We Walk this Path Alone, a naruto fanfic

Mornings were never Ashimi's favorite part of the day, though you could argue that the heat of noon was far more unbearable, the fact was that Ashimi just wasn't not a morning person. If there were a competition for the worst morning person, everyone would be reassured that Ashimi would claim the first place blue ribbon.

It was just too bad that morning had to come every single day, and just like each day, the girl would have to awake from her slumber. No matter how much she detested it. But it's okay, because there is always someone there to wake her up. And it just so happened that this person is the one Ashimi cared most about in the world, but he was also the one she cursed the loudest to when the sun rose each and everyday. And so the tradition continues now.

A blue haired boy walked into the tent he shared with his longtime companion, and practical-sister, and sighed as he gazed down at her still bundled up form. "Hey Mimi, time to wake up."

Ashimi let out a groan that sounded eerily like "Nooooooo…" If he didn't have to put up with this practically every single morning, that probably would've made him chuckle.

"Come on Mimi," he chided again. "Don't make me rip those covers off of you."

"Leave me alone," Ashimi murmured snuggling deeper into her makeshift animal skin bed.

With a loud sigh the blue haired boy walked over to her wrapped up form, took the blankets into his grasp, and ripped them from her body.

A loud scream rang through the forest as Ashimi glared up at him, her eyes full of defiance. "Fuck off you asswipe!" She made a grab at the blanket the boy was holding but he held it out of her reach. "Fine! Be that way!" Ashimi reached over next to her to the boy's nicely folded bed and grabbed his blanket instead then proceeded to wrap in around herself, still glowering at him. "Damn you Teno."

The recently dubbed Teno slapped a hand to his forehead in a less-then-epic-but-still-pretty-fucken-epic facepalm of annoyance. Without saying a word he reached down and grabbed Ashimi's ankles and started pulling her away from her bed and out of the tent.

"Shitshitshitshit!" Ashimi screeched, her arms flew up into the air and began to flail aimlessly. A steady stream of curse words ran from her mouth and directed at Teno, it wasn't until the cold morning air hit her that the words got stuck in her throat and she froze up.

"There," Teno said. "That was for not waking up and ruining my nicely folded blankets, which I hope you know, you are folding now."

"F-fuck you," Ashimi shivered and glanced down at herself and realized she was still in her sleeping attire. "Damn you to hell Teno, I'm fucken half naked in the middle of the fucken forest and it's freaking c-cold!"

He shrugged.

Ashimi glared at him and shot him one more swear word before getting up onto her wobbling legs and walked pathetically back to the tent. "You better feed me well today…" Her muttering went unnoted as the male returned to his morning duties.

Teno plopped himself down next to a small campfire where a slab of rock was hoisted up and six bird eggs were currently sizzling, sunny side up. The blue haired boy used a stick he had and poked at the soon-to-be-breakfast and quickly sprinkled some salt on it.

"Is it almost done yet!" Yelled Ashimi from inside the tent; Teno glanced back to see her silhouetted form changing into her usual clothing. With a cough the hormone-ious teenager quickly averted his eyes back to the eggs cooking. So maybe his feelings towards her weren't completely brotherly. He frowned.

The morning went by rather fast, the two ate, laughed, and trained. Currently they were packing up to leave for their next destination; Konohagakura. Rumor had it that the man they were hunting down had made a rest stop there.

Ashimi tisked, "I bet you anything it's another farce. Agito is never going to be there, that sly bastard."

"You never know."

The blonde female glanced up at her companion, "What makes you think so? After all these years we haven't caught that slimy bastard yet. Not even close."

"We have gotten close," Teno replied without looking at her. "Once. Remember?"

Ashimi scowled at the ground as they continued to trek through the woods, "Yeah. I remember," she bit out bitterly. "But I was too scared to do anything…"

The blue haired boy sighed, "You were young… We were young then. Besides, you had thought they would hurt Kokyo-"

"Don't." Ashimi cut him off, "I don't even want to hear his name. That bastard betrayed our trust and friendship. Just thinking about that weak little shit makes my skin crawl." She jerkily shifted the pack strap on her shoulder over in a fit of anger and huffed deeply. "I hope I never have to see his fucken girly ass face ever again."

"Language."

She stuck her tongue out at him, "Yeah. Whatever. Let's just hurry up."

Teno sighed once again. She really was a handful.

The gates of Konoha rose in the distance slowly, before long the pair was standing at the village gates where three guards stared at them in confusion. The man in the middle, who had a white band across his nose, stepped forwards, "Hey kids! Are you lost or something?"

Ashimi crinkled her nose, "Does it look like we're lost? If you actually bothered to examine us, you would be able to tell that we have all sorts of traveling stuff! Besides, where the hell would we get lost from? The next village over is at least thirty kilometers away- Ouch!" The blonde glared sourly at Teno and rubbed her side where he had elbowed her.

