Chapter 32: Ally

'Thoughts'

Tsukiyomi/Sound

°telepathy°


?'s POV

Sitting by the edge of the river I waited for a fish to bite the rod. 'Maybe today will be different.' I thought but sighed knowing that my life would remain the same as long as I lived here. Tug. Pulling the rod back I felt like a big fish had nagged onto my line. 'This must be my lucky day!' I grinned pulling it even harder. 'Just one more.' I steadied myself before pulling again.

Expecting a big fish I stared in horror as I pulled towards the shore a body. The girl I had pulled was covered in scratches and bruises from what I could tell at first glance. Inching closer I noticed the bundle in her arms. Immediately opening the bundle I was relieved to see that it wasn't a kid. Instead, I saw a bag and a sword. Hesitantly I hovered over her mouth and heard faint breathing. 'She's alive!' Picking her up I placed her on my back and shivered as her cold body touched my back with the feeling of ice too real. Not wasting time I picked up her belongings and took her with me back to the village ignoring the rules.


Yukino's POV

Opening my eyes I looked around once again not knowing where I was. The only difference being that this time I knew who I was and where I had to go. 'How am I still alive?' I asked thinking back on everything I've been through. Taking off the blanket the cool air hit me. Hugging myself I looked down and saw my ribcage bound in bandages. My shirt was gone but my pants remained, looking more worn than I remembered.

Looking around the room I saw a couple of cots. Getting off mine I looked under finding my bag with everything inside except for my beautiful new sword. "Good, you're awake." Flinching I turned my head to the voice. By the doorway, a woman with a hood stood holding a hand to her arm. Focused on what she hid I didn't notice the red hair underneath her hood until she was within arms reach.

"Did you patch me up?" I asked her.

"Yes… and we need to know. How did you get that mark on your back?"

"You have red hair," I sat back on the cot. She frowned and took it off revealing her full head of red hair. "Hm. It just appeared on my back about a month ago." I told her the truth remembering how the butterfly mark, that covered the majority of my back, appeared during my stay with the samurai but I never paid any mind to it just like the seal on my ankle. 'Why did it appear?'

"Hm." She crossed her arms revealing a bite mark she was hiding. Two particular indents seemed oddly familiar. Opening my mouth I touched my canines looking at my fingers I saw a small amount of blood on it. "In order for you to heal I had to make you bite me." She said already at the doorway leaving.

'Bite her?!' Hopping off the cot I immediately picked up my stuff. Opening a small portal to my storage space I dove my hand in. Yelping my hand twisted with pain. Hugging my hand close I placed my hand on the portal as touched what appeared to be a barrier preventing me from entering. Gathering water on my palm I used it to fish for an empty scroll I had tucked in there. Using my free hand I moved the portal like one would do to a mirror to look for it better. This somehow worked. 'I'm not staying.' I told myself in disbelief of how many weird things I had been through in the past two months since getting the stone. Yes. The stone it all started when I got it.

Flashback:

Taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't allowed to take any Anbu missions but was still allowed to take part in normal missions I took it upon myself to protect some merchants heading to the land of Iron. It was a simple C-rank mission giving me enough time to head to my real destination.

With coordinates in hand, I found a small cave entrance leading to a shrine inside. Walking towards it the wind picked up causing the wood to creak dangerously as I stepped on it. "Okay," I let a small exhale. Taking another step the ground suddenly glowed as I had activated a barrier of sorts. Snap! The wood under me broke. While falling my chin hit the floorboard causing me to bite on my tongue. Holding on to the floorboards I pulled myself up. 'This is not safe.' I looked at the hole feeling a breeze coming through it. Touching the floor I activated my eyes to reverse the damage.

Expecting to hear the creaks of time reversing I looked around seeing that nothing had changed. Doing the next best thing I tried gathering water on my palm but nothing happened. 'The barrier.' Standing back up I walked slowly towards the center with a stand and a finely carved emerald on top of it held only by the dent in it. Reaching for it I stopped. 'Wait… this seems too easy.' Looking closer at it I saw through it what appeared to be a switch. "Ah, clever…" I backed away. Looking around I saw near the corner near the floor a whitish round stone barely visible. Carefully making my way to it. I grabbed the stone seeing Uzumaki symbol on it. Whew. 'Hope this is it.' I walked slowly back towards the entrance.

