A Ninja's Destiny

By: Hotaru170

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of its characters. I am making no profit from writing this as you all well know. Hope you enjoy!

"Character speaking"

'Character thoughts'

'Chaos and Vincent speaking to each other'

Recap of Chap 7: The others nodded sadly and followed Cloud, Tifa, Yuffie, and Vincent towards the north eastern path that led to the snow plains. They would continue their journey to stop Sephiroth, the Shinra, and save the planet.

Chapter 8

By the time Avalanche made it to Icicle Inn, Yuffie was shivering. She was only wearing her tan shorts and her usual green sweater. Vincent had put his cape around her but even that could not provide the needed warmth.

'I am definitely going shopping for some new clothes while we are here. I won't survive much longer wearing the clothes I have on now.' Yuffie though to herself.

While Yuffie was trying to keep herself warm, Tifa couldn't help but wonder at the change between Yuffie and Vincent over the past few weeks. Only in the past two days did it become even more noticeable. 'I guess I will have to ask her what is going on between them.' She pondered to herself. (AN: I'm not sure of how long it would take them to reach the Icicle Inn from the Ancient City so I just estimated..lol.)

Yuffie called ahead to Cloud. "Hey Cloud! Before we go anywhere else, I am going to the clothing store. If I don't get some warmer clothes, I'm going to freeze to death."

Cloud turned around and said. "Okay Yuffie. You go ahead and buy some clothes and we'll go and ask around to see if anyone has seen Sephiroth. We'll meet back up with you at the Inn."

Tifa saw her chance to talk to Yuffie alone. She turned to Cloud and said. "I'm going to go with Yuffie, Cloud. I need some warmer clothes too."

Cloud nodded and the rest of Avalanche followed him into town.

Yuffie and Tifa went towards a small clothing store tucked in between two houses. Once inside the girls of Avalanche immediately took off towards the women's clothing.

Tifa was browsing through some shirts and decided now was the time to strike up a conversation. "Yuffie, can I ask you something?"

Yuffie looked up from her inspection of a pair of brown leather pants. She had a puzzled look on her face and replied. "Sure, go ahead Teef."

Tifa was a little wary of asking because she wasn't sure how Yuffie would react. The young shinobi was very unpredictable. She asked, "Well, I noticed that you and Vincent were acting very strange towards each other. I can't help but wonder, what changed between you two?"

Yuffie snickered and said. "Seriously, I thought you of all people would be the first to catch on. Then again, you were too busy pining over Spike to notice!"

Tifa's mouth fell open in shock and she stuttered. "H-hey now!" She glared at Yuffie. "You wouldn't be avoiding the quesiton now would you, Yuffie?"

Yuffie laughed and said. "Don't get upset Teef. I was only teasing you. And no I'm not avoiding the question." She smirked at Tifa and asked playfully. "What do you think changed between us?"

Tifa didn't notice the playful tone that Yuffie used. She replied. "Well, if I didn't know any better, I would say you were acting like a couple of lovebirds. The secret glances and the spark between..." Tifa trailed off in the middle of her sentence as everything she was saying suddenly made sense. "NO WAY!" She shouted, earning glances from a few other customers.

Yuffie crossed her arms while smirking and said. "Surely you aren't thinking that I slept with him......yet."

It took a few deep breaths for Tifa to regain her composure. She looked at Yuffie and hesitantly asked. "You mean you haven't done anything with him? And what do you mean by yet?"

"No I haven't done anything beyond kissing Teef and even when I do. It will be a private matter between me and Vinnie." Yuffie calmly explained to Tifa.

Tifa asked. "So does that mean that you guys are a couple then?"

Yuffie was starting to get annoyed and asked. "Why is that so hard to believe? Surely you don't think that I'm that unattractive?"

Tifa shook her head 'no' and answered. "No Yuffs, that isn't what I meant. I was just surprised. I mean this is Vincent afterall. I didn't even know that something was up until he offered you his cloak a few days ago. I must admit though, he certainly is handsome without it." She smiled and asked. "So are you gonna tell the others about you and him?"

Yuffie shrugged and said. "Its not like we are hiding it from them. Its just that since Aeris. Its kind of hard to be all happy and carefree. We still have alot of things ahead to take care of before we can go any further in our relationship."

A somber mood fell upon the two women as the death of Aeris was still an open wound, especially to Yuffie.

Tifa decided to change the subject and playfully asked. "So what kind of outfit are you going to buy Yuffs? Why don't you get something that'll catch Vincent's eye?"

Yuffie grinned mischievously and replied. "You read my mind, Teef. I think some nice tight leather pants would look nice."

Yuffie moved around to a clothes rack filled with sweaters. She flipped through them until she came across a nice long sleaved green v-neck shirt. She grabbed a pair of brown boots stacked on a shelf near-by. Then she moved to the coat section and motioned for Tifa to come over.

"Ok, what do you think I should get? A regular jacket or a trench coat?" She asked.

Tifa tapped her chin thoughtfully. She examined several coats of all shapes and sizes before she found the perfect one. "Ah ha. This one will match the brown leather pants perfectly!" She exclaimed. She grabbed a long brown leather trench coat that was lined with fur and handed it to Yuffie.

Yuffie smiled and said. "Ah, perfect. Let me go try it on." She hurried to the dressing room while Tifa waited patiently outside.

