A/N: I hope you guys like cliffhangers. 

By the time the two shinobi showed up at the third’s office, they’d come to an agreement. He wasn’t going to give her book back and she planned on buying a new one. He planned on confiscating this new one if he ever caught sight of it. He never planned on mentioning the accident with the flooring in the abandoned house and she couldn’t figure out what was so wrong with it. Which brought him back to his original point that she had no right reading the same books as him.

Neither were very happy with each other when they arrived. As such, when it was revealed that not only the third was waiting for them, but another ANBU shinobi as well, the two latecomers stood on each side of him, pointedly ignoring each other. The ANBU, Tenzo, looked distinctly uncomfortable put between the two rather tense figures.

“Well,” the third commented, glancing curiously between the two. “I’m sure that all of you are wondering why I’ve called you here. The answer is simple, I’ve received information on a couple living only around two hours by foot from here that are possibilities for Miki’s family.”

The red-head, rightfully shocked, could only stare at the third as he continued talking. She, like most, had assumed that it’d be impossible to locate her biological family.

“The pictures I received of the couple are a great deal similar looking to Miki herself,” he continued. “They also had a daughter, named Maemi, who should be around fifteen at this time and would have been barely twelve when Miki was brought to the village. If you recall, we assumed she was somewhere around eleven.”

The faintest hints of memory stirred in the back of Miki’s thoughts. She barely resisted the urge to rub her temples as a sudden throbbing pain appeared in her mind. The memory faded the same instant that the pain appeared. All of this, Miki endured silently. Suddenly, though, the conversation seemed all the more real. That name had meant something to her at some point- she knew it.

“Their daughter disappeared ten years ago without warning and without a trail to follow. This couple, a rather simple inn owner and his wife, had no money to hire anyone to look for their missing child. There is no proof, however, that Miki is this child. Tomorrow morning, I would like you three to go and investigate these claims. The couple has not been told that you are coming- they won’t know who Miki is or may be.”

The third glanced over their faces, surprised to discover that neither of the latecomers seemed to have changed their moods since they’d come in. He had anticipated Miki to react this way, what he hadn’t expected was the fact that Kakashi didn’t seem that pleased by this information, either. He’d expected for the jounin to be at least a bit pleased to lose his stalker.

Follower, the third amended mentally. Stalker seemed a bit too harsh for Miki’s actions.

He focused his attention on the girl, knowing how to solve her apprehension with the matter.

“No matter what is discovered, I have no intentions of making you stay with the couple,” the third informed her, his expression carefully constructed into a soothing smile. “You are a genin of this village and I doubt that there is anyone who’d want to lose you.” At this his eyes flickered to Kakashi’s expression which had carefully been constructed into nothing when he hadn’t been looking. “This is more a matter of settling the past for your poor parents, as well as taking advantage of a chance to perhaps learn more about Orochimaru’s past actions and whereabouts, they may give us a chance to locate him, now.”

He focused his attention on Kakashi and Tenzo.

“This isn’t an official ANBU mission. Matters involving Orochimaru are best kept carefully confidential, however, and if something goes wrong, I’d feel better knowing that the shinobi accompanying her are some of the best.”

Satisfied that he’d shared the main information over the mission, he turned his attention to Miki once again.

“You should go inform your guardians about this mission. I told them earlier, but I’m sure they’d rather hear it from you.”

Her eyes flickered over to Kakashi and Tenzo, completely aware of the fact that the third hadn’t dismissed them, yet. Which meant that whatever he had left to share wasn’t meant for her ears. She was sorely tempted to hang around and eavesdrop, but was also aware that Kakashi would no doubt make sure that she’d left. She gave a small, stiff bow and excused herself.

“You three aren’t the only ones assigned to this mission,” the third announced once Kakashi had made sure she’d left. “I sent the rest of Team Four out before calling you here.”

Kakashi paused, carefully keeping his surprise from showing.

“Why?” he asked simply.

“The information seems too convenient,” the third replied in an equally simple manner. “We’re searching for information on her and we suddenly discover everything we need to point us in the right direction? It’s too perfect. I sent those three ahead to check for any signs of a trap. Her teammates would be able to recognize the man, Yukio, that they ran into before, and Kenshin should be able to protect them if anything happens. He’s an excellent shinobi, almost to your level actually, and has trained his team well.”

