Yay my second chapter! This time you all get to know about Shin and Genki! The chapters aren't exactly that long yet because I'm separating each of the boys' moments and who they met! Hope you like my gentle rounin, Shin and his sly but caring fox, Genki! Enjoy -!

Chapter 2: The Gentle Rounin and the Hime

What Shin did while Isamu was in the flower shop.

As Shin watched Isamu go into the flower shop, he smiled to himself knowingly. "Aku could never resist looking at flowers. Don't you agree, Genki?" Shin looked over shoulder to see a little fox kit lying happily on it, his long, bushy wrapped gentle around Shin's neck. Just like Aku, the small fox was really out of the ordinary. His fur was like shining blue silk and his gentle amethyst colored eyes looked at Shin with affection. The fox licked Shin's cheek softly and gave him a fox-like smile that said he agreed. Shin laughed and soon he was walking away from the shop to look around, noticing that he's fox was looking at him a little surprised. "What's wrong Genki?"

"You aren't waiting to look around with Isamu this time," Genki said in a cute little boy voice; it seemed to be more of a statement than a question.

"Well, I can't always wait for someone to come along and "escort" me every single time we reach a new village. I want to look around on my own for My Lord," Shin told Genki with clenched fists of determination. Genki watched Shin as he continued to walk but didn't object to his reason. Isamu, although he was a good person, could be very over-protective of Shin and to be quite honest, Shin was getting a little tired of it. Not that he could tell Isamu; they've been friends since they were 4 and Shin didn't really have the heart or energy to tell him. So he decided he might as well take advantage of the situation while he could. Shin may be meeker than Isamu but he had a very strong will to be able to do things on his own and admired how Ryuu would always let him go around towns on his own, going to the point of preventing Isamu from following. Shin smiled widely to himself; he sure owed Ryuu a lot for everything he did for the group. But for now, Shin was going to get out his thoughts and just enjoy his much needed alone time with just him, Genki, and the local ramen shop. Genki knew exactly what he was thinking and looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Hey, I'm hungry and so are you. Don't even try to fake that you aren't," Shin told Genki in a completely laid-back tone. Genki just smiled and went inside of the black muscle shirt that showed off Shin's well-toned body, along with some dark red scars on his arms, and stuck his head out from the front. This made Shin laugh good-naturedly, along with some of the people around him. A little boy even went up to him and asked Shin if he could pet the "wittle fwok." Shin didn't answer him but just outstretched his hand so that Genki could go on the little boy's shoulder and lick his cheek, causing the little boy to giggle. "What a nice young man," Genki and Shin heard the boy's mother say this as she and the little boy went their way, making them smile widely in triumphant. The two had a great time walking around Konoha; exploring all its corners, looking around its stores, stopping occasionally to entertain a few little kids that were curious about Genki. It was actually really fun for a while. But when Shin and Genki were resting on a boulder far from the village in some type of training ground, they felt the boulder fly up and suddenly shatter from under them, causing them to fall. Genki was quick to react and started to get ready to transform, only to be stopped by Shin, who grabbed him quickly. He looked at the pieces coming toward them and swiftly began to jump from each of the falling boulder pieces, keeping a steady pace each time one appeared. Then there was an enormous piece coming toward him; he couldn't dodge or jump to another boulder while the person, who had shattered the boulder in the first place, was below him. He was gritted his teeth and dived down to the person, still holding on to Genki to prevent the fox from transforming. He managed to land on the ground somewhat okay, although his legs ached a bit from the hard landing; but to be honest, that was the last thing on his mind. Right now he had to save the person next to him; his wounds could wait. "HOLD ON!" When the person was holding on tightly to his muscle shirt, Shin wrapped one arm around their shoulders and the other he began to do some hand signs as quickly as he could. "GUARDIAN!" The moment Shin shouted this, a huge white barrier formed around the three and guarded against them against the huge rock. Shin found himself gritting his teeth as he struggled to hold the hand sign; this was the first time he had ever used the Guardian jutsu and the worst part was if the hand sign was changed even slightly, the barrier could disappear in a matter of seconds. "Hang it there, Shin! You've been through worse than this!" Genki's thought of encouragement were enough to awaken something inside of Shin; without realizing what he was doing, he held his hand sign as he used his other hand to touch the blood that his scars oozed out slowly. The moment his hand felt his warm blood wrap around his fingertips, he undid the jutsu and with a slash-like movement, his bloody fingertips slashed through the rock, which was now in small pieces. "Shin…w-what did you just do," Genki asked through thought, staring at the pile of rubble that used to be an enormous piece of rock. Shin didn't have time to answer his question since he was still staring in disbelief at the person he had just saved; a girl. "A girl…why a girl of all people," Shin groaned as he smacked his forehead.