It took a few minutes before Yuffie called from the dressing room. "Ok, I'm coming out now Teef and be prepared to be amazed!" She stepped out of the dressing room and Tifa gasped in delight. The brown leather pants and the brown fur-trimed trench coat looked great together and the green shirt added color and personality to the outfit. To finish the look off, the brown booted matched with the coat and the pants and gave the 'I'll-put-my-foot-up-your-ass-if-you-cross-me' impression.

Tifa smiled and said. "It looks absolutely great Yuffs. Vincent is going to have to beat the guys off of you."

Yuffie laughed and said. "I can do that myself. Another good thing is that the clothes still allow me to move about freely. That way it doesn't slow me down in battle."

Tifa nodded and grabbed a few thing before heading into the dressing room herself.

While Tifa was in the dressing room, Yuffie strapped her sword to her side and her shuriken to her back. (AN: I almost forgot about her weapons. She will be using both of her weapons for the rest of the fic...lol. I figure since everyone probably knows now that she is Seph's half-sister then she has to know how to use a sword!)

Tifa came back out a few minutes later wearing a white sweater, a pair of form-fitting blue jeans and black boots. As she and Yuffie made their way to the cashier to pay she grabbed up a insulated blue jean jacket and threw it on over her sweater.

Once everything was paided for Tifa and Yuffie left the store in their newly aquired clothing and headed to the inn to meet up with the others.

Meanwhile, Cloud and the rest of Avalanche finished questioning the people. They got several good leads and headed to the Inn to meet back up with Tifa and Yuffie.

Vincent was leaning against the wall of the Inn when he heard the door open. He turned to see Tifa come inside with Yuffie right behind her. When he glanced at the outfit that Yuffie picked out, he seemed to have lost his ability to talk. Although, he was often very quiet to begin with. His imagination was getting the better of him and the very perverted thoughts of Chaos was only adding fuel to an already raging fire.

'My my, you certainly know how to pick them. On the other hand if you don't say something soon, you are going to ruin your bad-ass image completely. Gawking doesn't exactly become you, eh Vince?' An amused Chaos said to Vincent.

Chaos' thoughts broke Vincent out of his trance. He took a few seconds to compose himself, before talking. He asked. "Yuffie, would you be so kind as to have a word with me." He looked and Tifa and finished. "Alone?"

Tifa giggled and elbowed Yuffie. She whispered to her. "I want a full report later, Yuffs."

Yuffie smirked when she saw Vincent raise a brow. Tifa obviously didn't know that Vincent had super-human hearing.

Once Tifa had left the room, Yuffie walked up to Vincent and asked. "So I take it that you like my new apparel, hmm?"

Vincent cracked a small smile and replied. "Very much so. However, I think you look ravishing in whatever you wear."

'It would be an even better view if she wore nothing at all, wouldn't you agree Vince?' Chaos spoke to Vincent. It was more as a statement than a question.

Vincent chose to ignore Chaos' perverted comments, although he silently agreed. He was still a guy afterall. (AN: Yes, another note from yours truly. I know that Vinnie-boy is a little out of character in my fic but its like I've said before. This is my fic and I'll write it how I want to so if you don't like it then don't read. No offense to anyone!)

Yuffie smiled and kissed Vincent lightly on the lips. She said. "Well, it seems Tifa has figured out our relationship before we could even tell her. Although, it did take her a bit longer than I thought." "So do you want to tell the rest of them or let them figure it out on their own?"

Vincent shrugged and said. "It is entirely up to you. I have no objections either way. On the other hand, if Tifa has already figured it out, then I believe Nanaki (Red XIII) is suspecting something as well."

Yuffie nodded in agreement. She tapped her chin and said. "I guess we can just tell them tomorrow then. Oh man, I can just picture the look on their faces." She snickered and said. "I don't think they'll believe us at first. Well, besides Tifa and Nanaki."

Vincent smirked and asked. "So why did you want to wait until tomorrow to tell them, my dear?"

Yuffie grinned and said. "Well, I thought that we could find a nice quiet place to be alone for a little while. It was kinda difficult to do that when we were traveling over a glacier for the past two days."

'Hey Vince, you might actually get some if you play your cards right.' Chaos said to him.

'Quiet demon. I will not do anything until Yuffie is ready. I love her and I don't appreciate your foul comments.' Vincent chided.

'Geez, somebody has their panties in a bunch. I was just teasing you Vince. Besides who else is am I supposed to talk too. I'm stuck up here with the three-stooges for company so cut me a little slack.' Chaos retorted.

'How do you think I feel? Its my mind and body that houses all four of you.' Vincent said sarcastically.

'Yeah, yeah! I know already, as you so repeatedly remind me. I'll leave you alone so you can have some (chuckle) quality time with your girlfriend.' Chaos finished before he retreated into the depths of Vincent's mind.

Vincent sighed internally after Chaos finally shut-up. He looked at Yuffie and smiled. He asked. "Would you like to go out and get something to eat.?" "I'm sure we could find a decent place to eat around here somewhere."

Yuffie laced her arm with Vincent's and happily exclaimed. "Great idea, Vinnie. I'm starved!"

To be continued...

I know you guys probably hate me now. I know its a short chapter and not very exciting but I have been suffering from severe writer's block. I think I'm finally getting over it now. If you enjoyed it, please leave a review. I am always in need of inspiration. Oh, I know the conversation between Vincent and Chaos may seem a little weird but I was hoping to make them get along a little bit. They do inhabit the same body afterall. I've read alot of fics where Chaos is all evil and has no sense of humor so I wanted to do something a little different. Well, thanks for being so patient. Ja ne!

---Jennifer (Hotaru170)