Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Masashi Kishimoto does!

"So that's what happened, huh?" There was no body, just a tank filled with water with a voice emanating from it. Taiga had stood in front of it, talking to the person inside of it who was like water itself.

"I'm worried about him to be honest." Taiga had frowned, already finished relaying all the details that happened weeks prior of when Naruto and the other leaf shinobi came to their hideout. "I trust that he won't let Orochimaru-sama take his body."

"Sasuke has a really odd way of going about things, you know that." His words weren't necessarily comforting but they were the truth nonetheless. "Still, he's not dumb enough to let Orochimaru have his way."

The corners of her mouth had rose upwards, "You seem to think fondly of Sasuke, Suigetsu-kun. And here I was just thinking it was me and Karin-chan."

He sighed, which made her chuckle since she could tell he was getting annoyed and flustered. "It's not like I care."

"Right." She nodded, "You haven't changed at all, Sui-kun." Her hand had pressed on the glass with a sense of sadness, "I wish I could free you but I can't do that while Orochimaru-sama is still alive and kickin'."

"Heh, afraid of facing him head on?" He questioned, merely teasing but also curious of her answer.

Taiga had removed her hand from the glass and placed it on her hip, "If I could control my Kekkei Genkai, I wouldn't mind tryin'! But, he's a sannin. He's way too powerful although he has been a bit weak lately."

"Even a weak Orochimaru is a strong Orochimaru." She nodded, agreeing with him. "I'm sure Sasuke might use this time to his advantage."

"I agree..." She had mumbled, her eyes looking away as a sense of uneasiness had rested on her shoulders. "Well, I should be going."

"If you're gonna come visit me again then bring me some yogurt, will ya? Oh, and when I'm outta this place, you still owe me a fight, hear me?"

It was the same with both Sasuke and Suigetsu. Whenever they had someone that matched or outranked them in a certain skill, they had to fight them until they won. They were too competitive for her taste. "Yeah yeah!" She waved her hand, leaving the laboratory.

Now that she was back inside the base, she had decided to look for Sasuke. After the incident when the Leaf shinobi had entered their hideout, he had been training and hiding relentlessly. He could've easily killed them all: Sai, Sakura, Yamato, and Naruto. They could've all died there. However, Sasuke didn't believe in killing anyone, in fact she had never seen him kill anyone. All he did was leave people unconscious when he went out and did missions for Orochimaru.

She had stopped in thought, now wondering why she had only just noticed that herself. Slowly, she had raised her hands and looked at them. Taiga never killed anyone in her life either, she promised herself that she was going to save her first death for one person and one person alone. Now she could see that Sasuke was indeed waiting for the same thing. 'We're more alike than I thought...' She had mumbled, recalling the events when she had first met Sasuke.

Flashback

It was raining, heavily. Despite how much rain had dropped from the sky, it was quiet and persistent. A young Taiga, at the age of eleven, had stood in that rain and allowed it to mask her tears by becoming one with the rain. Her small shoulders had trembled, soft sobs escaping her throat as she had stared out into the distance. Her mind was still reeling from what happened, unsure of how to deal with the losses she had just dealt with today.

"Is she a new recruit?" Someone had asked, not bothering to at least whisper.

Her hair had clung onto her skin, her body completely soaked by the rain as her clothes stuck onto her skin. The blood that had stained them had already washed off, making it look like she did not go through the ordeal that happened only a matter of hours ago. "Yeah, that cloud Ninja, Yuuma went on a killing spree."

"Yuuma of the clouds?!"

"Yeah! He killed a lot of people today, it's all over the world by now!"

Did they have no shame? She could feel her fist balling up at how loudly they spoke, wondering why they didn't consider that she was there. That she had just survive something so traumatic. Clenching her teeth, she felt the tears continue to pour from her eyes as she had tried to choke back the sobs that wanted to continuously leave her throat.

Suddenly, she couldn't feel the rain.

Looking up with tear-filled eyes, she had noticed an umbrella. Her eyes had slowly became big in shock as she looked to her right, noticing a small dark-haired boy beside her. Feeling another presence, she looked to her right and saw a red-haired girl. "You know, it's okay to cry and feel angry." said the red-head female.