"Well, you were just acting upon moment." Genki walked over to the pink-haired girl and sniffed her for more information, putting one of his tiny paws on her throat like a doctor would do. "She seems fine, though. No wounds and I feel a pulse, so she isn't dead; she probably just passed out the moment you put down the barrier."

Shin sighed in relief and a little uneasiness; girls, out of all the dangerous things in this world, were the ONE thing that Shin preferred to avoid. "What village is she from?"

"The Hidden Leaf Village." Genki look at Shin's uneasy expression and sighed. "You know, you can't just leave her here. What would Lord Ryuu think if you left behind someone you had just saved?"

Shin sighed; Ryuu would definitely be very displeased with him for that. "Okay, then…Genki, find the hospital in the Leaf Village. It would be too awkward if she had parents and they saw me in her room," Shin said as he nervously put the girl on his back, ready to do his hand signs again, even though he was a little tried by now.

"As you wish, My Lord; the Kyuubi would be quite pleased with your progress," Genki add slyly, looking at Shin with mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I'm not your Lord, I'm your friend…and I still have a ways to go before I match Father in independence," Shin said as he looked toward the Leaf Village.

Shin smiled a little and simply bowed, disappearing in a matter of seconds, leaving Shin with the girl. He looked at her gently as he stood with her on his back and sighed lightly. "You're so lucky you have a carefree life…I wish I could have that too," Shin told the unconscious girl as he laid her down after five minutes had passed. He looked around to see where Genki was but the little fox was still gone. "Something tells me that this is going to take a while," Shin sighed as he sat near the girl, though not close enough to touch her, waiting a little longer for his partner…

An hour later

"For crying out loud, how long does it take a fox to find a hospital in a small village!?" Shin couldn't help but shout when there was still no sign of Genki. He sighed to himself and stared at his shadow; it had already been an hour and if Genki didn't hurry, Isamu was definitely going to wonder what happened to Shin. "I'm sorry it's taking so long. Unfortunately, my friend can get distracted very easily," Shin said apolitically to the pink haired girl, who was still unconscious. He stared at the girl and couldn't help but notice she was actually very pretty; it made him blush a little. Then Shin did the unthinkable; he crawled closer to the girl and faced her closely, looking at all her features to decipher her personality. He chuckled a little when he was able to find out what she was like. But then he continued to stare at her, mesmerized by her in a way he didn't understand well. "A hime," Shin murmured as he lean a little closer to her face

"AHEM! Am I interrupting something?"

Shin jumped away from the girl and looked to see Genki smirking at him, almost like his plan had worked. Shin couldn't help but scowl a little at his smirking fox; he had a feeling Genki really had planned this from the beginning. "Very funny Genki, just tell me that all that time you took helped you find the hospital."

Genki smiled and nodded. "She actually doesn't live that far from that place. It was so funny I started laughing and some dog catchers went to chase after me shouting, 'Demon dog, demon dog' over and over again!" Shin stared blankly at Genki and slowly turned around. But Genki saw Shin quiver uncontrollably as his laughter was starting to come out. "HEY THAT WASN'T FUNNY! IT TOOK ME FOREVER TO GET AWAY FROM THOSE TWO MORONS! HOW THE HECK DO THEY CONFUSE A FOX FOR A DOG ANYWAY," Genki shouted angrily when he saw Shin struggling to hold back his laughter.

