Hello again, dearest ones! I am here once more to bestow upon you the greatest joys I can give to you across the inter-web!

This is for my cute little sweetie TheCookieMonster77 who wanted me to write Rin's tattoo ordeal, so I also added in the entire mission (sorry if it sucks) and their third teammate. Who I have fallen in love with while I was writing (I really need to stop doing that).

Here we go, on the adventure for the ages! (not really, but what ever.)

Rin made her way through the festival, glancing over the happy lanterns and to booths of games with sharp eyes, breathing in the smells of grilling meats and the mixes of perfumes and sweat. There was a mixture of traditional and more modern clothes that clashed and tangled within the crowd, leather jackets and cotton kimonos coming together to create a very interesting picture. Her own outfit of a pale yukata with a grey obi and her wooden geta and the paper umbrella that rested on her shoulder fit in perfectly with the festivities.

She got a few glances from some boys, though they didn't bother her that much since she knew that she looked good. But just to be safe from standing out she turned to the fishing game stand and tried her hand at it, purposely failing the first three times and then accidentally doing so the fourth try before catching a fat little white fish with red speckles on the rice paper, tossing it into the baggie filled with water just before her scooper broke.

Satisfied that she now looked more like a regular fair-goer with the baggie hanging from her wrist, Rin continued to slip through the crowd, quiet and practically unseen, absolutely unnoticed by the man she was tracking.

She stayed a moderate distance away from the man until he entered a part of the festival where the lighting was dimmer and the crowds were thinner. She held her breath for a moment, counting off the remaining time in her head before moving forward in a nearly invisible blur. The tap of the wood of her shoe coinciding with the first explosion of fireworks, the henge she had placed on her sword to make it look like an umbrella slipping off in the same instant. The silky sound of the metal slipping from it's sheath was covered by the second whistling explosion, as she moved with narrowed and focused eyes she didn't even bother hesitating.

The third explosion covered his choked gurgle as she stabbed her blade forward, severing his spine and slicing through the aorta. He gasped quietly and jerked slightly before becoming silent and sagging back as she removed her kantana. She turned quickly and walked him into the alley they stood beside letting the body fall back into the wall to slide down before crumpling to the dirt ground, completely unnoticed by the people who stared up at the sky in awe as she wiped her blade off on the man's sleeve.

Five minutes later she was walking down the street, twirling her umbrella as she nibbled on the squid she had purchased, glancing up occasionally to look at the sparkling pinwheels and glittering bursts that lit up the sky.

"Well now, don't you look like you had fun?"

Rin smiled at the white haired girl who seamlessly slid into step beside her as they walked the path to where the final part of the mission would take place, biting her cheek to keep from laughing at how disgruntled she looked.

"I did. I won a fish."

Karin shot her a look from the corner of her eye that obviously questioned her sanity and snorted. "Oh? You just decided to take a little break from your assassination to go catch fish and maybe have a nice cup of tea too? I don't think that that is how these things work, Rin."

Rin stuck her nose up into the air and glided past the taller girl, tossing the now bare skewer into a trash bin across the street with an accuracy her mother would have been proud of, waving the other squid she held tauntingly as she looked over her shoulder, white eyes wicked. "Your attitude could use some work, you know. And I even got you food, you disagreeable girl."

Karin rolled her eyes but held out her hand for the treat, smirking at Rin in thanks as she handed it over.

They continued to walk in silence as the streets they traveled grew darker and seedier, stopping in front of a stone building that looked just as dilapidated and world-weary as those around it, though they both knew that there was something a bit different about this particular one. It was a "trading house", as the townspeople called it, normally dealing with anything from drugs to prostitution to assassinations. They had caught the council's attention, however, when they had started getting more independent and violent, spouting off well versed beliefs of a perfect world as they took innocent people as virgin sacrifices and had "ceremonies" by gathering entire families of people to be hunted down and killed in the name of their true God.

Their team's mission had been to come in and take care of it, getting all of the information as to how deep their ties ran before destroying the facility, also taking out the ninjas who had joined. Rin and Karin had just got back from taking out the two men who ran the group -the ninjas had been taken care of independently the day before, as were a number of the followers- and now all they had to wait for was the confirmation that the last part of the mission was ready to be completed.