"I guess we can say, we know exactly how you feel." A voice that didn't belong to either one of them had said and suddenly a boy with white hair and blue tints at the end of his hair was in front of her. He grinned, revealing his piranha-like, sharp teeth. "So cry all you want."

"Who said I was crying?" Taiga huffed, blinking away tears. "It was just the rain on my face."

"Eh?" The white-haired boy groaned as he had scratched the back of his wet, stringy hair. "You're worse than Karin."

"Shut up." The girl on her left had barked, "Who said she was crying? If she wasn't, she wasn't."

Taken back by Karin coming to defense for the girl, Suigetsu folded his arms and huffed. "Sasuke, why don't you help me?"

The boy on the right hadn't said anything, just smirking. He had shoved the umbrella towards Taiga. "You can't afford to be ill." And with that, he had walked away from them, leaving Taiga confused.

End Flashback

"Taiga." Her attention had shifted away from her thoughts and looked up to see Sasuke standing in the middle of the hall, his expression showing that there was something on his mind.

"Hm?" She hummed, "Don't question why I'm standing here. I was just thinking about something."

He didn't bother to ask what she was thinking about. "You went to see Suigetsu?"

He was concerned about the Hōzuki? Her eyes had softened some, a small smile appearing on her face. He always acted like he didn't care about Suigetsu and Karin, but she knew he did. Deep down. "Yeah."

From her expression he could assume that he was fine and he didn't want to lead on that he was more curious than he already was. "When you leave, are you going to go back to Cloud?"

She had shaken her head. "No, he's not in Cloud. Besides, I left my village. I don't think I can just go back. There's really nothing for me there."

"So the first thing you're going to do is look for Yuuma?" She had nodded in reply, "You don't even have any leads to where he might be."

"I don't care." She put it simply, "I'll tear the world upside down. I'll search behind every tree, in every house, under every rock, in the ground or in the sky until I find him. I don't care if I'll die trying, I'll still search for him."

As she suspected, a 'hmph' had rung in her ears. Her gaze fixated now on her bawled up hand, her fist tightening in the thought of Yuuma. "There's something I'll have to ask you in a few days."

She had furrowed her brows, unsure of what he meant. "You've been acting strangely these past few days. But I'm not sure if I'll be around before you ask me."

"You're leaving already?" He asked as she had looked at him, nodding her head.

"Orochimaru-sama basically told me that he can't teach me how to control Kekkei Genkai, it's up to me. I'm not good at mixing chakra natures and he's too ill to be patient with me." Taiga sighed softly, unbawling her fist and roaming her fingers through her hair. "So, I'll take the time to learn it on my own but... it's about time I stop sticking around here and do what's been sitting on my mind for five years." The atmosphere was quiet, and somewhat awkward. The Uchiha could tell the sincerity in her words, and he knew that she wasn't going to go back on her word whatsoever. "Do what you have to do."

Sasuke was never the one to stop someone, especially when he had no reason to. In fact, she was glad he was like that. "Sasuke," he continued to stare at her to inform her that she still had his attention. She chewed her lip thoughtfully for a moment, her eyes never leaving his face. At last, she sighed and spoke. "Hey, take out Kusanagi."

"…" His face showed his obvious confusion, and he stood there for a moment without doing anything. He seemed more so surprised at the strangeness of her request but for a moment, he must've thought she asked him to fight, and finally he pulled Kusangi from its scabbard.

Unsheathing Honjo Masamune in a smooth motion, she took a few steps closer to him and tapped her blade against his own. "This is called Kincho. It's what samurai do, when they swear an oath." Taiga said softly. The Uchiha had then remembered that Taiga was actually from a samurai family. He recalled when she said her father was a samurai and her mother was a kunoichi. "Well, I guess technically neither one of us is actually a samurai, so we're just going through the motions, I suppose."

"Why?" Sasuke finally asked.

She grinned. "Proof. Proof that we'll see each other again. And you'll survive too. That's the oath we just made. So you trust me, and you get your revenge. And don't die."

