Damn so that took FOREVER for me to write just damn, sorry for the wait XD I hope that you like it and i hope you love the new cover XD i didn't make it just so you know.

(Sasuke)

She soon fell asleep in my arms and I put her on the bed. Her face had streaks of dried tears, her eyes were red, and she looked like a complete wreck but still she was beautiful. She told me everything that happened to her in her life and all the pain that she's been through.

When she was rescued Kakashi and Itachi took care of her for a few months to make sure that she was okay. Whenever she walked around the village the adults would whisper about her and the kids would tease her about her eye. That was the reason for her being so distant; she kept herself from getting hurt so she isolated herself.

She doesn't like it when people touch her because she's afraid of being abused and she's claustrophobic because of Orochimaru. She's been through so much in her life and it just comes back to haunt her in the present. By looking at her she seems strong but when you look past that she's actually fragile.

Just thinking about what those girls said to her made me furious. They're just jealous and I'm glad that Mariah told them off. I pulled the covers over her, got up, and left her room. I saw Kurayami in the hallway waiting anxiously; when she saw me she got up.

"She's fine now, just sleeping." I said passing her.

I left her apartment and went to my apartment. I changed and then went out to look for my little fan club. After a minute of walking around they found me and gathered around me.

"Sasuke-kun! You're back from your mission!" One said.

"Yes, now I want to know something." I replied.

"Anything for you Sasuke-kun,"

"Who was the one that insulted my girlfriend?" I asked eyeing them.

Their faces went pale and I could see fear written all over their faces.

"Um-um-um it was her!" They all said pointing at one girl.

"I don't care who it was, because you all joined her in laughing."

They got down on their knees.

"We're sorry Sasuke-kun!" They pleaded.

"Sorry doesn't work for me. You brought back so many unpleasant memories from her past."

"W-we d-di-didn't know," They whimpered.

"We of course you didn't know because she doesn't tell people. She only tells me things. But you shouldn't even insult her at all. You called her a slut just because she was with me and for the record I was the one who made the first move."

"Sasuke-kun please forgive us."

I activated my Sharingan.

"No, I won't. All of you are shallow, weak, pathetic, desperate, and an embarrassment to all ninja, woman, and this village. I've never liked you or even considered you as a classmate. All you do is obsess over me instead of having a life and training. Mariah was right, if you didn't obsess about me and got stronger than I would consider you but it's too late. Now, leave Mariah and I alone and never speak of what happened today." (Ouch, now that must've hurt them a lot. Sasuke sure told them! That's exactly what I've wanted to say to those freaking fan girls ever since I first saw them.)

I walked away leaving them in tears and cleaning up their broken hearts. I went back to Mariah's apartment and saw that she was still sleeping on her bed with Kurayami curled up right next to her. She's gotten use to sleeping now since I force her to sleep. If I'm with her when she sleeps then she has dreams instead of nightmares. I've noticed that the rings around her eyes have gotten lighter ever since she started to sleep again. I went over to her and lay down on the bed next to her holding her hand. I slowly fell asleep listening to her steady breathing.

The next day I woke up with Mariah in my arms. She was still sleeping and I looked at the clock and saw that it seven in the morning. We had a mission at nine. I got up from the bed and went down to the kitchen and made Mariah some breakfast.

I made her sunny side up eggs with toast; her favorite. I saw Kurayami walk into the kitchen and eat some of her food. Then I heard Mariah coming down the stairs. I saw her come into the kitchen and sit down at the table; she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Good morning," She yawned.

"Morning," I replied.

"What did you make?" She asked.

"Your favorite," I told her putting down the food in front of her.

She started to eat her eggs while I ate mine. She looked down at her bandaged hands then took a glance at me.

"Sasuke,"

"Hm?"

"Last night.......did that really happen?" She asked.

".........Yeah........"

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that."

"Mariah, there's no reason for you to be sorry. You had a break down and I'm glad that I was there for you to help you."

"Really? I thought that you would think that I was weak for crying like that."

"I don't think that your weak for crying. You've been strong for so long that you had to let all of your feelings out."

"Thanks Sasuke,"

She got up and went back up to her room to get ready for our mission. I cleaned up the kitchen and went back to my apartment.

(Mariah)

I went back up to my room to get ready for the mission that we have today. I got a black long sleeved shirt with a heart on it and black pants. I went into the bathroom and took a nice hot shower. When I was done with my shower I changed into my cloths, put my chain on my pants, put on my necklace that Sasuke gave me, wrapped my hands with bandages, then packed for the mission. After I packed for the mission I left my apartment and went to the Hokage's office for our mission. Walking down the path to the Hokage's office I saw Naruto walking there too.

"Hey Naruto!" I shouted.

"Oh hey Mariah." He greeted.

We walked together to the Hokage's office just talking about random things. He made me laugh as we talked about random stuff until we reached Tsuande's office. When Naruto and I got there we saw that Sasuke and Sakura were already there.