The third paused, his hands braced against each other on the top of his desk. He hated to say what he did next, but there was no way to change the fact of the matter. The situation was unknown- but Kenshin had insisted on taking the mission when he’d caught wind of it. The man was too perceptive for his own good. This decision that the third was about to reveal was one of those few, harsh choices that had to be made by the one in charge, his personal feelings on the matter aside.

“I told them to approach the inn first thing in the morning, which means that if anything goes wrong you should be in time to back them up. The only problem is that we don’t know the level of this Yukio’s skills. If there are any signs that something has gone wrong… keep the girl from the scene. We can’t allow Orochimaru to have her, she’s obviously something important.

“This is an order. If you have to choose between them and her, choose her.”

__________________________________

“That’s why you were told to bring a bedroll, baka!”

“Shut up and share!”

“You shut up and sleep on the ground, Hisoka!”

“Fine, I’ll just take yours, Hika-chan!”

“You won’t, and don’t call me that!”

“I’ll call you what I want!”

“Ugh, you’re such a jerk!”

“Jerk? Ha, how original. Do you know any words besides jerk and butthead?”

“Meanie!”

“Ah, I forgot that one,” Hisoka retorted with a roll of his eyes. “What would you do if someone removed those words from your vocabulary, hm?”

Hikari narrowed her eyes, her bedroll clutched to her chest.

“I’d call you something meaner,” she said slowly. “Then do as my mom suggests- eliminate you.”

Hisoka blanched.

“Really?”

“No, baka! Jeez.”

A grin appeared on his face.

“Right, cause you ‘hate’ me, you could never kill me.”

“You’re so egotistical!”

This time, Hikari flushed a bright red, whether it was from anger or embarrassment, Kenshin wasn’t certain. All he knew was that if the two genin didn’t quiet down, as amusing as the conversation was, everyone within a mile would probably know their exact position. They weren’t in a dangerous area, but he was a rather cautious person. Dropping down from where he’d positioned himself in a tree to check their surroundings, Kenshin swiftly stuck the heads of both kids.

“Ow!”

“Sleep in the same bedroll if you must,” he informed them. “Just don’t be so loud. I’d resort to my usual methods, but do you really want to sleep in the forest while soaked?”

The two genin glanced at each other, then at him, before plastering on fake smiles. Both were aware that their team leader wasn’t joking in the least.

“I’m sorry, Hiso-kun, I’ll share if you want.”

“Thanks, Hikari, I appreciate it.”

“I’ll take first watch,” Kenshin added with a pleased expression.

He then turned his back to them and began laying out his own bedroll. Hisoka simply watched as Hikari slowly pulled hers away from her chest and sat it on the ground. She made no effort to hide the fact that she was moving as slow as she could as she laid it out. Pursing his lips to keep from making a comment, Hisoka knelt down next to it and they both stared at the item for a moment. It was big enough for the two of them, that was certain, but nothing could change the fact that it was meant for one person.

Hikari’s face flushed red again.

Realizing she wasn’t going to move, Hisoka flushed red as well.

“It’s just a bedroll,” he announced. “Besides, there’s no need to worry. Like you’ve pointed out many times, I’m only eleven, almost twelve.”

Scowling, Hikari shoved him and slid into her side of the bedroll.

“I’m not worried, butthead.”

“Would it hurt you to call me by my name, Hika-chan?” he wondered, catching himself with one hand and resuming his kneeling position.

Once she was settled, he gave the bedroll one, last, apprehensive look before sliding in next to her.

“Shut up.”

The two genin turned their backs to each other, both hiding the fact that their faces were burning bright red.

____________________________

In the morning, they easily covered the short distance they’d deliberately left between them and the inn. After Kenshin returned from giving the area a look over, they approached it from the main road. The inn, much to their expectations yet disappointment, was rather plain. It was a two story tall building placed within the forest with around two, three hundred hundred yards of ground cleared around it. The area behind the inn was fenced off, most likely indicating an outdoors bathing area. To the far side of the building from the side they approached on a large building stood in the cleared area, most likely a stable for the horses traveling merchants would commonly use.

Plenty of space if they ended up fighting, Kenshin couldn’t help thinking.

