Don't own D. Gray Man or Naruto.

Don't own the Cover Art.

Resolve

Anko went into class that day fully prepared to be hit with the onslaught of Yuushi's complaints as his inability to make a clone continued to dog his footsteps. When they found out that Yuushi's chakra exercises also led to him having more chakra in general, Yuushi had looked close to snapping and Anko had laughed herself silly.

Instead of seeing the expected sulking Yuushi, she came across the boy near vibrating with excitement, his eyes locked onto the blackboard by sheer force of will as he shook ever so slightly. Anko was a little frightened by the force of his apparent enthusiasm. "Yuushi…are you okay?"

Yuushi snapped his head up to look at her, before grinning widely and enthusiastically in her direction. "The circus is in town, Anko!" he cried out, bouncing in his seat. "We have to go!"

"…why?" She was admittedly more freaked out than curious, but he was more likely to answer her question if she said it in an even manner.

Yuushi calmed a little now that he had a chance to spout poetic about the circus. "Because it's fun! They learn some really fantastic tricks, especially for civilians! I've seen circus folk juggle twenty knives and not drop a single one; I've yet to see a shinobi boast the same!"

Anko whistled with the appropriate amount of appreciation, and it wasn't all for show. To juggle that many knives and not lose track…she might start practicing with that. It'd be good spatial awareness training. "Alright," she agreed, settling in next to her friend as the teacher walked in. "Let's head over after class."

The grin he shot her made her dismiss any worries she may have had.

Yuushi was a weird boy, Anko contemplated as she robotically took notes on what was on the board. He wasn't rough-and-tumble like most boys their age were; she usually found him with his nose buried in a book if he wasn't chasing the other orphanage kids around at their behest.

To be honest, Anko hadn't expected to make any friends while at the Academy. Her parents, while both had ninja in their families, were civilians and Anko had grown up into a rougher child than most civilian-raised kids, and it led to a weird dichotomy where neither side would want to hang out with her, the civilian-born because she was too quick to jump to fighting and the ninja-born because they didn't know her and they tended to hang out with kids they'd grown up around.

In her frustration, she'd turned and snapped at the red-haired boy reading a book in her classroom. And he'd become her best friend ever since that day.

Her parents liked him, even if you didn't take into account his habit of appearing at the shop with the rumored demon cat. He was polite to them and playful with her, and she couldn't bring herself to regret insulting him that fateful day.

She turned to look at the boy in question and saw that some of his excitement had faded, replaced with a faint worry whenever he glanced out the window; he was thinking about the war again, she realized. A few months after his prediction that war was to come, the war did indeed begin, and the curriculum suddenly dropped history and techniques were being shoved down their throats. How to survive torture, basic first aid, an emphasis in strategy.

The Academy was ripping off the sheep disguise before they even made it, leaving only wolves in their wake.

They were all taking it rather well, in Anko's opinion. A few civilian-raised had dropped out but that was it; they all saw the necessity of what was happening, even if they didn't like it. You need soldiers if you're going to war, after all.

Anko once saw one of the boys in the class crumble to the floor and sob after he was forced to kill a rabbit so that he would get over the shock of his first kill. Yuushi had dragged Anko over to him side and hid the boy from view, a hard look in his eyes as Anko scared everyone else off.

He was a mousy thing, civilian-raised with chin-length hair and big brown eyes somewhat hidden behind his round glasses. His name was Aikawa Kaede, and he clung to their little group with a ferocity that somewhat surprised Anko. It appeared that he was being bullied by some of the other students for his smarts, and so didn't have any friends to speak of before the Yuushi and she had barreled into the young boy's life.

He was sitting on Yuushi's other side now, and would nudge him if he stared out the window for too long. The boy now sported a pair of prescription goggles rather than glasses, for added protection and safety. The redhead smiled at him and looked back at the blackboard, and Kaede blushed a little but it appeared to be out of habit more than a forming crush. Yuushi's smiles did that to some people, made whatever was going on feel more intimate.

