Riku was running in the hall towards the Mizukage office due to being late. But it didn't keep him from smiling.

"I can't believe I finally found someone to listen to me!" Riku thought as he continued to grin while blushing.

~ Earlier ~

You were walking beside Riku as you walked the streets of the Mist. Riku kept sneaking glances of you from the corner of his eye. As he was looking at you, you looked at him and you both made eye contact. You both jumped and looked away. Riku's face was completely red as he looked away. You felt yourself cringing from, what you thought, was a stupid and embarrassing reaction.

'That's it. I've had enough of this foolishness, Riku needs to understand boundaries.' You thought to yourself as you exhaled and had your usual emotionless face.

"Alright, Rik-"

"Hey, Hikairi. Can I be honest with you for a second?"

'He cut me off.' You thought to yourself as you frowned in annoyance.

"Fine, what is it."

"I don't really like the current ninja system our village lives by. I understand that we are in war but... is it worth turning innocent children into cold-blooded ninja?" Riku spoke as you became unsure of yourself.

"Well... if it's a means of survival, then do we really have a choice?" You said as you unconsciously had a sad expression on your face.

Riku quickly turned to you as he saw your reaction. He knew he was right, that children shouldn't be taught in the ways of killing. But in the ninja world they live in, is there even a path to peace without sacrifice. Yet that didn't matter at that moment with you, Riku was just worried that he might've triggered some painful memories for you.

"I'm sorry if I overstepped, Hikairi." Riku said as he looked away, hoping he wouldn't continue to bother you.

"Why are you apologizing for expressing your opinion? It's a nice quality to have, especially in these times where no one has the capability to express what they really feel." You said while frowning. Riku quickly looked at you as his cheeks flushed red. You faced him and noticed a smile spread across his face as he blushed.

"Well, we should have more talks like this... THAT IS IF YOU'RE OKAY WITH THAT OF COURSE!" Riku yelled while trying to contain his embarrassment. You only sighed because he was too much for you to handle, but you still enjoyed the company.

"It's alright, I actually enjoy being around you for some reason. You're more annoying than any other person I've ever met." You said as you looked back to Riku. His entire face was red, which made you smirk.

'Geez, he's so easy to embarrass, how cute... wait, cute? WHAT THE HELL NOT CUTE!!' You thought to yourself as you shook your head. You both reached the assassin's base and walked inside. You were wondering why Riku followed you inside. As soon as you reached the gathering area for the majority of the assassins, everyone gasped and got into formation.

"What the hell-"

"Uhh Hikari, they're welcoming me... so just walk a couple steps behind me so we can avoid further speculation. Okay?" Riku said while winking at you. You nodded and tried not to pay too much attention on how your heart rate escalated after the wink he gave.

Both you and Riku started walking among the lined up ninjas. You maintained a suitable distance between Riku to make sure it did not seem like you were getting special treatment. But you noticed the air around him was different, Riku didn't look like the easy carefree man he was when he was around you. But rather, he carried himself with authority. Riku seemed strict, strong, and confident.

'I wonder if this is another side to you or just a facade.' You thought to yourself. Granted, you had no room to talk because without even realizing it, you had your usual emotionless expression with a bloodlust aura as you walked passed the ninja that were beneath you skill wise. The ninja were a little surprised to see you with Riku since he's an important authority figure for the most part. Satoru watched you as you were walking behind Riku. His emotions were mixing between sadness, anger, and jealousy. All he could think in the moment was 'why are you with him?'

Riku approached the officials that were in charge of the base and stopped in front of them. They all bowed and greeted him appropriately. You were still behind Riku but confused as to what you should be doing.

"Sir, we weren't expecting a surprise visit. If we had known, we would have prepared a proper welcoming."

"No need, I do not care for unnecessary gestures like a 'proper welcoming'." Riku said with a deep tone in his voice. He was acting exactly what you had expected of him to act when you first met. Except, why was he nicer then compared to now?

"Why of course, Riku-sama. Have you finally come to choose from our elite ranking Ninja to carry out important duties for you? Or are you here on a different matter?"

"Actually... now that you remind me, I came for both of those reasons." Riku said while smirking. The look on his face made your heart rate irregular for a second but you quickly brushed it off due to appearances. The random official had summon his recommended ninja for Riku to choose, however you were not apart of the recommendations. You felt insulted as you just stood by clenching your fist. You were stronger than all those men before you, yet the higher ups still prefer male ninjas over you for the title of 'Elite'. Riku frowned and observed them all. He turned to the man and approached him with anger in his walk.

"Are you insulting my authority?" Riku said as he grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and lifted him up in the air. You were surprised by his actions and started noticing his features. Riku was taller than the majority, he had a toned, muscular body, and you started to believe he wasn't bad looking when it came to his aggressive side. He was rather attractive which caused a faint blush to appear on your face, but it didn't last long. One of the other officials grabbed you and pulled you away from Riku as if it was disrespectful to even be in the same room as him. You were used to the abuse so you were prepared for it as the man raised his hand to slap you.

You were wondering what was taking so long for him to hit you. Until you opened your eyes and saw Riku in front of you, holding the man's wrist in the air.

