Hello my pretties! Sorry it took so long, but my USB disk-drive-thingy (the one I keep all my stories on (I can never really remember what it's called)) was stolen! Gasp! That is over twenty original stories, this one, the other fanfic I was working on, my poems (from my younger years), my essays and my recipes! Gone!

Luckily I kept my files backed up on my computer, but it kind of pisses me off that I lost it and the work I had done that day. Plus my USB thing was sparkly. I haven't seen a sparkly one again. *Sobs quietly in room*

Well, I figured that before I got to work on the AP english homework that is currently murdering me I'd post a tiny something for my dearest sweethearts.

It was early morning, silent as the world struggled to awaken, cool as the gentle sun tentatively touched the first wisps of life that stirred. A fog lay heavy withing the forest, the cool drops of dew weighing down the grass and leaves and as you breathed you could see the slightest puffs of air.

Neji sat on the rough wood of the porch, his bare feet on the cold earth, his skin prickling with the chill of the morning as his long hair hung loose around him. His eyes were distant as he watched for something he was hoping would come but was fearing wouldn't. He only distantly noted the chill of the morning, and he refused to let it or the goosebumps that rose on his flesh bother him.

Rin watched from the opened sliding door, leaning slightly against the wood as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. Her father had yet to even register her presence, and it worried her. He had been getting worse as the days had dragged on, and a part of her was panicking, unsure of what to do. She was only twelve and it wasn't like she was some genius or anything like that. She was just Rin, and Rin was lost at how to help the situation and not make it any worse.

She just wished that she could take all the worry that was inside of him and slice it to shreds with her sword.

A breeze tickled her exposed skin and she wrapped the blanket she had draped over her shoulders closer around her, leaving only her head and her dainty feet exposed. Taking a breath and praying for luck Rin stepped forward, making sure to make the wood creak as she stepped onto it to catch her father's attention.

"Papa," She said quietly, staring at his strong and slightly slumped back, "It's cold. Come back inside and I'll make us some tea." The silence was short but heavy, and Rin could already predict her father's answer to her pathetic attempt.

"No, I'm okay. You should go back in though. I don't want you catching a cold." Rin sighed and shook her head, stepping further outside and wincing as the cold wood beneath her bare feet sent a sock through her, so cold that it almost hurt for a moment.

"Papa, you need to stop worrying. She'll be back soon." She didn't have to see her father's eyes to see the doubt that filled them.

"Rin, you can't know that." Rin sighed again and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She knew that the only person who would be able to talk her father out of the mopey mood he was in was her mother, but currently she was also the reason for the mood. She was on a mission currently and it had been over a month now that they hadn't had any communication from her or the little team she had been in, which was enough to worry her usually strong father.

She knew how worried he was and she knew that if she hadn't been there he would have immediately been off to search for her. But Rin also knew that there was no reason to worry.

"Of course I do." She said, the certainty in her voice leaving no room for arguments.

"How?" He asked her, and in that single word she was able to hear all the desperation and fear that filled him. Rin gracefully sank down to her knees, leaning against the strong back of the man who she had relied on all of her life, the man who was now relying on her. She wrapped her arms and the blanket around him, sealing them both in a cocoon of warmth and comfort.

"The same reason you know, Papa. I'm just not the one ignoring it." Because she was certain that nothing and no one could stop her mother from getting back to them, and there was a warmth in her, a gut feeling, that told her everything would be alright.

Rin's long black hair was held loosely back from her face with a stray ribbon she had found early that morning, the loose tail falling down to mid-back as she sat in the back lawn, her kantana in hands as she wiped the blade with a cloth to remove the oils from it, her face serene as she went about one of her favorite pastimes in the warm mid-afternoon sun.

Hearing the sound of grass crunching underfoot and feeling a familiar chakra signal Rin leisurely looked up, having to control herself from jumping up to run and throw herself at the approaching woman like she had when she was younger. She had to remind herself that she wasn't a child anymore and that she had to hold herself with a bit more dignity, like her father did.

Her mother strolled across the yard with her bag slung over her shoulder and a familiar cocky grin on her face. There were slight tears in her clothes and she was covered in a familiar and thick blend of dirt and sweat, but she looked just the same as she had when she had left.

"Hey Angel." Her mother called out to her, using one of the sweet nicknames she had had since she was a baby, and Rin smiled. Carefully sliding the blade back home into the sheath Rin sat it down before gracefully standing up and barreling into her mother like she had wanted to.

It was fine if she acted a little childish on a few things. She was only twelve and there was plenty of time to be a dignified adult later.

Her mother's arms wrapped around her, the embrace familiar and strong, and Rin was able to push those last little niggling doubts out of her mind.

"Where's your dad?" Tenten asked, smoothing back some of the stray strands of hair tat had slipped free from her lazy restraint.

"Inside, worrying about you." Tenten snorted and slung her arm around the small girl's shoulders as they walked, stopping for a moment so that she could help her gather her kantana and supplies.

"Well, come on then. We need to go and stop that man from being his angsty self. I swear, it's only been two months and he's already overreacting." Rin nodded and hid her smile, choosing not to say anything about how she got whenever Neji was out on a mission.

I'm trying to get the explanation for Jiro and Mino out, but my inspiration was mowed over with a tractor and then bitch slapped by homework, so it may be a while yet for those who are anxiously waiting (because I know that sooo many of you are *rolls eyes at sarcasm*)

Just a little something that is in part for xFallingxCastlexWallsx who once upon a time mentioned that she was mentioned in hearing a little more about Rin.

Oh, and I'm probably going to redo my "Kids" chapter since the characters have changed so much and I'll probably add in my other OC's. Might even introduce you to the ones I haven't even wrote about yet. Only my friend Missy knows all of them (I made a chart of the characters and their relationships).

Go hug a bashful turtle! It will make your day soooo much better!