CHAPTER 2

Two days had passed since she got to this house in the middle of the forest. All she had been doing is sleep, eat, listen to the old couple tell her about their stories and read a book about medical ninjutsu Kana had lend her and which she could hardly understand. But so far, she had been unable to remember anything about her life. Did anyone miss her? Had anyone notice her disappearance and started looking for her? Did she have anyone at all? What had she been doing before? Destiny had brought her to a group of mercenaries, had she followed this kind of life in the past or was this punishment for something she had done in the past?

Kana and Hachiro had been taking care of her as if she was their own. They didn't care that she had lost her memories, where she came from or what she had done previously. They had trusted her and let her live under the same roof, provided her with food and love while asking nothing in return. She wanted to give something back but, what?

The couple were getting ready to go to the village to gather supplies and had agreed on taking her along in the hopes that she could see something familiar to her that would trigger any memories. They had advised her not to go out by herself due to the attacks Hachiro mentioned when she first met him but they didn't want to leave her alone either.

"I'm all set." Hachiro announced. He was carrying an empty backpack to bring the supplies back. "We need to walk for about an hour through the forest before we reach the main road, make sure you stay close to us at all times. We might be old but we still have some fight in us if we are unlucky to encounter any of the mercenaries. They're mainly just make rackets or steal supplies but if we crossed them stay behind us and we'll take care of it. They're known for only killing for money but one can never be too careful."

"Isn't there anyone dealing with this issue?" she asked while putting her sandals back on.

"This is an old abandoned village. We have no government or police force taking care of the few civilians left. We're basically on our own so we have to deal with them by ourselves, I'm afraid."

They started walking through the woods, Hachiro stayed in the front while Kana walked behind her. The moved in silence and crossed the forest until she could see the small road before them, dread filling her insides at the thought of running into the mercenaries.

"Look at what we have here…" a male voice in a nasty tone said above them and her heart sank. The older pair closed in on her and adopted a defensive stance. The man was sitting on a branch and looked to be in his twenties. She could see a blue eye while the left one was covered by a blond bang while the rest was drawn into a ponytail. He was wearing a black cloak with some sort of red pattern over navy blue pants.

He jumped from the branch and landed a few metres in from of them, dragging a disgustingly looking tongue over his lips. "This is the first time I see anyone below their fifties. Such… beauty." he said, causing a shiver run down her body.

He raised his hand towards her but it was slapped away by Kana. "Don't touch her." She said in a warning tone.

"Or what, old lady?"

Hachiro step forward towards man, his hands up in a non defensive manner but his eyes were calculating. "Young man, there's no need to be hasty. We were on our way to gather supplies so we're empty handed at the moment. If you wish we can provide you with whatever you want on our way back?" he asked hoping that he would let them go.

The man waited for a couple of seconds before he let a crude laugh out of his mouth. He then turned to look at her. "Why wait? What I want is right here." He said taking one step forward without taking her eyes off her, it brought him a few inches from Hachiro. She gulped, but not for the threat that this man intended but for the energy emanating from Kana on her right, it made her body be even more alert. For a single instant, she looked over her shoulder to Kana. And in that same instant, she heard a loud noise on her left. When she began turning her head a crash sounded behind her.

In front of her, she could see the man's leg raised. It seemed he had kicked the poor Hachiro so hard that it had sent him flying back against a tree at least five metres away. Unable to move for a second, she saw Hachiro struggling to get up before she regained control of her legs and moved quickly to his side to help him. But when she grabbed his arm, Hachiro recoiled in surprise at her.

"It's me. Hachiro, can you walk?"

Hachiro didn't answer but instead he stood up and fixed his eyes on the mercenary. She followed suit, noting that Kana hadn't moved and had also her eyes on him. Knowing that there was no way for the kind pair that had welcomed her into their house, she took a step forward, blocking the line of sight from Hachiro.