Snap! My body almost fell into the new hole dropping the rock elsewhere. Pulling myself up I stared at the cliff edge right underneath the floorboards. Crack! Looking behind me I stood up and grabbed the stone that broke the emerald. The shrine shook causing the floorboards to break. Running towards the exit as the shrine began to fall apart. Bam! A board fell hitting me behind the head. Trying to stand up I placed the rock in my pocket and tried to escape but before I could the ceiling collapsed adding more weight to the already breaking floor. With that, I fell and rolled down the snowy mountainside.

Flashback end:

Jumping out of a window I hid behind a bush and saw the village, looking for any paths leading out of the village seeing none. Sitting in the bush I crossed my arms. 'Should I leave? She was weird but her red hair…' Groaning I scratched my head. Peaking over the bush I saw some kids running by.

"Are you lost, miss?" Jumping slightly I turned around to see a red-haired girl, years younger than me staring at me with curious amber eyes.

"Uh, I lost my sword. You wouldn't happen to see it right?" I asked her hoping that she would be those types of kids that spill the truth without care.

Her eyes glowed as she nodded furiously. "Uhhuh, I saw one of the elders take it in there." She pointed to a building where an old woman sat peacefully using a weaving loom.

"Thank you." I stared at the old woman with fading red hair. It was the first time seeing someone old. Taking in a deep breath I walked towards the building hiding as best as I could with my injuries.

"Stop hiding dear and help me with this." The old woman said. Coming out of my hiding spot I saw her reaching for some colored string. Grabbing a stool I stepped on it and reached for the one she wanted.

"Baa-chan I got the things you asked–" A boy with short messy red hair came in holding a bin of cacoons. "You're better." He said staring at an area below my face looking down I covered the scar and he looked up. "Sorry."

"Thank you Ryota-chan." The old woman said taking the cacoons away to someplace else.

"Excuse me but you wouldn't happen to see a sword lying around?" I asked in hopes of leaving as soon as I could to inform Nori-san about what I found.

"Yes," he ran to a drawer and opened it. "It's this one right? It was right next to you when I found you."

"You found me?"

"Yes, I'm glad you're fine now." He took out my sword Nagareboshi and handed it to me. Taking it in my hands I tied it to my side for now.

"Thank you for helping me. Also, you wouldn't happen to know anyone that would tell where I am right?" I asked and he took me back to the woman I met that morning.

"Mom. She wants to leave." The boy asked the red-haired woman. Looking between them I could see the similarities. Same red hair and red-pink eyes. Soft facial features and narrow roundish eyes.

"Ryota, stop bothering mom she's tired from healing." A much older boy came in looking completely different than the two. Taller and more built than the two before me. Backing slightly to the wall I stood there and watched.

"Yori I'm fine." She said as the boy passed by bumping into Ryota. Both whispering insults to each other. "Ignore my sons and follow me." She walked out of the house and led me to the edge of the forest. Stopping she extended her hand and started making gestures telling me where to go. "You should reach the border of the land of grass."

With her directions, I left the village. Walking hesitantly away I shifted my bag in discomfort. They healed me and I left nothing in return. Glancing back I could see more old people talking to Ryota and his mother.

・・・

Stopping I turned around, deciding to face the boy that had been following me for the past few hours. "I know you're there!"

Coming out from behind a tree Ryota held his hands up. "I want you to teach me what you know." He said dropping his hands to his sides. About to open my mouth he cut in first. "You're probably going to ask why I think this. Well, my mom has special chakra and well when she saw you she could see just how much chakra you had. More than she even has and well that must mean that you're a shinobi or something. With the sword and scar and all." He rambled dragging what he really meant. "Please let me your apprentice or something." The older boy asked.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen why?"

"I'm thirteen," I told him keeping a serious expressing. 'This is great! He can tell me more about his village if I keep him close!' Crossing my arms I lowered my head to hide my smile. "That would make me your kohai and sensei." I put on my poker face and pointed at myself.

His eyes widened slightly and he looked away. "Please teach me."


