Chapter 1

Only until after he was gone did I realize the extent of how I felt for him. Only then did I truly feel torn in two.

And I felt the painful jolt once again. Regret. The emotions were pouring in throughout my body, entwining with my blood, becoming a part of me. And I knew - I just knew - that there was no possible way to recreate the past so I could fix my mistakes.

That was when the memories brought another pang of repentance through my already aching core.

"I assign you, Team Yamato, to capture Takahashi Akira and Takamori Yoshinori for interrogation. They hold vital intel on Konoha and killed six of my ANBU. We must have at least one of them back alive. I don't care if they are paralyzed for the rest of their lives—as long as they can provide us with what we need, I don't care. Whatever happens to them afterward doesn't matter to me. To betray Konoha… To gain my trust just to use it against me… They and whoever they're working for won't get away with this!"

A busty blonde woman's fist collided with the desk as the wood cracked beneath her curled fingers. Tsunade leaned over her desk as her cleavage was weighed down by gravity, gaining a stare from Naruto. His cheeks reddened as Tsunade's glare intensified. A pinkette's fist connected with his head moments later as she grunted angrily.

"Hai, shishou."

The silence was broken as three blurs cut sharply through the trees.

"I see him! I see him!" Naruto quickened his pace as he attempted to hit the target with a kunai.

"He's slowing down; I think we might be able to catch up with him. Yamato-taichou! I think we got this Yoshinori guy!" Sakura called into her mic as she readied some shuriken. The mic buzzed as Yamato's voice sounded from the device on Sakura's neck.

"Make sure he's alive. Takahashi Akira is dead. He seems to have been hit with some kind of… poisoned arrow. Went straight through his neck. Be careful."

"Raiton! Sonikku Supido!" Yoshinori's voice bellowed ahead of the group as lightning crackled beneath his feet. In the next moment, the man clad in simple blue robes sped up at an incredible rate.

Naruto and Sakura gasped as they watched the dark haired rouge surrounded by lightning zigzag through the forest, trees falling down behind him as he increased in speed. The three shinobi behind Yoshinori dodged raining tree bark and split up to avoid being crushed by numerous tree trunks as the forest was being demolished around them. Sai's brush fiercely sprawled across his scroll as birds flew out towards the man.

"Damn it! He's too fast!" Naruto shouted as he watched Sai's birds race after Yoshinori before being disintegrated by lightning emerging from the ground. All four shinobi reached a clearing, and a snake emerged from the remains of the forest to trip the unsuspecting missing-nin. The pink-haired kunoichi landed a punch on the ground next to Yoshinori as he rolled away from her wrath when two Narutos appeared from the rubble.

"Rasengan!"

And the man was hit - or so they thought. His figure exploded into lightning as Naruto shrieked.

"ACK - THAT HURT, YOU ASSHOLE!" Naruto was sprawled on the ground as the static left him temporarily paralyzed.

Yoshinori's head popped out from the ground as he smirked. Sakura found her place beside a struggling Naruto as green chakra was emitted from her palms. Yoshinori pulled himself out of the ground as lightning began surrounding his feet again. His black eyes glinted with rebelliousness as he brushed the dirt from his short, black hair and from the blue robes that hung loosely on his shoulders.

"I guess I'll get going now - " He was cut off as a slim black arrow pierced cleanly through the back of his neck. Blood splattered over his neck and chest as he gurgled and spit up more blood before falling to his knees, a shaky hand grasping his neck. His fingered curled loosely around the pointed black tip of the arrow as the sharpened metal easily sliced through the skin of his fingers. More blood was coughed up as he fell to the ground, eyes rolling to the back of his head. His body shook violently before lying completely still in a puddle of blood mixed with a strange purple liquid oozing from the arrow lodged in his neck. The man was dead.

"No!" A startled Sakura shouted from her spot on the ground before she stood up abruptly. Sai quickly sent out four large birds toward the mountains in the distance as his teammates watched in confusion. Sai's black eyes narrowed as Naruto and Sakura spotted their teammate's target - it seemed to be a figure clad in black that was partially hidden behind a large rock on the mountainside.

