Not much to say guys you guys except for the obvious.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Begin

After the dull excuse for a date she went back to her dull excuse for a home. It was always quiet and lifeless. Well, that was life. She walked to her room and crashed lazily on her bed. She stared at the ceiling. She felt like going to train, but at the same time didn't feel like moving from her bed. Life was proving extremely irritating lately, and now she had a completely insane excuse for an admirer to deal with. She sighed and rolled onto her stomach burying her head in her pillow. What was she to do? She knew that she had a few hours before her self-assigned bed time. She rolled onto her back again and closed her eyes, only to open them again a minute later. Someone was at her window. She looked as saw Rock Lee standing in a tree outside. She opened her window.

"Gai-sensei wishes to know if you would like to accompany us on laps around the village!"

He seemed as energetic and hyper as always. She smiled slightly at him. At least now she had something to occupy her time. "Sure thing Lee." She said as she stood. Then, she jumped from her window to the tree and followed him to where Gai was waiting for them.

As much as the laps occupied her body, running really had no effect on keeping her mind occupied. It wandered in boredom from topic to topic. Gai and Lee took no notice of course and simply continued to run. She watched as the simple running exercise became a challenge for them and they attempted to beat each other to 150 laps. She simply continued at her pace. Sure it would be fun to race, but she really wasn't in the mood to deal with them if they won or lost. If they won they would lecture her on how she needed to train more. If she won, she knew they wouldn't shut up on how theyneeded to train more as well. She couldn't win either way. At least if she kept her pace, she would be able to pull off the excuse she was admiring Konoha as she ran. Though, she knew even that might not be successful in stopping them from talking. That would only give them an excuse to rant about how wonderful and "youthful" the village was. She slightly wondered why she had even agreed to run with them in the first place when she knew it would only result in them making her ears bleed. After about 40 laps she stopped running. Unfortunately, running was a task that occupied the body, not really the mind. As least when you were only doing practice laps. On a mission, not paying attention to where you were running could cause you to fall into an enemy shinobi's trap or even accidentally hurt yourself.

After finishing her 40th lap, she climbed up the stairs that led above the stone faces. She sat up there, looking down at Konoha. The sun was just beginning to set. She sighed softly, admiring the view of her home.

She had lived there for most of her life. The peaceful village where nothing could go wrong. Of course being a shinobi she knew better then that, but everyone, even the shinobiseemedtoignore the possibility of tragedy. Even when the third hokagediedtheystill remained ignorant. They mourned his death of course, but once peace had been re-established they simply forgot about what could happen. They moved on. In the corner of her mind, a voice wondered if the people even cared.

She ignored it. Of course people cared. They were simply ignorant. They cared. They would fight that point until the end. But once all challenge disappeared, once war, poverty, and misfortune ended, they would forget. She thought of the Uchiha. Even after his betrayal, he was welcomed back. His return was even celebrated. The prodigal son...

The sky grew darker. The amount of visible sun slowly decreased. The light being replaced with the artificial lights of the shops and homes. She saw her own, off in the distance. She looked down on a darkened area of the village. The Uchiha compound. After the massacre by the elder of the remaining Uchiha, it had remained abandoned.

She saw however, that a single light shone from the area of dark. The younger Uchiha's sanctuary. She wondered how he could stand being in the place of his family's demise. Just as the thought had occurred, she heard a voice beside her.

"Enjoying the view?"

Her fist shot out, only to be caught by the hand of the Uchiha. While her mind was wandering, he had sat down beside her. He was looking out at the village, just as she was doing.

She made no comment on his intrusion. Instead, she returned her arm to her side and looked back at the village. "I'm just looking at my home. Haven't you ever done it?"

He remained silent for a moment. "A long time ago. When the village was a real home." The normally stoic Uchiha face appeared mournful.

She spoke, looking at the village for a second, then turning to him. "If it isn't a real home anymore, then why did you return?"

He said nothing, his eyes remaining on the village. She noticed that his eyes would not wander his old home. Upon closer look, she found that he wasn't looking at anything at all. He was merely staring. She sighed at his lack of response and returned her gaze to the village.

"Perhaps I simply need to make it a home once more."

She looked at him again. He continued to stare out at the village. She smiled slightly, then did the same. "I hope you're able to. I hope you find a way."

It was his turn to smile. He looked at her. "I think I have found a way."

She laughed softly and shoved him gently. "Don't get all mushy on me Pretty Boy..."