"What my friend here is trying to say," Teno said calmly. "Is that we've been traveling awhile, we're just stopping in this town for a few days to rest up."

"Kids like you?" The white band guy asked incredulously, "You're kidding me right? Are you trying to tell me children your age are just wondering around?"

"We're not wondering around you asshole!" Ashimi snapped, her temper getting the best of her. "We legitly travel around by ourselves for a reason I don't give two fucks to tell you about!"

Teno sniffed and looked down over at her, "You're not helping." She only huffed in reply.

"Look." The guard said pissed, "Don't you think we find it kinda strange that two kids are just wondering around by themselves-?"

"I said we weren't wondering!"

The guard's jaw tightened, "Whatever. But the fact is that this whole thing is kind of suspicious."

Ashimi's cerulean eyes flashed with defiance, "I don't need to explain myself to you." She shifted her weight to her left leg and crossed her arms, jutting her jaw out.

"Mimi," Teno said. "Why don't you just let me do the talking? You are really not helping us at all…" He took a step forwards and looked at the guards, "I apologize for her rather rude behavior… She has no manners at all."

"Hey!" Ashimi protested but was silenced with a single look from the older male, she settled for pouting instead.

" We are what you could call orphans," Teno said.

"Could?"

"As in," he continued. "That we are very capable of taking care of ourselves. We are simply traveling around and following rumors about the man that orphaned us." He bowed, "I truly am sorry for my friend's behavior. But we'd like entrance into this village please. We'll only be here a few days and then well on our way; no trouble shall be caused by us."

The guard snorted, "We'll at least one of you has some sense." Ashimi flipped him the finger at the comment and an anger vein appeared on his forehead. "Fine. I'll take you to the Hokage personally. This is a very unusual situation; I'd like to take the upmost caution. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all," Teno replied smoothly. "Lead the way."

Ashimi mouthed a few mocking words before following her friend and the guard into the now opening gates. "Fuck my life. This is too much to deal with in the morning…"

…:::NARUTO:::…

The walk through the village had been short enough. Mostly people ignored the trio but every once in a while there was that overly curious person to deal with. Ashimi learned this lesson the hard way when a little boy decided that is would be fun to tug on her large ponytail. She had snapped at him and almost hit the child when Teno's hand caught her wrist. She had begrudgingly turned away, but not before calling the kid a brat. The child merely stuck his tongue out at her. (A/N: The kid is not Naruto)

But they had reached the central village tower without any incidences besides the one. The blonde wasn't in a good mood as usual and stomped loudly as they walked up the staircase to express her discontent.

"Quit it you brat," the guard seethed already regretting his decision to deal with the two teens personally.

"Make me!" Retorted the girl.

Teno tapped her lightly behind the head, "Common. Try and behave all right? No one will like you if you're always rude like that."

"But I have you right?" Ashimi grinned up at him, latching herself onto his arm. "I don't need anyone else if there's you."

Teno coughed awkwardly as a blush found it's way onto his face behind his mask, Ashimi laughed. "I'm just kidding! You're so easy to rile up Teno despite that cool façade you always put up. Heh!" He glared at her half-heartedly and pried her off his arm. "Aw! Don't be like that!"

"Why don't you two hurry up!" The guard shouted from further up the staircase.

"Jeez!" The blonde drawled, "Pu-shy!"

"Cheeky brat."

The top of the tower was far too high and took far too long to reach. Ashimi had a sour look on her face when they finally stepped onto the top floor. Who's the douche that decided to make all these fucken stairs? She tisked.

"Ah, welcome."

The blonde teen glanced up to see an old man sitting behind the desk. He wore red and white robes and the familiar design of the Kage's hat sat soundly upon his head with the kanji for fire printed on it. They were in the presence of the Hokage.

Despite her rebellious attitude, Ashimi knew enough to bow to the man. The man who escorted them stared at her bewildered and she fought back a retort.

"Hokage-sama," the escort ninja said. "These two were spotted at the gates of the village. They are requesting for stay but the situation is slightly suspicious."

"May I speak sir?" Teno spoke up suddenly.

The Hokage's eyes moved to the two children in front of him, he glanced over their forms. Obviously these weren't your average children, he could already sense the strong bond of chakra running through their bodies. But it was wild, loose, very unfocused, as if they've only ever had themselves to teach them. Perhaps they did, "Of course dear boy. Speak."

Teno lifted his head –he and Ashimi were still bowing- and briefly looked at the Hokage before down casting his eyes in respect. "Our stay sir. It would only be for a few days, we have business to attend to and we would be on our way."

"And what business might this be?"

Teno opened his mouth to speak when the escort ninja spoke up, "They said they're looking for a man. Said they wouldn't cause trouble but it sounds like trouble to me." He glared at Ashimi and she glowered at the ground.