"Do you think that everything has been taken care of?" Karin asked quietly as her mint green eyes ran up and down the streets for any signs of trouble.

"Hmm..." Rin idly got rid of the henge on her sword, placing her hand on the hilt as she stayed ready for anything. "Nanami has been taking care of it for the past couple of hours, so there shouldn't be anything wrong. And the information is probably really easy for her what with the photographic memory and her ability to read a paper in three seconds flat."

"Actually, it's a bit closer to five." Called a voice from above them, and they looked up to see their third teammate sliding down the gutter -for no reason other than just to do it- from the eighth floor.

Tangled blonde hair was streaked with red as it twisted and fluffed around a round face, a thin piece of it pulled off to the right and braided, growing out past her chest, and though it had been vigorously questioned no one had ever gotten her to say exactly why that was the only piece of her hair she grew out, and had eventually stopped asking over the years. She was a tiny and slim slip of a girl who wore baggy and mismatched clothes and always had matches and pencils behind her ears and in her pockets.

Not to mention that she was at least three different types of crazy, though she was sweet about it.

"Well, after six hours I have gone over every inch of that place and read every piece of paper I could get my hands on, along with all the useless bits." She paused for a moment, cocking her head as she thought back, "...They liked to order Thai food on Wednesday, and there is one other major base and three tinier ones dotted here and there. I went ahead and sent off what had to be sent, gathered what had to e gathered and... and I think it's about time for us to go... now. Definitely now." She said as she grabbed her teammates' arms and pulled them up to the rooftop and then as far away as they could get in the half a minute they had.

After that half a minute they heard an explosion not of the firework variety, and thee two girls glanced back to see the building they had just stood before nothing more than bellows of smoke and blackened burning remains.

"Oh," Nanami sighed as they continued to move, "That sounded nice."

The two other girls didn't bother to send her a look because they were both too used to it, too used to her.

And that was just a little sad.

They hurried out of the town unseen and disappeared as if they had never been there, running through the trees once they hit them as they made their way to the small town that was a few miles away and to the hotel room they had gotten before they had set out to complete their mission. Standing outside of the back of the hotel, Rin and Nanami were just about to jump up to their room when Karin caught them, grinning at them both.

"You guys... we just finished our first B-rank mission all by ourselves... Do you know how seriously awesome this is?" Smiles grew on their faces, and Karin bounced on her toes slightly. "We have to do something to celebrate!"

Rin blinked at her. "Seriously? What are we going to do? It's the middle of the night, and nothing is open here." Karin thought about it for a few moments, unable to come up with a good answer, and Nanami glanced past her and at the dimly glowing sign behind the pale haired girl.

"That's open." She said, and as soon as Karin saw it she knew that it was absolutley perfect.

"Yes!" She said, dragging the other two into the shop.

"No. No Karin, we are not doing this. We are fifteen, and our parents will destroy us."

"I have no parents." Nanami pointed out airily, and Karin grinned back at her as she pushed open the tinted glass door.

"That's the spirit!" Karin said enthusiastically before turning back to the man that was sitting behind the service desk. "Hello! We'd all like some tattoos to commemorate a special occasion." She told him, and the man looked them over slowly before nodding once, waving at the wall that housed a wild array of drawings and prints.

"Take a look at that wall over there and tell me what you want, but I won't be doing any boyfriend's names or frilly hearts. Not for you three." Karin and Nanami shrugged and went over to look at the tattoo designs, and Rin sighed in relief at the reasonable request. At least this man seemed to have a conscious and didn't seem like he would get mad when she finally manged to drag the other two girls out.

"Hey Rin, come look at these." Karin called out, and Rin sighed as she walked over, deciding that she'd flip through the book for a few minutes before persuading the other girls to leave.

Of course, that was until she saw that book.

"They're so pretty." She breathed, enamored, flipping the plastic covered pages. There were dozens of mythological creatures and spirits decorating the pages, ranging from gorgeous and seductive to cute.

"That book is my own personal designs, while the others are from the other workers who aren't here right now." The man said, and Rin had a brief moment of wondering at how a big man with a deep voice in black leather could create such adorable little things, but she waved it away, too busy cooing over everything.