"Katon! Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A large fireball smothered the birds and raced toward the three on the ground, who easily dodged the fiery sphere. Their attacker stood up from behind the rock.

From the curves they could make out in the distance and the long, tied, black hair being tousled in the wind, their opponent seemed to be a girl. A large black bow was held in her left hand as she stared down at the three in the clearing below her. With a swirl of black smoke, she disappeared. Not a moment later, two arrows shot out toward the group's right as the girl jumped down from one of the few still-standing trees. Two shadow clones were sent out by Naruto to take the blow of the black arrows.

As she stood up, her features could be fully observed. Her head was faced toward the ground; messy side bangs partially obscuring her pale face and her long black hair was tied up in a high ponytail. Her eyes were closed and she held an unreadable expression on her face. She wore a high collared, skin-tight shirt that stopped at her midriff and her sleeves were cut off just below her elbows. Black finger-less gloves fit snugly on her hands and her nails were painted a dark purple color. She wore black shorts with fishnet peeking out from where it ended and thigh-high ninja boots. A weapon pouch was strapped onto her right leg and a black quiver holding multiple black arrows was placed on her back. Both her fists were clenched tightly, nails dug into her gloved palms, and her left hand's fingers were curled tightly around the ebony-colored material of the bow.

She ever-so-slowly tilted her head up toward the three confronting her. Her body was shaking as her lips curled down into a frown, eyes still closed. She brought her right hand up slowly, as if to form hand signs, while the three before her sunk into defensive stances. The gloved hand rose up; one single finger stood tall among four that curved in toward her palm—her black eyes snapped open and held an anger that made Naruto and Sakura flinch as her middle finger shook in Sai's direction.

"Was that really necessary?! You asshole—your dumbass doodles tried to kill me!" Sai held his calm gaze as she continued waving her hand at him. Naruto and Sakura's jaws dropped open as they stared at the fuming girl before them. She seemed around their age, and had quite a temper. She huffed angrily and brought her hands to her hips.

"Who are you? Why'd you kill Takamori Yoshinori? He was our target...," Naruto piped up; though, he was slightly amused that his teammate was being told off by the mysterious girl before them.

"That's for me to know," the girl frowned, head tilting to the side slightly.

Sakura spoke up this time, still in her defensive stance as she eyed the girl. "Did you kill Takahashi?"

"Oh, Akira? Obviously," she shrugged, running a hand through her spiked bangs. Her eyebrows went upward as Yamato stepped forward from behind the group.

He glanced at the blue clad man lying lifelessly in the puddle of blood before looking up at the man's killer. Yamato brought his hands up, and before the girl could react, she was being restricted by thick columns of wood. Her bow fell from her grasp as she growled.

"Why did you kill these men?" Yamato asked, his voice leveled. A response was uttered from her lips as she glared up at him and stuck her tongue out.

"You're just mad you couldn't get to them before me," she grunted. "I killed them because I was told to, duh. Otherwise, I wouldn't waste my time on these guys. Now get these off of me, you S&M pervert!"

Yamato looked up to the team and sighed as he spoke. "I guess this is all we have to offer to the Hokage. She seems to know the targets."

And with that, Team Yamato brought the restrained girl back to the village.

With difficulty, of course.

The whole scene was a sight to see. Surely, two hot-tempered women having a shouting match wasn't something you'd experience every day. The unknown girl was being held back by Sakura while Shizune held Tsunade back.

"—And who do you think you are to insult a kage?! I'll have you know that I can have all my ANBU maim you if you don't shut up and answer my damn questions!"

"All I did was state that I have no time to stand here and speak to some lazy, old kage who sits behind a desk all day and tells others what to do! Nobody's got time for that; especially me, you old hag!"

Tsunade lunged at the girl as Yamato now stepped in between the two.

"I said, don't call me… OLD!" Tsunade grabbed the bow from Yamato's hands as she bent the weapon at an unnatural angle, the material resisting against her palms.