"It is true," Teno said. "That we are looking for a man. Rumor has it that he might be here in Konohagakura, if we find do him then we will wait until after he has left your territory to pull any action. This arrangement should suffice yes? We would bring you no trouble and be out of your hair in no time." His fingers twitched at the half lie.

The Hokage rubbed his chin thinking. "What are your names?"

Teno began to speak when he was yet again cut off; this time by his rambunctious companion. "I am Tsubaki Ashimi sir! And this is Inoue Teno." She gave him a bright smile, feeling strangely trustful of the old man. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

The Hokage stared at the blonde girl in shock before bursting out in hearty laughter, "Well you certainly have the enthusiasm. I should say the pleasure is all mine," his laughter died down to a chuckle. "You know Tsubaki-san. You rather remind me of a young boy I know. I think you two would get along splendidly."

"Oh brother," the escort nin muttered under his breath.

"What's the matter?" The Hokage turned to the ninja a smile tugged at his wrinkled face.

"N-nothing Hokage-sama," the ninja sputtered as a blush came over his face, embarrassed at being caught. "It's just that I have a dreadful feeling I know what young boy you speak of."

The Hokage chuckled again, "Let's be honest here. Who in this poor village doesn't know of that child?"

The two Konoha residences chuckled as if sharing an inside joke leaving the two other occupants of the room confused. "Ano…" Ashimi frowned. "Who are you talking about Hokage-sama?"

The Konohagakura leader turned to the girl, "Someone you will undoubtedly be acquainted with no matter how short of a time you spend in this village." He whispered the next part, "And may Kami-sama help you when you do."

There was a brief silence after that in which Teno felt he had to break, "So Hokage-sama. Have you decided to let us stay or shall we take our leave?"

"Actually," the Hokage spoke suddenly seeming serious. "I have a different proposition for you." Teno stared at him confused, "You both seem like remarkable young people. I have quite a keen eye for good people. I take it you're both… Ah…"

"Orphans." Teno said bluntly.

"Yes… That…" The Hokage coughed awkwardly. "I see myself as a man who wouldn't let two children wonder-"

"We're not children," Ashimi humped, cutting him off. Apparently her manners only went so far.

The Hokage chuckled, "Well. As I said before, I see myself as a man who wouldn't let two young ninja without a village or family go off on their own. It would go against my moral code. I can also see that you are both untrained in the ways of the ninja."

"We are trained." Ashimi argued, "We train ourselves."

"But that, my dear, will only take you so far in life." Mused the Hokage, "Eventually you would reach a point where self-training won't suffice. This man you speak off… The one you're after. He will undoubtedly have the means to get proper training or hire properly trained ninja, of which you could not beat."

"So what's your point?" Said the blonde.

The escort nin huffed, "Impatient brat."

"Peace, peace." The Hokage chided to him, he turned back to Ashimi. "My offer to both of you is a place here in Konohagakura. I pride myself in being a man who will take care of children no matter what their origin." He stood and walked around the desk, "You will also receive the proper training to become respectable shinobi. Of course, the choice is up to you."

Ashimi and Teno looked at one another for a second, blue eyes clashed and swirled with understanding that only two people who grew up together could have. In their silent conversation both came to a single conclusion and gave a curt nod.

The blonde teen turned to face the Hokage, "Sorry old man. No can do. We'll have to decline-"

"-your very generous offer," Teno once again cut in, shooting his companion a sharp look. He bowed to the Third, "We are very grateful for this offer however we must decline politely. Ashimi and I will resume with our original course of action. Take up stay here for a few days and be on our way. Once again, we thank you."

The Hokage sighed, "I suppose it cannot be helped." He looked at his shinobi subordinate, "Please escort these two to a lodge and make sure they are all set up?"

"Of course," the shinobi bowed deeply and turned to the children. "Please follow me."

With one last look back at the kind old man Ashimi turned and ran after Teno and the ninja.

..:::NARUTO:::…

The women at the lodge had been quite surprised when her new quests were two children no older than 12 or 13 years of age. She took an immediate liking to Teno being the considerate and well-mannered boy he was but his companion… Well less could be said of her. For one the girl's personality resembled far too much to one pesky demon child that authorities somehow allowed to run amok in their beautiful village. Then again, Ashimi didn't like her either.

As soon as the blue haired boy had his back turned immediately the blonde girl stuck her tongue out at the women running the lodge. Like hell if she cared about paying respect to elders, Ashimi saw that look in the women's eyes, which regarded her with likeness to trash. Her shinobi-trained eyes didn't miss that slight curl of the lips in disgust clearly in her direction too. Not that it mattered of course, it only gave the girl a good excuse to mess the hell out of the lady.

"Common Ashimi, let's go." Teno sighed and pulled her along, he pushed her into the room and turned back to face the lodge lady with an apologetic smile. "I'm very sorry for her behavior. Please forgive us."