Whacking the the quietly bickering duo over the backs of their heads, he turned into the short walkway off the road that traveled up to the front door of the inn. They’d barely taken a dozen steps off of the road when the front door burst open. All three shinobi tensed, Hisoka reaching for his weapon’s pouch, but the motion was unneeded. In the doorway stood a tall, blonde woman with muddy brown eyes. She wore a bright smile on her face, her hands wringing the bottom of her apron between them. Kenshin noticed immediately how, just as the picture’d shown, her eyes and stature resembled Miki’s greatly.

“Travellers, are you?” she asked brightly, glancing over their appearances. “Leaf Shinobi! Dear me, I thought you spent most of your time sleeping outside on missions, not comfortably in a bed!”

The two genin exchanged hostile glances at the reminder of how they’d spent the previous evening. Hisoka raised his hand to rub the bruise that had started to develop on his jaw from where Hikari had slugged him upon waking up. Apparently, it’d taken the girl a few moments to remember why he was in the same bedroll as her and she’d taken action before that had occurred. Much to Hisoka’s annoyance, she hadn’t apologized for the action either. Just as he hadn’t apologized for kicking her in response and the following fight that had lasted until her bedroll had fallen apart.

Neither were looking forward to the trip home when all of this was over.

Kenshin chuckled, at both the woman’s words and his genins’ annoyance.

“We do, but this is a trip of personal matter, so I thought I might treat these brats to a nice, relaxing day before we moved on,” he replied. “They had a bit of an argument last night and I thought it might unwind frayed tempers.”

The woman glanced at the young, disheveled shinobi, and chuckled under her breath.The boy’s guess hadn’t been off, his jaw had started to sport a nice, violet bruise, as had his arm, and there was a scratch crossing his cheek just above the bruise. The girl’s face wasn’t marked beyond a few simple scratches, but she was obviously favoring her right leg.

It would seem the elder man’s comment about a fight wasn’t hard to believe.

“Well, no need to explain yourself to me,” the woman replied cheerily. “We’ve plenty of room. Will you and children be staying together? Or would you like separate rooms?”

“Together,” Kenshin replied immediately, not at all surprised that the woman could guess what they might prefer. This being a main road leading from Konoha, she was probably no stranger to teams seeking a place to relax on their way to or from missions. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” she replied. “If you’ll just follow me…”

The three shinobi trailed behind the woman as she led the way into the building. Inside, there was a small sitting room off to the left of the door and a set of stairs to the back that obviously led to the second floor where the guest rooms must have laid. Beyond the stairs they could see a set of doors, most likely the couple’s living quarters. The man was seated in the sitting room, a deck of cards laid on the table before him and the makings of a card house forming. As they came in, he jumped to his feet, then cursed as the house collapsed.

The man himself was rather tall and his hair consisted of a deep, rusty-red color that fell around his face in shaggy, unkept strands. His eyes were a dark chocolate brown, his skin a reddish-tan, as if it might have once been a milky-white but had been stained by years of work in the sun. Looking at him, Kenshin couldn’t help but think that he highly resembled what Miki might have looked like had she been older and male.

If appearance was anything to go by, they’d found the right place.

“Konoha shinobi!” the man exclaimed. “Not everyday we see your sort. Often enough, of course, but still.... Ah, she probably didn’t think to introduce herself, that woman. She’s Rika and I’m Niou. We’re the owners of this place. There are another guest at this moment, but there’s no need to be concerned, I’m sure. I know you shinobi can be a bit paranoid. The man’s a family friend and I’d vouch for him any day.”

Kenshin nodded, taking careful note of this bit of information. He’d have to get a look at this other guest later, just to be safe.

“Nice to meet you.”

_______________________________________

It was when they were leaving the rooms they’d been shown and were heading down to get a better look at the grounds that it happened. The two genin were bickering as usual as they walked down the stairs, although there nothing physical to their argument this time seeing as they were both still aware of the bruises and scratches their last argument had left. At the sight of them, a figure detached himself from the wall and offered a bright smile.

“Well, I expected a few rats to scurry in before the little pig, but I didn’t expect them to be familiar rats. What was it… Hisoka-kun, right? I did a little research afterwards, the girl has to be Hikari-chan, isn’t she? It’s so nice to see you again… what’s it been… almost a year and a half? How time flies. Hikari-chan almost looks like a real lady!”