Anko tended to get a good laugh out of it whenever he accidentally used it on a teacher.

The rest of the day ended rather quickly and soon Yuushi was running out of the room with the classes' two pariahs at his side, laughing and racing one another to where they could see the bright tent of the traveling circus that was in town.

Walking into the circus tent made Yuushi feel like he'd just come home.

It was a weird feeling, especially for a wanderer/orphan who really didn't have anything they actually called home. Home was where you put your heart, where you knew what was happening every moment of every day, where you could sleep without keeping a knife beneath your pillow (it just so happened that the toy sword on his toad doll was not, in fact, a toy). The war had taken the feeling of home that Yuushi had felt for his village away from him, but it looked like the circus might just bring it back.

He, Anko, and Kaede explored the different exhibits and displays throughout the circus with wonder, Yuushi having never really been on this side of the display and the other two legitimately curious about the happenings. Anko eventually bustled off to pester the knife juggler into teaching her the basics (Yuushi made a note to practice with her; he didn't want any of his skills to get rusty after all) and Kaede wandered off soon after to examine the lion he saw resting in a cage a ways off.

The redhead smiled at their genuine enthusiasm, the happy atmosphere around him putting the boy in a slight daze. The feeling shattered when he bumped into someone.

Instinct taking over, Yuushi grabbed the falling object with one hand and steadied the person with his other hand, smiling apologetically. "Gomenasai, Onee-san," he apologized. "I wasn't watching where I was…" He trailed off, looking into the teenage girl's eyes. He categorized the emotions he saw.

Confusion.

Mild hostility.

Fear. Overwhelming amounts of fear.

He knew those eyes. He saw those eyes every time he looked in a source of water or the occasional mirror when he was traveling with the circus. She was a street rat with limited options, like he had once been. She chose the circus instead of starving to death, just like he had. She resented it, like he had.

But never, not once in his life, had he seen the unnatural, forced obedience that lined every inch of her frame.

"Nee-san," his voice dropped to a whisper, hissing under his breath. "Nee-san, what's wrong?"

The teen looked reluctant to answer, her eyes flicking to the left, about where he had last seen the ringmaster if Yuushi remembered correctly, before resolve began to shine in her blue eyes. "Not here," she hissed back, tugging lightly on his sleeve in an obvious entreaty for him to follow, which he obeyed easily. They crept to the backstage, then clambered up the stacks of hay used to feed the horses. None of the troupers had cared if the circus brats that stayed for food went up there in Yuushi's last world, and it seemed to be much the same in this one.

Yuushi sat beside her, his posture languid and at ease, trying to help keep her calm. "What's going on, nee-san?" He asked again, staring intently at the teen as she tried to center her thoughts.

She looked up from her hands. "You know how children will travel with a circus for food and shelter." It wasn't a question, but Yuushi still answered with an affirmative. "I was too unruly, apparently, and the ringmaster hired someone. They put this on me," she lifted her black hair a little, and Yuushi stared at the base of her neck, where an unknown seal had been put. Tattooed, he correctly mentally, and resisted the urge to snarl. "It…hurts me if I screw up or disobey, makes me lose any sense of balance, makes it hard to breathe."

"That…" Yuushi had no words to express the disgust he felt in that instant. "That's terrible!" He scrambled for words. "Those pigs! This…this is slavery! You have every right to leave when you wish!" He knew she couldn't leave now, not with her life being held in the hands of such a despicable person; the moment she made moves to leave he could kill her.

"Survival trumps happiness right now, kid," she snorted, and oh how he knew that feeling. Survival had pushed him many a time in the past, from joining the circus to joining Cross. The last one was the only one he regretted in terms of what he has done in order to survive.

Seal theory crossed briefly through Yuushi's mind; the storage seal, the seal array on the explosion tag... the abomination etched on the girl's neck, the endless possibilities it had shown itself as when Yuushi had first been introduced to the subject.

And if seals had made this girl's life hell, then seals could fix it again.

