DreamXEscape: Howdie, don't kill me. I know it's been forever since I updated and I sincerely apologize. I would love to drop out of high school and run away to a cabin in the middle of nowhere and write but, sadly, I cannot. But I will do the best I can today because I'm currently not at school today. I decided that because I'm "sick" I needed a day off *winkie winkie*. So now it's a mental health day. So now it's just me, you, my laptop, and a cup of French Vanilla coffee.

Hoorah for liars!

BACK TO STORY

Shika-ika-maruuuuu POV

"It's about damn time, Skikama- Why is she naked?" Tsunade looks genuinely surprised as I walk in with Choji, Mimo, and Ami trailing behind me.

"I am not naked!" Ami protests and glares at my leader. She tugs at the hem of the sweater, obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Tsunade smiles, "Sure, right, my apologies. So, you are Ami, and this is your sister Mimo?" The Hokage laces her fingers together in front of her face, a sure sign that she's studying the two girls.

Ami perks up at the sound of her name, "Yes. Is there anything we can help you with?" She digs her nails into her palms and stares at Lady Tsunade, emotionless. Her guards are up…

Tsunade stands and walks towards Ami, circling her and examining her with mild interest, "Not really. Shikamaru just expressed his suspicions about you and your sister and I felt the need to investigate." At that Ami's walls crash down and she sucks in a breath. Her body stiffens and she looks at me from the corner of her eye, brown orbs murderous and hurt.

She jerks her head to Tsunade's direction. Her retort is a bit forced but she coats it with honey. "I'm sorry that me and my sister caused such suspicions, we didn't mean to… We're just not really good with strangers."

Tsunade lifts a lock of Ami's hair and the girl stiffens even more. "Nonsense, you shouldn't worry. The shinobi in this village are trained to be suspicious of even the most innocent of people. These are troubling times, we have to be prepared for anything." She smiles at the girl and makes the comment, "You're hair is very lovely," she takes up a handful of her hair and moves it over her shoulder.

That's when I see it. A small, black tribal tattoo of a claw right at the base of her neck. Tsunade sees my expression: I've confirmed her suspicions. She knew the whole time…

The missing princess.

ASAO POV (Dun dun DUN) Hidden Leaf Village

Zuko lands swiftly on my arm and squawks. She's here… One part of me is glad that I found her before my father's trackers did but there's another part of me that's angry that I found her because now I'll have to drag her and her little Fang friend back to the Claw. More than likely Asami will be sentenced to death and I'll still be forced to be wed with that Fang-hime.

Zuko detects my stress and pecks at my fingers affectionately. That's one thing that no Fang would ever be able to understand: the connection between a ninkin and their master. The only thing Fangs ever care about is using beasts to slaughter people and using their ninkin for murder. It's sick.

I lean back against the side of the tree and look my ninkin in the eyes. "Well, Zuzu… We found her, the easy part is done. Now all we have to do is persuade her to come back." I scoff at my own words, "as if she would. Sometimes I think she should've been born a Fang. She's got that instinct about her and that fighting spirit that's never been beaten... I wish Father would've let her fight. She was born to be a warrior…" Zuko ruffles his wings in agreement.

I smile at his actions but freeze when I sense someone nearby. "Who's there?" I throw Zuko off my arm and he soars up in the air and dive bombs the intruder.

"Hey, hey! Sheesh, I didn't know anyone else was here!" A Leaf Village shin obi waves his hands at Zuko, who tries to peck him in the eyes. "Call it off!"

I put two fingers in my mouth and whistle. Zuko glides back to his perch on my shoulder. "Sorry."

The ninja licks some blood off his finger and retorts, "It's okay. You trained him pretty damn good." He forces a grin and I notice the big red triangles on his cheeks.

I feel my own eyes widen in shock, "You're an Inuzuka! Wow... Never thought I'd ever meet one." I push myself to my feet and dust the dirt off my knees.