Making it to a teashop we ran in for cover against the rain. "Order anything," I told him while I took out my map to see where we were. 'So I'm going to have to pass through there.' I noticed Amegakure in the route. Putting away the map I saw the older boy asking the person for a description of everything in detail.

"Sorry." I moved the boy to the side. "I'll order," I told the person with a laugh before ordering a couple of the things on the menu.

・・・

Making an umbrella of ice big enough to cover me and the boy I sighed after a while. 'It's been days now. I thought he would've left by now.' I thought intrigued. Anyone would feel gloomy by the never-ending rain of this land.

"There's someone above us." The boy whispered.

Looking up through the umbrella I saw a beautiful woman flying above us. Her face was stoic as stone looking down at us. Fluttering with the wind her black cloak with red clouds caught my eye, reminding me that a certain someone wore a cloak like that. Lowering my head I activated my eyes. In my cloak, I opened a thin portal and used the nearby water to look for the item I was holding onto for so long. °If something happens run° I sent the little thought to the boy beside me.

Deactivating my eyes I held out the umbrella to the woman I recognized. "You gave this to me years ago right!" I yelled above the noise of the rain.

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she eyed the umbrella with suspicion. "Hold on to this," I whispered handing the ice umbrella to the boy who frozen in place. Making a cane of ice I dove it into the soft ground and placed the umbrella against it. "Thank you!" I smiled as innocent as I could waving goodbye to the woman hoping to leave. 'Two S-rank criminals wearing the same clothes as she is. If she fights us then we could both die.' I glanced at the boy. I might've not asked him to come but now he was under my care now as weird as it sounded. 'We need to go around Amegakure. She must be a guard.' I guessed as I heard a thump on the ground. From the corner of my eye, Ryota tensed up, holding in his breath.

For about 10 minutes or more of walking without talking or looking back, Ryota fell to his knees catching me by surprise. "What's wrong?" I asked seeing him taking in big gulps of air.

"That woman… she was strong her chakra it was too… too overwhelming." He shivered.

"Get up. We will still have a long way until we reach the land of fire." I told him in a low voice as I pulled him up.

・・・

The land of fire. Making it to a town I knew and was comfortable with I headed to an inn where the owner knew me. Asking for a room and one bed resulted in her judging me and my choice. She eyed Ryota glaring at him and every movement he made."I expect you both to behave." She whispered.

Cocking my head to the side I said, "What else would I do? Anyways it's just for him for a week." Giving that explanation her mood did a one-eighty and she beamed with pride. "Oh, I should've known you wouldn't do stuff like that. Do you want meals to go along with that?"

"Yes, I'll pay you in advance," I told her while adding a few more things. Finishing things we went to the room and I gave him some pocket money. "This will be your room. I need to take care of something but I will return by the end of the week. DON'T leave the town." I warned him. "Any questions ask the owner she will help you," I said goodbye and ran out of the building to prepare for the next part.

Writing a note to my friends up north. I summoned a fox and sent them off with the note and a treat. Creating three shadow clones I sighed knowing that there was no preparing for what I was about to do. "You know what to do." I lay a kunai and two sticks in front of me. Nodding and without hesitation, they each took a single item. "Don't overdo it." I covered my face.


Konohagakure

With a cast and a few bandages, I headed back home happy that believed my story. She gave me an earful and demanded that I stay in the village for a month with check-ups every week. But as if I would stay in the village. 'I still need to catch up on my projects..'

Stepping into the house I froze. 'You're being watched.' A little voice in the back of my head told me. Shaking it away I went up to my room, placing everything down. Passing by the mirror I jumped seeing the state I was in. My face was cut and bruised and my hair looked like a nest. Untangling my hair I angled my head slightly to undo a knot when I caught the faintest glint in the corner of my room. Looking at the mirror I edged closer pretending to inspect my mismatched colored eyelashes while trying to see what the thing in the corner of my room was. Glint! The small round black shiny object was unmistakably a camera lens. 'Did the Anbu set it up?' I leaned away from the mirror. 'More importantly where else did they place it.' I kept my face straight.