For once, he didn't seem to mind the name. Instead of getting irritated, he shoved her back, only a bit harder. Not enough to hurt however. The slight Uchiha smile remained on his face. An amused expression that was almost playful.

She laughed again, a bit louder. She then pushed him again, harder then he had her. He smirked and once again returned it, the process repeating at least three more times. Finally, after the force behind the push grew enough to make her fall back, they both stood smiling in challenge. "First to the training grounds?"

The infamous Uchiha smirk crossed his face. Without responding he took off.

She paused only for a spilt second, her mind registering. Then she ran after him. "Oi! Wait up you cheater!" She pushed chakra into her feet to run faster, catching up to him within a minute. The entire time she was trying not to laugh, though eventually it shone through. She laughed at the childish race, neck and neck with the Uchiha.

He seemed to want to laugh as well, but he was far more successful in holding his laughter back. Instead, he would chuckle, a smile on his face. As she ran she noticed that it was more of a smile then she had ever seen on the Uchiha's face. It seemed genuinely happy. He looked at her in return, then grinned, picking up the pace. He ran ahead of her, and her eyes followed him. She could see the training grounds in the distance. She pushed more chakraintoherfeet and caught up, passing him. With a smirk, she sped up even more, reaching the grounds before him. She skid to a stop, and looked back.

Her eyes widened. The Uchiha was no where in sight. "Oi Pretty Boy! Where'd you go?!" She looked around puzzled for a moment when she heard the sound of air swishing. Kunai. She dodged by forcing chakra into her legs and jumping. Several kunaiplungedinto the ground where she had stood. A challenge. She landed with a grin. "Is that the best you got?!"

He appeared beside her, throwing a fist. She knocked his arm out of the way and sent her leg flying at his stomach. He blocked it with his free arm before sending his leg at her. Chakra surrounded his leg, holding it still. Then it pulled away, pulling his leg withitto knock him off balance. He flipped onto his hands, before flipping again to right himself. They stared at each other, both smiling, his being more of a playful smirk.

A spear of chakra formed in her hand, but she made no other move. She knew better then to act first. He pulled out his blade, leaving it at his side. She formed chakraaroundherand sent it flying at him. He dodged before running directly at her. The spear and blade collided with each other, coming to a standstill. Another spear formed in her free hand while she heard the chirping of the chidori forming in his.

She spoke, her voice threatening to turn to laughter. "I take it we're done as it seems we're at a standstill..."

He smiled at her, letting the chidori fade. At moment later, the spear in hers faded as well. He sheathed the blade in a swift movement as the rest of the chakra she had been using faded as well.

"Well, at least it was better then the first spar." She said, a grin on her face.

His smile grew slightly, the Uchiha face that was normally so serious, actually happy. "Well I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." He looked around as the last bits of light faded as the sun sank. "Perhaps it's time to go home. Would you mind if I walked you."

She laughed, beginning to walk with him beside her. "I hope you don't plan on being my shining knight. If you haven't realized, I don't need protecting."

He looked at her with an amused expression. "Of course not. I simply enjoy your company."

She shoved his arm as they walked gently, attempting to hide her smile.. "I'm starting to think you really are turning soft."

He laughed quietly. "It isn't my fault."

"Oh, sure. And what is?"

"You."

She looked at him, before looking away. She felt herself blush and she smiled. Leave it to the Uchiha to mess with her emotions. Damn that pretty boy.

She could feel his eyes gazing at her, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. He continued to watch her, for a while, but for the sake of watching where he was going, looked away. She was almost glad, using the opportunity to steal a glance at him. A small smile was on his face, not fading. She searched her mind for something to say to break the silence, but she found that she couldn't come up with a single thing. Her mind, which was usually filled to the brim with random thoughts, was calm and blank.

She was saved however, when an obnoxious voice sounded. After it did, she somewhat felt that she would've preferred the silence.

"Oi Teme! Ami! Are you two going out or what?!" Luckily for the hyper blond, there was no one around to hear the question. Despite this, any signs of a smile on either of them faded and they both glared at him threateningly, causing Naruto to laugh. "You two really are alike! Man, you guys would make a great couple after all!"

The glares grew even more angry and Naruto flinched back. "Man, you don't have to get all angry at me for being honest."

Ami looked at Naruto directly in the eyes. "You have two seconds to shut your mouth, before I seal it myself."

Despite this, the irritating blond continued to laugh until he was forced to run away due to large fireball headed at him by an irritated Uchiha. He jumped behind a tree and his complaints could be heard, even if he had moved a long distance away. She heard him whine about his clothes being burned and then something like, 'Crazy couple trying to kill me.'

She couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. "I swear his mouth is really going to be the end of him some day. Either that or eventually someone will find a way to shut him up."

Sasuke smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if it were either of us who did it."

She grinned. "It would be me. There's no way I'd let you beat me in something, Uchiha."

He took note that she didn't call him 'pretty boy' and smiled. Uchiha was a step up at least. "I think we're almost to your house."

"Yeah, I guess we are." She looked at him, a small smile still on her face. He was growing on her slightly.

"Maybe tomorrow we can do this again?"

"Heh... Maybe Uchiha. Not sure if I can deal with a stalker two days in a row... But we'll see."

He made no comment on the stalker comment. As she had spoke it there was almost a hint of affection in her voice. He didn't let it get to his head.

They stopped as they arrived at her house. "Well, see you tomorrow Uchiha." She gently punched his arm.

He smiled as he figured this was her way of showing affection. "Tomorrow then."

She gave him one last smile, before walking inside.

The Uchiha remained there for a minute before turning and vanishing.

endflashback

Ami found the rest of the day to be event-less. She did nothing what-so-ever. She was glad at the end of the day to head back to bed. At least then she wasn't trying to find something to do. Before sleeping she made sure everything she would need was packed for tomorrow's mission.

The next morning, she praised her thought to pack ahead. Being that it was the morning, she was rather unwilling to do anything that required effort.

She ate a bit more then she usually would in the morning, then walked to Deidara's room to make sure he was awake. Finding that he was, she grabbed her things and waited by the exit of the base. He arrived shortly after her, having reported to Pein that everything was ready.

They exited the base and began their journey. Their location wasn't too far away, but they kept at a decent pace. The sooner they got back the better. As they walked, they took a few minutes to discuss a plan. They settled on one rather quickly.

For some reason, they rarely spoke after that. There just wasn't much to talk about. A few times one of the two would try, but the conversation would quickly die out. Ami didn't mind too much. The weather was peaceful so she simply listened to the creatures in her surroundings. Nature was one of the things she found was truly beautiful.

They crossed the border into the small nation. Unlike when a border was usually crossed, there was no one to stop them. Usually, there were a few shinobi on patrol, but seeing as how this nation had none, there was no one to protect the border. This suited her perfectly. No need to fight another battle.

Soon, they came upon the small village centered around a noble's mansion. It was obvious that this was the place they needed to be. She looked at Deidara and nodded. He formed a clay bird and sent it off to the outskirts of the village before setting it off. He formed a few more and let them fly about.

The people in the village began to scatter in fear, not knowing the source of their distress was already inside of the village. Any guards that were there, ran to find out what had happened. Too easy. Deidara remained in the village while Ami approached the mansion and entered. She nearly sighed in boredom. She had expected at least a little bit more of a challenge. "Oh well.."

She knocked out anyone she passed. Guards and servants lay passed out throughout the mansion. There was no point in killing them. She eventually threatened a servant into taking her to the location of the nobleman. He looked terrified for himself, but didn't seem too upset that she wanted the nobleman. He nodded swiftly and agreed to take her.

She was both amused and a bit saddened. No, not even saddened. She was disappointed in the figure that should've been looked up to. He must've been corrupt indeed for his people to not care about giving up his location to an obvious assassin. Oh well. At least it made her mission easier, and for that, she couldn't complain.

Once they arrived at the door, the man looked at her fearfully. "Please don't kill me Miss..."

She smirked, finding it entertaining that he called her 'Miss.' "I shall not. You are free to go." She waved her hand at him, dismissing him as one would normally do to a servant. He hesitated for a few moments, unsure how to react. This made her slightly irritated. "I said you are free to go imbecile. Now leave."

He wasn't sure if letting him go was a trap, but seeing her irritation he fled, preferringtoatleast try to get away and fail instead of staying with a woman who would kill him sooner. She watched him go, managing to not laugh at his cowardice. Instead, she turned to the task at hand.

The large, ornate door was sadly to be expected of a corrupt noble. It was covered with various design, embedded with various jewels and carvings. If someone were to attempt to sell all of the jewels, it would probably have raised enough money to feed a small village for at least a week. The greed was shocking.

After a moment of mentally insulting the man, she let her chakra forward, sensing the noble inside. She pushed the door open with the aid of even more chakra, causing it to swing forward. She could have done so without any, but the weight of the door would've made her have to continue to push until it was open, thus, making her vulnerable. "Not that it matters.. There are only weaklings here." A little voice said in the back of her mind. She ignored her more rude self to look around.