"Now that you're all here I'll give you your mission. The mission is in a little town on the border of the fire country and the wind country. You will be investigating on the sudden disappearances in the area." Tsuande-sensei told us.

"Is Kakashi-sensei coming with us?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, he'll be waiting for you at the gates. I told him that the meeting was at six thirty and he got here a half an hour ago."

"Smart," I said.

"Well this is a B ranked mission and it could easily turn into an A ranked. You're dismissed."

We left and then headed towards the gates to meet up with Kakashi to start our mission. We didn't really speak to each other but Naruto kept saying how awesome this mission was going to be. Up ahead I saw Sasuke's fan girls all huddled together talking with sad faces. They looked our way then coward and walked away.

I shot Sasuke a confused glance but he just smirked. We reached the gate to see Kakashi there reading his stupid perverted book. He looked up from his book and put it away.

"Well let's get going, shall we?" He said to us.

We all nodded and we began running to our destination. It will take us about two days to get to the little town. Over the two days of our trip we just ran and took a few breaks and slept. We finally reached out destination and when we got there the leader of the town welcomed us.

"So can you explain the disappearances?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes well it all started a few years ago. A young girl moved here after her parents were killed. A few weeks after she arrived people started to disappear. It was usually the people who disappeared were the ones who were unhappy." The village leader explained.

"How old is the girl?" I asked.

"Nine," He answered.

"Does she seem suspicious?" Kakashi asked.

"No, all she does is smile and live in peace. The villagers just blame her because they say that she's too happy."

"We'll check it out," Kakashi said.

We went out of the building and walked to where the young girl lived. The house was very small and wasn't in the best condition. I heard her in the house and looked in the window. I saw her at a table writing something. We went to the door and knocked on it.

"Oh visitors!" She said opening the door. "Please come in!"

We walked into her little home and sat down at the table while she made tea.

"How can I help you guys?" She cheerfully asked.

"Um, well we wanted to ask you about the disappearances that have been happening lately." Sensei said.

"Aw I those people were so sad and unhappy; it made me sad. By the way my name is Ami." She said.

"Are you happy all the time?" I asked.

"Of course! I don't like to be sad and I don't like it when other people are sad!" She said excitedly.

"Can you turn it down a notch?"

"Of course not! I can see that you're not that happy."

Ami came closer to my face.

"You're suffering and just had a rough day yesterday. You've had a tough life since you were four years old but now you're a little happy but it can't beat the sadness in you. You need to be happy more!" She explained.

"How did you know that?" I demanded.

"I can read people; it's easy."

"...Ok then, well we're going to go since you're not suspicious of anything." I said shoving my team out of the door.

We started to walk back to our hotel.

"She's weird and that's all." I said.

"But she did read you like a book," Naruto pointed out.

"Shut up, that didn't mean anything." I said.

They all fell silent. When we reached the hotel room we got ready for bed. Everyone went to sleep but I went to the balcony to get some fresh air. I was out there for only a few minutes until I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and saw a figure then a bright light; everything went blank.

(Sasuke)

Just when I was about to sleep I heard a scream; it was Mariah. I got up from my bed and ran to the balcony where she was. I didn't see her anywhere so I went back into the room and saw my teammates looking at me with worried eyes.

"Mariah's not here," I said.

"We have to look for her, look for any witnesses." Kakashi ordered.

We all got up and went around town looking for any witnesses. After hours of looking we didn't find anyone who saw what happened to Mariah.

"What about that girl? She focused on Mariah the most and the leader said that only sad people disappeared and she said that Mariah was sad." Sakura pointed out.

"True, it had to be her." Kakashi agreed.

We all ran to the girl's house and we broke the door down. We saw her at the same table she was when we first met her.

"Can I help you?" Ami asked innocently.

"Where's Mariah!?"Naruto shouted.

"I don't know what you're talking about,"

"Where is she?!" I yelled.

We heard something make a noise in the house. Ami got up from where she was sitting and blocked a certain door.

"Leave now!" She commanded.

"Get away from the door," Kakashi ordered.

She didn't move an inch from the door so Sakura grabbed her and held her down.

"No! You're going to bother her!" She shouted.

I went towards the door and opened it to reveal a little girl lying on the bed. She looked about four and had short black hair. Her eyes opened and looked straight at me. One glimpse of her eyes I knew who it was.

"Mariah," I whispered.

"Mariah's in there?" Naruto questioned.

Mariah got out of the bed and came towards us. We all saw her walk out of the room and my teammates gasped. She stood before us and looked at us curiously.

"Where am I?" Her four year old voice asked.

We couldn't answer.

"Who are you guys? Where are my mother and father?" She questioned.

"Mariah, what's the last thing you remember?" Kakashi asked.

"I remember in the morning mother made me some breakfast, then father trained me, and then I trained with Orochimaru-nisan." She answered.

"What's the date today?"

"August 14, 2001."

"That's what I was afraid of."

He knocked the girl that Sakura was holding unconscious. He went over to Mariah and placed a hand on her shoulder but she quickly moved out of the way and appeared behind him.

"Hmmm so you were even this advanced when you were four."