"Hey, hey, hey! Watch the freaking bow! I'll talk! I'll talk! Don't you dare touch my bow—oh, hell no!" The girl was further restrained now by both Naruto and Sakura. Tsunade held an evil grin as she further bent the bow with difficulty. The bow didn't crack as Tsunade attempted to destroy it, bending it in various directions with her monstrous strength.

"Talk. Now," Tsunade said as she sighed irritably. "Let's start with your name and your age."

The girl stopped struggling as she eyed Tsunade. "My name is Yume, aged 17."

"Full name."

"It's just Yume," she glared intensely at Tsunade, gaze alternating from the bow in the blonde's hands and back up to her face.

"What village are you from? Your rank?" Tsunade asked as she frowned angrily.

"Just 'Yume'? That's a weird name, isn't it?" Naruto asked from behind the girl as Tsunade shot him a glare.

"I'm technically not a shinobi, nor do I work under a specific village," Yume stated calmly, ignoring the confused stares. "And it's not as weird as being named after food!"

"'Not a shinobi'? What do you mean?" Sakura spoke, glancing at Naruto as he shrugged.

"I would consider myself more of an assassin," was her answer to the question.

"So you're an ANBU?" Tsunade asked, slightly shocked.

"What part of 'not a shinobi' is so hard to understand? No, I'm not an ANBU. I am simply an assassin," Yume snapped as she continued. "I was ordered to kill those two men. They're highly wanted anyways; if I didn't kill them, someone else would have. A bounty hunter or something—I don't know. I'm not the only one looking for those two."

"But you obviously have the ability to use jutsus and you have shinobi tools. You have to be a shinobi!" Naruto said as the girl looked at him.

"Not really. I'm not registered as a ninja nor as a civilian under any village," Yume sighed tiredly as a growl emitted from her exposed stomach. "Look, I just want some food and I'm not really in the mood to argue right now, so how 'bout you guys just let me go and I'll be on my way!" She beamed happily as a large smile spread across her face.

"No, I can't let you go. Letting an outsider who attacked my shinobi roaming around in the village isn't something I can allow," Tsunade exclaimed as she placed the bow back into Yamato's hands.

"Okay, lady. First of all, I didn't attack your shinobi; that asshole over there tried to kill me first! And secondly, I'm not a threat to your village anyways. I just want food! I didn't wake up this morning thinking that I should go out and piss off Konoha—"

With a snap of her fingers, Tsunade summoned four ANBU.

"Send her to the interrogation room and proceed to lock her up afterwards. She is under the suspicion of being affiliated with the enemy."

"W-wait a goddamn mother fu—"

"Yume?"

"—minute. 'Affiliated with the enemy' my a—"

"Yume," a deep voice said firmly. Said female sent a glare toward the masked male who spoke.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT?"

The girl tensed as the ANBU removed his cat-based porcelain mask.

"Arashi-tan?" She smiled as the silver-haired male briefly ran his hand through his spiked hair, sighing audibly as he looked over at his long-time social contact—as he liked to call it. "Arashi-tan! So nice to see you! Now get your arse over here and help me out."

His mud-colored eyes narrowed at her.

"Be quiet," He then turned his attention toward Tsunade, who looked over at the two in confusion. "She won't be of any harm to the village or its civilians, Hokage-sama. Practically useless, and not the brightest either."

"Why you...," Yume attempted to lunge at the male before being further restrained by Naruto and Sakura.

Arashi's eyes narrowed further, a cold aura emitting from his outwardly relaxed form. He shook his head and crossed his toned arms over his chest.

"Not to mention, she's still as irritable as ever."

"Arashi-taaan!" His eye twitched at this. "Get that pole out of your ass already. How long has it been up there? I'm sure it's all rusty and gross and—"

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me by Arashi-tan? You immature little brat—"

Tsunade cleared her throat harshly, stopping the argument from progressing further. Arashi mumbled a low apology, sending Yume one last glare and receiving a tongue stuck out at him before being dismissed by Tsunade. Yume mumbled something along the lines of, "If my arms weren't bound, I'd flip you off," before Yamato jumped in, a familiar, creepy smile plastered on his face as he spoke.