"Don't hurt them. I'll go with you." She said, making him smile. This was her chance to do something for them. She will stop this man from causing them any more trouble. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.

"Yoshie, don't." Kana and Hachiro said at the same time. The blond man appeared right in front of her in the space of heartbeat, making her stumble back. She didn't even see him taking a step in her direction but somehow he had close the distance between them in a blink of an eye. He grabbed her arm, calluses scraping against her skin, the sudden contact bringing a shock to her system.

"I better get hold on to you before you decide to use that speed of yours again" he told her, putting more pressure on her arm to the point it started to hurt. Adrenaline shot through her veins, it felt like a thick fluid running through her body and sharpening her senses in a welcomed way. "Oh..." she heard the man say before he eyed her with amusement.

Behind her she felt Hachiro was about to move before he did, and then he was swinging something metallic in his hand towards the man's arm, the one that wasn't holding her. At almost the same time, a spark of something green from where Kana was standing caught her attention before she started charging in their direction. Her eyes seemed to perceive the scene around her in slow motion because it gave her the time to see that the blond man was already raising his arm to block the weapon while his body was turning to meet Kana with a kick before she could even touch him.

Her body moved on its own accord as her arm raised and twisted, breaking the hold of the man before she crouched on the floor and spined with one leg extended, bringing the man towards the floor. However, before his back touched the ground he pushed himself up with one hand and still managed to kick Kana and hit Hachiro's jaw with a uppercut, the sickening noise of his fist connecting with the older man's face made her flinch. She charged at him with a series punches which he easily blocked before counterattacking with fast punches and kicks. She didn't have the time to think how was she able to block them but she was happy she could, until she heard a choked noise coming from Kana.

As she turned to look at what had caught her attention, the man landed a punch her face near her mouth, where she felt the corner of her lip break. Ignoring the pain, she focused on the spot she heard the noise coming from. She could see a strange looking man with what look like a giant scorpion tail that he was using to strangle Kana. Hachiro run towards his wife but the strange man spoke before he reached them.

"One more step and she's dead."

Hachiro stopped where he was, his body shaking from the internal struggle he was facing.

"Please, let her go." She pleaded.

"Satori, you didn't need to get involved." The blond complained to the newcomer.

"We have been summoned and it looked like you were just having fun instead of finishing this quickly. You know I don't like to wait." The man named Satori told him before letting go of Kana who fell into the floor unconscious. Hachiro quickly moved to her side protectively. "Deidara, take the girl if you want but let's be on our way." He added.

Hachiro started to stand up while looking at her but she raised her hand and moved her head from side to side. "Hachiro, don't. I can't see you two getting hurt anymore. There's no need for that. Please take Kana to get medical attention, I'll be fine. And thank you for taking care of me."

Hachiro opened his mouth to protest but several large needles suddenly flew in the old couple's direction, piercing their bodies in several places and then, Hachiro's lifeless body dropped on top of his wife's.

"Bastard! You killed them!" she yelled at him while she tried to lunge at him but Deidara grabbed her arm again and stopped her in her tracks.

Satori laughed at her. "No, I didn't. I don't do free kills. I merely put them to sleep to avoid any more interruptions."

Relief started to run through her chest until the blond threw his arm around her shoulders and brought her to him. He brought his face close to her ear, close enough that she could feel his breath on her skin. "I love a prize that is hard to get. My name is Deidara, so where are you from Yo-shie?" He said the name in a lewd tone. She tried to create some space between them but his hold was too strong for her. "Now, now. If you try to run away I'll just go back to the old couple and kill them. Is that what you want?"

She instantly stopped struggling. They had already suffer more than enough and she felt guilty for causing them so much trouble. "That's the name they gave me. I don't actually remember my name or where I'm from" she stated emotionless.

"Deidara! Let's go!" Satori yelled already moving away from there.

"Alright, alright!" he yelled back before looking back at her. "I'll deal with you later" he whispered in her ear while pushing her forward.