Opening the drawer I took out a towel. Having shared a communal bath with strangers this wouldn't be any different. Barging into the bathroom I undressed and filled the tub. With the water running I leaned over putting my hand in to feel the temperature. With my hair covering my eyes I did a sweep of the room looking for anything off. The ceiling was clear as well as the corners. The tiles of the bathroom had nothing off about them and the bathroom tub and handles were clear. Walking to the mirror for anything to add into the water I spotted a small round shadow below my sink. Knocking something over purposely I bent down to pick it spotting a small listening device underneath. 'Hm… it's not safe to talk here anymore. I'll need to memorize where every single bug is.'

・・・

Clearing the first floor I left and headed towards the woods to get some answers. If not, then I could get an answer as to why this stone is so important. "They came and put up the surveillance about a few weeks ago." Tsukiyomi shrugged simply when asked. "When we saw it we stopped going there."

"Oh," I expected her answer to be more cryptic or mysterious. "So about the stone." I took it out of my pocket.

"Yes, do not under any circumstance lose it." She warned motioning for me to put it away. "You must bring it to the shrine Uzushiogakure if you want to get rid of it."

"I had a feeling." I sighed. "Now for my answer tell me about one of my bloodlines and I don't mean about the ones that died the day of the Kyuubi attack."

She paused and nodded. "Fine, there is only one I can tell you about. The other one seems to be a mystery still." She started by moving her bangs showing her hidden silver eye. "Hoshi Uzumaki. That was his name. A bright young man when it came to Fūinjutsu. But through bad life choices, he died at an early age."

"Wait, Hoshi as in the leader of Uzushio or Hoshi as in the one who had a contract with the kitsune of Inari mountain?"

"They were both the same you can find more information in Uzushio's library."

Deciding this is how far she would talk on this matter I asked something else. "There is something that's been bothering me… that night when you made me how did you exactly make me? I mean don't get me wrong. You are talented in many ways I don't know. But to convince the Hokage into taking in a stranger must have been quite difficult."

"I assume that you never used your eyes on a person before right?" she asked moving closer to the shade. "I thought so. All I had to do was have an incubator and the blood I needed. Mix it with a simple substitution jutsu and you have something that would seem to be impossible before you if done correctly." she explained while making a baby out of snow and substituting it for a log. "No matter how strong you are if you come face to face with something inexplicable you would feel fear." She threw the log to the side. "Also I rendered the sensory shinobi on duty unconscious. Though I believe I did it at a wrong time they seemed to be tracking someone."

'She what?' I shook my head deciding to see how much I could get out of her. "Another thing. My friend the one I had here." I tapped my head. "Can you explain that?"

"Your friend… Gaara was it? You have seen what isolation can do to a person. In order to make sure that you grew up mentally sane I had to make sure you had someone to interact with while in that hospital." She shook her head in a regal manner. "The third Hokage was strong shinobi that can't be argued with. But when it came to the well being of children he made many errors." she shrugged. "You have become weak recently and that should worry you if you want the answers you seek."

Those were the words I was looking for. Taking that as my invitation to leave I did and headed to the training grounds. 'Another thing for the list.' I sighed heading to training grounds three. Looking up I saw Neji all healthy and alive. "Neji!"

"Yukino?" his eyes widened slightly.

"I'm sorry I didn't visit you at the hospital. Did your friends make a full recovery as well?" I asked curious about their states.

"They did. It's partially thanks to you."

I put on hand on my chest in relief. "I'm glad. Hey, if you don't mind can we spar? I need to work on my taijutsu."

"You're injured." He looked at the cast.

"Well don't aim for the broken arm." I stupidly said activating my eyes to speed up the healing process of my broken arm.


3rd POV

Falling on the ground Yukino lay on the ground unconscious. Neji hadn't landed a hit but looking at him was enough for her to collapse. She hadn't seen him activate his eyes and looking his way even for just a split second while she deactivated hers made her freeze and faint. Surprised the boy stood nearby hoping she was fine.

After a minute she groaned sitting up. "It happened again…" She shook her head and looked up at him having a feeling of a question he wanted to ask. "Hinata knows about my eyes but not completely. So please tell her about this. I don't want to worry her." She reached for his hand holding it between her hands. "Also…" she tried opening her eyes but it hurt just trying to see. "I won't be able to see for a while–"

"Neji! Today will be the day I beat you!" A confident but cheerful voice yelled startling her. 'Why does it sound familiar…' she asked herself.