"You said you have no affiliations under any village, so why not turn you into a Konoha shinobi? You certainly would make a decent ninja. Where are your parents residing at? You didn't specify which country you're from. Kumogakure, possibly, since you seem to be fond of Arashi-san."

What a creep. Yume sighed.

"Well, no, I'm not, and my, uh, guardian isn't really… He's kinda…"

"Well?"

"Hey, Tsunade-baachan. I actually kinda like this chick! We should let her stay at Konoha! Ne, Yume-chan, you wouldn't mind living in Konoha, right? It's a really nice place, I promise! And the people here are great," Naruto beamed. "And we could talk about how much we hate Sai together!"

"Naruto, I don't think—" Sakura started before Yume interrupted her.

"I think I like that idea," Yume smiled lightly at Naruto before turning to Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama," everyone in the room looked at the girl who was so rude not five minutes ago, surprised at her respectful tone as Yume continued, "I apologize for my irritable behavior. I don't really have anywhere else to go, and the village does seem like a nice place. I request to be admitted into the village as a citizen."

Yume smiled, albeit a fake smile, at Tsunade as the blonde let out a low growl. "I cannot possibly allow that—"

"I'll work under you loyally. It would be nice to finally settle down. Traveling all the time is a pain in the ass for someone as lazy as me," she yawned to prove her point. "Besides, being a shinobi seems cool. Arashi-tan can vouch for me! I've known him since we were children. Konoha has let other outsiders in before, Arashi being an example and same with Uzushiogakure civilians after their village was destroyed. I shouldn't be any different from them. Arashi-tan even said I'm no threat to the village."

Tsunade grumbled as a ninja opened the door to interrupt them. He had a giant stack of papers in his arms.

"Hokage-sama, here are some documents that need your appeal."

He placed the stack down next to another large pile that reached to almost Yume's height, which was a bit shorter than Sakura, and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Tsunade sighed tiredly as she sat in the chair behind her desk placing her head in her hands before looking back up at the restrained girl before her.

"Fine," she said after a moment of silence. The black haired girl smiled brightly as she opened her mouth to speak.

"However," Tsunade continued as Yume closed her mouth, "Since you piss me off, and since I don't have time to deal with this any longer, I'll make you earn your ranks just like everyone else - beginning at the Academy."

Yume's jaw dropped as she looked at Tsunade. Sai stood in the back wearing his infamous smile, clearly from amusement. She didn't say another word and just stared at the blonde woman.

"… At least I won't be the only genin anymore!" Naruto laughed nervously as Sakura elbowed him.

"No, Naruto, she's going to be ranked lower than you as a ninja. She's just a rookie in the academy now, after all," Tsunade smiled deviously at Yume, propping her chin up on the back of her hands. "I will offer you a place to stay, though. Free of charge, just because I'm feeling so generous - for now."

Yamato released the wood that bound Yume as she rolled her shoulders and retrieved her bow from him. She secured the weapon on her back before adjusting her finger-less gloves.

"Whatever," she said, glaring at the middle-aged woman. "So, tell me; where do you go to get food in this place?"

Naruto smiled as he grabbed her arm.

"Just follow me - I know where to find the best ramen in town! It's on me!"

I almost wanted to write more, but I hate super long chapters (and editing them). Plus, I revised this, undid some revisions, and then revised it again and again and asdfghjkl; sorry if there are any mistakes. I just got tired of reading the same damn thing over and over again. I usually don't have mistakes in my story since I go over it with a fine-toothed comb, but I got lazy this time okay Q.Q

About the name thing, her name was supposed to be 'Reina', but all Naruto characters have odd names so I renamed her 'Yume', which is the word for 'dreams' in Japanese, and the reason why Naruto questioned her 'weird name'. Btw, 'naruto' is short for 'narutomaki', which is a ramen topping if you guys didn't know :3

Review? Anyone? No? ... Okay.

Hope you enjoyed!

Love, Christine