Her words were confident and listening to her had made him, surprisingly feel more capable. "It sounds like you doubt that I'll survive."

Of course he would take it the wrong way. She wasn't even sure why she thought doing this was going to make him feel confident, she knew deep down that he felt skeptical about being as strong or stronger than Itachi. "I wouldn't doubt that."

She had sheathed Honjo Masamume and then walked past him. "See ya, Sasuke."

"You're not going to tell Orochimaru you're leaving?" He asked as she kept walking forward.

"He already knows." Taiga replied, "Tell Kabuto-san goodbye for me. He was sleep when I was going to."

"Tch, I'm not your lackey." She nearly scoffed at his words.

"That's exactly why I left a note." He had smirked as her footsteps had became farther and quieter.

oOo

A few days after leaving the Eastern Hideout, she had heard about Sasuke killing Orochimaru. The rumor had spread quick; each and everyone telling one another the news about how the Uchiha showed the man no mercy. How they knew the battle? She wasn't sure, but she knew that the only way Sasuke had won was because Orochimaru was ill. She knew the day was coming, and from the way he spoke to her last time they spoke, she should've known it was happening soon.

Taiga had taken a boat to the Land of Fire after hearing rumors that a man that fit Yuuma's description had been there. There was a mass murder in one small village and she had wondered if he had been the cause of it. After investigation, she had realized that it wasn't, which led her to no paths towards him.

"Hisakawa village..." mumbled the kunoichi as she had read the sign, her head slightly tilted to the side as she had looked down from the sign and towards the forest path towards the village. She needed rest, a good meal, and then to ask anyone if they had seen Yuuma or a man of his description. Saying his name to people might put them off, so she thought that a description wouldn't shake their memories.

During the course of traveling, she had changed her clothes. She sported regular traveling clothes so that she could blend in well and pulled her hair into a low ponytail. She didn't want anyone knowing that she was a rogue ninja, it would only put her in more trouble and lower her chances.

"First things first," She mumbled, "I gotta eat. I'm starvin'." Her hand had went to her stomach, rubbing in small circles as she could feel it growl due to fact that the last meal she ate was a few days ago.

Walking ahead, she had heard a few voices not too far from her. "There's a rumor going around about these small villages getting slaughtered." An older woman had said, "Do you think Hisakawa village is next?"

"I hope not. I'm really worried..." The other woman replied, "It's already bad enough we're not a ninja village and we're still get caught up in their wars."

Taiga had chewed her lip, wondering if it would be best if she stayed in the village for a while to make sure nothing happened. "Hell, I'd rather be in a ninja village if this kind of thing is happening."

If you're that scared, Konohagakure isn't that much far away from here." Taiga's brow had rose in thought, the leaf ninja now appearing in her mind. "They've been really secure since the ninetails attacked."

"I don't know... Isn't the ninetails trapped in some kid? What if that thing got loose?" Walking ahead, she had reached the village's gate, which had opened for her as she had revealed her traveler's pass.

Her eyes had wandered through the small village, searching for any restaurants or stands. She soon had found a quaint teashop. "Mm, dango and tea sound really good." Running towards the shop, she pushed the sheet door to the side and walked in.

It wasn't full but it wasn't empty either, there was a reasonable amount of customers that it didn't make the atmosphere stuffy. Sitting down at an empty table, she folded her hands on the table's surface and awaited for service.

A large fist had slammed down on a nearby table, Taiga's eyes immediately followed the sound to see a young man with long black hair that was tied in a ponytail with green eyes and his face contorted in an angry expression. "Where's the waitress with our drinks?!" He shouted, "We've been waiting for the past thirty minutes!"

Her lips parted to say something but she decided otherwise. They were obviously people that couldn't be spoken to with reason, they would more likely than not pick a fight and she wasn't in the mood to fight a bunch of thugs. "W-We're sorry!" The female waitress apologized as she had placed their cups down as well as the bottle of sake.

