For a few days Ao was walking alone in the Bloody Mist village. Ever since that mission he went on to kill the Terumi clan he couldn't stop thinking about the little girl he spared. He never told anyone what he did but he did wonder why didn't he kill her.

As he was walking he stopped to see a chunin come to him.

"Captain Ao, The Mizukage wants to see you right away."

Ao nodded then headed to the Mizukage tower.

When he got there he went to the office to see Yagura. Yagura looked at Ao firmly but not angry.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Yes. Ao, there have been rumors that a girl from the Terumi clan had been spotted near the Mist border I want you to go take care of the problem."

Ao nodded then left.

Ao went to his home and began to pack and store everything into a few scrolls. When he was done he left the place and went to the cemetery.

"Kukiko, Mitsuko I will be gone for a while. I don't know when I'll be back but when I do I will visit you again."

He left the two headstones and left out of the village.

Ao went deep into the forest and arrived at a home hideout. He went inside of it to see that it wasn't being used. He smiled and began to explore it.

The house was a two story with 4 bed rooms. Each room had its own bathroom and in the living room there was a fire place. The kitchen was next to the living room but there was a wall dividing it. Ao smiled at how the house was made then he began to unpack his things. When he was done he looked to see if there was any fire wood but there wasn't.

Ao went outside in the back but then as he was out there he was chopping wood for the fireplace. He heard a yell not too far from where he was so then he put his ax down and went to the sound of where the yelling was coming from.

He soon saw three men and a little girl. One man was on the ground in pain holding his face while the other two men were looking at him. One of them had a grip on the girl's arm and the other had a long stick.

"Why you little demon!"

The man with the stick his the girl causing her to fall back. Ao looked closer he saw that the girl that the men were beating is the same girl he spared. Ao frowned then threw a stone at the man who had the stick. Ao went to confront them standing between the girl and the men.

The leader of the men glared at Ao.

"What are you doing, she's a monster."

"She's the last child of that dragon clan!"

"We have to kill her!"

Ao just glared at them then drew his sword out.

"Leave this child alone, or I'll kill you."

The three men looked at him two of them backed away but the leader went to fight and Ao killed him just by stabbing him in the chest. After doing that he looked at the other two. They were scared and they quickly left leaving them alone.

Ao looked behind him to see if the girl was okay. He saw that she was on the ground passed out so he crouched down to her. He picked her up in his arms and took her back to the hide out.

When he got there he cleaned her up and put her in one of the other rooms for her to sleep in. Ao pulled up a chair and sat in it. He smiled as he watched the young girl sleep and leaned closer and kissed her on the cheek.

'This is it.'

For the rest of the night he stayed in the room with her.

The next morning the girl woke up. She looked next to her to see Ao looking at her. The girl seemed to remember him and sat up.

"Mister, it's you."

Ao nodded then pulled out the first aid kit.

"I need you to hold still, child."

He brought her closer to him as he treated her face wounds. The girl would wince from time to time but when Ao was done he let her go then left out of the room to put the kit away. The girl looked up to see him coming back but she glanced down and saw that he was holding a kunai. The girl panicked and was trying to get away bot Ao held her in place. He back was facing him but he had to hold her in place with his legs.

"Alright child, hold still so I don't cut you."

The girl had her eyes clamped shut but she soon heard cutting and opened her eyes to see some of her hair on the floor.

"What are you doing, Mister?"

"I'm just cutting your hair even."

After the trim the girl looked up at him. Ao let her go and he stood up to look for something to pick the hair up off the floor.

The girl felt her hair. It felt even then she looked at her reflection. She then looked behind her to see Ao coming back into the room.

"Is something wrong child?"

The girl looked at him.

"Mister, will you teach me how to be a ninja?"

"You want to become my student?"

"Yes sir."

"Funny how you ask me that."

She looked at him in question and he continued.

"I was going to keep you here to train you to defend yourself."

The girl blinked in surprise then Ao looked at her.

"First off, what is your name?"

"Mei Terumi."

"Alright then Mei, I am Ao. Starting tomorrow your training will begin."

"Yes sir."

"Alright let's get you settled in."

He left and Mei smiled shyly.

'He's so nice.'

She ran after him and they went to stores to get clothes for Mei.