Both figures froze, blocking Kenshin on the stairs. They could only stare as the dark-haired man that they instantly recognized as Yukio moved so that he could lean his back against the front door, his teeth bared in a bright, amused smile. The inn owner and his wife were nervously standing nearby, their eyes flickering between the man and the leaf shinobi.

“Yukio, I take it?” Kenshin commented cooly.

The man’s smile brightened and he cocked his head curiously.

“Their jounin?” he questioned. “You’ve been instructing our little pig?”

“Miki,” Kenshin corrected. “Her name is Miki.”

Yukio shrugged.

“She told me I wasn’t allowed to call her that,” he replied simply. “And Maemi, well, a name given by parents who would give away their daughter for experiments… should that really be used? I prefer little pig. She’s our cute little guinea pig, so little pig is so fitting!”

Hisoka was already leaping forward, his hands launching kunais in the shinobi’s direction. Seemingly unconcerned, Yukio side-stepped the attacks in one, swift, almost unseen movement. Having expected this, his memory of the last encounter with Yukio clear in his mind, Hisoka was already drawing another kunai from his pouch and bringing it up to attack. Lazily, the man met the kunai with one of his own, amusement clear in his expression.

“You’ve improved,” he mused. “More than I’d expect. You must be a smart little boy, Hisoka-kun.”

“Shut-up,” Hisoka hissed in response, more anger in his voice than Hikari had ever heard. “Just shut-up! Miki doesn’t belong to you, to anyone.”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong.”

The man kicked out with his foot, causing Hisoka to jump back. He was about to strike forward when an explosive tagged kurnai sudden slammed into the wall behind him. The result was instantaneous, the man jumped out of range, Kenshin hooked one hand around Hisoka’s waist and retreated into the sitting room the moment the tag exploded. Hikari, as per orders, was standing at the top of the stairs. The hope was that if he didn’t see her, Yukio wouldn’t be concerned with her.

Yukio’s laughter rang out as the smoke from the tag began to fade. A large hole had been torn into the side of the inn, almost enough for them to escape through had they been given the chance. Ignoring the harsh glare that Hisoka sent him as Kenshin sat him down, the jounin narrowed his eyes, reaching for one of the twin, double-pointed knives he had strapped to each side of his waist. Hisoka’s eyes widened at the sight.

He’d never seen Kenshin draw a weapon. Of course, up to this point they’d never had highly dangerous missions.

As the shinobi raised the weapon into a ready position, Hisoka’s surprise raised even further if possible. The weapon had a long string dangling off the end, which Kenshin had gripped in his other hand. The string ended with a strange metal circle. It took a moment, but Hisoka recognized the weapon from one of the many ninja tools they’d been introduced into class. Declaring it troublesome, he’d never given the weapon, called kyogetsu shogei, a second thought. First of all, the name was too annoying to have to remember. Secondly, it called for a level-headed mind in battle, something that Hisoka had never claimed to have.

The idea behind the shogei was simple. The ring was used to wrap the line around the opponent’s arm or leg, then used to pull them forward where the wielder could easily deal a fatal blow without any questions asked.

That was the third reason Hisoka had dismissed it. While it could be used for simple injuries, it was more commonly used lethally. The young boy had yet to find himself comfortable with that.

“Hisoka,” Kenshin announced, snapping him out of his thoughts. “First chance you get, leave with Hikari.”

Hisoka opened his mouth to protest, then stopped, the ground rules flashing through his mind. Orders are absolute. Protect themselves over him. Gritting his teeth, Hisoka gave a grim nod. Kenshin would never forgive him if he ignored the rules.

“How cute, you think I’ll let them go?” Yukio asked, laughing once again. “Why do you think those two are here?”

He gestured towards the inn-keeper and his wife. The three Konoha shinobi only noticed then that the two had drawn bamboo staffs from behind the business counter that laid to the right of the door. Kenshin shook his head, casting away any concern over the matter. Hisoka and Hikari would be able to handle those two on their own, as long as he handled Yukio.

He darted forward, releasing the line holding the metal loop and casting it forward. Yukio dodged and within a second they were blade for blade, blow for blow. The pair were moving almost too quickly for the onlookers to keep track of the movements with their eyes.

