I landed silently on the rooftop, careful not to disturb the countless leaves covering the roof tiles. My shadow was long and dark under the moonlight, almost stretching all the way across the roof.

For someone who lived in the Hidden Village of Konoha, I really despised leaves. Their rustling sound made my job just that much harder. I also hated autumn. The season swept all the leaves off their branches so that nearly every inch of the village roofs were covered with their red, yellow, orange, and green, making it nearly impossible to not stir up any of them.

Crawling nimbly to the edge of the roof, I dangled from the rim and peeked through the window upside down. I had braided my long black hair and pinned it tightly to my head so it wouldn't get in the way when I performed my duty.

I huffed silently in exasperation when I realized there were people inside the room. Not this house, then…they got lucky tonight.

With an easy swing I slid over the brim of the roof and kicked off the window ledge, leaping across the village buildings and listening intently to find a house with no bustling, no noise, no lights.

Now, if you think I am some ANBU-leveled secret assassin, you are quite wrong. I am far, far less than that.

I am a skinny little 17-year-old girl with no family, no friends, no nothing. Not even a name. In fact, I doubted anyone in the village even knew I existed. I was even less than an outcast. I was no one.

When the nine tails jinchuuriki was born into this village, I thought I had finally become someone with more worth, for I had to be above that kyuubi monster, right?

Yet, I had discovered soon that he was immensely different from me.

For one, he had a dream, and a strong will to conquer that dream. He had the guts to never give up. He never backed down from a challenge. He had so much loyalty, so much compassion. And I knew for a fact that he would never, ever abandon a comrade or a friend.

Compared to him, I was truly a coward. I didn't deserve to live here, in the famously gallant village of Konoha. I did not have an overflowing sense of justice and loyalty, and I didn't think I ever would. I had a weak resolve, and I backed down easily, never daring to face anything head-on. No one had ever believed in me; not even myself. I could not form bonds with anyone in Konoha. There was nothing in this village for me. Nothing at all. But I stayed here like some pathetic pest because I had nowhere else to go.

I balanced on an old chimney and looked up at the head carvings of the five Hokages, tinged silver in the moonlight. A slight breeze had picked up and blew across the village, loosening my bangs from my hairpins. I sighed; the emptiness within me was threatening to engulf me whole. I wished desperately that I belonged somewhere. Anywhere. My whole life, I had never wanted anything else.

Hopping off the chimney, I leaped off the roof and landed on a window ledge silently, peering through the glass. It was pitch black inside. I twisted the lock skillfully and opened the window, sliding in between the narrow crack and landing in the dark room.

I walked past the simple furniture and headed straight for the main bedroom. I was relieved to find the house unoccupied. When I entered the room, I crouched down next to the bed and lifted the floorboards underneath. My fingers grasped paper money and bags of coins. Of course. The money was under the bed…again. The villagers were all the same; their behaviors and their habits so very predictable.

I slipped some of the money into my back pouch and returned the rest under the floorboard. Unless this resident was very keen on the money count, he would not notice any difference. They never did. I took care to take little amounts every few nights from different houses so they would not notice. And besides, who in the world would complain about a few missing yen?

I made sure everything looked the way they did before and quietly exited the building. The temperature outside had dropped a few degrees and the cool night air blasted in my face as I jumped agilely over the familiar rooftops. The shadows cloaked me completely as I landed in the trees.

I would consider tonight an uneventful one. But that was quite normal–––people rarely discovered me anymore, for I had been doing this for a very, very long time.

Yes, I am a thief, and perhaps the only thief in the shinobi world who had survived for this long merely off larceny.

What is my purpose in this world?

I wished I had an answer to that question.