"I can see that this facility truly does not know the difference between the weak and the elite. You fools certainly have no intellect if you didn't even consider that there was a reason this assassin was behind me." Riku said as he tightened his grip on the man's wrist which caused him to groan in pain. Everyone was shocked by Riku's actions, including you. Satoru was upset because he was supposed to shine light in your darkness and the reason behind your shocked expressions on your face... not Riku.

"N-No! I would never insult you, sir. It's just she's well known for not following orders and not staying in her place-"

"Does it look like I care? She is the ninja I chose." Your eyes widened as you stood behind Riku, who defended you even when lies were being told to his face. Riku kicked the man in the stomach and sent him flying. The man crashed in the wall and coughed blood from the impact. He fell to the ground and became unconscious. Riku turned to you with his eyes closed, veins were appearing on his face.

"(Name), from now on you have more authority over these idiots because you will be my personal aid. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir." You spoke as you snapped out of your shocked state back into your usual self. Riku exhaled and opened his eyes. You noticed his demeanor soften as he watched you for minute. He was making sure you weren't injured at all.

"I'm going to have a private conversation with the other officials. Gather your things, you will be transferring stations." Riku said to you before he turned away and had the other officials follow him into a private room. Everything was silent until your comrades approached you and congratulated you. You made eye contact with Saroru and noticed his sad expression as he watched you. You looked away, knowing you shouldn't concern yourself with him anymore. You already made yourself clear that you weren't interested in him. If he didn't want to accept that then there was no other choice than to cut him off. You thanked everyone and made your way to the locker room to collect your belongings, without greeting and paying any attention to Satoru.

~ Locker room ~

You were by yourself as you were emptying your locker and putting your stuff in a box. You sighed as you took a moment to absorb everything that happened. You just got promoted and you didn't know how to react. Then suddenly you were turned around and pinned against the lockers.

"Kairi..."

"Satoru. Get your hands off of me."

"Not until you hear me out... why won't you even acknowledge me?" Satoru pleaded as he brought his body closer to yours.

"You know why. And if you can't respect my decision then I don't see the need for you to be my superior or comrade anymore. You won't benefit from having feelings for someone like me."

"That's not true! I'd be the happiest man in the Mist if I could be with you. But I'd rather have you in my life as a friend than not having you in it. We've known each other for so long... you really don't feel the same after always being together?" You got annoyed by his words and rolled your eyes. Your expression only continued to shatter Satoru's heart.

"I thought we were good friends and that you would respect me and my peace. I guess I was wrong. Just take my advice and throw those feelings away. I'm nothing but a tool." You said as you frowned at Satoru. You grew angry and tightened his grip on your arms. You winced but refused to show your pain.

"A tool wouldn't react to Riku the way you reacted! Don't think I didn't notice your blush as you watched him!"

"Then accept the fact I don't want you!" You yelled as you kicked him in the groin and pushed him off you. Satoru was groaning in pain as he was holding his groin on the floor. You rubbed your wrists and sighed.

"Next time I won't go easy on you. Know your place, and leave me alone." You spoke as you grabbed your things and left the locker room. As Satoru slowly got up, he heard footsteps approach him. He looked up and saw Riku looking down at him. Riku grabbed Satoru and slammed him against the lockers.

"If I see you harass her again then I'll have you relieved of your duties and in the grave."

"You want her too don't you?!"

Riku paused as he looked away from Satoru for a second and grabbed him by his throat and raised him in the air.

"Watch who you're speaking to. It isn't any of your business what I do or not." Riku said before he threw Satoru to the ground and walked out the locker room to search for Hikairi. Satoru clenched his fists as he watched Riku leave while on the ground.

"I don't care who you are. It's your fault she isn't mine!" Satoru thought to himself as he punched the floor in frustration while cursing.

~ Time Skip ~

You and Riku reached his office in the Mizukage estate after sorting out everything in the assasin's base. Riku opened and held the door for you as you walked into his office. It was average office but it was still nice.

"Thank you... for everything you've done for me, sir." You said as you turned around and bowed to Riku. As soon as Riku closed the door, he exhaled and started laughing. You were confused and watched him. Riku approached you and rested his hands on shoulders.

"You don't have to call me 'sir' or anything like that when we're alone like this, Hikairi. We're friends, remember!" Riku said as he smiled softly at you. You nodded and avoided his gaze.

"Alright... Riku."

"Great! Now I have to go meet with Lord Mizukage. I was supposed to be in his office 15 minutes ago... but don't worry he'll just scold me." Riku said while laughing. You looked at him with a confused expression.

"Why are you acting different now compared to what just happened at the base? You seemed so strict and full of authority. But when we aren't around anyone, you seem kind and easygoing."

"Well I have to keep up with appearances, you understand right? I gotta be strict or else no one will really have respect for me. But I trust you enough to be my actual self around you." Riku said as he grabbed your things from you and placed them on his desk.

"Please make yourself comfortable, I might take a while but I'll try to be back soon. Okay?" Riku said while smiling at you. You nodded and made a small smile in return to him. Your small smile made him extremely happy as he ran out the door.

Riku was grinning and blushing at the thought of you.

A/n: I haven't posted a chapter since summer 2k18. So here you go! Thank you for paying attention to this little prologue that has to be nurtured into its full potential.