"Lee you say that every time…" a girl's voice sighed.

Being helped up she turned her head to the side and tried opening her eyes to see if she was right. "Ah!" She jumped back almost falling again.

"Guy-sensei, it is rude to invade someone's personal space like that," Neji told his sensei as he pulled the girl back from their sensei's face who was inches away from hers.

"You surprised me that's all. I will go now." She tried walking away but was held back by Lee.

"Guy-sensei! Yukio here hel-" covering his mouth she hissed: "You promised not to tell!"

"What was that Lee?" The girl asked as she let go.

"Yukio wanted help in taijutsu," Neji cut in. Even with her eyes closed, she could feel the all too familiar suspicious gaze on her.

"But I'm not feeling well at the moment," Yukino said making her way to Neji wrapping her non-cast covered arm on his. "But I still want to know all of you." She asked resulting in everyone giving their own personalized introductions. "Ah… so you guys must train a lot then?" She asked prompting two of the team members to give a demonstration. Standing in their hands they ran off with incredible speeds.

"Wait, come back! She didn't ask for a demonstration!" Tenten ran off after them.

Standing there in the training field she turned to Neji and asked: "Do you know how team 7 is doing?"

"Sakura is training with Lady Tsunade and Naruto went away with Jiraiya." He told her following the path the others took.

Not knowing who the last one was she just nodded trusting him. "Oh that's good I guess, what about Sasuke?"

Stopping he asked, "You don't know?" Shaking her head he answered. "Sasuke betrayed us and left for Orochimaru."

"That idiot. It's obvious that he's going to be used." She shook her head and sighed. "Changing the topic how far is your team going to go?"

"Probably around the village and back."

"Oh, I bet not a day goes by without fun." She laughed as she could hear the joyous sounds of hard work ahead.


Ryota's POV

Like promised she came back but this time with a cast. "We're going to Uzushio." She came into the room through a window.

"Uzushio?" I asked feeling like I heard that name somewhere.

Scribbling on a piece of paper she handed it to me. "Here. Don't lose it." She said before she pushed me. Landing on my behind I opened my eyes seeing that I was no longer in the inn.

"So, you're Yukino's apprentice." Jumping I turned my head to see a woman leaning over my shoulder reading the note in my hand. "Hello, Ryota!" She walked around me and helped me up. "Since she will come by sometime this week I might as well show you around." She walked towards the exit. "Leave your stuff here you won't need it."

Placing my bag by the entrance we exited what seemed to be a shrine. "We need to be careful with this." I heard a man's voice say. Looking to the side of the shrine there were blocks of stone, some blank ones and some already engraved with weird symbols. But a majority of them were being worked on.

"Hey, come on!" The woman yelled as she now had a spear-like weapon tied to her back. Down the stairs and a couple of minutes of walking, we reached the city covered with trees. Looking up I could see how there were trees hanging dangerously off some buildings. An eerie thing to note was that every building was windowless, doorless and empty. The only thing making this less weird was how she pointed out every obvious thing visible. "This is the center where we will reestablish the village." She showed where the four major roads met in a large flat area. "It will be a lot of work but I think we can do it once we find a way to open that," she sighed.

"Open what?"

"Nothing of concern." She shrugged. "You wouldn't happen to have the gift right?" She asked staring at my eyes with her own piercing ones.

"I don't know what you mean but my chakra is like my moms if that's what you mean." I took a step back.

"Hm." She sighed. "Sorry. But it would really be helpful if you had her eyes." She continued walking leaving me with questions I didn't have.


2 days later


"I'm back…" Yukino sounded exhausted. "But first I need to go to the shrine." She ran past everyone with a small burst of energy and placed a rock she had in her pocket inside of the shrine. With extended arms, she fell back and disappeared falling into one of her worlds. 'The heck?!' Not a second passed before she popped back up again with a goofy smile. "I'm free…" she rolled out.