The women giggled not use to such politeness from young boys, "It's no problem at all."

Teno gave her a charismatic closed-eyed smile, "Thank you do much ma'am. I'll bid you good evening." With that he shut the door and allowed his composure to fall. Then the bluenette turned around with considerable less grace than a moment ago towards Ashimi who was already lounging on the ground like a pig. "You! How many times do I have to remind you to be polite! People won't let us stay places if you're always like this!"

"Blah blah," Ashimi mocked mimicking mouth motions with her free hand, the other was propping her head off the ground. "The bitch was being rude to me first. Did you even see that grimace she gave me? Of utter disgust!"

"That's because you're so distasteful!"

Ashimi shot him a glare, "Am not."

"You could've at the very least tried to be nice!"

"Too much effort." With that she turned over and flopped on her stomach, it was clear that the conversation as over. Teno let out a sigh.

"What am I to do with you…?"

The rest of the nigh passed without too much incident. The blonde stayed in the hotel room while Teno left to take a shower in the springs bellow. The thought had been tempting to Ashimi but her futon was just so comfy, it would've been a shame to leave it. Instead she waited until Teno would return and hopefully with dinner too.

The bluenette didn't disappoint, not half and hour later Teno returned to the room carrying two bentos with one hand which had Ashimi jumping from her covers. After enjoying a satisfying meal the two sat down and just enjoyed the silence waiting until everyone else was asleep.

"Can we go yet?" Ashimi suddenly spoke in a whiny voice; she rolled over and stared at Teno who was resting against the wall reading a book about ninjutsu techniques. He glanced up at the sound of her voice and then proceeded to look around, eyebrows furrowed in what seemed to be concentration.

"Yeah." He said after a moment, "Everyone's pretty much asleep." He bent a page and his book and closed it. "We can go now."

Ashimi grinned widely and once again jumped up. She was quick to equip her ninja holster and stock it up with an unidentified amount of tools. Then she looked over at Teno who also finished his preparations. He nodded, "Let's go."

With less than a second the two adolescents had the window opened and jumped out from it into the night. Together they landed on the roof of across from the hotel and immediately went into a sprint as they ran across the rooftops of Konohagakura above the heads of slumbering citizens. They traveled through the shadows silently making sure not to be seen by patrolling shinobi. It wasn't like what they were doing was illegal, but the people here didn't know them, they didn't want to raise any questions.

"You did remember to bring it this time right?" Teno asked as they leaped across another set of buildings.

Ashimi rolled her eyes, "Of course. I'm not stupid." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a necklace. It shimmered slightly in the dim moonlight and reflected back a yin yang symbol, but instead of the traditional black and white one side was colored a sinister red and the other black. To the blonde it was a very distasteful color scheme that brought back memories best stayed buried. Not wanting to look at it for another second she turned her head away and instead looked over at Teno. "You do the honors."

He shrugged and nodded. They both stopped their advance through the village and faced each other. Ashimi held out the necklace and let the cold chain dangle, twisted around her slim fingers. The boy took on a serious and dark look, his eyes shadowed and eyebrows scrunched in deep concentration. After a brief moment he let out a deep breath and lightning fast reflexes his hands came together in a flurry of signs, unrecognizable by the untrained eye but Ashimi saw each and everyone of them as if in slow motion. Each sign was etched deep into her memories and heart alike. Not even a second passed as Teno finished the justu. His eyes narrowed in the very last moment, "Kensaku shoyū-sha!" He shouted the phrase and suddenly a clear bluish light pulsed from the necklace and spread across the top of the village. Both shinobi shut their eyes and awaited the response. It was the blonde who felt it first, a sinister presence in the air and the smell of roses and sour gin.

Ashimi let out a gasp, her body lurched and turned in a full one-eighty degrees. Her eyes locked on to the west side of the village and felt her blood boil. "There, I can feel it. He is here."

The blue haired boy nodded, "We're lucky. He's still here. Let's hurry before he leaves. If we know where he is then he is defiantly already aware of our presence."

"I know all this already," Ashimi drawled. "Let's go."

The journey was quick. Both pushed their bodies to their very limits to travel as fast as possible. In not even two minutes they came upon a shoddy looking building in what looked to be the red light district of Konohagakura. Teno and Ashimi shared a moment of silence before coming to a mutual agreement and plan. They both jumped in separate directions in a flash.

The blonde girl appeared behind the building and was quick to knock out the bouncer guarding the backdoor. The large hulk of a man fell to the ground like led. Smirking Ashimi pushed the door open and stepped into the building. Immediately the thick smell of alcohol and sex met her nose. She scrunched up her face is disgust but continued deeper into the building despite the smell getting worse.

