Hello guys! Hope you like this chapter and please review if you have the chance. Thanks to Tateno Atsukino, Narutoske, valinor, kairiuchiha2, Bakagirl101, Eterna1, zakuro93, Lighting Wings, lovingo0Kawaii0oGirl, The Memories of Old and honeybee for reading and reviewing. Now on with the story!

Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the lovely Rei, Jin, and my other OCs.

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Rei opened her eyes slowly and was somewhat surprised to find that she was in an unfamiliar room. She sat up slowly and winced a bit at the pain on her side. As she looked around she couldn't help to be thankful that the curtains were drawn, blocking out the light from the sun. With a sigh, she sat up slowly, wincing from the pain although she had had worst injuries. She stopped when the door opened slowly to reveal the man who had helped her the previous day. He looked at her for a moment before closing the door.

"You shouldn't move around too much kid, you cracked a rib." He said as he sat down at a small table.

"I'm fine, thanks for helping me." She said quietly.

She was still upset about having had to be aided by a stranger. The ease with which he had defeated the men bothered her since he showed no signs of being a shinobi.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"We're in a small town a few miles from where I found you."

He turned to look at the girl as she sat on her bed.

"You're a Genin from Konoha right?"

She nodded.

"What are you doing so far from your village on your own?"

"I'm training."

The man looked at her closely and sighed.

"Getting killed won't help you get stronger." He said.

Rei frowned at him.

"I would have been fine on my own, you didn't have to help."

She was getting tired of the man treating her like a little kid. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow in a questioning manner. The girl's response to his comment had surprised him. She looked away with a frown.

"Well, either way, you'll have to rest for a bit before you can travel."

Rei sighed knowing he was right. Then it occurred to her that she didn't know who the guy was.

"Excuse me but, who are you?" She asked awkwardly.

"Well, I'm just a wanderer by the name of Jin."

"Right, I know your name, but I guess what I really wanted to know was if you're a shinobi."

The man looked at her for a moment before answering.

"No, I'm not a ninja. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that the way in which you moved when you fought that guy. He was very fast, but you moved even faster than that without any problem. How is it possible for someone who isn't a shinobi to move like that?"

The man seemed to think about it for a moment. Rei waited patiently for him to answer.

"It's a long story, and a boring one, I doubt you'd want to hear it." He said dismissively.

The girl frowned and watched as he smirked.

"I see, you want to know how someone can get so strong without real ninja training."

Rei looked away, annoyed at having her real motives found out. The man chuckled.

"Alright, I guess I can tell you."

Rei didn't miss the amusement in his voice, but she pushed back her annoyance and paid attention to what he said.

"When I was a kid I met a shinobi who showed me a few tricks. I just learned enough to protect myself." He said calmly.

Rei waited for more but apparently that was all he was going to tell her.

"Is that it?" She asked bluntly.

The man smirked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I thought you said it was a long and complicated story."

"I simplified it a little." He said with a small shrug.

Rei slumped forward, apparently this guy liked to annoy her. He reminded her of Sasuke, but she dismissed that thought and looked back up at the man who was now preparing some tea.

"So why are you training so far from your village?" He said without looking at her.

Rei wondered how much she should tell him about the purpose of her journey. She grinned as she decided to 'simplify' things.

"I just want to beat someone."

Jin stopped and turned to her with a small frown.

"You mean you're out for revenge. Aren't you a little young to think that way?"

He watched as the girl looked at him with surprise before frowning.

"You could say that, but age has nothing to do with that sort of decision especially for shinobi."

"You're wrong, someone as young as you wouldn't know much about revenge no matter what they have been trough, but for someone like me who has seen many things revenge is something that should never cross anyone's mind."

Rei sat on the bed and looked at the man carefully. For a moment, while he spoke, she sensed a sort of sadness emanating from the man. It was strange how quickly his attitude changed only to go back to normal a moment later.

"But putting that aside, if you keep traveling on your own like this you're going to keep running into troublesome men like the ones from yesterday."

"And what do you suggest I do? Go back to Konoha?"

"I can see you're too stubborn to do that." He said as he sat back down with a cup of tea.