"Why do you have the main family's stone?" Nori asked inspecting the stone but not touching it. Motioning to Kichi-san who threw him her weapon. Catching it in mid-air he scooped up the stone in a swift motion. "I'll put this somewhere for now." He walked inside the shrine. Ignoring completely that Yukino disappeared from this world and came back.

・・・

Following them through the empty city we arrived at the center that Kichi-san showed me before. Entering the building we walked through many hallways and stairs ending up at the top floor. With there being just one room we entered. "Ready?" She asked before placing her hand on the empty wall.

The wall moved to reveal a door and a compartment going directly down. "Let's go," Yukino said gathering water and placing it in the hole. Stepping on it we all stood close to each other happy that the hole was wide enough for four people.

Slowly going down I looked at the walls as for who knows how long before we stopped. "Are we here?" I asked looking around and seeing the darkness of the stone.

"Yeah," Yukino said kneeling down and landing somewhere. "Come down I'll help you." She offered from below us in the small cage. Jumping down into it we passed through the open doors and entered a wide chamber with a building in its center. "So this is the layline?" She asked as her voice echoed through the underground chamber.

"We found it once the city was unsealed. But it seems we won't be able to use it." Nori-said walking ahead of us. Stopping at the entrance of the small structure he gestured inside. The walls were full of simple engravings that met and led to all four small pyramids near the center of the room. Inside of the square that the pyramids formed was a dip with something inside sending chills down my body. "Only someone from the main family can open it."

"Well, it's time to see if she was telling the truth." Yukino walked over without hesitation. Reaching the little dip she stopped and rubbed the back of her neck. "What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"Perform the signs in the passage." Kichi-san took out a book from inside her clothes and slid the book towards her. "Safety reasons." She shrugged.

Grabbing the book Yukino flipped through the pages stopping at one. Placing it down she performed some signs and placed her hands on the ground. Stepping a bit closer I saw what seemed to be an eye looking thing open and when it did purple chakra seeped from the middle spreading out and following the engravings.

"Where is all the chakra going?" Following the engravings, I looked behind us seeing the entrance where we came in. No longer dark because it glowed faintly.

Walking ahead of me they all entered the small cage. Kichi-san being the most curious one pushed a button making the cage close. "Oh…" She said and pressed another causing it to open. Not wanting to be left alone down here I hesitantly entered the cage with everyone. Pressing another button the cage doors closed and the cage moved going up. For a minute no one spoke a peep until we reached the top and the cage opened again.

"We were elevated back up…" Nori said the moment we all stepped out. Going to the windows of the room I looked out and saw lights in the streets. 'Those weren't there before.'

"It seems the chakra is going back to its old purposes," Kichi-san said next to me looking down at the lights below. "This is one of them." She sighed crossing her arms.


Weeks later


Somewhere in the land of Fire

"I'm sorry dear she hasn't been here since the last time." The lady at the brothel patted my back in sympathy. "Also we can't teach you without her here." She shooed me away.

Walking with no destination in mind I kept my eyes down. 'It's been two days since I last saw her. Could she be hurt?' Blinking rapidly, the thought of someone else came to mind. 'No they're different.' I kicked a rock. Bumping into something I stumbled back. "What the?!" Looking up I saw a weird guy dressed in black with purple face paint.

"Hey watch where you are going."

"Kankurō you weren't watching where you were going either." An older girl said in an accusing voice.

"I'm sorry for–" I was about to apologize when I froze seeing the auburn-haired boy they were with. At first glance, he looked normal but seeing deeper I felt engulfed by the smell of death near his core. "Disgusting." I backed away from them and ran back to the inn.

・・・

Running into the room I shut the door behind and inhaled deeply the smell of the inn. "Hi, Ryota," Flinching I turned to the shadow clone.

Sitting crossed legged she waved. "Wait you're real." I pointed looking for the shadow clone that she left me with.

"I am." She stood up and placed her bag on the floor. "You've been studying well since I left. Let's talk later I'm going to the onsen." She ran off once again.

Glancing at the bag I walked to it to hang it up but stopped. 'What is she doing? Why do they want me to keep a close eye on her?' Giving the door a quick look I returned my gaze to the bag. There was something inside by the weight of it. Something big. Holding my breath I unclicked the lock but stopped. Exhaling I groaned locking it back up. 'This is not me. I might as well go to the onsen too.' I sighed and placed the bag up on a hook.

