Summary: He was suppose to kill her, so how did he end up protecting her? [GaaMatsu], [SasoIno]. AU. Side shippings: SuiKa, NaruSaku, HinaKiba.

Chapter one: Mission accepted.

"Do you two understand your assignment?"

Both men nodded. "Yes, Leader."

Pein nodded his head. "Very good. I expect no mistakes."

"Yes, Leader," they chorused once again.

Green and brown eyes scanned their assignment papers. The owner of the pale, green eyes smirked, while the brown-eyed one remained perfectly still.

This'll be easy, the redhead decided. He checked the target again, Hm. Matsuri... Sounds simple enough.

If only he knew what he was getting into when he said that.

Large onyx eyes scanned the surrounding around her. She had five seconds to take in the scenery. She used those seconds, then moved her Hitai-ate over her eyes. She felt her breathing increase a bit higher.

She heard footsteps so gentle taht you could almost reason that they were not there at all. Almost. But she knew better.

The footsteps suddenly stopped. She readied herself for an attack she knew well was coming. The assailant started running at her. She felt a tug of uneasiness, but she just shoved it away.

The first blow hit her in the stomach. She smiled. There!

She lashed out, grabbing one of his arms and one of his legs, spun around, and released, sending him flying. She heard a loud thud and then a grunt, but her assailants weren't nearly done yet.

Another person came forth. She sidestepped his attack. Hearing the blow hit beside her ear, she swung her leg out, catching him in the side, sending him toppling to the ground.

It was then that the third one decided to move. He dropped out of a tree, ready to take her from the sky.

Unfortunately for the assailant, she heard a twig snap before he did anything. She back-flipped once, landing her right in front of the figure. This one was smarter than the rest.

He crouched on the ground, unmoving. Matsuri heard nothing. She stilled. Her muscles tensed. She sensed a trap. The figure finally attacked, springing off his hands, trying to catch her in the face with a kick on the chin.

Matsuri fell into a gentle back-bend. She kicked out a leg, catching the assailant in the stomach. She flipped over her hands. She landed in a crouching position, standing up, and taking off her Hitai-ate.

She smiled at the three other Genins, who were all laying in various positions. The first guy was laying unconscious with his back against the cold grass, and his legs supported against the trunk of the tree he had landed on.

The second guy was holding his side on the ground, mumbling something about, "Stupid *Kunoichis, and there love for trickery."

The last guy was coughing up blood.

She went over to him, putting a hand on the place where she had kicked him, closed her eyes, and sent a surge of chakra through her hands, healing him almost instantly.

The boy noted pleasantly that her chakra was blue- his favorite color.

When she was done, she smiled apologetically. "Sorry 'bout that. You know how tense I get when I get attack blind-folded."

Ivi smirked at his friend. "Hey, don''t worry about it; we all do."

She nodded, still apologetically, "well, I should probably go wake Juruo up."

Ivi laughed. "Yeah, no doubt, my older brother's gonna be mad that a GIRL beat him up... you, no less...blindfolded."

Matsuri visibly winced. "I'll make it up to him," she promised, getting up and walking over to the first assailant.

She sighed, noticing the blood dripping down his temple. She swiftly decided that it would be more pleasant for BOTH of them if he was still unconscious while she did this part.

She closed her eyes, yet again, put her hand to his temple, and repeated the same process she used on Ivi on Juruo. It took a bit of her chakra, but nothing fatal. After she finished, she gently tapped a hand on the place she had just healed.

Juruo woke with a start, lashing out, trying to grab her neck. She expertly ducked her head to the right, avoiding his hands.

He blushed and stopped attacking when he realized that it was over. "You won, huh?"

She nodded, running her hand fondly through his black hair. "Yes, though, you did fantastic."

He rolled his eyes at his adopted sister's remark.

Okay, let me explain the "adoptive"part.

Matsuri lost her parents when she was young. She saw them get killed by numerous weapons, leaving her an orphan. Well, while she still lived on her own, it was Jurou and Ivi's parents who gave her food. Ivi and Jurou also took it upon themselves to be her personal protector.

"You all good?" Matsuri inquired of him.

He nodded. "And I'm not ALWAY?"

She chuckled at his arrogance, deciding that he was, in fact, fine. "Yeah, you're okay. Well, I gotta go help Beru with a slight rib fracture."

Juruo winced. "Ow. Sounds painful. Go on."

Matsuri ran over to where her third friend was holding his ribcage. He was groaning in obvious pain. She immediately felt bad for not getting to him first. But not for doing to him in the first place.

After all, she knew full well that if they had had the chance, they would have done the same to her.

She fell to her knees, hitting the ground with her hands to catch herself. "Hang in there, Beru. It'll all be over in a second."

Matsuri didn't immediately heal his ribs, but rather, put him under a deep sleep to do the next part. It would be the most likely be the most painful thing he'd ever feel, so it'd be best that he felt it unconscious.

She pushed a bit more chakra into it than she had with Ivi. But then, Beru was also hurt more than Ivi had been. She bit her lips roughly, drawing blood from a sudden tiredness that swept over her being.

She sighed in relief as she finished. Beru's color started to return to his face. She moved a bit of blond hair out of his face.

Sky blue eyes shot open, meeting her young, onyx ones. He sat up to her protests. He shushed her by putting a hand on her lips roughly.

"Sh! I'm fine. Let me guess, you won."

His hand was still on her lips, so she just settled for a nod. Her eyes widened as he released her, threw back his head and laughed.

"Yep," he decided, "Sounds about right. Help me up, will you?"

She jumped to her feet, garbbed his arm and pulled him up. Jurou and Ivi had come over.

"She beat you guys, too?" Beru Ma asked the other two.

Ivi blushed. Juruo winced his brilliant, green eyes.

"I'll take that as a 'yes', then," Beru decided, smirking at the twins, knowingly.

"Shall we go, then?" Matsuri broke in.

Pale, green eyes watched from a distance.