This is the chapter that sets up his goals for a long time, gets him started and something to fight for outside of himself.

Mika felt good, even though he was horribly sore from sparring Hinata. As the girl left, promising to meet up for more sparring matches, he could not help but feel sort of lonely. He had never had a friend before, mostly due to his own obsession with reading and growing strong.

'Was that what connection feels like?'

Yugao walked over to him, smiling. "You seem better... I admit, I was worried about you. You need connections to remain sane in this job."

"I figured, but I have never been one to make connections." He sighed. "I need to know though, why is Hinata so reserved? I sense something familar in her actions, it was how I used to act when my father was alive."

Freezing, Yugao could not help but sigh. "It is not my place to tell you, but I can say this. Hinata has not had an easy life... in fact, I wouldn't wish her fate on anyone."

Determination filled his heart. "Then I will have to use other methods to figure this out... and hopefully help her, as I helped myself before."

Desiring to switch the converastion, Yugao said. "You've made serious progress, in only a few months you'll be a perfect candidate for ANBU. I've heard that you can already form the green chakra needed for the Mystic Palm, even if you have issues with maintaining it."

That seemed to shift the boy's attention. "I am working on it, but my Kami it is not easy. The energy has to modulate to connect with a person's chakra AND adapt as the person's essence does. Your lessons on chakra sensing helps, the meditation seems key for this, but by Kami it's hard."

"It is an A ranked jutsu, one crafted centuries ago. Few Medics ever master it, you are making amazing progress. Now, rest for a few more minutes then we can discuss how to improve your taijutsu. Hinata's kicking your ass showed a few weaknessess you have."

"""

Three days passed and Mika found himself eating at a dumpling shop with Hinata, chowing down while she looked on with a deadened, reserved look. She had looked like that before in the Academy, but he was too distracted by self interest to notice. "Hinata, you okay?"

She cringed at his words, tears burning at her eyes. "I am... not okay." She shivered, leaning in. "My Family, they place curse Seals on our Branch Family. It allows for torturus abuses and outright killing power. I watched my Grandfather use it on someone today, for the crime of bumping into him when they were walking in the hall. The man, my cousin Rao, barely survived."

Mika could not comphrend her words for a solid moment. "How would the Hokage allow that?"

"The Second allowed it, and wrote it's power into Law."

Terrified, Mika's loyalty toward the village burned away far more than it already had from his youth under his father's evil thumb. 'To think they would allow this... I really need to leave, who is to say someone won't put that one me. Or worse, if I am too powerful. I always wanted to be a Sanin, but now my goals are even broader. Maybe one day I can save the Branch Family.' Grabbing Hinata's hand, he offered her some warmth. "That must have been terrifiying."

"It is, I want to end the curse mark... but I am not strong enough. My sister bested me and is now the Clan heir. I have no real power."

Mika frowned. " How much is that you holding back?"

She cringed. "A lot...but Hanabi is really good, as well."

"Hinata... I haven't had a lot of reason to help others, to fight for others. You just gave me a good one. Together, with each other, we will undo this great evil."

Her eyes radiated warmth, love and appreciation. She gripped his hand, and pulled him into a hug. "Together?"

"Together... let's get your skills up, and your confidence... but you need to tell me the truth. Why are you so timid, is it this Curse?"

She shook her head. "My father is ... unkind, and so is my clan. So much ill has happened... but I think that if you want to help, we should start at the beginning. When I was kidnapped... that is when everything changed."

And so he listened, drinking in it all... and when it was done, and he hated the Hyuuga clan, he asked her. "Hinata, I am aiming to go into ANBU... would you join me? You have no loyalty to this world, to this village, but together we can be loyal to each other. I need a friend and so do you... so, will you be mine?"

""

Hinata heard the boy's words, and she knew them to be true. She had nothing, even her love for Naruto was a desperate attempt to hold into something. She needed a true anchor, without it she would just continue to drift through life...

The answer was easy.

"We only just met, but I feel a kinship with you. You care, you understand... I will be yours, if you will be mine."

He smiled at her, warm as the summer sky. "Then you need to know of my life... of the monster that was my father, who nearly killed me many times... who suceeeded when I seven, even as I killed him."

And he wove her the tale of his life, of starvation and abuse and she knew that like her, he had been ruled by tyrants of greater power but unlike her he had freed himself.

In that she found power, and rage for his abuse. "Never again... will either of us find ourselves in that bad place." She intoned, cold as a glacier.

He nodded back. "Never again... so... how does ANBU sound now?"

And she laughed and laughed and laughed. "It sounds like everything."

Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.

This was a joy to write.

Trauma victims tend to bond really slowly, or insanely fast...

Love, your Ninja Overlord,

Mika.