After a few seconds of walking Ashimi came upon a large doorway which appeared to leave to the main foyer. There were many men there, sitting, laughing, drinking while beautiful women in scanty kimonos walked around and served the men. They all held themselves with a grace no often seen in a whorehouse and they were all expensively clad. This must've been a high-end brothel.

Frowning when she didn't find her target Ashimi moved on quickly, making sure no one saw her as she darted across the doorway in a blur of black and gold.

As she traveled through the surprisingly large cathouse she began to notice the doors getting nicer and nicer. The numbers going up from 45 to 32 and now it was between 15 and 11. In the distance she spotted a staircase leading upstairs, she was positive that was where she was going to find her target. But just as she was about to proceed and large hand fell on her shoulder.

"Now what is a young girl like you doing in here?"

Ashimi's blue eyes widened in surprise and horror. Her body reacted before her mind and suddenly she was ten feet away from the culprit. Her eyes caught a flash of silver and green, standing before her was a man with gravity defying silver-grey hair wearing a mask and… Her heart skipped a beat in fear. Covering his left eyes was a ninja headband; this man was a shinobi of the leaf! And judging by his uniform he was probably at least a Chuunin.

The man sighed, "I really don't want to have to ask again but who are you girl? I'm pretty sure I've never seen someone like you around here before." He paused, "You do know where you are right?"

Ashimi felt her fear flow away, being replaced by her short temper. "Of course I know where the hell I am! I'm not stupid." She snapped.

The man shrugged, "Well, all I see is a young child playing around in the red light district. What am I suppose to think? Besides, even if you were a prostitute here," he paused again to look her up to down. "You definitely do not have the assets to survive in this kind of place."

This cause the blonde to blush and sputter in disbelief and irritation, "Excuse me! What about yourself huh! What's a leaf shinobi doing somewhere so unprofessional! In uniform no less!" She hugged her chest self-consciously.

"Research." Came an immediate reply.

Ashimi felt and anger vein appear on her forehead, "Like hell you're researching! I bet you're one of those sketchy men who use their statues as shinobi to get women!"

"At least I am a shinobi." She noted with irritation that he didn't deny her accusation. "What's with that outfit of yours? Are you playing ninja little girl?"

"I AM a ninja you asshole!"

The man sighed, "Aren't you suppose to be incognito?" He raised a thin grey eyebrow at her. "Shouting isn't very smart you know."

Once again for what must've been and millionth time that night Ashimi was left speechless and flabbergasted. She felt her body shake and her eye twitch with irritation. "Why you-!"

"Kakashi-sensei~! What's with all the shouting? Aren't you going to come back in here and play with a us a little more?"

The blonde girl's head snapped up to seen the room a few feet from her open up. A few women glanced out; their hair is disarray and suggestive expressions on their faces.

Ashimi's face bloomed up; she whipped her head over to stare at the silver haired shinobi. "I KNEW it!" She shouted shaking an accusing finger at him, "You- you-! You PERVERT!" Her sudden shout however didn't go as planned when it brought the attention of all the women to her. They all blinked in surprise to find a little 12-year-old girl standing in front of them.

"Awe! She's so cute!" One of the squealed. Another one looked at the shinobi, "Is she your little sister?" The third one said with a suggestive grin, "Bringing your imoto here Kaka-chan? How naughty." And a fourth one even had the audacity to say, "Can we keep her!" If Ashimi wasn't pissed of and humiliated before, she sure as hell was now.

"Now, now ladies," the man suddenly said. He held up two hands in surrender and let out a sigh, "I'll have to leave for the night." There were several boos and complaints to this decree. "I've got to take this little girl back to her parents."

"Who's a little girl?!"

The said little girl was promptly ignored and let out an enraged growl when the perverted shinobi wrapped a hand around her wrist, "Let go of me you pig-!"

The conversation wasn't taken further than that when a loud explosion sounded from the floor above them. The prostitutes who had called out to the silver shinobi all squealed in fear and quickly retreated into the room in panic. Ashimi though felt her heart clench and her heart stop for a brief second, adrenaline pumped through her as she let out a fearful gasp. "TENO!"

Kakashi who had been too surprised at the explosion momentarily forgot about the blonde child's presence. She had quickly ripped her arm from his grasp and within seconds was rushing up the stairs into the elite rooms in the whorehouse. He cursed at his own stupidity and followed her without hesitation.

The whole top floor was filled to the brim with thick dark smoke. Ashimi covered her mouth with her arm and tried to ignore the burning of her lungs and the sting in her eye. She new that that bastard was up here and for sure if there was an explosion then Teno was up here too. She cursed the bluenette in anger. Why didn't he wait for her?!

She had no time to think about it when sounds of shouting arose from within the hazy halls. Once again Ashimi felt panic seizing though her body and she rushed forwards without thinking into the blinding fog. Suddenly she couldn't see two feet in front of herself, and knowing that she's have to rely on her ears for this mission the blonde let her eyes close shut.

