Authoresses Note: Heh heh... Ms. Dragon demanded more Pein-sama yet again... So here it is!! -sniffle- I miss Sasori and Deidara! And for all you Twilight fans out there: OMG!! BREAKING DAWN IS OUT!! YESH!! IT'S SO GOOD!! I already finished it...

Ok... I'm done now... Anyway... Vote in my poll! And our special guest is... -drumroll- Eh... -whispers something to someone- Well... He's not here yet... And... there he is! OH MY GOD!! SASORI'S ALIVE! -faints-

Sasori: -sweat drop- Eh... Sorry I'm late... Fangirls were chasing me... No... I'm not alive... Just alive here for a little while... -pokes Flicker-

Me: Oi! I'm back from Dreamland and... OH MY GOD IT WASN'T A DREAM!! -fangirl squeal-

Sasori: Crap... Not another fangirl... I already had to avoid a crowd on my way over here...

Pein: Come join us in the anti-fangirl/boy bubble!

Me: NO! Sasori has to do the disclaimer first!

Sasori: Fine! Flicker doesn't own any Naruto characters. If she did, Itachi Deidara and I would be alive and Sasuke would be dead. And the Akatsuki would totally take over the world just to crush the hopes of the Ninja Villages. But Flicker does own Aiko, though Leader-sama begs to differ. -enters the anti-fangirl/boy bubble-

Me: :D Yay! Now I have two drop dead smexy Akatsuki members in my hideout! (God I'm such a schizo for thinking they're alive...)


Aiko's Point of View:

I finished my shower quickly and changed. I left some hot water for Pein. I opened the door and looked around the room. It felt good to be clean again. Pein glanced up from doing something and smirked, almost running to the bathroom. I suppressed a giggle. I decided to read a book from the personal library. I scanned the books for something remotely interesting. I almost missed the red book and had to do a double take. I carefully pulled it out and tried to find some sort of title. I found one, but it was so faded, I couldn't read it. I opened to the first page and started to read. 'Good plot...' I thought.

The next thing I heard was Pein coming out from his shower. He took one look at me and the book and started to laugh. I jumped.

"Why are you laughing?" I asked. I frowned.

"I'm laughing at what you're reading," he snickered. I looked at him in confusion.

"That's Icha Icha Paradise!" he said, snickering again. My eyes went wide. I glanced at the book.

"What? No! It can't be... I was not just reading, and enjoying that!" I hissed, throwing the book away from me like it was poison. Pein laughed harder.

"You enjoyed it?" He laughed. I blushed and made a few hand signs. A small fire burned from my finger tips and started to burn the book. Pein snickered. I blushed deeper and stopped the fire when it had burned the book. I threw the ashes out the window and sat on the bed, a different book in hand. It was one on various water jutsus. Suddenly something came back to me. My eyes widened at the newly found memory.


"Ai-chan! Come back! Ai-chan!" I heard behind me. No. I couldn't go back. I wouldn't go back. Not after what they did. Not after what they said they would do. I had to get away from them. How could they do this to a 12 year old! I was just a kid! That didn't mean they could take the last thing that I held dear to me. I knew they would come for me. My friends. Come to bring me back to the village. Where I would be killed. It was better to survive alone. Find somewhere where I could train and grow stronger. I had too. And I had to get out of this country soon. Before they sent the ANBU. I was going to be a missing-nin. A nukenin. One who abandoned their village. No. The village abandoned me. Even sensai abandoned me. Thought I was a failure at being a kunoichi. I wasn't that weak. I could beat most people in a spar. But no, they wouldn't listen. I sped up, knowing they wouldn't be able to keep up with this pace. Unless they had him on the chase too. I didn't think so. He was busy. I made my escape at the right time. Crap. The trees stopped. That meant I had to run. That was ok. The part that wasn't good was because they could see me if I wasn't fast enough. Especially if they had him with them. I hit the ground without a sound and started to run.

"Aiko! Please! I need to talk," said a voice. Close. Much to close. I glanced back to see a black haired boy with blue eyes. Shit. Kazuki was following me. He was a prodigy. Shit. I ran faster.

"Get away from me!" I growled. He started running after me.

"Aiko please! Come back! The village needs you! Your friends need you! I need you!" he shouted. I snorted. He needed me. What a bunch of bullshit. He had a family, sensai's that taught him jutsu, and many more friends than I did.

"You need me! Please. No one needs me. No one! Got that? And I want no one!" I shouted back. He faltered in step a little.

"If you won't come back... I'm coming with you!" he said. No. He couldn't come with. I didn't drag anyone else into this. I took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry Kazuki..." I whispered. He had to hear this so he wouldn't come back for me.

"Kazuki. Go back to that hell hole that you call Konohagakure and tell them I'm not coming back. Never. And if you try to follow me, I'll be forced to kill you," I growled. He looked like he was just told his whole family was killed.

"And tell them they can take their damn headband back!" I growled, taking the head band off my arm and took a kunai out. I slashed the leaf symbol and threw it back at Kazuki. Kazuki picked the headband up and stopped running after me. I quickly left him behind. I couldn't sense the squad sent after me anymore. I took out a special chakra enhancing pill and ate it. There were more trees up ahead and I jumped up to one of the branches. I had to escape. And so far it was working. As long as he didn't come after me. He being Hokage-sama. He was the only one who could catch me now. Even if he started now. That damn jutsu of his was troublesome. Great. Now I was starting to sound like Shikaku... I closed my eyes to look out for any chakra signatures.

Then he appeared. Shit. He was coming fast. It was him. Damn it. And I was so close too! Just another hour of running and I would be across the border. I took another chakra enhancing pill and started to run faster, pumping chakra into my legs. He was using that stupid jutsu. Damn. If I was lucky, I would be able to out run him when his chakra depleted. Luck was not on my side today. I jumped down from the trees, as they were ending again, and sprinted. His chakra signature faded and then appeared in front of me. Damn. He got in front of me. Shit. I could try to get around him. Shit. He was drawing another one of those kunai. Fuck. He grabbed my arm. I tried to get away, but he was too strong. Damn. Great. Today was the day I died.

"Aiko..." he started, but trailed off.

"Hokage-sama..." I muttered, lowering my eyes. He seemed to frown.

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel more important than I am," he said.

"Gomen Minato-sensai," I said. He smiled just a little.

"Why are you leaving Ai-chan?" he asked, using that stupid nickname. Stupid village. Stupid friends. Stupid life.

"Because... They're going to kill me... I overheard the elders talking about it," I said, tears rolling down my face. I didn't want to die.

"Hai... I know... I tried to stop them, but they out-voted me, but there is a way... But I don't think you'll like it," he said. I looked up at him, my blue eyes hopeful.

"I'll do anything Minato-sensai," I said, barely over a whisper. His gaze softened.

"I'll erase your memory of your personal life and destroy all of your records and you can survive in the world as a lone ninja," he said. I thought about it for a minute. I had to do anything.

"Please Minato-sensai... Would you really do that for me?" I asked, the tears rolling again. He nodded, letting go of my arm and messing with my hair. I threw my arms around his waist.

"Arigato Minato-sensai!" I said. He smiled, and messed with me hair more.

"You're welcome Ai-chan," he whispered, performing some hand seals and gently touched my forehead. Everything about my life vanished. It was just me and my skills. Nothing else. I forgot everything about Konohagakure, Minato-sensai, my friends, anything having to do with Konoha. It was just my ninja skills I had now. I realized how tired I was and wondered why I was hugging a strange blond haired man with a look of guilt in his blue eyes. I quickly dropped my arms. I yawned and climbed the nearest tree and started to fall asleep on a branch. I looked at the blond haired man through my eye lashes.

"I'll never forget you Aiko," he whispered. But I couldn't hear it. A moment later he was gone. And I was alone. Utterly alone.


Authors Note: Sorry It was such a short chapter, but it was a much needed one! Aiko's past, well why she left her village, which so happened to be Konoha. And Minato-kun is in it! Yay for Minato-kun! Not much Pein-sama in this chapter, but next chapter there will be! :D Check out my new story, Missing! dodges bricks from readers of both Bitter Resentment and this one I'm sorry! I forget good ideas if I don't write them down!! I promise I won't start another story until I finish one of these other ones. I hope... gets hit in the head by one of the bricks Ow... Until next time!