In the changing room, the thought of what I was going to do kept taunting me. 'Who knows what she had… it could be something that she will never speak to you about?' Shaking my head I sighed. 'Yeah, why would she? I've just known her for a few weeks.'

"Is it even real?" I heard one man say as they got out to change. "Yes, there is even a big bounty for whoever catches the thief." Another said as I approached the door. "They always leave behind ice roses once the deed is done." I heard once I closed the door behind me.

'What?' Holding my breath I shook my head. 'No…' Washing, I wondered if the thief could be her. She does after all sometimes leave for a few days. But there were two times in particular when it's for different reasons. Some days she would put on a blue shinobi blouse and leave without saying a word often disappearing for a few hours. Other days she would braid her hair to make it look shorter and wear loose clothes and leave, returning with the smell of sand attached to her clothes. In her returns, she would always come back tired, so tired that she would just curl up on the floor and go to sleep. In those days I would have to wake her up within an hour as she told me to do.

Turning on the cold water to wash away my wild imagination I shivered and entered the warm water of the hot springs. Finding a good thinking rock I leaned against the rock as my brain did a "recap" on my wild ideas. "I was thinking that we should move to more advanced techniques for your training." I could hear her voice ask clearly as if she was right next to me. "Ryota?" It was definitely clear and close. A cold hand touched my back sending shivers up my spine. Turning around like an owl would I saw her hiding her laughter behind her hand. "You're here." I backed away using the towel I had to cover myself. "Why are you here?" I asked realizing that she was on the men's side. 'Don't tell me she's some kind of pervert?' I thought in disgust.

"Relax… it's mixed for this time." Crossing her arms she shook her head.

"Didn't you have a sword?" I asked without thinking.

Arching her eyebrow she reached towards her stomach and drew out her sword from a seal. 'So that's where she kept it.' Staring at her stomach I saw once again the huge scar on her left side. "Did it hurt?" Realizing what I said I covered my mouth. "No, no. I'm sorry you don't have to answer."

"It's fine." She put her sword back in the seal. "Yes, it did hurt getting this. It's an ugly reminder of what happened." She trailed the huge scar. "It doesn't hurt as much as it did."

Wracking my brain I snapped my fingers. "Oh! Why are you in a mixed bath?"

Looking up confused she tilted her head to the side. "Funny story but in short people think I look like a guy."

"You really don't," I told her as I could see and kept my eyes above her collarbone.

Snorting she covered her mouth and shook her head. "Well, most would think otherwise."

"Then they have bad eyes." I shrugged.

"Yukio?" Said a familiar voice.

Jumping at the sound. I saw her head whip towards the sound like a hawk. Through the steam of the springs, I saw a brown-haired boy around my age waving at Yukino.

"Do you know him?" I whispered.

"Yes," her smile dropped. With a heavy sigh, she added. "He's someone with bad eyes." Standing up she wrapped her towel around her waist and walked towards the boy.

"It's a surprise seeing you here." He said looking down due to Yukino's short stature, 'Like I have anything to say to it. I'm just slightly taller even though I'm older.' I sighed. "Hey, you're the one that bumped into me!" He yelled making me realize why it sounded familiar.

"You look really different without the face paint."

"You guys met before?" Yukino asked making us turn our attention to her. About to explain what happened the loud sound of feminine laughter caught our attention. Looking to the side I saw the partition where the sounds were coming from. "I thought it was something interesting." She said with her head turned and from my angle, I could see her bored lavender eyes. 'Lavender?' Turning her head back her eyes were blue once again. 'I must've imagined it.' I rubbed my eyes.

"You're thinking what I'm thinking?" The boy asked Yukino with wiggling eyebrows.

"Yes, and I'm not participating." She told him with a dead tone.

"Suit yourself. What about you?" He asked me which I put down immediately. Making his way to the partition I looked on with disgust as the boy my age tried to peek at the women. Looking over at Yukino she sighed shaking her head. Seeing a washbin float by I looked back up seeing how he was barely balanced. Grabbing it I handed it to Yukino and whispered my idea. With a smile, she aimed and threw the washbin hitting him perfectly on the head. "Woah!" He flailed around. Throwing one myself it missed and passed right by his head. Missing but successful in surprising him he fell down to the women's side. Staring quietly for a moment we heard screams as he was noticed by the other side.