Ami found the noble cowering against the wall of the well furnished room. A large door leading to a balcony shed a scene of the chaos outside. The guards were attempting to find the source of the explosions that rocked the village. The commoners simply fled indoors, trying to escape all of the chaos. Every so often another bomb would shake the earth, bringing even more panic. It was time she ended the pandemonium.

She pulled out a kunai and picked the man up by his expensive clothing. He struggled in vain to get free.

She raised the kunai to end it. She found however, that she was flying backward. In front of her intended target, was a masked shinobi. The chakra was blazing. She realized how well he must have been masking it. She knew to be wary.

She began to jump back, when she felt another presence behind her. Then another to her right, and a final to her left. She cursed mentally. She hadn't detected a single one of them. They each wore a mask, that was slightly similar to the ANBU masks. Each one was alike though. They were probably powerful mercenary shinobi. She forced herself not to panic. She was a shinobi, fearless.

Her target grinned, standing up straight and fixing his clothing. He smirked in a way that made her want to beat it off of him. "It's such a shame that a pretty female such as yourself would become a shinobi... Females are meant to remain at home and pamper men. "

"It's a shame that I won't feel any remorse looking at your dead body..." She glared at him.

His smirk only grew. "Hmm... You would be fun to break. Capture her alive. Try not to do too much damage. I'm sure if I wanted to sell her, the scars would be unappealing." He ordered, then turned at left.

No sooner then he walked out of the door, the shinobi sprang into action, sending ropes and chakra seals in her direction. she dodged by jumping high into the air. Her chakra stuck her to the ceiling. She dove back down, avoiding a barrage of kunai. As she came back down she sent her leg flying into the head of one of the shinobi. A somewhat loud crack was heard as his head was turned in the complete wrong direction.

One down.

When she landed they quickly encircled her, attacking all at once. She jumped once more, this time however, catching a kunai in her thigh. She landed away from them, almost to the wall and let herself fall onto one knee. The wound was luckily not that deep, so she pulled it free before forcing herself to stand. She blocked out the pain and focused. She needed to watch herself.

One on one, the shinobiwouldn't have been as much of a threat, but together it made things much more challenging. They fought together, their movements almost perfectly in sync with one another, acting as one powerful threat instead of a few weaker ones.

They stood in a like facing her. The one on the left made a few hand-seals. "Shadow style: Entombing Jutsu."

She barely escaped the shadows that came out of no where to consume her. He just managed to use her chakra to propel herself away. She landed on the wall, before springing away once more, the shadows following her.

Her mind flashed to the lazy genius from Konoha. He had used a similar attack on her once during the few times she actually trained with someone else willingly. At that time, she had nearly lost. Now, she was facing a real threat, not just some silly training battle.

"And with three more powerful shinobi..." She added to herself, knowing that she couldn't let the shadows catch her. She vaguely wonder though if the group had the same ancestry as the Nara's.

She was pulled from her thoughts when a loud explosion was heard. It shook the house, startling both her and her enemy. It wouldn't have had that great of an effect it the bomb hadn't blown nearly the entire side of the building away. The wall opposite her was gone, as well as was anything on that side of the building. The ceiling above her mostly collapsed, forcing her to dodge the bits of rubble. The sky above was in clear view. Deidara's bird was circling the mansion.

"What the hell is he doing?!! He could have killed me!"

Her question was answered moments later when she saw shinobi fly forth from the part of the roof that had remained intact. They were firing countless jutsu at the airborne man, trying to bring him down. Some of them appeared to be using the same unusual style as her own opponents used. The rest, though were using normal styles, were using highly complex attacks. They were definitely high ranking shinobi.

Deidara was forming small clouds of insects, trying not to blow up any more of the building. Though they assisted in taking out some of their attackers, a large portion of them remained. He saw her as he looked down. "Find the target!! I'll handle them just get the mission over with!"

She noticed that his usual speech habit was absent as he yelled, making it obvious that he was slightly panicked. Neither of them had expected for there to be a shinobi attack.

She turned to her enemy and focused her chakra to her front, propelling a solid blast of chakra at them. It didn't do much damage, but it knocked them back, leaving them stunned. She darted from the room, beginning a search of the mansion. As she ran she formed spheres of chakra, then suspended them in the air. They formed and suspended directly around the shinobi as well, making it nearly impossible to get through without touching them. She stirred up the center if each sphere, causing each of them to become unstable. If the slightest thing touched them, the chakra sphere would burst.