The Inuzuka grins and points a thumb at himself. "Yeah, well I'm the heir of the Inuzuka clan! Wait…How do you know about my clan?" A giant white dog comes out from the bushes and nuzzles his hand. "Thanks for the help, Akamaru…" He mutters to the ninkin and pats him on the head.

I smile at their kinship, "My entire land revolves around ninkinship. The Inuzuka clan is famous where I'm from. We study your ways of fighting and the way you bond with your ninkin... but instead of using dogs, we use birds."

He grins even wider at this. "Really? What land are you from?"

I chuckle, "The Land of Claws. All of our ninja are trained in ninkinship. It's mandatory if you want to be a shinobi. Actually, if you don't mind, maybe we could spar sometime, I'd love to tell my teammates back home that I fought an Inuzuka."

He scoffs and his grin get's even wider. He's obviously enjoying the attention, "Sure, why not? I can teach you how a real Inuzuka does it." He holds a hand out, "Inuzuka Kiba. Come on, I'll show you around the village. Maybe I'll even give you a tour of my clan."

I shake it, "Kimura Asao. Sounds like plan."

He grins again, showing his canines. "So what are doing here in the village?"

We start walking toward the heart of the Leaf Village. I consider lying to him but I doubt it'll be any harm for him to know the truth. Personally, I'd rather not lie to an Inuzuka… "I'm actually looking for my sister. She ran off a few weeks ago and I've been trying to track her down ever since. Zuko says she's somewhere here in the village."

He stuffs his hands down in his pockets and keeps walking. "Why'd she run away?"

I shrug and decide that now's the time to start dodging the truth, "I'm not sure. I think it might have something to do with her friend. Asami has always been the unpredictable type."

"Asami, huh? Doesn't ring a bell. But, and I don't mean to pry or anything, but maybe she doesn't want to be found? What if she had a really good reason to leave?" Akamaru barks and runs off ahead of us. His words hit me deep.

I sigh, "She does have a good reason but I've got an even better one for bringing her back."

Kiba doesn't say anything else and leads me deeper into the village. I feel guilt rise in the pit of my stomach at the thought of what I have to do to the poor Inuzuka. If he and I had met under any other circumstance, I think we'd be friends… but I have a job to do.

Asami POV

"Tell me your real name." The Hokage demands again.

I ball my fists up and tell her, again, "Ami Lee."

"Stop lying to me. The tattoo on the back of your neck tells me that you're royalty from the Land of Claws. They sent out a message to all the lands saying that their princess was missing and I'd bet my life that you're her." She takes a huge gulp of tea again and slams the cup down onto the table.

I honestly say, "I'm no princess."

Lady Tsunade rubs her temple and Shikamaru grabs my shoulder. I smack his hand away so hard I can hear the skin make contact. He glares down at me but I glare back. Traitor. Fiend. Idiot… "Ami, or whoever you are, you need to start telling us the truth or we'll be forced to send you back to the Claw."

I spit acidly, "You'll send me back no matter what. Did you ever think that maybe I ran away for a reason?"

He's taken aback by my outburst but doesn't say anymore. Lady Tsunade pipes up, "We realize that you have your reasons for your actions. But we need your honesty. If you don't start telling the truth we'll have to take extreme measures. Who are you and why are you here?"

I feel tears threaten to fall out of my eyes and I glance at Mimo. "My name is-"

A voice startles me and I stiffen at the familiarity of it. I do my best not to look at the figure in the window behind the Hokage. "Asami Kimura. Princess of the Land of Claws. A fugitive. A murderer. A kidnapper. A traitor. A shame on the Kimura clan."

I don't even have to look to know who it is. "Asao…"

I feel two hands land on my shoulders. "You did really good, baby sister. You faked your best friend's death, you kidnapped her, you alluded trackers from both the Fang AND the Claw, and you tricked all of these innocent villagers into thinking you and Misaki-hime were simple commoners from the Village Hidden in the Mist… but you can't run from you past forever. It's time to go back home… Why are you naked?"