"But, if you really want to keep traveling, at least rest for a bit."

Rei thought about it for a moment and realized that, as annoying as it was for a stranger to tell her to stay inside wasting her time, Jin was right. She needed to rest before she could get back on the road, especially since she was injured. Jin watched as the girl sighed and looked up at him.

"Fine, I'll rest for a while."

Jin smirked a bit glad to hear that the girl had taken his advice. At least now he wouldn't have to worry about her worsening her injuries. Rei on the other hand was a bit apprehensive about having to stay with someone she had just met. Still, she knew Jin wasn't so bad, even though she had just met him she could tell that he was a good guy.

Two days had passed since Rei had woken up in the room Jin had gotten for them at the inn and it was safe to say that she was bored to the brink of insanity. She sighed as she laid back in bed and looked out the open window.

Jin had gone out again by the time she was awake. He had left some food for her and would return in a while with lunch, just like the previous day. She still didn't know where he went, but she wasn't going to meddle in his affairs, besides, she would leave soon to continue her training. Jin was still trying to convince her to go back to Konoha, but she could tell that he was starting to realize how hopeless it was.

She grinned a bit at the thought of him as he gave up and contented himself with some tea. Annoying him was one thing she looked forward to. As she thought of this she got out of bed and stretched a bit. She winced as she heard her bones crack and felt a few joints pop.

"Must be getting old." She mumbled jokingly.

After a bit more stretching she got ready to go out for a while. Her Konoha headband was left on the bedside table along with her weapons. She didn't want to call attention to herself. Another thing she didn't want to do was run into Jin. For some reason he seemed to dote over her like an over protective mother, or more like Okoru, as she liked to think.

It was at times like those in which she was glad she wasn't too bad at sensing other's chakra. She would just have to be careful and make sure to return before Jin. With that last thought, she hurried out of the room and the inn, altogether.

A small smile appeared on her face as she looked around and felt the wind hitting her face. It had been a while since she had been outside. Rei began to walk off in the direction of the town's outskirts to see if she could exercise a bit. Soon she reached the woods surrounding the town and began to work a bit on her taijutsu.

Jin stopped at the door to the room in which he was staying. He frowned as he sensed no chakra from inside it. He opened the door and saw that the room was empty. With a sigh he closed the door and began to head back outside to look for Rei. Jin looked around at the different shops but knew the girl wouldn't be there.

After walking for a while he arrived at the outskirts of the town. He smirked as he heard the faint sound of something being hit with a fair amount of force. Jin walked quietly to where the sound was being produced and stopped once he was able to see a certain blond practicing with a clone. He watched for a few minutes while standing in the shadow of a tree.

By the force behind the attacks he could tell that the girl was very strong, but she was also a bit slow, or so he thought. He picked up a few small stones and threw them at the girl. Rei felt a sudden spike in chakra around her and jumped back when she saw the stones heading her way. She dodged them, but got a small scratch on her leg.

"You're pretty slow for a ninja."

Jin stepped out from the shadows with a smirk. Rei couldn't help but glare at him with a fair amount of annoyance.

"I told you to stay at the inn."

"I was bored." She whined.

Jin just sighed and shook his head.

"Well, at least I found out why you need to train so badly. You're not a very good shinobi." He said jokingly.

Rei gave him a playful glare knowing he didn't really mean what he said.

"I'll have you know I'm a very good ninja."

"I bet you couldn't even punch me." He said smugly.

"What!? Of course I could! What kinds of shinobi would I be if I couldn't?"

"Well, since you're so sure of yourself why don't you try it? I won't fight back and all you have to do is hit me once."

Rei looked at him suspiciously. She doubted he would be able to dodge all of her attacks.

"How long do I have to hit you?"

"Until you're tired or you give up."

"Fine, then let's go."

Rei got into a fighting position and Jin just sighed and smirked a bit.

"Come on then."

At those words Rei hurried towards him. She threw a punch aimed at his side, but he just moved to the side. Rei turned and tried to kick him, but Jin just jumped back and then dodged to the side again as Rei threw another kick. He grabbed her arm after dodging another attack and threw her to the side. She spun in the air and regained her composure, but she was still surprised at how fast and smooth his movements were.