She silently thanked the obnoxious blond shinobi from Konoha. The technique had been developed by watching him repeatedly use the rasengan, and had nearly the same result. She changed it to meet her needs, and now had an effective way of slowing down an enemy.

She ran on ahead, the hallway behind her now filled with the spheres of the detrimental chakra. There were servants strewn about, unconscious from her first entrance into the mansion.

Ami mentally cursed herself for knocking them out. If they were awake, she would have been able to threaten them into giving up the location of the noble.

She flung open doors, using both her eyes and chakra to scan each room for signs of life. All were empty. There wasn't many places in the mansion left to search.

She began to wonder if he had been in the side of the mansion that had been destroyed. That wouldn't pose well since they were required to bring the body back. She reached the last door possible and wretched it open. She was met with a downward set of stairs. It was mostly dark, and Ami struggled to see down the stairs. She was unsure if she should go down. If her target wasn't down there, she could be wasting her time. Even worse, there could be a trap set up.

Suddenly, she felt strong chakra signatures approaching. There were three of them. The three shinobi had finally gotten out of her trap. "Damn.."

She rushed inside and closed the door. She ran her hand quickly along the lining of it, sealing the door with chakra. She focused for a few seconds, another barrier appearing in front of the door. Unfortunately, she knew that if they kept constantly attacking it, the barrier would break. Luckily it would take a while though.

After she moved down the stairs, she reached a long hallway. It was extremely dark, but judging by the feel beneath her shoes, it seemed to be made of stone. She moved on, putting more distance in between her and the three potential captors. She silently prayed that there was another exit from the underbelly of the castle. Otherwise, liked she had feared earlier, she would be trapped.

As she moved forward, she began to see light up ahead. Normally, she would have used her chakra to scan the area, but using her kekki genkai to set traps used an extreme amount of chakra. She knew for a fact that she would be getting low soon. If that happened, things for her would be getting far more difficult. Cautiously but swiftly, she advanced, moving toward the only escape from the long hall.

She reached the end, moving into a large room that somewhat resembled another hallway from its shape. Her eyes widened slightly. The man had created his own personal dungeon. In the cells, she was able to see various prisoners. Some weren't even living anymore. Those that were alive looked at her with hollow eyes. They looked as if death had already taken them. She hesitated, wanting to move on, but unwilling to leave them behind. Seeing the people chained tugged at her heart. Ami cursed herself for her bleeding heart.

She grabbed a large key from the wall. It was the main key for all of the cells. Thankful that the cells didn't have individual keys, she ran to the nearest cell and unlocked it, before running inside and unchaining the prisoner. She repeated the process, running from cell to cell, releasing the hurting soul inside. For a large amount, it was far too late to be saved. Others, appeared to have only just been imprisoned.

These were the ones she barked orders to, instructing them to help the weaker souls from their cells. They did so swiftly. A few of them fled however, moving toward another hall at the opposite end of the large chamber. Despite the anger that they ran, at least she knew that there was a possible escape.

It took a little while, but soon, every cell was opened, the prisoners within now all trying to regain lost strength. She wanted to make sure they made it to safety, but she couldn't spare any more time on them, already having used up at least 15 minutes. She sped through the area, entering the dark hallway. Thankfully, there were more lights here then in the first hall and they provided a gentle illumination. At another time, she would have found the lighting rather captivating, but her current situation stole any charm that the simple objects held. She had no time to admire her scenery.

She continued to run on, the lights growing fewer in between. There were no hallways branching off of the main one, so she had no choice but to remain on her path. It seemed like a year had passed before the hall opened up again into yet another chamber, the exit on the other side, barred. This one however, was filled with strange and odd equipment. To her, it somewhat resembled a torture chamber. There were cells to the side as well, but inside, instead of people, she could see grotesque figures. Monsters. She stared at them in horror.

Many of them were still, appearing to be no longer living. Some, stared through the bars at her, but did not move. There were even some, that once they saw her, began to try and tear their confines to pieces. A few resembled humans. They stared out at her, some with despairing eyes, others with malice and hate.

Her mind flashed to the snake ninja that had been supposedly killed by the Uchiha. Many bases of his had been found by Konoha, but it was common knowledge that there were at least a few that still remained. "Could this be an abandoned base...?"

Ami didn't have long to ponder. It took only seconds, but she was surrounded by shinobi. Shadows wrapped themselves around her, pulling her to the ground.

end