(2/23/15)
Hello dear readers. I'm just passing through and making a few minor adjustments. I've decided that I'll pick off from where I stopped. Hopefully this Naruto soundtrack I'm listening to will give me enough inspiration on what to make the next chapter about. I have a pretty good idea on where it's going to go already, though.

Thank you for reading! :)

-JD

Disclaimer: Obviously.

Aiko, though she was scared, was actually a bit proud of herself. She actually had a good two miles away from the ninjas that were chasing her, but she wasn't going to stop. Running forward, she headed swiftly to the village…until she was suddenly halted.

A huge shuriken flew from around the tree she was jumping off of and began twirling right in front of her. Startled by the shuriken, she screamed as she lost her footing and fell from the branch. It followed her, swiftly moving under her before she heard a popping sound and a puff of smoke moved from under her. Just as she thought she was going to hit the ground, she fell into waiting arms.

Suddenly, another shuriken twirled from around the tree they were standing by, dispersing in front of her to reveal the messier ninja. She felt the hands on her arms tighten before she was unceremoniously pushed up against the tree closest to them. Angry green stared into fearful brown.

"What are you doing in this forest? There's no village near here for the next hundred miles or so. You're not a spy for the Akatsuki, are you?" he growled slightly at the name, moving his weight off of her arms just slightly.

"Calm down," the other ninja said, "She's just a child, you know. She can't do much."

"Can't do much? She was outrunning us not too long ago! Had we not turned ourselves into shuriken and chased her like that, we would've never caught up to her! Now tell me, where do you come from? Are you afraid to tell me because you are an-"

She mumbled something under her breath, interrupting him as tears fell from her eyes.

"Huh? I didn't hear you."

"C'mon. This isn't what the senpai would want us to do. Let her go, she'll go home," the other said, a slightly worried expression coming onto his face.

"If she goes home and it turns out to be the Akatsuki, then she'll tell them of our location and we'll either be hunted down or they'll tell the Akatsuki! Now tell me! Where do you come from?!"

"Hanagakure," an unfamiliar, infuriated voice replied.

When the three people turned to the left, they saw 'Iza' standing near them, her deep orange eyes boring into the souls of the two ninjas that held her companion hostage. She could feel their eyes traveling along her body and watched as their faces flushed, but when she reinforced her gaze, they stiffened in fear.

Aiko, realizing the slack in the young man's hold on her arms shook him off and quickly ran, open-armed, to her savior. Iza kneeled down and took hold of the child. She began sobbing into the crook of her neck, her small hands clutching the kimono she wore. She comforted the young child, picking her up as Aiko wrapped her arms around her neck. Rubbing Aiko's trembling back, she scowled heavily at the two who looked back at them.

"We come from Hanagakure, the Hidden Village of the Flower. What business do Konoha ninjas have in our territory, threatening our children?" she berated.

"I'm sorry," the neater one said, straightening himself up from his mistake and searching his map, "I am truly sorry, but the village of Hanagakure does not appear on this map," he replied, suspicion in his voice.

"What are you sorry for? Are you sorry that you cannot find our village, or are you sorry that you troubled an innocent child?"

"Umm," he muttered as he looked at her with wary eyes, "Both, miss. I am apologizing for both."

"Well then," she growled, "you shouldn't apologize for the map. We are actually hidden. But you should apologize for attacking Aiko, right now. And I don't mean by just saying sorry, that's way too flimsy. The proper way to apologize is to say that you apologize and then you state what you did wrong. I will not accept it unless you do so. Apologizing by just saying 'I'm sorry' absolutely will not cut it. And when I say this, I mean that I want an apology from both of you to her. Now."

The two men froze. She was a stern piece of work that was for sure. Not to mention that she's scary. They watched as Iza cooed to Aiko and got her to turn to them slightly and then sent them a demanding glare. So, the two got on their knees and bowed heavily, their noses almost touching the ground.

"Miss Aiko, we humbly apologize for attacking you when we didn't know you. You are just a child and it was absolutely unacceptable for us to attack you like we did. As we said before, we humbly apologize."

Aiko, by this time, had stopped sobbing as she was before, and instead looked at them with something that looked like worry, but it was closer to dejection. She knew she was safe because 'Iza' was there, but she couldn't help but dislike them because of their attack. Nevertheless…

"Okay…I forgive you…" she muttered.

Then, having been comforted enough, requested Iza to set her on the ground. The instant her feet touched the grass, she moved her right hand to clutch the cloth that lay on Iza's leg and hid behind her.

"Get up now. You'll get your faces dirty," Iza demanded, eyes shifting to blue, though the others didn't seem to notice.

The two moved up almost immediately. They dusted themselves off before they stared at the woman, only to find that she wasn't looking at them. Instead, she was looking at the tops of the trees, her pupils shifting from one tree top to another. After a few moments of just standing there, the messy one called out to her.

"Umm…what are you looking at?"

"If I am correct, I am looking at your group leaders. They have been watching us since I picked up Aiko."