"I want this one." Karin said, voice decided as she pointed to a small picture of a twisting and curling dragon, one of the ones that leaned more towards pretty than cute. Rin was about to protest, to remind Karin that this was probably the stupidest idea she had ever had, but then she saw a little girly Kappa holding a fan in a knee length kimono -something similar to what she would normally wear, though a bit fancier- and she just couldn't help herself. It was just too cute.

"This is the one I want."

"Well then, I like this one." Nanami said, and they turned to see her pointing to a drawing of a shachihoko that was on the wall, snorting to herself. "Ironic, huh? They protect buildings from fire." Then with a shared look they nodded and stepped forward, following the man as he started to the back room, getting everything ready.

"Which one of you want to go first?" He asked, and Karin happily stepped forward, pulling her tank-top off over her head -startling the poor man at just how decided she was- and then the mesh shirt she had worn beneath, straddling the bench and laying down on her stomach, reaching back to point at a spot just beneath her bindings in the middle of her back.

"I'd like it right here, please. About the size of a playing card."

"Well, you just get right in there, don't you?" The man asked with a smirk as the other two girls settled into chairs to watch. He put the stencil on Karin's back and prepped is machine, hesitating just before the needle touched her skin. "You sure you want it here? Right on the spine is very painful."

"Oh," She sighed, closing her eyes as she crossed her arms beneath her head, "I think I'll be fine." And though he went on with it, he didn't believe her until the first hour had gone and she hadn't whimpered or even moved, sitting like a rock and far better than men twice her age and size.

They all sat in silence other than the whirring of the machine until Rin noticed the red scratches that ran up and down Karin's arms, scratched that seemed recent and painful.

"Karin, what happened to your arms?" An ineligible grumble was what she got as an answer, and she cocked her head in puzzlement. "What?"

"A chicken. The guy had a chicken and I didn't notice it until it was going after my face." She muttered a bit louder, her face flushing from the embarrassment of the words.

There was a beat of silence before both Rin and Nanami nearly fell out of their chairs laughing, choking as tears pricked their eyes.

"You... A man's pet chicken attacked you?"

"Yes Rin! A chicken attacked me! Now let's move on to something else... Like your fish."

"Oh," Rin graciously said on a final laugh, her lips curving up into a smile as she lifted up the little baggie, "Do you like him? I was thinking about naming him Bubbles."

"That's a really stupid name." Karin muttered, and Rin rolled her eyes at the other girl's childish pouting.

"It's a fish, Karin. I don't really think there are any stupid names."

"Whatever." Karin muttered, turning her face away so that she could pout in the closest thing that resembled privacy at the time.

"Ha." Nanami snorted to herself, "Chicken... That's funny."

Rin took a a deep and bracing breath as she stood a little ways away from her house, going over the little speech she had made up on the way to the village and had practiced dozens of times in her head.

Yes, I know it's stupid... Yes, I agree that I am too young... Yes, I am very sorry... I should never have done it without talking to you first... I will accept all punishments...

Let's just blame everything on Karin.

"Rin? What are you doing hiding back here?"

Shrieking at the sudden intrusion of her mother's voice as it interrupted her thoughts, Rin whirled around to stare at the woman with wide eyes, pressing a hand to her rapidly beating heart.

"M-Mama!" She squeaked, and Tenten's eyebrow lifted in question as she watched her strangely nervous daughter. Watching her fidget for a moment, Tenten realized that her daughter was feeling guilty about something, and even though she wanted to smile she narrowed her eyes imposingly at the girl, making the fidgeting significantly worse.

Really, it was adorable how she could never bear to hide anything from her or Neji no matter how she tried.

"What is it, Rin? I can tell you're hiding something." At the forlorn look on the girl's face Tenten nearly broke and started laughing, but managed to restrain herself.

"I... Do you promise not to be too mad?" She pleaded, and Tenten snorted.

"I can't do that without knowing what it is, so it would be best if you just get this over with. I'll react how I see fit, and then we'll go deal with your father." Rin nodded and closed her eyes as she bit her lip, loosening the simple belt of her short yukata and pulling the top off so that it pooled at her waist, turning around so that her mother could see as she glanced up at the sky to begin praying.

Eyebrows knit as she stared at the back of her daughter's head for a moment, Tenten wasn't sure what she was supposed to be looking at until she saw what was housed behind clear plastic and protective mesh near the girl's left shoulder blade.