Tears fall down my cheeks and I finally look up at my brother. "I am not naked!" I slap him hard across the face but Asao doesn't flinch. His brown eyes are identical to mine.

It's silent for a long moment before he looks at me. "Why didn't you tell me?" I can see that his jaw is set tight and his body is tense.

"You would've tried to stop me." I bite my lip to hold back the tears. After all that I went through… and we still got caught…

"I would've protected you!" He yells, catching me off guard. "I could've helped you! I could've come with you but no! Like always, you had to run off without thinking of the consequences! You never think! You never want to let anyone else help you! Why do you do this? Do you like carrying the world on your shoulders? Does it make you feel good to know that you're the most untrusting, undisciplined, brat on the face of the earth!" His voice echoes a little in the small room and his face is inches away from mine.

I look down at my feet, ashamed at what I've unintentionally put my brother through. "Are you going to take us back?"

He rubs his face with his hand. "No, I'm not. When I first got here that was my sole intention but I started talking to a Leaf shinobi... He didn't know who I was but he told me that if I really cared about you I should trust in your decisions... I'm here to warn you: Otousan is sending more trackers. No one knows that Misaki is alive. Whatever kind of jutsu you used worked. No one suspects anything. Unless the Hidden Leaf village tells the Claw, you should be safe." He eyes the Hokage wearily.

She watches us in amusement. "Personally, I've always thought the feud between the Claws and Fangs was silly. The lands used to be united hundreds and hundreds of years ago but when one of the heirs to the land fell in love with his brother's fiancée the lands divided. The branch family created the Claws and the original family became the Fangs." She takes a sip from her cup. "Silly… I won't tell. As far as I know the girls that have been in my office today are Miss Ami and Miss Mimo, two villagers from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

Asao smiles at that and I finally hug my brother. He's taken off guard by my actions but he wraps his arms around my shoulders and lays his chin on the top of my head. Zuko plays with my hair. "You're a good person, Asami, just don't forget that there are other good people that exist in the world too."

I sniffle a little and freeze when I hear the tone of his voice, "You're leaving, aren't you…"

He nods. "Yeah, I have to go back to the Land of Claws and throw Otousan off your trail. I'll tell him you were in the Land of Waves or something, or that you died. Wait," he pushes me away from and pulls out a kunai. I see Shikamaru tense up and draw one himself, ready for an attack. Asao looks me in the eye, "Do you trust me?"

I nod. He gathers my hair up in his hand and cuts it off, leaving me with a choppy crop of dark brown hair. My head feels lighter without the hair and I slide a hand through it, enjoying how it stops just at the start of my neck. He takes the kunai and cuts a short slit across my Claw tattoo. I gasp at the pain but he takes the blood and rubs it across the hair in his hand.

"As far as I know, Asami Kimura was killed by a band of robbers east of Kumogakure. Her body was mutilated and this," he holds up the blood hair, "was the only thing left of her that wasn't mangled and could be used for DNA."

I smile even wider at him and kiss him on the cheek. "Write me when and if all the drama dies down."

He nods and grins, giving me an awkward one-armed hug. He nods toward Mimo, "You're secret is safe with me."

She smiles and mouths, "Thank you."

"No problem." He faces Lady Tsunade, "Thank you, take good care of these two. They're you're problem now." He grins and takes his leave back out the window.

"Well, then, Ami… Welcome to the Village Hidden in the Leaves." The Hokage smirks at me, "welcome to your new home."

I smirk right back at her, "Good be here… But... Um...Can I go back to Gramma Michi's?… Asao didn't close the window and there is a very uncomfortable breeze in here…"

Everyone laughs… but me. "I'm serious."

Well, there you go! Not that great of a chapter but it's there. I'm getting really bored with this story because I have no idea what to write about anymore. I know it's going to end but there's still a lot that needs to be done before that. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to share. I'm not sure how I'm going to get Asami and Shikamaru to fall in loviness. Choji and Mimo are easy but the other two aren't. Also, should I bring in Temari? Add a little jealousy?

Tell me! Review! Share! LOVE!