A/N: "I am so sorry that this took me longer than expected to get out!" bows in apology, head meets desk "gwendolyn christopher, here's your request."

Rules of the Trade

The great ninja Yuffie, master materia hunter, destined to be a leader in Wutai, had been defeated by a cat hybrid, a man with a gun grafted to his arm and a smaller blond man with extremely spiky hair (where does he get his hair gel?) with a big, BIG sword.

Not only that, they seemed to be well equipped with materia. Things just might be looking up.

She made the quick decision of joining the group of adventurers to save the world, but more importantly to find more materia and take theirs as well when the moment presented itself.

Rule #8 to becoming a good ninja/materia hunter: Know your traveling companions, especially what they could be carrying.

Subject 1- Cloud Strife: the supposed leader. Seems to be a bit of an airhead at times, though he must have been in SOLDIER with the glow to his eyes. So, with that training, he should be well adverse to materia and, as I have already found out, a formidable opponent. Bound to carry a decent amount of materia

Subject 2- Barrett Wallace: the wannabe leader. Foul-tempered and foul-mouthed, he seems to rely more on his gun-arm then magic. I probably won't find too much, maybe a MP or HP Plus.

Subject 3- Red XIII (that can't be his real name…): a dog… or cat… thing. He seems to be very intelligent for an animal (Shoot! Reminder, don't stare too long at the dog/cat hybrid, he looks like he suspects something). In our battle, he used a lot of magic so I must conclude that he is carrying a nice batch of materia. Must be very careful, though.

Subject 4- Aerith Gainsborough: a group's main healer. She seems very free-spirited and seems to be listening to a whole different song than the rest of us. Kinda strange. She's not very strong with her staff but great with magic. Another good stock. (Note: seems to have an interest in Cloud)

Subject 5- Tifa Lockheart: a strong woman with equally strong ideals. A true fighter with her fists but balances it out with magic. I might get a few good materia gems from her. (Note: also seems to have an interest in Cloud)

Yuffie ran through her mental checklist of her new protégé, pleased with what she came up with so far. It would be a while before she fully understood all of them. But she planned to be far away with all their materia before she got too attached.

It ended up so that the males would go on ahead to the nearest town, while the females would be stuck behind in some undisclosed area to await their return. One could just smell the estrogen.

Rule #12: If traveling with companions that are the target of the theft, try to subtly cause discord between the members to make the swipe and the escape much more simplistic.

Tifa and Aerith both seem to have taken a liking to Cloud, Yuffie thought, I might be able to make things go a whole lot smoother.

Night wore on and the male half of the group failed to return.

Tifa let out a sigh, throwing another log onto the fire. "What's taking them so long? They should be back by now."

"They're boys," Aerith replied absently. "They would never stop for directions."

Yuffie watched the two of them make small talk. How to approach this?

Silence stretched across the mintues.

"So, how long have you guys known Cloud?" Yuffie inquired, unexpectedly.

"I met him…" Aerith trailed off, apparently calculating a timeframe in her mind, "A little over a week now. Tifa's known him for a longer time though." She glanced over at the brunette fighter.

"We were childhood… Well, I wouldn't say friends but we grew up together." Tifa answered, biting the inside of her cheek, slightly anxious about the sudden questions.

"Why do you guys follow him anyway?" Yuffie pressed trying to pry out something she could use to her advantage.

"He promised to help me." Tifa had answered at the same as Aerith had said, "He promised to protect me." The two turned to each other; shock written on their faces and for a moment a hint of annoyance.

Score! Yuffie bubbled inwardly. How to push this further? "You like him." She stated, using a trick called the subtle art of bluntness.

"No!" They both denied in unison and once again found themselves locked in a shocked and annoyed stare. But for a moment, Yuffie totally missing it since she was too busy flaunting over her great work at causing discord, there was a flicker of understanding that passed between them.

Yuffie plotted her next move; all she had seen was the annoyance and not the understanding. She was completely oblivious to the conspiracy against her.

Before another question left her lips, Aerith broke in effortlessly. "What about you, Yuffie?"

"Huh?" Yuffie blinked and closed her open mouth with an audible "clack".

"Why did you decide to join us?" Tifa pressed, a sly look plastered on her face that brought out the little red warning flags in Yuffie's mind. The flags that had the label of 'run now, maybe, MAYBE come back and steal later'. "Was it because of Cloud?"

Yuffie flushed bright red at that. Damn that fire and its light! She wished she had Leviathan just to put out the fire so no one could see the distinct color of her face. "I am the great ninja Yuffie! I did not join because of Cloud, I joined because—" She stopped herself short. Rule #2: Never give up any of your objectives. She grumbled and refused to look at either of the two women.

Tifa and Aerith started laughing and soon Yuffie joined them realizing the futility of creating animosity between them. Technically, it was her fault that they were acting like old friends. They made a pact, though they both liked Cloud for different reasons, they figured it would be best to let Cloud decide for himself, while they remained friends.

Cloud, Barrett, and Red XIII made it back to find the girls laughing, giggling, and blushing around the fire

Rule #7 to understanding women: Never ask. If a group of girls are doing any of the listed- laughing, giggling, chuckling (any synonym to "laugh"), blushing, sly glances to one another- especially if they are executing more than two of the listed, you probably do not want to know.

A/N: "I've been very unmotivated and busy, that's why this oneshot took awhile before I got it up. School is going to be starting soon (too soon) but I still plan to continue with this. I will still do requests and such but they will come even slower than they are now. I'm just warning you ahead of time.

Sharem, I hope to start on your request soon. Sorry that it's going to be awhile, unless I get struck by motivation...

Requests are still welcomed and reviews are adored!"

Death