"He said he wanted to see girls." I placed my hands on my hips and smiled at Yukino who was in the water laughing with tears in her eyes.

"Serves him right but I think you need to improve your aim…" she was able to say quickly in between gasps of air.

"Yukio?" Looking to who spoke I saw the boy who smelled of death. The laughter stopped as she stared at the huge scar on his shoulder. Looking deeper her chakra seemed to become murkier and cool. Regret. A feeling I've seen before but not from her.

"I'll head back it's getting hot." I broke through the silence and passed in between both of them.

"Uh, sure. I'll catch up." She kept her eyes on him and asked. "How did you get that scar?"

"Chūnin exams." He replied as I was leaving. 'Maybe I shouldn't have left her with him…' I told myself covering my mouth at the thought of his chakra. 'I just hope I don't run into him again.'


Somehow after she returned she showed me around and we stopped at a restaurant. "It's been a while since I ate meat." She whispered and pulled me inside. Getting seats in the crowded restaurant we, unfortunately, sat with the boys from the onsen. Sitting together on one side we sat across the siblings, with the auburn-haired boy sitting directly in front of her. The topic of the incident went unmentioned as I could see why. His sister was sitting right next to him and in a good killing distance. Watching amused as they talked I didn't mind spectating. Looking over at Yukino I saw her take out her own chopsticks. 'Now she's going to take out a vail,' and on cue, she took it out. A couple of drops on her food and she ate it. 'She always does that, why?'

"So what's your specialty, Ryota?" The girl, Temari, asked me, catching me by surprise.

"My specialty? Uh… I don't know." I glanced at Yukino for some help.

"The sword. It definitely has to be the sword." she nodded placing down her chopsticks. "Although I have to say it's also that." She smirked trying to hide it.

"Ah, that," I covered my face knowing that to them I probably looked like a bright tomato to them. 'Those seduction classes.' " Am I really that good?" I asked her and she laughed nodding.

"You remind me of Aiko…" The blonde girl said making Gaara freeze which seemed like an odd reaction.

"Aiko?" I asked fanning my face to cool down.

"Oh!" Her brother seemed to remember. "Yeah, I remember that she…" his smile dropped and looked down at his food. While he seemed to sadden the expression of Gaara seemed to harden. 'Wait…'

"Aiko? There was someone I met by that name. But that was three years ago." I looked at Yukino as her eyes looked from side to side and she giggled nervously.

"Do you remember how she looked?" Kankurō asked making me look carefully at the younger sibling.

"I think she had black hair and blue eyes. I also remember vividly this realistic puppet she had with her." She looked down and started playing with her fingers under the table.

"Are you sure?" Both siblings asked making the younger sibling look up in surprise.

"Yeah. She had this fox she talked to it was so cute. We talked and she left and before I realized it she forgot a letter." She said quickly until the end. "I haven't seen her since and I still have the letter," she looked down and opened her bag. Her eyes glowed momentarily as she took out an old wrinkly letter. "Yeah, this is it." She tried hiding the shaking in her voice but couldn't hide her trembling outstretched hand.

Taking it first. Temari's eyes scanned through the words with her brother looking over her shoulder. "It really is from her. Where did you see her?" she shook the letter as if it held the information.

"The land of Earth but that was years ago." She shook her head. Glancing up momentarily her eyes glistened as she saw the exit.

"Did she say–"

"AHHH!" I screamed bolting to a stand startling everyone nearby. "WE'RE LATE FOR THE MEETING!" I grabbed her bag and ran to the exit. Barging through the door to the outside I stopped and almost fell forwards as Yukino bumped into me. "Sorry," I told her knowing that we just left them to pay for what we ate.

"No, thank you." She wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "After all it's my fault. I'll tell you what that was about." She scratched her head and grabbed her bag. "But before that, we need to leave this town." She turned in the direction of the inn and walked before stopping and extending a hand. "Let's go."