The man sneered at her as she had walked towards Taiga's table, "I just want some hanami dango and white tea." She ordered, the woman nodding and then headed to the back. Looking back to the strange men, Taiga could see them eyeing people in the restaurant, probably picking on who they would bother next or were they there for another reason?

"So, did you hear about that village in Yama valley? They said one man slaughtered everyone in the village." One of the thugs had said, "Just him, all by himself."

"Heh, what did he do it for? Was it a raid?" The ponytail-wearing male asked, leaning in as he was curious of the story.

"They said he's looking for someone and the whole village lied about where that person was and so he killed them." The way he said it so matter-of-factly had left a bad taste in Taiga's mouth. "They said he's looking for a man named Yuuma."

Her ears had perked upon the sound of the name. "Yuuma? Why would he be searching for Yuuma? Yuuma is one of the most dangerous rogue samurai criminals in the world. If found, he's supposed to be killed on sight."

Taiga's eyes had lowered but then noticed the plate that was place in front of her, three sticks of green, white, and pink dangos and the teacup a reasonable distance away from the plate. She had given a nod of gratitude to the waitress while continuing to listen, "I guess everyone's plotting on revenge against him."

Taking a bite of the first dango, she had chewed and listened diligently. "Well, it doesn't matter anyway. Yuuma has been missing for almost, well, three years. I guess the old man decided to stop killing."

Every day there was a new rumor about Yuuma and she wasn't sure if they any of them were reliable, but either way she knew that staying in this village would give her a better clue as to where he was. Somehow.

After finishing her meal and tea, she had placed the money on the table but soon as she was getting ready to leave, the thugs decided to act up. "Whoa whoa! Wadda ya mean, 'no'?!"

"Stop it! Let go of me!" It was the waitress' voice. Taiga's gaze had swept over to the situation, her eyes narrowing.

"We're patriots, fightin' every day to kick those damn ninjas out of our villages! The least you can do is give us a little more booze! Or maybe, even, heh, a little...company...?" The clump of men were harassing the young girl and it seemed like nobody was going to do anything about it.

All eyes were lowered, focused on their food. Was these men supposed to be feared or were the people here just cowards? "Well well well." Taiga inched took a few steps closer, "Guess being a patriot doesn't mean what it used to if we've got men like you throwing yourself around."

"Are you jealous that we didn't ask for your company?" There was no use talking and she was already getting aggravated. A predatory smile appeared on her face, her hand falling on the hilt of Honjo Masamune. There was no mirth in that rictus grin of hers, and the men's face grew several shades paler.

Female samurai or more like onne-bugeisha weren't common in these small villages. So they were only somewhat deflated by the sight of her. "Get out of here you stupid bitch!" One man yelled, the tension growing from bad to worse.

Nobody saw it happen. Not even the glint of the blade or the sound of it slicing the air. Nobody had seen a thing.

All they saw was the men's clothes ripped to shreds and they were down in their boxers, revealing their scrawny bodies to everyone in the teahouse. Customers had burst in a fit of laughter, the men unsure of what people were laughing about until they felt the cold air touch their bare skin.

Any color left had completely drained from their faces, and they turned tail and ran. "At least they were smart enough to run." Taiga mumbled, rolling her shoulder and cracking her neck. "Um... My name is Natsu Suzumoto. Thank you for saving me." The waitress said as she had given a quick bow. She was so refined; so lady-like.

"Why did you tell me your name? I didn't ask." Taiga said, raising a brow. The girl had lowered her eyes, seemingly embarrassed. Not wanting her to feel awkward, Taiga spoke in kind. "My name is Taiga."

"Taiga..." She repeated the name as to keep it in memory, "I wish to thank you properly—"

Shaking her head, Taiga had given her a small smile and turned away. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." Not even giving a proper goodbye, she had walked out of the teahouse and entered back into the village. "Now for an inn..."

"That's her, 'Tou-san! She's the one who destroyed our clothes." Taiga had sighed, looking to her right to see a group of men gathered around together. The thugs whose clothes she had shredded were too busy pointing at her while at the same time trying to cover their boxers.