Taking a deep breath the sounds around her began to amplify until she could hear every slight movement around her. Immediately she noticed that the room a few yards ahead of her to the left was making the most movement. Then the clear sound of blades hitting each other sounded through out the hall. And a very faint smell met her senses as well, one of roses and sour gin. Ashimi snapped her eyes open and flashed over to the door and slammed it open.

..:::NARUTO:::..

Teno had a hard time focusing in the brothel. The simple smell of sex and feminine aromas had his male senses tingling in all the right places. The thirteen-year-old boy already knew that one of his major weaknesses was his susceptibility to the opposite gender and lust, his fatal flaw. It just had to be that the man responsible for orphaning him and Ashimi shared the same weakness and desire, as such the pair often found themselves traveling through places of sketchy intent and prostitution. Still he had yet to grow immunity to the soft curves and sweet scents of women.

This was another reason that Teno made sure Ashimi and he were separate on their missions under the ruse of "covering more ground". He doubt he could live through it if the blonde discovered he was nothing more than a hormonal, horny teenage boy. The thought had him shuddering. The thought of divulging into his desires were tempting but he always managed to hold back. But that didn't help him now as he walked slowly through the halls of the high-class whorehouse with his mask pulled even further up his face than normal.

Moans and coos could be heard from behind the doors accompanied by the sounds of mattresses rocking. The sounds not only grated against Teno's ears but also practically beckoned to him and he hated the fact that he allowed it to. The idea that he had anything in common the customers of this "establishment" nearly had him reeling in disgust and self-hatred. He wanted nothing to do with men that followed by their loins instead of their brains and hearts.

Turning a tight corner he noticed a stairwell leading upstairs. He closed his eyes and tried to sense the area around him and faintly felt Ashimi's aura two floors beneath him. Not wanting to stay here at a standstill like a sitting duck the boy decided to continue forwards. The chances that he was actually going to encounter the man they searched for were slim. He probably had already evacuated the premises. But that was all the more reason to go after him now before the monster of a man could get any further away.

The way here had been relatively easy much to the bluenette's deep suspicion. Normally because of the circumstances the monster man would've set up guards and sentries around the building he was staying at. These guards wouldn't pose a probable but usually took up time in which the man made his escape. Today, however, not a single guard had been spotted except for the measly bouncers at the brothel entrance. It definitely didn't feel right and put the boy more on guard.

At the top of the staircase was another hallway with rooms labeled from 10-1. Here the smell of sex was duller, not as prominent. This was probably where the elite prostitutes spent their nights, expensive nights bought by rich men. Men like the one Ashimi and Teno were after.

Steadying his resolve the ninja boy slowly crept forwards, as he passed each door he listened intently for any sign that could alert him to the presence of his orphaner. So far nothing gave off any clue to what room he might be in if the monster man was even still here. Occasionally he would hear low seductive voices from behind the rows of identical mahogany door. Soft groans and moans, the infrequent loving calling. It could've been romantic if it wasn't a place of blood money and sinful desires. By now the doors next to him numbered from 6-4 leaving the final and top three left.

But as soon as Teno stepped into the pathway of the large door labeled in gold, the fancy kanji for three, a very distinct odor met his nose. His body froze up and the bluenette felt his stomach churn in deeply ingrained disgust. His lips pulled back into a snarl and the boy threw his body around to face the door. From behind the third door in the high-class brothel, in the red light district of Konohagakura, came the rage-inducing scent of roses and sour gin.

It, however, did not occur to the now enraged boy that no sounds of coupling could be heard coming from the room. So it was that he flicked out a pair of kunai knives and ran forwards, throwing the doors open without hesitation and was met with a bright explosion.

Teno screamed out as his face took the full brunt of the exploding tag booby-trap, hot cinders seared through his mask and burning his flesh. His fingers lost their iron grip on the kunais and the one in this left hand fell from his grasp and clanged on the floor. Gritting his teeth Teno brought his newly freed hand to cup his burning face as he stumbled back out into the hall way.

"Well, well, well. It's so very good to see you again Inoue-kun," a dark voice called from inside the room. Teno glared up with his good eye to see a shadow immerging from the dark smoke the explosion caused. Stepping out was a man dressed in a loose black yukata; his dark purple hair fell in waves around and down his shoulders and back. The man could've been considered handsome if a sickening grin had not been plastered across his face.

"Minasei Shiro," Teno growled out the sickening name.

"Calling out my name in such a malicious way," Minasei chuckled darkly. "How sad, I thought we were closer than that."

"Shut up you bastard!" The bluenette had enough of this man's tricks. All his lies and deceit are what left he and Ashimi in the horrible situation that has been their lives for the past five years. Teno's eyes darkened, "I'll kill you."