A colorful little tattoo.

Rin wasn't all that sure what she had been expecting, but it certainly hadn't been laughter. Yelling and anger definitely, but not laughter.

"Oh... God. Your father is going to be pissed!" Tenten snorted, "I can't wait to see his face!"

"You... You're not mad?" Rin asked as she turned, starting to straighten her clothes.

"Oh, a little. I mean, I wish you would have waited until you were a little bit older, but it would kind of be a waste to bite your head off now that is has already been done. You're going to get punished and your father is probably going to go into one of his talks, but I don't really see how it is that big of a deal." Tenten narrowed her eyes quickly, "Though this is a one time deal. If you even think about doing it again, I will hurt you. You're too young to be getting all tattooed up."

Rin quickly nodded and started to walk to the house, breathing easier now. But then she looked up and saw her father standing on the porch with his arms crossed over his chest and looking his most imposing, glaring at them as she realized that from where he was standing, he had perfectly seen what she had hoped to gently ease him into.

"You got a tattoo?" He asked her incredulously, his voice furious, and Rin winced.

"Um... yes. But hey, look, I got a fish too!" She said half-desperatley, holding up the baggie that Hime-Hime ( the name that Nanami had given it, which Rin had liked much better than Bubbles while Karin had said that both were horrible) happily swam in.

"You're fifteen!" Neji exclaimed, ignoring the fish, "You are too young to be getting a tattoo!"

"Neji, calm down."

"Tenten, she got a tattoo!"

"Yes, I saw. There isn't anything we can do about it, so there's no use in getting so upset about it. And hey, she would have had to get one anyways if she joined the ANBU later on."

"That is not the same thing! You can't seriously be thinking about letting her get away with this?"

"Oh no," Tenten said breezily, waving away the suggestion, "I'm to ask Lee to do some training with her for a week or two along side Gai-sensei. You know how those two are when they get together."

Neji stared at her for a second before glancing over at his gaping daughter with pity and satisfaction.

"That will do." He said, turning away and walking back into the house. Tenten grinned at her horrified daughter before slapping her shoulder -the un-tattooed one- and moving to follow.

"Well, I better get in there and call to see when Lee and Gai can get started. Oh, and I like the fish!"

Rin watched as her mother disappeared with wide and horrified eyes before glancing down at the merrily swimming fish in her hands.

"If I survive this," She confided quietly to the fish, "I am going to destroy Karin." And with that she sighed and went in to check and see if there were enough painkillers in the medicine cabinet.

Well, there we go.

I researched Japanese mythological creatures, and the shachihoko is an animal with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp that protects buildings from fire, and it was ironic for Nanami to get this because she's a bit of a pyromaniac. (Just a tiny bit! She's nuttier than a peanut factory though.)

And while the drawings of Kappa are usually ugly, I remembered a comic series I read by the artist Humon called Manala Next Door that features a perfect little kappa who was just perfectly cute for Rin (who loves girly cute things). You can find the picture of her that is basically the tattoo here [manalanextdoor*com/modest-demons] (replace the * with a . and get rid of the ['s)

(also, you may not want to read any of her comics if you're a prude or if you are disgusted by unconventional relationships. I adore Humon and her Niels comics (another series by her) but you may not. But see the picture if you want since there is absolutely nothing wrong with it and it is actually really cute.)

Notes to my lovelies-

XxcandichanxX- *noms on pancake* Thank you so much! I love your tears, but I don't at the same time, so please don't cry! (but do, because it lets me know that I'm doing my job right)

TheCookieMonster77- I could never be annoyed! Go ahead, ramble. Tell me about your day or your life goals, relationship problems or what you had for lunch. I don't care! I love everything you little dears say to me, and I adore your reviews and smile every time I read them.

Hektols- I'm sorry for being evil (not really, muwahahaha!), and the reason that Naruto didn't do any of that is because he didn't know. Kiba had, however, planned to go to him if any of the children had been taken and Eri had gone. (Also, there was no daughter. Eri gave birth to three boys)

luzhikari- Thank you!

xFallingxCastlexWallsx- Yeah, three is going to be a bit much at times.

I'm out, Mitches! (And Myrtles and turtles and Susans and Pauls)