quickly began to explain the situation to the most senior person there, one of the ANBU, as well as mentioned the two people who were apparently Konoha nin. The ranking ANBU quickly instructed the MPs and his fellow ANBU to escort the prisoner to a nearby detention center. After that was taken care of he turned back to the pair and began giving them instructions through his beautifully made bear mask.

"I want the two of you to go inform the Hokage about the current situation and then return here to inform the MPs on the situation in case this is not an isolated incident. After that you should report to the Military Police headquarters for debriefing in one hour's time. I will peruse the two unknowns. Do not engage them under any circumstance. Leave that to Jonin and ANBU, understood?"

"Sir!" they both responded with sharp salutes, and turned to go about their orders.

Kotetsu was amazed at how the ANBU had been able to stay so calm and collected and think on his feet like that. Since the two had only just become Chunin they were still trying adapt to their more leadership oriented roles, rather than the Genin that they were, which are often jokingly referred to as 'fuhyō' or 'pawns,' a reference to the game shogi.

The pair quickly jumped from rooftop to rooftop and when they were a safe distance away, both gave the other a knowing look and changed their direction. The two began going full speed in the direction that they had seen the pair running and the only possible destination for the wounded pair. As they leaped from roof to roof, the silhouette of the Konoha Hospital became visible through the poring rain.

I'd been running for far too long in this condition. As the two of us neared our destination, the constant use of chakra was beginning to take a heavy toll on my body. After all, there was only so much chakra that I had to use, even if I did have fairly sizable reserves for someone my age.

Nin can use chakra to boost their physical strength, agility, as well as their reaction times to superhuman levels through years of training. This skill can make or break nin in real battles. At the ninja academy, students are taught how to use one of the more basic physical enhancements which is using chakra to jump much higher and faster than the average person dream of. It's not a difficult skill really, all you do is focus the chakra into the target muscles as needed. During combat, it is almost rare to see a nin not evenly distribute chakra throughout his or her body so that blows that would normally incapacitate or kill a person would do far less damage.

Ever since the two of us had made our escape, I had been using chakra to increase my blood cell production levels as well as enhance the mussels in my legs. After all, I was being perused by three uninjured missing nin, while I was severely wounded. It was a rather strange experience: At the time, I had no concern for my own well being whatsoever. I just knew that I had to get this girl to safety. At the academy we were taught that the mission always goes first, a rule I had broken several times today. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just sit around while ANBU sat on their asses. I went alone, and risked my life to save this girl.

I could see the hospital now getting closer and closer with every step I took. 'Almost there...' I thought to myself. The second of lapse in concentration nearly sent both of us falling to the ground. 'Shit, just thinking is disrupting my molding of chakra. Can I even make it to the damn hospital before my body gives out completely?' That was not a thought to linger on, so I continued running through the pouring rain as fast as my broken body would allow me. I just knew she needed to get to the hospital and checked out. I feared that the harsh beating she received could have resulted in internal bleeding and vital organ damage.

I gave a quick half-turn of my head to check on her, and she no longer had her eyes open, and the trickle of blood that I had first believed to be a busted lip looked much more dangerous now. I couldn't really tell of any other bleeding because having her ride on my back had nearly covered her front with my own blood. 'I have to go faster. I have to go faster! I HAVE TO GO FASTER!!!'

As we reached the hospital doors, I stopped. A part of my brain was telling me to just run inside and make sure she gets care immediately, while another part of my brain told me how bad of an idea it was to make my identity known in that way. What I had done would most likely strip me of my rank at the very least, and more likely I would be executed for violating so many orders. I felt somewhat guilty at the thought of me being concerned with myself at this moment, but after all, nobody's perfect. If I had wanted to have my identity known I would have just walked up to the Hokage and the head of ANBU and and told them to go fuck themselves, and then left. I'm not exactly some knight in shining armor, you know. I'm just a another mortal man.

As gently as my broken body would allow, I laid the comatose girl against one of the concrete pillars that supported a slight overhang over the door. At least she was out of the rain this way.

"Sorry I wasn't any more help to you, Kiddo," I said with a pained breath as I gently touched her sleeping face. I took several steps back and yelled at the top of my lungs, "HEY! HELP! I NEED HELP OVER HERE! HELP!" Then after a short pause I added, "GAI-SENSEI!"

As I looked up at the large building, I saw a far window open on the sixth floor, and the head of Maito Gai appear from it. His partially bandaged form squinted through the heavy rain at me. His eyes moved from me to his student, who he almost immediately recognized, then yelled "TENTEN!" I was stunned as I watched him jump from the sixth story window and despite his injuries, he landed quite gracefully. As soon as he hit the ground he dashed over to his student and embraced her, quickly checking her over for major wounds, tears in his eyes. Teacher quickly gathered up his student in his arms and almost entered the building, but stopped and made a half turn.

I'll never forget the look that he gave me that night. I had always admired Gai-sensei, and it was rare to see him so serious. With his piercing eyes he looked straight at me, like he could see through me completely. "So you wish to remain anonymous?"

I had been planning to run away after calling out his name, but for some reason I felt rooted to the spot. "Sir?" I asked in confusion, trying my hardest to make my voice sound different.

He answered me with a half-smile and said, "I understand. I would have done the same thing if I wasn't so badly injured..." And he was right. I only now noticed the considerable number of bandages underneath his hospital robes, several were beginning to redden from the fall as the wounds reopened and it looked like his left leg was broken. "Thank you. I am forever in your debt." He turned and entered the hospital door just as a nurse ran out to see what the commotion was.

I said nothing and began to hobble away, holding my deep wound.

"Who was that?" the nurse asked.

"A friend," Gai replied, then went to find a doctor.

Where I was heading, I don't know. My mind was in to much of a haze then to think clearly. All I knew was that I had to get away. About a block away from the hospital, my chakra reserves finally gave out, and I nearly broke my nose falling to the wet ground. I was panting wildly for breath, trying to get my spinning head to tell me which way was up.

'GET AWAY. JUST GET AWAY! YOU'RE DEAD IF THEY FIND YOU!,' my brain franticly yelled, and my body complied, dragging itself through the mud on the ground.

I hardly remember what happened after that. My my brain slowed to a crawl and my vision began to darken. 'Is this it?' I thought to myself. Suddenly, the pain in my abdomen seemed to triple in an instant and I began to write in pain. 'Is this the end?'

I don't even remember when I had started calling out:

"...help..."

"...Help!..."

"HELP!!!"

I used what little was left of any energy I had left to cry out for help.

"GAI-SENSEI!...KURENAI-SENSEI!...NARA-SAMA!...JIRAIYA-SENSEI!!!..."

Just before the creeping darkness enveloped me I saw a figure stand over me. "Oh my Go-"

And then...

...nothing at all.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: There's the prologue. In chapters 1 and 2, I plan to introduce a large number of the major characters in my story. Will we learn the name of our savior? Is he still alive? Will the author get off his lazy ass and write the next chapter before we all grow old and die? That depends on if you all review! Nothing wrong with a bit of constructive criticism here and there, but lets please keep it civil. Remember the old adage: If you don't have anything nice to say...then get the hell out. :)

Lastly, if you would like me to read any of your work, let me know and I'll get back to you as soon as I can.