The man smirked in amusement, "Such anger." He snapped his fingers and two large hulking figures appeared behind him from the room. "Shall I calm you down?"

Teno let out an inhuman growl and lunged himself towards Minasei but was swiftly intercepted by the two hired shinobi. The teen's kunai clashed with a bright spark against a blade from one of the two hulking ninja and was pushed back by pure force. Teno twisted his body in midair and nimbly landed a few feet from his mortal enemy. The hired hands however gave the boy no time to recover before they were upon him already with wicked daggers drawn.

Dodging each attack was quickly slowing Teno down though, if he didn't put these two out then he would be in trouble and Minasei would get away. Though he did briefly wonder why the man hadn't escaped yet.

One of the shinobi slashed down at him with a roar, the bluenette flinched when he felt the blade slice across this shoulder. Pain blossomed and fired up causing him to stagger and hit the wall behind him. Teno gritted his teeth and quickly told himself to calm down. He was a thinker, not a fighter. He just had to get past these two and kill his target. Regaining some control over his mind again Teno quickly assessed his environment. Almost immediately he spotted an opening. The two hired shinobi rushed at him, weapons low and flats of their blades facing upwards. Above them was a handing ceiling lamp. With a strategy set Teno waited for the right moment, hands feeling up the firm wall behind him, and when the moment came he jumped onto the kunai he stabbed into the wall and propelled himself up above the shinobi and grabbed hold of the lamp. The enemy swung their blades up at him but only managed to nick him slightly on the heel before Teno was behind them rushing full force at Minasei.

But when he slashed down all Teno got was a wisp of smoke, shocked at the sudden evasion Teno quickly realized his mistake. There was a sharp crack behind him and suddenly he was flying head first into the room. The pain in his lower back registered a second later along with the pain from hitting the wall; he coughed and noticed the blood that came with his hacking. Grimacing the boy stumbled to his feet swaying. He wiped the blood from his mouth, smearing it across his face with the action. He was left panting and dizzy.

Minasei stepped through from the smoke and shadows and grinned down at the boy. In his left hand he held a thin katana that shimmered in what little light the room held. Slowly he advanced at Teno.

"Sadly you hold no value to me," the killer mused. "Even after knowing you all these years you have come to be a thorn at my side, and I'm afraid that this will be the end of the line for you." He swung the sword down with deadly precision and it took all of Teno's strength to dodge the attack but doing so caused his injured body to protest and shut down. He gasped as his legs failed him and he staggered to the ground. With only his hands to hold him up they young shinobi was left a sitting duck just waiting for the final blow.

Fear and desperation shot through him, blue eyes widened in shock as he realized that this was the end. He didn't even get to exact his revenge against this murdering bastard, the same one that was about to cut him down.

Ashimi slammed that door open with an unnecessary amount of force, causing the wall to practically shatter upon impact. Even here the smoke was thick and choking but she could just barely make out two silhouettes in the distance. Behind her she could hear Kakashi engage and began swiftly fighting off other shinobi that Minasei no doubt hired. Without hesitation she charged into the room.

Just as a sword came down and impaled Teno.

The panic and shock that had rammed into her didn't even register; and she could faintly hear a women screaming.

She was screaming.

"You bastard!" The words tore from her throat as Ashimi jumped at her worst enemy. Pure hatred ran through her and fueled her frenzied attack. Killing intent rolled off the teen that had even Minasei surprised and frozen for a split second. That second the allowed the blonde's kunai to plunge into his right shoulder.

The man shouted in pain and pushed her back. Ashimi landed on all fours glaring at him for all she was worth. And if only looks could kill this man would be dead a thousand times over.

Not letting even a moment to escape her Ashimi thrust herself forwards again and flicked out senbons between each of her fingers and threw them at Minasei. He growled and dodged the attack with far more grace than Ashimi moved; it spoke of far more years of experience. Quickly he unsheathed a second katana and began his counter attack.

Kakashi, after dispatching of the two hired shinobi, entered the room and watched the fight with surprise. Surprise that the little girl, who couldn't have been older than genin, fighting off a tall man with obvious more skill than her and a blue haired boy in another corner of the room with a large katana impaled through him and half his face practically burned off. What was even more surprising was the killing intent that flowed off the girl in large waves like an angry storm and the look of pure hatred on her face uncommon for someone her age. A look that spoke of both sorrow and an unspeakable act.

But the Konoha shinobi didn't have time to finish his musing when he realized that the man fighting the blonde was about to launch his final attack one that the girl wouldn't make it out of unscathed. Making up his mind Kakashi flashed stepped forwards and swiftly disarmed the purple haired man, the katana flew into the air and fell to the ground. He could feel the surprise from the girl behind him at his intervention but didn't stop to explain before he delivered a powerful kick that sent the other man barreling towards the wall.