Shin took in deep breathes so that he could manage to say at least something to Genki. "Let's just take her there and get this over with." Genki still looked sourly at him but when he noticed Shin's scars wrapped around by loose cloths, his expression softened a bit. He slowly walked to Shin and made a few signs with his tail, quickly bringing them to an empty, white hospital room. Shin carefully laid the girl gently on one of the beds and covered her with a nearby blanket. He looked at her steadily and slowly smiled as she seemed to make herself comfortable in the room. But the smile soon faded when he saw a few tears starting to flow out of her eyes, whimpering while she was at it. "She's having a nightmare," Genki said through Shin's mind, showing pity for the girl.

S-Sasuke, please; don't leave…"

Shin froze the moment that name came out of her mouth; Genki bristled his fur and growled quietly with disgust until Shin stopped him from making that sound. He turned his attention back to the girl and lifted his hand; it trembled a little as though he was somewhat unsure what to do. But, with a strong determination, Shin gently place his hand on the girl's cheek, rubbing it lovingly as he used his thumb to brush away her some stray tears. "It's okay; he'll come back. That's a promise, so please don't cry," Shin murmured soothingly until the tears stopped flowing and the girl was resting peacefully. Genki stared in disbelief at Shin's gesture, but, not wanting to ruin the moment, simply said, "We really should get going. I think Isamu is coming out of the flower shop." Shin looked at Genki and nodded in agreement. He stepped on the frame of a nearby window and got ready to jump down, yet he looked back at the girl one more time. And he was surprised to see her wide awake, staring at him. There was a very long, awkward silence until Shin yelped a little in surprise and alarm. His feet accidentally slipped and he lost balance while he was at it and fell out the window. This worried the girl and she went to the window, only to see Shin already running. "What the heck is wrong with you? That girl probably just wanted to thank you," Genki said, watching Shin quickened his pace.

"Not taking my chances," Shin said quickly as he grabbed Isamu without looking at him. His friend asked him a few questions but he just ignored him, after the question about Ryuu. "Please don't let her be a Chunin! I don't think I want to run into her again," Shin thought silently to himself, a slight blush still lingering on his cheeks…

Meanwhile

"Hey Sakura, what are you doing here? I thought you were going to take the day off to train a little."

Sakura turned to the nurse and just shook her head. "I just came to rest here…Um, can you do me a favor? Can you ask Lady Tsunade about any new ninjas that had came recently," Sakura said as she faced the medical nin. When she nodded and smiled, the ninja left her in the room to go to the Hokage's place. Sakura sat there in a daze after a while, touching her cheek where the gentle hand of that boy ninja had wiped away her tears, whispering coaxing, sweet words of comfort to her. She wasn't able to see him that well, but she knew he was the same boy that saved her from the boulder with some kind of jutsu. Sakura fixed her leaf headband and walked to the window where he had fallen from. She smiled and giggled a little as she remembered the memory in her mind. But in the end, Sakura just continued to stare at the distance where he ran with a glazed expression. "Who are you," Sakura couldn't help but say before Tsunade came to the room to answer her questions…

That's it for Shin's little adventure! If you're wondering what kind of past he has or trying to find the meaning behind his words, you're just gonna have to wait! Haha!

Shin: Don't be mean to the readers Inner Dragon! You should appreciate that they actually decided to read your story. I sure do

ID [Inner Dragon: You REALLY gotta stop being so modest! Then again, girls dig that stuff. Keep up the good work! You just might draw in more readers -!

Shin: I-I don't know I'm not as out-going as Isamu, or cool like Ryuu. I don't think I'll draw in much of a crowd --;.

ID: Please stop putting yourself down Shin. You're gonna make me cry - [Eyes start to water

Shin: W-Wait a minute don't cry! I'll be more confident. Not in the story yet but I'll do in the after thoughts.

ID: Yay -! I wuv you Shin[Hugs him like he was my big brother

Shin[Blushes a little 0////0

ID: Next chapter, is Henshin's turn in the spotlight! He's the "friendly" one that was next to Ryuu, but by the end of that chapter, you'll start wondering -!

Henshin: Hey!

ID: If you want I'll tell you the meanings of all their names in the next chapter but until then take it away Henshin-!

Henshin: ...No UU!

ID: Please? For me -? Makes puppy dog eyes

Henshin: Ugh...Make sure to read the next chapter "My most cherished Enemy." There. Happy? --;

ID: Yay -! Thank you for reading! Please Review! i still need some opinions -!