"I promise," he told her lowly, a fire burning in his eyes and making them look silver in the dim light. "I'll get rid of that thing. It may not be now, and it may not be by the time you leave, but I will." Because he'd been in her shoes, once upon a time, and he knew exactly what he would have done if such a leash had been put on him when he'd been in the circus. And he didn't wanting her doing what he would have done once he'd grown tired of a collar-noose like that around his neck. He won't stand by and let her kill herself.

The girl looked reluctant to believe him, and Yuushi didn't blame her for it, but she seemed to see something in his eyes because she snorted a little and leaned back against the hay. "I'll hold you to it, kid." Her eyes were challenging, and he rose up to meet it.

It looks like he had some studying to do.

"I'm Yuushi," he finally introduced himself, and the girl gave a mocking grin.

"Kaida," she said, and Yuushi grinned back.

"It fits." The girl gave a surprised, real laugh at that.

They talked for a little after that, but Yuushi knew that Anko and Kaede would worry if he went missing for too long, so he reluctantly bid farewell to his new friend and left, finding both of his friends talking hurriedly to one another near the entrance. As he approached, both caught sight of him.

Anko tackled him in a hug and Kaede hurried over with a relieved look on his face. Once Anko let go, she promptly smacked him on the back of the head. "Where the hell have you been?!" She exclaimed, scowling at him while Kaede put the end of his shirt in a death grip. He didn't answer and instead herded their little group out, his expression serious enough to stall Anko's questions for the time being.

Once they were far enough away Yuushi told them the basics of what he had learned, and both looked horrified by the idea of a seal forcing a person into servitude. "I'm going to become a seal master," he told them seriously. "I'm going to find out how to break that obedience seal, and make sure I'm never that helpless in front of something like that again. I'm going to free Kaida."

"I've seen that look in your eyes before," Anko said in an almost offhand manner. "You've already adopted her into our little group, so I won't bother doubting that you'll be able to help her. Kami help anyone that tries to stop you."

Kaede nodded as well. "I'm not good with the practical parts of sealing," he confessed, "and I barely get the theory behind it, but I can still help. The librarian lets me check out higher level books because I got permission from the Head Sensei and my parents like to buy random shinobi scrolls when they travel if they're fairly priced; I'll try to get anything I can on fuuinjutsu."

Yuushi was a little surprised by their acceptance and – in Kaede's case – enthusiasm in helping him, but he didn't let it show; they always looked sad when he seemed surprised with them helping him.

Well, Kaede looked sad; Anko looked like she was planning to hunt someone down.

Instead, he smiled and took them to a sweets shop; his treat.

*Omake*

Namikaze Minato, the prospective Hokage-to-be, was sitting with his girlfriend in Ichiraku when he heard a loud laugh behind them. A loud, familiar laugh.

Minato was careful to look behind them, where he saw a red-haired boy with a girl and boy beside him, the girl reaching over the boy trying to grab a stick of dango as he held it away from her while the other boy laughed. "Back off Anko, this one's mine!" The redhead exclaimed, leaning away from her as she reached over him. Then one – or both – of them lost their balance and they toppled over onto the ground.

As the two tumbled on the ground and made indignant squawks, the other boy just started laughing even harder.

Minato watched them for a moment longer then looked at his girlfriend. "Kushina, do you have a little brother, or cousin living here or something?" he asked, a little confused.

Kushina gave him a look. "Nooo," she drew out, curious. "Why?"

"Just wondering," was all he said in response, turning to look at the trio as the boy elbowed the girl off of him with a laugh and gave her the stick of dango anyway.

Probably for the best that they aren't related, Minato decided.

Honestly, he loved Kushina, but even he knew that two Red Hot-Blooded Habaneros running around could only spell doom for Konoha.

*End Omake*

Notes:

Kaede - Maple Leaf

Kaida - Little Dragon

I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with Kaede. He just kind of showed up.

Anyway, I hope you guys liked it!

Please review.

Ja ne!