Minasei hit the wall and fell to the ground surprised at his sudden new opponent, and Konoha's Copy Ninja no less. This was bad, if he kept this up any longer than he would have the rest of Konohagakura breathing down on his back and capture was not an option no matter how much he wanted to capture the Tsubaki brat, it was still something that could wait. So he would leave and make his escape now while he could. He quickly stood and patted down his yukata and looked up at the two in front of him.

"Well, I believe I will take my leave now."

"Like hell you will!" Ashimi screeched at him and attempted to jump at him only to be stopped by Kakashi. She glared up at the silver haired man furiously.

"Stop, it's a trap."

Suddenly six shadowed forms appeared out of nowhere and surrounded Minasei, one flashed forwards and retrieved the fallen katana. Kakashi wasn't going to risk attacking against seven enemies of unknown power when he had two children to protect, he would let this one go.

"It's been nice seeing you again Mimi-chan," Minasei chuckled darkly. "I hope we'll meet again in the future. And I give my condolences for poor little Teno-kun."

Ashimi snarled at him upon hearing that and began struggling against Kakashi's hold. "You BASTARD! You slimy bastard! I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'll KILL YOU!"

The monster man grimaced at the animalistic act and turned to the ninja around him, "Let's go."

"FUCK YOU!" She shouted as they disappeared from the room, and suddenly as if all the energy left her body she collapsed down into a heap of sobbing mess.

Teno was alive.

The news was like a blessing from god.

Five days now after Minasei escaped their clutches again and Ashimi felt dead inside. And even though Teno survived his impalement the blood loss and damage to his internal organs put him into a coma so that his body could cope. The experience left the blonde who sat next to him day after day empty. She had almost lost him. Almost lost another loved one to the same bastard who took everything from her.

Her fist connected with the wall.

"Maa, maa. That's not very nice, what did the wall ever do to you?"

Ashimi looked up to see a familiar silver haired ninja walk into the hospital room. He was holding an orange book in one hand that also looked strangely familiar. She felt her eye twitch, "You are a pervert after all. Only perverts read those books."

Kakashi looked down at his Icha Icha: Seduction and frowned behind his mask, "This is a good piece of literature."

"Yeah right," she snorted. Then paused as she realized she was supposed to be depressed and now that she thought about it she should also be angry that this very man. She turned a glare in his direction.

"What?"

Ashimi bared her teeth slightly, "You stopped me that night. I should've killed that monster but you prevented me from putting him six feet under."

He raised his hands in defense and casually strolled next to her. He looked down at the slumbering boy with his one uncovered eye. "He means a lot to you doesn't he." He glanced over to her when she didn't answer.

Ashimi clenched her fist together in her lap. "More than my life." She finally answered reluctantly.

The silence returned, only the soft breaths from Teno could be heard and the beeping of his support system. Ashimi sat and waited, hoping the silver haired ninja would just leave. But as time passed she realized that probably wasn't going to happen as he seemed pretty content just standing there reading his perverse book.

With a sigh she spoke again, "What do you want from me Hentai-san?"

His one eye widened comically at his newly dubbed name. He just stared at her for a moment before realizing that she was still expecting an answer. He coughed. "Well. Inoue-kun, we're assuming is going to be bed ridden for a while. A few months even." He watched her carefully, catching that slight hitch of breath when that information was revealed, and the tightening of her fists. He continued, "And after that little show down three nights ago, Hokage-sama is reluctant to release your custody."

Her entire body whipped towards him, she glared deeply. "Excuse me?! You people have no right to keep me anywhere. I don't belong to any village and if you were to try and keep me here you would have to lock me up or kill me!"

Kakashi didn't flinch at her declaration. "Understandable." He replied. "However, you and your companion pose a threat to where ever you end up. You also pose a threat to yourselves." He almost chuckled at her darkened glare, "As you should already know from your first meeting, Hokage-sama is a children's-man. An absolute sap for children, he'd do anything for them."

"Should you be talking about your Kage like that?"

He shrugged, "But he doesn't want you two going off to certain death when he can stop it. Because no matter what the both of you say," He gave her a pointed look when she rose slightly to retort, "Death is certain at your current skill level versus the skill level of your enemy."

Ashimi looked down right murderous at him.

"Just look at Teno-kun. This is the result of both of your combined carelessness and stubbornness. He's in a coma. And the only way to protect him is to become stronger."

She stayed silent.

"Do you want to be stronger Tsubaki Ashimi?"

There was a pause. And he was met with sky blue eyes with heavy resolve.

"Take me to your Hokage."

Woah! Done! Yay! Possibly one of my best works by far.

I thought it was fairly well written and paced. And it ended up pretty long too! Yosh!

This is uploaded from my Wattpad Account and is a reupdate of a story I started a few years past. It was god awful though, a Mary Sue OC and just... No.

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