"Why can't I get a break...?" She whined, stomping her feet slightly as they had made their way over to her. "Look, your kid was harassing a girl. They threatened me and I ended it." She said as the tall men had wore a deep frown and then unsheathed their swords. "Okay, so I guess talking isn't going to cut it."

Suddenly, she was surrounded again. And it wasn't by the group of samurai.

Her eyes had widened when she had caught the spiky yellow hair that she had seen before. "Don't worry, we'll protect you." He said to her, looking at her from over his shoulder.

Taiga had lowered her head, making sure that he couldn't see her face. He should've recognized her immediately. "I didn't ask for your protection..." She mumbled, "But whatever."

"Listen up, punks! Who do you think you are attacking someone when it's seven of you and just one of them?" He yelled.

Her eyes had looked left to see the pink-haired girl, Sakura, from before and then to her right to see the pale boy, Sai. All of them were in the village? She had then looked behind her over her shoulder to see two instructors; Yamato and then one with silver-hair. Could her luck get even worse?

"Are you okay? Do you have any injuries?" Sakura queried, but the girl had taken a step away from her, surprising her.

"I'm fine." Taiga muttered, taking her sword from the sword belt and using it to move the jinchuuriki to the side. "I don't need any of your help. I was fine by myself."

"Huh? But how can you—"

Was he underestimating her? Gritting her teeth, she had growled. "Watch me."

Taiga had ran forward, unsheathing Honjo Masamune, she had went for the man in front, who attempted to smash aside her strike but after blow after blow of his defense being crashed, he had no time to do anything. Not even enough time to even breathe. "C'mon! That all you got?!" She roared as she hit the man's sword one more time, breaking it from the hilt.

The man was startled, dropping the handle and taking a few steps back while the other man went forward in an attempts to protect him. Sweeping the blade in a quick strike, the next man had his sword rebound and was forced back.

Taiga leapt forward, her sword moving too fast for the eye to see: a line of blood simply appeared on the boy's father's face. He clapped his hand to it in surprise and pain, and jumped backward, trying to put space between them.

The man simply stared, eyes wide, at the blood that fell from his face to pool in his hand. "Damn you!" The man uttered, "Damn you, you wench!" He turned and ran, his son following him and his group. Taiga had sheathed his sword, catching her breath.

"Wow, that was amazing!" The girl had said as they had all stood around her.

She kept her head lowered, trying not to get any attention to her face. "Wait..." Yamato muttered, the girl's eyes widened. "You seem awfully familiar."

"Taiga." Sai had said her name, all of them looking in shock. The one person who didn't was the spiky, silver-haired man with a face mask.

"The girl that was in Orochimaru's hideout?" He spoke, trying to register what was going on.

Seeing as she couldn't hide her identity anymore, she had looked up at them and sighed. "What are you going to do, take me into custody?"

"Why are you here? Is Sasuke—" Naruto began to get into a fully interrogation.

Rolling her eyes, she had folded her arms under her bust. "Sasuke isn't here. Sasuke and I have separated days ago before—"

"He killed Orochimaru, right?" Yamato finished, the girl nodded her head in answer. "That still doesn't explain why you're here and we have the right to detain you because you're a criminal."

Tilting her head back, she had closed her eyes in aggravation. "And how am I a criminal? Because you saw me at Orochimaru-sama's hideout? I have not committed a single crime."

Yamato was stunned for a moment, "I'm here for my own reasons. I have no reason or obligation to answer you. And no, I don't know where Sasuke is. So don't even bother to ask."

"But you do know what he's planning to do, don't you?" Sakura had asked her, "I mean you seemed to know him pretty well."

"To have known Sasuke as long as you've all had, I'm pretty sure you guys know what he is going to do." Taiga sighed, "If you don't then you shouldn't go after him; you shouldn't go after him regardless."

Pushing past Naruto, she had walked ahead. "He's looking for Itachi..." He muttered, now putting two and two together. "But why didn't you go with him?"

"Because I'm looking for my own Itachi." She simply answered, "Now if you'll excuse me."

"Is the man you're looking for Yuuma?"

Author's Note: