AN: Sorry for the long waited update, but I had a really good reason, well two actually. First, I wanted to get my english essays done, and well, school comes first, sorry. Secondly, I had two chapters written out for this fanfic and while in the middle of writing chapter 10, I realize that I could shorten this up a bit.

So I figure why not combine two chapters into one...it would be a lot quicker in getting into the best parts for the plot and it would be like a jump-start to the action scenes.

So in doing so, I cut, edit, paste, rewrote, and re-editted a couple of times until I came up with this for Chapt. 9. I like it and I left in the good stuff that was needed to be explained further down in the story.

The most important stuff includes... you just have to read it. I like it and I hope you guys will enjoy it as much as I did. And I really hope I did some justice in combining the two chapters.

Anyway, let me stop talking so you guys can start reading...IT'S LONG...so...

ENJOY

Warning: Language, yeah I got some foul words in here, but not too much, more like just one or two curse words so nothing too big, but I had to let you guys know, just in case.


Chapter 9

Protection & Deception

It was in the afternoon when Shin woke up.

He walked into the bathroom, in the hall, and closed the door. Upon looking at himself in the mirror, he saw dark bags under tired eyes. He was drained; not being able to sleep a full night, for a week and two days could do that to a person. After his third nightmare of this week, he couldn't go back to sleep. He couldn't stand to have another one of those horrible dreams, and in doing so, he stayed up and watched his bedroom walls, hoping that boredom would help him go to sleep, peacefully. If that didn't work, before dawn broke he would turn over in his bed and pretend to sleep until the afternoon sun bothered him or until he heard his mother call him for breakfast. She always made his breakfast for him late, not wanting him to miss his three basic meals for no reason at all, not even for his sleepless wakes in the afternoon.

Running cool water over his face, Shin watched as the liquid dripped down his pale face. The small fluids moved slowly down to his chin until they fell off and onto the floor. He watched as they hit the floor in elaborate patterns and changed into a different color, a much feared color…red. It happened so quickly that Shin had to look twice. He glance up at the mirror in front of him and saw, not water, but blood.

Please he heard a small voice in his head. Don't kill me, I don't want to die.

Shin squeezed his hand around the rim of the sink and closed his eyes. Every time, these… voices would come to him in waking hours and make him see things that weren't really there. They were from missing nightmares he didn't wish to have during his nights spent staring at his walls.

"Stop," he told nothing, "Please, stop."

Pathetic little brother…worthless, this voice came at him with such malicious that it left him shaken with fear.

"Stop," Shin slammed his fist onto the counter, holding the sink, and opened his eyes. The blood was gone, water dripped nonchalantly down his face like nothing had happened. He turned his eyes away from the mirror and dried his face. He sigh a relief and went on to brushing his teeth. When he was finished with his bathroom tasks, he walked out of the bathroom as if nothing had happened. And it didn't, nothing had happened because it wasn't real; none of it was, not to him.

Kakashi looked out the kitchen window, drinking a nice cup of coffee as he watched Shin plant some seeds in the front garden. Him and his team has been with the Unomis for about two days now and there was still no word from Tsunade about her receiving his message and if she wanted them to continue with the two weeks here or quickly bring the boy to Konoha because of the situation. Truthfully, Kakashi wanted the mission to last its original two weeks; it was enough time to gather information: If the boy was only pretending to not know about his past, if the boy really is the Uchiha, Kakashi still had some doubts about that notion, and if the Unomis really are who they say they were. They brought so much suspension towards Kakashi that he guessed it could be because of their nice nature, but he felt as though it was something else, something much more than what they lead on. He felt uneasy when he was around them and it never left him whenever they would smile at him and his team or when they would offer them to stay one more night, or when they would just sit at the dinner table in silence and eat a well-cooked meal. No, something definitely didn't feel right about them two and Kakashi was determined to figure that out before this mission was over.

He also wanted the time to spend with the boy, he wanted the boy to trust him more than anything, because if he really is an Uchiha than, Kakashi really wanted that connection. To know that the Uchiha, still alive and not a criminal, has his forgiveness and his acceptance for taking something that really didn't belong to him. He wanted so badly to have someone to protect and not let down because of his failure, yeah, he had his students and he would protect them with his life. He told them that so many times and it never lost its value. And he wanted to put that value on the boy because then he would know that he accomplished something else for Obito, by protecting his family.

Yeah, two weeks was enough time for that connection to build, hopefully. And hopefully the boy would trust him enough too.

He sipped another mouthful of his coffee before turning around, away from the window to watch his team at the table, snacking on some fruits. He sat down next to them and focused his attention on the female member of the Unomi family. She was washing the dishes at the time, her back turned to him and his team, humming a melody about a small bird's journey on its own. Kakashi recognized it from listening to other mothers singing that song to their children while he walked the streets of Konoha.

"Ayame, may I ask you something personal," Kakashi ventured.

Ayame dried the last dishes before turning towards Kakashi, giving all her attention to him.

"Sure," she smiled. "What is it you want to ask me?"

"I've noticed that Shin doesn't have some of the same features as you nor your husband, Kiyoshi. Was he adopted or was he a friend's child you're watching over?"

His team stopped their eating, noticing that the time for information was important and Kakashi was initiating it.

Ayame smile faltered a little, but she quickly covered it up with a much tender smile than before. She looked out the window Kakashi was looking through earlier and traveled across the room towards it.

"We found him…," she told him as she watch her son finish planting seeds and was now picking through the vegetable garden for some ingredients for the restaurant. "…Outside Destiny's district, he was barely alive."

She smiled, sadly as the memories of that day appeared.

"He was so pale and small; I thought he was already dead."

"You obviously nursed him back to health seeing that he is here now, alive," Kakashi pointed out.

Ayame turned back to her guest and smiled, "Yes, that is true." But the smile didn't last long as she went to sit down at the table across from the ninjas.

"Was there something else," Kakashi took notice of the expression change.

Like she was in a trance, Ayame snapped out of it and glanced back at Kakashi.

"I'm sorry, what was the question again," she asked.

"Nothing, never mind," Kakashi said. He could tell that the subject was getting more personal than he intended but at least he was getting somewhere. Maybe if he sneaked in one more question, but something simple, not too bearing for the woman.

"Did anyone come looking for him," he asked.

"No, no one came looking for him," she answered.

"Have you tried searching for someone who might have lost him or have you sent out poster of his whereabouts just in case someone was looking for him," Sakura asked.

There was a silent paused for a moment before Ayame sighed. She stood to leave the room only to come back with a folded paper in her hand. She handed it to Kakashi, where he unfolded the sheet and looked over it. It was a poster describing Shin and where to find him, stating that if anyone was looking for him, contact the Unomis.

"That's the only copy we made," she said after she sat back down, looking everywhere but at them.

Kakashi passed the paper among his students as he listened for Ayame to continue.

"He was young and frightened when we took him in. There were times he kept hiding away from us, crying in a corner. It took him three days to really stop weeping and get use to us."

She smiled as another memory appeared, "He ran away a couple of times, only to come back trembling, not knowing where else to go, but back to us."

"You got attached," Kakashi sighed, he wasn't asking, he was stating the obvious.

Ayame finally looked up towards the team, tears glistened her eyes.

"I can't have children of my own and when Shin…when he came, it was like a blessing, a son for me and Kiyoshi. Someone we could take care of and feed as if he was our own," she cried.

"But someone had to be looking for him, his real family. What about…" Naruto said only to be interrupted.

"Well, they didn't," Ayame shunned. "They obviously didn't care about him or else he wouldn't have run away. They would have been looking for him if they did care."

She started crying, covering her face with her trembling hands.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to offend you," Kakashi comforted. He knew the real reason why she was crying. She knew that the boy could never be hers and she was finally admitting it to herself, be it told to her millions of time or mentally seeing that she would have to let the boy go when he was ready was a burden for her, she would have to let go of her own reasons for keeping the boy here with her and her husband and set the boy free…her son free.

Ayame shook her head, no, "No, no I'm the one who should be apologizing. You are my guest and I'm the one being rude."

"We understand," Kakashi said after a moment. He didn't want it to get this far and he really didn't mean for the woman to cry. But it was tempting somehow, in a way, to see the woman breakdown over the boy. What this would mean when we would have to take the boy away, he thought while figuring the situation in his head. How would she cope then…how would the boy feel then?

Just then, the back door opened and Shin walked in, carrying a basket of fresh vegetables. He saw his mother crying and quickly set the basket on the counter to run over to her.

"Mom," he worriedly asked. He snuck a glance at Team 7 and their sensei before encasing his mother in his arms, glaring at the other persons in the room with her.

"I'm fine, Shin, don't worry about me. You got those seeds planted and those vegetables I asked you to pick," she stated wiping the tears from her eyes and getting up from the table. She turned to face her son, watched as he nodded his head, yes, and brushed her hands over his pale cheeks and smiled. He was so over-protective when he saw her cry.

Why, she would always ask herself. Ever since he stepped foot into their house he was always guarded towards them and of other people. It only took her a week's time to realize that his protectiveness towards her and her husband was because he felt safe around them and he wanted them to feel the same way. But when a stranger appeared or when others came over, whether they were friends or acquaintances, he would always shield himself away from them. He would keep to himself, watching, suspecting, and alarming at times. Sometimes, she felt that he wasn't his self during those moments and it frightened her. Seeing how he would change from different emotions from one thing to the next, and then confusion, it was always confusion in which her son would end with and then anger…so much anger.

"Really, Shin, I'm fine." She kissed him on the forehead to ensure him before walking to the counter to pick up the basket of vegetables and carried them over to the sink, where she started to wash them.

"Why don't you wash up, I'll have lunch ready in a little while," she said not turning her eyes away from her task.

Shin stared at his mother's back, wondering just what went on while he was out.

"Sure," he whispered softly as he turned to leave out the room, but not before he snuck another glare at their guest, showing his dislike towards them.

Later that afternoon, Kakashi thought it was a great time to train with his team. The sun was setting so it wasn't as hot and the wind was lightly blowing so it was somewhat cool. It was a perfect time to get in some practice. He twirled a kunai around his index finger as he watched his team get into position.

"Alright," he started. "I want you all to come at me with all you got. Got it?"

They nodded their heads and took on a more definite stance.

"And remember, no chakra," he silently warned, giving them all pointed looks. "We don't want other ninjas knowing where we are."

Naruto was the first to attack. He came at Kakashi with three kicks aiming at different vital sites, Kakashi blocked all three. When his wrist blocked one of Naruto's fists, Sakura came at him from behind while Sai came at him from his right. They both kicked out towards his head, in which, he shoved Naruto out of the way to duck and quickly moved to another location. He was behind them now and he sent three shurikens their way, in which they jumped out of the way to send him their own sets of shurikens. He once again, moved away to dodge them, then reappeared in the same spot and attacked.

He took down Naruto first with a jab to the neck area, immobilizing him momentarily, and then used that time to take care of the others. Sakura dodged his attack at first, with Sai trying to distract him with his own sets of attacks. He would throw a punch towards Sakura, she would block, Sai would come at him with high kicks and he would dodge them, and Sakura would throw a kick or a punch and it would start all over again.

Naruto was out of his brief stiffness to advance on him from behind and then there were three against one again.

Sakura aimed for his neck, while Naruto also aimed, with a round kick, for his neck, and Sai kept him distracted enough for the punch and the kick to reach just inches away from his neck before he blocked both hand and ankle and kicked Sai in the gut, sending him to the ground. He then spun around throwing the remaining two to the ground as well.

"You could do better," he told his group, not breaking a sweat to show for his efforts in defeating his team. "Let's see if you can improve." And then the fighting continued.

Shin watched from the small porch, waiting for his father to show up from work like he did everyday, and contemplated. He's seen fight like this before, but from where he couldn't remember. He so anxiously wanted to join to prove something, but afraid of somehow knowing he wasn't compatible –good enough- for that kind of fighting but still wanting to join, and confused because it all seemed familiar. So familiar to a scene in his head that he whispered a nostalgic, "Teach me." Asking someone, in his head that he knew and cherished… and envied.

He was so trance into the recollection that he didn't realize that his father had already made it up the path, to the house, greeting his guests and questioned him.

"Teach you what," he asked, snapping Shin from the clouded memory. Shin didn't answer at first just looked up at his father and stared. For a while now, he's been questioning a few things but he would never get an answer, always a question from the man before him. He felt the need to reach out to his father, but afraid of being reprimanded, lied to, or pushed away.

Why, he thought. Everything was so clear one minute then disappointingly confusing the next. And familiar feelings and thoughts would come to him in flashes leaving him to wonder what they all meant when they would disappear and would be replaced with this present, this reality. What should he trust in, now? He was stuck; more ways than one denying what truly to accept as true in his thoughts and feelings.

Like this woman, a short image so ambiguously unclear in his head, was strong spoken, she was firm in more ways than one when it came to reading people and trying to keep a happy home. She had long beautiful black hair, pale skin, just like him, and a wonderful elegance and strength about her. She smiled, she cried, and she worried for something, it was still unclear for him to understand. It was the same way with this vague man in his head as well. The man was stern, not much of a father-figure but he was made suitable. He had black hair, his skin was slightly darker in shade than his own and he was resolved in posture. He frowned on many occasions, demanded only the best for his family, and he was worried as well, something else that puzzled him too, not knowing what it was, because both mirages were worried about something. But this man confused him, he felt uncomfortable when his image would appear in his thoughts and he would feel somewhat inadequate. But it would change on many circumstances and he would feel a combination of shame, love, rejection, and acceptance when it came to this man. But he knew them, on some familiar, although unsure, certainty, he had known those two people and spoke with them, touched them…loved them, but how he knew this, he wasn't sure and it baffled him not knowing how.

But with the people he's recognizable with as his mother and his father, he knew they were the ones he should believe in. His mother was somewhat the same as the woman in his head, black hair, pale skin, kind. She was soft spoken, more out of politeness than anything. No form of hardship had touched her like it did with the woman in his thoughts. His mother was always happy, always smiling, always…enjoying life; she didn't have to worry about anything but his well-being and he loved her. And his father, the man he's so familiar with, he was completely different than that of the man in his head. His father was stern, yes, but he was gentle and he was a father-figure by no other means necessary. He had black hair too, although gray showed early around his edges, his skin was tan and his posture was bent by poor stances and hard working hours. He smiled, he laughed, and he knew what was best for his family in all situations…showing affection. It was so easy to understand this man because he knew when he was being accepted, he knew when he was being cherished when he did something good, and he definitely knew when he was being loved. This man he could see and not be afraid to touch was real; he was who he should believe in. But there were these feelings and thoughts that preoccupied his head telling him that they weren't his, and it scared the hell out of him because, it didn't make sense, he knew they were always there for him for here and for now. What else was he to believe but to think, no, to know that they were his parents, they're right there where he could touch them, love them, breath in the scent of them when he hugs them, but would shamefully recognize, more unconsciously so, that they smelled differently, looked differently… made him feel differently. But he would hold on to them no matter what; because they were there…he could touch them…hold on to them.

"Shin," his father asked, looking concern. "What do you want to be taught?"

Shin blinked, feeling tired, a little annoyed, and confused, always confused.

"Nothing," he answered his father, putting on a smile and dropping it just as quickly as he put it on. "I'm going for a walk. Tell mother I'll be back before dinner, okay." Shin got up from the porch, slowly walking down the path that lead to the wooded trail towards the Sakura trees and pond. Stealing a glance over at his so-called guest, he spotted the teacher once again blocking his students' attacks and knocking them down onto the ground. The teacher then looked over at him, where their eyes met for the briefest of moment. Shin frowned and looked away; remembering that they were the ones who made his mother cry and they were the ones who brought new thoughts into his head, confusing thoughts, the ones most difficult to deal with.

In town at Destiny's inner gates, Tioshi and three other men accompanying him, the rest of his men were left outside to wait for orders from their made leader to come back with news.

Tioshi was a kind man. He was viewed as a respectable man in his village and he always treated people with kindness. It made people trust him easily; it made it easy for them to talk to him. So that's why the gatekeeper was so kind to talk with Tioshi when he questioned him.

"Excuse me, sir, but can I ask you a question," Tioshi kindly asked.

The gatekeeper was in a good conversation with a few of his buddies at the moment, but one look at the kind young gentleman in front of him had him smiling.

"Sure what can I do for'ya?"

Tioshi politely smiled, walking closer to the man and his friends.

Start with small talk, Tioshi reminded his self. That's the polite thing to do.

"This is such a nice place from what I've seen so far," Tioshi started. "I've heard great thing about this place."

"Really," the gatekeeper questioned. "Destiny is such a small village; I'll be surprise if the five kages have heard of this place."

"Really, I guess I got my information mixed up, but I'm glad that I stumbled upon this place."

"Glad to hear that young man."

"Please, sir," Tioshi smiled confidently. "I've been on this quest to find a person, a young boy actually. And well, I've searched everywhere, but this place, of course. And since I've been traveling for so long I thought you could help me in shortening my travel time by answering a few questions for me."

"Oh, okay."

Tioshi smiled brightly, got him, he thought.

"Well, this boy, I'm looking for, he's young, around twelve or thirteen years of age. He has black hair and eyes. I've believe he too has pale skin. He could have recently showed up here in this village, maybe…let's say, about four years ago, have you seen such a person."

The gatekeeper pondered for a moment. He seen a lot of young boy around that age with those features run around the village but someone recent, it wasn't coming to mind, until…

"Hey, didn't Unomi Kiyoshi and his wife recently took in a kid four years back," one of the gatekeeper's friends voiced. "I think they called him Shin."

"Yeah," the gatekeeper was now remembering. "Yeah…that's a nice family, but what do you want with the kid? Did he do something wrong?"

"Oh, no, no, no, he did no such thing. Actually, he ran away from our village and we've been searching for him for the longest. It's just we were so worried about him, not knowing where he was for so long, and well, you know my point," Tioshi kindly explained.

"I see," the gatekeeper nodded. It sounded like the man really knew the boy, but he wouldn't think it would be right if he gave the man any further information, at least, not until he asked Kiyoshi first. The restaurant owner seemed so happy with the boy; he wouldn't want to be the cause for his unhappiness.

"Tell me, sir, do you know where I can find where this Mr. Unomi lives," Tioshi asked.

"Well, uhm…I don't know…I should…"

"Please sir, I just want to know if the boy is okay, I missed him so much and to know that he was in good hands would be a relief, believe me, but I would like to see it for myself, so please can you grant me this one request."

The gatekeeper pondered again, the man in front of him does seem sincere, maybe he should…

"Well, since you put it that way, I guess I can tell you where Mr. Unomi lives."

Tioshi smiled, Perfect, he thought.

"I'm glad to hear that, now… where can I find this Unomi person."

Meanwhile, three men sat bruised and beaten at a restaurant outside the walls of Destiny. They tended to their aching bodies with cool glasses filled with water, every now and then complaining about how they got beaten by one man, single-handedly. There names were Fudo, the so-called leader of the group, Jiro, the middle man, and Kanaye, the follower of the group. Most of their lives were growing up scamming people, stealing, and living on the streets, never before had they ever been unsuccessful in the things they did, well up until now. Two days ago was the day they failed at anything they planned out to do. If that ninja hadn't come in like he did and beaten them, they were pretty sure they would have left out of that restaurant, proud, with money in their pockets, it was too bad it didn't turn out that way.

"Freaking ninja, who does he think he is, sneaking into the joint like he owns the place," Fudo complained, nursing his eye with his glassed water. "If he didn't sneak up on me, I could have taken him."

His followers just nod their heads, Jiro wincing as the bump in the back of his head throbbed a little.

"What are we going to do, now," Kanaye asked, he was also the youngest of the group. "We have no money and I'm hungry."

