Alive and Well

Robin slowly exhaled as she pushed her hand forward. She pivoted slowly with ease as she pushed down with one hand and pulled back with the other. Robin slowly twisted her arm back and lifted her other hand up slowly. She breathed evenly before turning around again. Slowly she pushed out with both hands. After a moment of her slow movements she turend to a door on her right. The door swung open, revealing Kyo.

"Hey brat, we've got a mission." She watched him with unchanging eyes, however annoyance lurked beneath the surface.

"What is it?" Kyo smirked.

"We have to get rid of the cousin of yous." Robin stared at him, emotionless.

". . . I have several cousins." Kyo nodded with a grin.

"But you get assassinate Hatake Setsuko."

Setsuko quietly drank her glass of water before looking over at Kakashi as he ate his cereal soundlessly.

"Kakashi?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi didn't look up from his cereal as he ate.

". . . . the winds are harsh today." This caught his attention, causing him to look at at Setsuko. He swallowed his cereal and drank some orange juice before responding.

". . . you haven't been outside yet." Setsuko looked down into her water and watched her reflection.

"I am the Uindo Bensha, remember?"

". . . . what has the wind done?"

"It brings warnings Kakashi." Kakashi was silent, taking in this information. His wife held a tremendous power with the wind. Never before had he heard her speak of warnings from the wind. That piece of information set off several alarms in his head. Truthfully, the wind was not always kind to Setsuko because she would not bow to it like all the Uindo Bensha before her, a fact that made him proud. While she still had her weaknesses, he was hard pressed to beat her. She was one of the more feared leaf-nin. Fear from her power and her bloodied past. But that wasn't important. What was important was that he didn't know what to do. If the wind warned her, it meant a great deal of danger. And Kakashi didn't know if he could bear the thought of losing her.

Tenshi changed the washcloth of Yoko's forehead. The meiko still slept, muttering incoherent things as she ran a high fever. Tsunade came by several times and still she could do nothing. Tenshi had requested a leave from the interrogation squad until Yoko woke up. If they truly need a genjutsu specialist then Tenshi would go in, but that was rare and far in between.

"Oh Yoko-chan . . . please wake up." She sighed as she stood. A sound caught her attention and turned to see their blind 13 year old cousin, Akira, standing in the doorway. "Akira-kun . . ."

"Yoko . . . . she's not better?"

"No, she's not." Akira nodded as he made his way over to Tenshi and sat beside Yoko's bed.

". . . . this troubles you? Yoko has fainted from visions before."

"When she first had one, yes!" Tenshi snapped. "But now is different!" Akira was quiet for a moment before speaking again.

"Because Robin is not here with you, tocare for her. Because Robin betrayed the leaf." Tenshi said and quietly answered.

"Yes. I wish Robin was here. Then I could not be so worried."

". . . . go visit Setsuko-chan. I sure she and Kakashi would not mind a visit." Tenshi stood and sighed once more.

". . . just make sure she's alright."

"I would do nothing less."

"I heard you were going to kill your cousin, Hatake Setsuko." Robin glanced at Itachi as she pulled her cloak on. He watched her carefully as she turned to face him. No emotion played in her eyes or face. She had already started the mission mentally, now all she had to do was get there.

"You heard correct." She turned from him but glanced over her shoulder. "Itachi . . . drop the Kage Bunshin." Itachi disappeared in a cloud of smoke. She glanced over to the shadows and watched him step out.

"You've gotten better. How did you know?" Robin glanced at him before tugging on her ninja gloves. She took her forehead protector and glanced at the scratch through the leaf before tying it onto her upper arm under the cloak.

"I've spent enough time with you that I can tell shadow from flesh and blood." She turned back to him as she put on her Akatsuki hat. "Setsuko will kill Kyo." She smirked. "But Akatsuki already knew that. He's not up to it anymore. Gaara beat him with ease." She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. "I was his replacement, wasn't I?" Itachi watched her with calm and calculating eyes.

"You seem to understand how others think. In battle and out of battle."

"People broadcast their moves a lot. I've been fighting since before I could speak. Not only that but I am Uzumaki. That only leaves me with great expectations."

". . ." Robin turned away but glanced over her shoulder at him.

". . . don't worry, I will not fail."

"Robin . . . should Kyo fall before you kill Setsuko and there are other leaf-nin around . . . you mission will be aborted."

". . . hai."

Gaara looked down at the information in front of him. He felt his heart slowly breaking as his mind drifted back to her words.

Flashback

"Gaara . . . love does not exist for anything like us." Gaara felt his world stop at her words. "We are murders without souls. Who could love such hideous creatures like us?" She watched him with unchanging eyes. "We found comfort with each other merely because we did not fear each other. We could not. Because we are too alike." She cut her thumb on her naginata and then used the blood to summon a dragon. She stepped onto it while Kyo disappeared with a small explosion. "I have accepted that we are not meant for love. This village, your siblings . . . they hate and fear you." The dragon flapped its wings, lifting her up into the sky. "Gaara, use the very thing that cursed you to curse them. Hate the world. Rely on yourself alone. No one can love us. There will always be darkness in us, I have finally chosen to accept that fact."

End Flashback

Gaara clenched his hand over his heart and fought back tears. He felt his heart being broken slowly, as if to torture him.

"Gaara . . ." Gaara looked up to see Temari. "She was just trying to-"

"I know. She was using my feelings against me." Temari reached out as if to comfort him but his words stopped her. "Please don't. Right now . . . . Robin is after the village. I can no longer show anything close to a weakness." Gaara sighed as he tried to close off his heart. "Robin . . . she was the only that was never afraid of me. And now I will miss the look in her eyes."

"What do you mean?" Gaara stood and stared into his sister's eyes, inspiring fear in her.

". . . I plan to kill Uzumaki Robin."

"K-kill her?" Temari stammered, surprised by her brother's words.

"Robin has attacked our village, become a missing-nin, joined Akatsuki, and . . ."

"And?"

". . . . and I love her too much to let anyone else kill her."

Please review. I need to know if I'm doing something bad or if you like it or what. Well, Ja ne!