The moment that the fight had moved back from the door, Hikari darted down the stairs, kunai in hand. Almost instantly there was a staff slung her way, which she ducked underneath, using her free, dominant hand to grip a shuriken from her pouch and fling it in the direction of her attacker. They batted it away easily, but not before she’d launched herself forward, switching the hand her kunai was in and leaving a large gash down the inn-keeper’s arm. A grim smile of satisfaction crossed the girl’s face, her leg sweeping out when the inn-keeper gave a gasp of surprise and released one of his hands from the staff to grab the wound.

The man barely dodged the kick, his wife joining in on the attack with a swing of her staff that sent Hikari stumbling backwards. Hisoka- startled into action- darted past the dueling shinobi to Hikari’s side, just in time to block a blow aimed at her back. The two genin turned themselves, making up for the almost injury by instinctively putting their backs to each other.

“Now would be a good time for you to be amazing,” Hikari muttered under her breath.

Hisoka gave a humorless laugh.

“Right. Give me a chance to use both hands and I’d be glad to show you how amazing I can be.”

“Done.”

Pulling away from Hisoka, Hikari angled her back towards the stairs. Within a second she’d snatched a smoke-ball from her weapon’s pouch and threw it to the ground. Without any hesitation, she snagged her partner by the back of his shirt and dragged him backwards as she retreated just above the smoke’s range. Hisoka on the other hand was having a coughing fit, tears springing to his eyes.

“A bit of warning! Also, what about sensei? He won’t be able to see, either!”

“Shut-up and get to being amazing.”

Reminded of the danger, Hisoka quickly stowed his kunai and began signing. Within a moment he’d finished the Henge no Jutsu. Hikari pursed her lips in annoyance, even she could complete that jutsu, then changed her mind a second later as she realized the benefit it could hold. Hisoka launched himself back into the smoke as it began to clear, the hole in the wall making it fade quicker than it might have done otherwise. He was pleased to spot one of the bamboo staffs on the ground, most likely dropped when one of the two attempted to keep from breathing in the smoke. He’d just retrieved it when a shout of pain from the direction of the other fight caused everyone else to freeze and turn their attention in that direction.

No one was unaware that the whether they won or lost depended on Kenshin and Yukio.

The smoke had cleared enough for the two to be seen. About a dozen feet and an overturned couch laid between them, neither one having eyes for anything except the other. Kenshin was breathing heavily, blood rapidly drenching the front of his shirt. The source was obvious- a large slash descended from his upper left shoulder down across his chest, the end of the wound hidden by the massive amount of blood. His left arm hung limply at his side, whether from that wound or another was impossible to tell. His right hand still held the shogei in a ready position, although his hand was obviously trembling. Not from fear, but the more problematic combination of exhaustion and blood loss.

Yukio had, at some point in the battle, acquired a katana that he’d hidden beneath the now overturned couch. His comment upon revealing it had been that he’d been saving it for Miki, but thought he might as well use it to test out her teacher. The tip of the blade was now laced with blood, droplets of crimson slowly making their way backwards along the surface as he proudly held it with the tip angled towards the ceiling. There was a jagged, shallow cut descending across the surface of his neck towards his collarbone, deep enough to draw blood but near enough to be fatal. Harsh red lines circled his arms on both sides, unconcerning cuts and scratches covering his body.

His teeth were bared in a pleased, yet bloodthirsty grin.

Neither genin could seem to breathe at the sight. It was obvious to anyone who was in a better state.

A second later Kenshin lunged forwards, his gushing wound not seeming to hold him back as gained a shaky position on the back of the couch. Within a second he’d launched the circular end of the weapon in his opponent’s direction. Yukio easily dodged to the side, sending a shuriken flying in Kenshin’s direction as he closed the distance between them. The only thing that kept his katana from slicing into Kenshin’s flesh once again was the shinobi’s sudden, lucky tumble backwards, a dizzy spell making him lose his balance.

Taking Kenshin’s previous stance on the couch, Yukio squatted down, that bare-toothed smile of his growing even larger as he struck out, placing the top of his blade against the wooden flooring, the edge biting into the sensitive skin at Kenshin’s neck.

“Now... “ he commented cheerily. “I wonder if we could have a nice little chat? What do you think?”

A/N: Don't you just love me?