"Don't worry, I'll get us something in our stomach," Fudo answered, looking around the restaurant for potential prey. "I just need to find the right target."
Suddenly the front door to the restaurant burst opened and two large men stepped in, stepping to the side to let a man pass through who sported a suit. He was looking at the residents in the eatery with distaste and he sneered at them. He walked to the center of the place and looked around some more. Belittling everyone he made eye contact with, with a frown and a roll of his eyes.

An empty table caught his attention and he walked over to it, kicking its chair out from under the table and sat down in it. He casually crossed his legs at the ankles, while the room remained silent at his convenience.

He picked up a glass, already filled with water and twirled it in his hand.

"I'm looking for a boy," Rye started. "He is of great importance to me. I will reward anyone a large sum if you know of his whereabouts." He took a sip from his glass and slammed it back onto the table, getting back up, glaring at everyone in the room.

"He's very unique, the boy I'm looking for, although his features are of those of average citizens, he possess a special gift within the eyes. He's young, maybe at the age of thirteen, black hair, black eyes, and pale skin. That's all you need to know."

Rye sent another glare towards the people in the commercial place. Intimidation was his best asset; it got him what he wanted from people, and it made him superior. And he knew everyone knew what an Uchiha looks like. They may be rare now, but they weren't infamous for nothing. He figured if he gave little but hinted just a bit, and threaten just as forcefully, than someone would tell him something, and if not, there was always other ways of getting information from people…his two escorts were very good with getting information out of people, whether they be children, women, or men, someone had to know something.

"I know who you are looking for," a person from a corner table announced. He was young, had brown hair, light tan skin, his two buddies next to him look similar, although one had a much darker shade of brown while the other one had somewhat of a sandy type of brown.

"Fudo, what are you doing," Kanaye whispered, nudging his brother for his attention, but Fudo just ignored him. He knew exactly what he was doing. He heard a "large sum" of what he could only assume to be money and a scam emerged in his head. This was the perfect opportunity to get money into his and his brothers' pockets…easy money. All he had to do was tell the man a lie and they would be rich. But being a scam artist as he was, he knew a lie without proof was nothing, especially by the man in the suit standards. So that's when he thought about the couple at the restaurant, two days ago, and that they had a son with similar features as what the man just described. The boy may not be who he was looking for, but hey, what did he care, he just wanted the money.

"Yeah, I know who you're looking for," he made clear as the man in the suit walked over to his table.

Rye leaned over the boy under him and narrowed his eyes. The boy looked beaten, somewhat nervous and confident.

He liked that. He smirked and nodded his head towards the door, "Let's take this outside," he then walked away from the boy and out the door, his two ruffians were right there behind him.

Fudo got up to leave when a hand grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him. He looked down to see Jiro's hand.

"What are you doing? You don't know who he's looking for," he stated, tightening his hand around his older brother's wrist. "You're going to get yourself killed."

Fudo smiled, "And haven't I've been in worst situation, brother? Believe me. I know what I'm doing." He snatched his hand free from his brother's grip and hurried out the door.

By the time he existed down the front door, a hand gripped around his throat and slammed his squirming both up against the building. Fudo looked to see the hand belong to one of the big guys accompanying the man in the suit and braced himself as the man raised a fist and slammed it into his stomach, releasing his grip around his throat, causing him to fall to the ground, gasping.

"I don't like to be toyed with," Rye said appearing from behind his goon. "I like for my business to be smooth and exactly the way I want it." Rye squat down so he was eye level with the winded young man. "Now, I'm giving you time to really tell me the truth before my co-worker here," he pat one of his followers on the shoulders, "breaks all your fingers for even thinking you could lie to me and get away with it."

Rye stood as one of his thugs slam the young man onto the ground with a fist to the back, while the other one grabbed at his hand and gripped at his pinky finger, "The smaller fingers always hurts the worst," he stated as he pulled the finger back just enough for it to be painful.

"Ahh," Fudo squirmed. "I'm telling you the truth," he wasn't giving up on this, he could still convince them, even if it meant getting a few fingers broken for them to actually believe him…he would do anything for money.

A crackling snap was heard afterwards as his baby finger was pulled back completely, tearing jointly apart from the rest, it hung loosely next to his other fingers as he tried holding in his cries as his ring finger was being pulled back.