"Is that all?" He asked with a yawn.

Rei felt her eye twitching in annoyance. She concentrated her chakra on her feet and disappeared in a blur. Jin seemed unfazed as he blocked her hits with ease. He made simple movements, but seemed to anticipate the girl's attacks. Every time she spun in the air, kicked him, or tried to attack him at high speed he would just move to the side as if he was avoiding a fly.

After a while Rei became irritated by the ease with which he avoided her attacks. She began to get sloppy and her movements were slow and clumsy. Jin noticed this and frowned a bit. He moved to her side as she tried to punch him and tripped her. The girl fell and glared at the man as he stood over her. Jin sighed and sat next to her as she laid on the ground panting.

"That's enough for now." He said.

"No, I know I can hit you." She argued.

Jin gave her a stern look.

"It's fine, I didn't expect you to actually hit me, especially since your ribs are still bothering you."

Rei scowled knowing he was right, her side had started to hurt a bit after moving so much. She sighed and let herself fall back onto the lush grass on her back. She stared up at the blue sky and frowned.

"Why can't I hit you?" She said quietly.

Jin smiled a bit as he looked at her.

"Because you're too young to be so strong and even then you're pretty good." He said with some humor.

"But you're not a shinobi, even though I'm still a Genin I should have had the upper hand."

"You're right, with your strength and experience you should have beaten me, but you're still slow. You let your feelings get in the way of your attacks."

"No I don't."

Jin chuckled.

"See? You're still arguing."

Rei shot him a playful glare and he smiled and looked out at the forest ahead of him.

"While you tried to hit me you became agitated by your failure. Your emotions got in your way and made your movements clumsy while also diminishing your speed. Because of that, even though you focused your chakra to augment your speed and strength you failed. If you continue to fight like that you'll never reach your full potential." He said seriously.

Rei looked at him with some withheld surprise. Jin sighed and stood up dusting himself off as he did so. He looked down at the girl and held out his hand.

"Come on, let's get something to eat."

Rei took his hand and stood up.

"How come you know so much about shinobi and chakra and all of that stuff?"

"Well, it's like I said, a long time ago I ran into a shinobi who showed me some things. He helped me become strong when I needed to. It's thanks to him that I'm still here."

Rei thought about this and then stopped. She looked up at Jin with a smile that surprised the man.

"Hey, do you think you could teach me to be as strong as you?"

Jin looked at the girl with surprise. He certainly hadn't expected her to ask him for help.

"I can show you how to become quicker on your feet and how to concentrate more on your attacks, but it would take a while."

Rei thought about it and then grinned.

"It's okay, right now I'm a wanderer kind of like you so I can just follow you around if it means that I can get stronger." She said brightly.

Jin felt his eye twitching at her words.

"Forget it, I'm not traveling with a kid."

"Hey! I'm not a kid!" She said indignantly.

"Oh really? How old are you?"

Rei felt her eye twitching as he smirked.

"Point made."

"It's not my fault you're some decrepit old man!"

"What did you say little girl?"

"Just let me travel with you for a while I won't get in the way."

Jin sighed and looked at the girl as she stared at him with pleading eyes.

"Fine, but if you get into trouble I'm sending you to Konoha."

Rei ignored the last part and grinned up at Jin.

"Alright then! Let's go get some lunch Jin-sensei!"

"Don't call me sensei it makes me sound old."

"But you are old. What are you thirty?"

"I'm twenty-four!"

"Wow, you're twice my age! You're ancient!" She said mockingly as she walked off towards a nearby restaurant.

Jin's eye twitched as he gritted his teeth. He cursed himself for what he had just done, but resigned himself to having to travel with the girl for a while. He dug his hands in his pockets as he walked off after the girl and he couldn't help but smile as she waved him over from the counter. Something told him that his trip had just gotten a bit more interesting.

End Chapter Fifty-Nine

Hope you guys liked it and please review if you have the chance. I love reviews and I love you guys for reading.