"Are you," Rye asked, "Because right now all I hear in bullshit. Maybe I still need convincing."

Another finger snap and his middle finger was pulled back, painfully.

"Ahhh, please, believe me, I know where the boy is," Fudo panted. "My brothers and I ran into him a few times, a boy, he was fast. He took us down single-handedly when we tried stealing from him." He might as well fabricate his story a little; tell some truth, some lie. He remember when the man said something about the boy being unique and the way the man dressed and handled things, he could only assume that the man was involved in some kind of illegal business…

Drugs, he thought at first, but what that had to do with the boy, it had to be something else. Prostitution, he thought next, the boy could have been a unique asset to the man in that career, but it was unusual for the boss or pimp to travel for a runaway prostitute, usually he sent just his followers. Fight Clubs was his next thought, and that seemed to fit the man perfectly. A lot of the fight club system, especially the owner or profiteer would like to see his goods before buying them, he's been in the illegal business long enough to know what was what, so maybe he was correct with his fib when he said the boy was the cause for him and his brothers beaten and unruly state.

"That's enough," Rye said, taping his thug on the shoulders, telling him to release the young man.

Fudo's hand was release and he cradled his hand, along with the broken appendages. He stood up on wobbly legs, keeping his hand close to his body.

Rye walked up to him and wipe some dust off his shoulders, "Now, tell me where the boy is," he wrapped his arm around Fudo's shoulder. Rye leaned the young man towards him until he had the boy in a chokehold.

"Destiny's a small town, everybody knows where everyone lives," Fudo grunted, feeling the hold around his neck tighten. "My brothers and I were scouting this restaurant and its owner. They have this boy, a son; they say… who's only twelve or thirteen. We followed once to their cabin, unnoticed to them, outside Destiny's walls," the hold around his throat tighten, he had to cough to get air through his throat. "I know where it is. Please, I'm telling you the truth." Because I want that money, Fudo kept telling himself, it helped with the pain going through his throbbing fingers and his hand. The hold tighten, until Fudo couldn't breathe at all. He struggled around the grip against his throat for a full minute before the hold was gone and he was once again on the ground, panting for air.

"You got guts kid," Rye laughed as he walked in between his two men and crossed his arms.

"Get your brothers. You're coming with me to get my prize," he then turned, his men following close behind, "Meet me at the road towards Destiny, I want you to meet my other men who will be accompanying us. I'm sure they would love to meet our new travel guides."

And with that said, Rye and his goons walked away.

The last sliver of the sun peeked over the hill, slowly setting completely to bring upon the night.

Tonight, Fudo thought is going to be very interesting. He then smiled and walked back into the small restaurant to retrieve his brother.

They would need to hurry or they wouldn't get paid.


AN: So now the Greedy Rye and his group have a much greedy Fudo and his brothers on there side. I tell ya' that wasn't planned, but it fit, so I kept it there. I hoped you guys understood that Fudo and his brothers were the guys that tried robbing Unomi and his family that one night, when our hero (sigh) Kakashi came to the rescue them, it was noted in this chapter that Kakashi beat them up, yeah after he knocked them out, he beat them up and told them to never come back...it wasn't in that chapter but it was mention here, except for that whole him telling them to never come back part...he just did that whole beating them part...and kicking them out, part...yeah...ehehehe

So anyway, how did you like it, long, huh, I don't think I could do another one, but if I'm motivated enough to do it and not be so lazy to write long chapters, I just might do another one...that's a BIG might.

Anyway, how was the characters, I'm satisfied I put that part about Shin's difficulty in what to believe in, I think it helps with how the whole Acute Stress Disorder might works, you know, confused because you have these repressed memeories trying to come back but you don't want them to, because they were so horrible...too much for one person to handle...and that's how Shin feels and it's confusing him because he don't know what to believe in because one thing is steering him this way while the next one is steering him this other way. Man, the mind does work in mysterious ways.

Anyway, I'm going to finally go, but PLEASE REVIEW to let me know what you thought about it. Pretty Please.