"What do you mean by when I was four? I'm still four and where am I?"

"You're at the border of the wind country and fire country."

"What?! How did I get here?! Mother, Father, the clan, Orochimaru-nisan, Jiraiya, and Tsuande will be worried!" She panicked.

"Sshhhh its okay; just calm down." Kakashi cooed.

"How is it okay?! I'm days away from home!"

"Calm down, we'll get you home. Sakura calm her down."

Sakura took Mariah into the room and started to calm her down.

"Now, why did she turn into an four year old?" Kakashi asked.

"I don't know, it has something to do with that girl." Naruto said.

"Sasuke has she ever said anything to you about her being four?" Kakashi questioned me.

I thought for a second.

"Yes, she always wished that she was four again before her clan died." I answered.

"So with that piece of evidence and that the girl said that she didn't like to see people miserable. I wonder if she has a kekkia genkei." Kakashi explained.

I heard a noise under the house. Everyone else heard it too.

"Sasuke, come with me. Naruto, Sakura, keep an eye on Ami and Mariah." Kakashi ordered.

We silently went down the stairs to Ami's basement. I slowly opened the door and saw a group of children playing down stairs. They all looked at us and ran at us.

"Please, can you get us out of here?!"They all asked.

"Ummmmm sure?" Kakashi asked confused.

We lead them all upstairs setting them down in the living room along with Mariah. We got them all settled down and right now they were all playing. Mariah was just sitting alone watching them play and thinking.

"Mariah, why don't you play with the others?" Naruto said.

"Mother always said that I have no time to play. I need to get home, they'll be worried." She answered.

"Can't you just play for a little bit?" Sakura asked.

"Why should I listen you? For all I know you could be the ones who kidnapped me." She accused.

"We didn't kidnap you. You came here with us." Naruto said.

"I don't remember that, plus mother wouldn't allow me to leave the compound."

"No, see let me explain. Since you are very advanced I think that you can handle this information. You are really thirteen years old, we are your team and we came here on a mission to investigate on the people who are missing. Last night you disappeared and when we came here we found you like this." Kakashi explained.

"SENSEI! WHY WOULD YOU TELL HER THAT!? SHE WON'T BELIEVE THAT!" Naruto and Sakura shouted.

I looked at Mariah and saw that she was thinking.

"Hmmm that does make sense. I was a little suspicious on why you asked me the date and were surprised by my answer, it answers on how I got here, and on why you all look familiar. I've seen you all when I went to the village a few days ago with my mother, but you were all younger." She concluded.

"See you guys had nothing to worry about. She's been training her whole life and has a level headed mind for this kind of situation. She's very smart."

"Thank you I know I am!" She said happily with a big grin.

Everyone looked at her confused.

"What?" She asked.

"N-nothing, we're just not use to you being happy or smiling." Naruto said.

Sakura hit him on the back of his head; all the little kids laughed.

"What do you mean? I always smile." She said confused.

"Uh, well....." Sakura said.

"I'm not happy when I'm older? I should be; I have a great and loving family, and friends. Hey which reminds me, how come I'm still on a team? Mother said that she would enter me in the academy when I'm five; shouldn't I be a Jonin by now?"

We were all speechless.

"Uh, hey look! Ami's waking up!" Naruto shouted distracting everyone from Mariah's question.

We tied Ami up then she woke up.

"Oh no! Why did you let them out of the basement! They were so happy down there!" She whined struggling to get out of the rope.

"What did you do to them?" Kakashi questioned.

"I made them happy! They were miserable before so I made them the age before all of the bad stuff started to happen. I made them the age that they love the most. Take your friend there for example. She was unhappy after she was five so I made her four years old; her favorite age. Now she's happy!"

"What is your last name?" Kakashi questioned.

"Teno," She answered,

"I've never heard of that last name."

"I have," Mariah spoke up, "They're a very small and rare clan. Because of all of the wars and because of their abilities they went into hiding a hundred years ago. There are only a few left in existence now and their kekkia genkei is that they can change someone's age. It's very powerful if you think about it. If your enemy is very strong and you want to use them then you can change them into a child and raise them as your own." Mariah explained.

"I see, it does sound familiar now. Is there any way to reverse this jutsu that you put on everyone?"

"Yes, I keep up the jutsu so if I don't do anything then they'll be back to normal in three days."

We all went to the leader's house and told him the whole situation with Ami and that everyone would be back to normal in three days. After returning everyone home we got little Mariah and headed back towards the village. We were close to the village but Mariah asked a certain question.

"Are you going to drop me off at my compound and explain all of this to my parents?"

We were silent; none of us knew what to say.

"Uh......We should report this to the Hokage first." Kakashi said.

"I guess that makes sense," She agreed. "But I'm not explaining this to my parents."

We finally reached the gates of the village; it took us longer than usual because Kakashi had us take the long way so we wouldn't go past the Kira compound. We went to the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade ! You're the Hokage!" Mariah shouted happily hugging lady Tsunade.

"Kakashi, why is Mariah four?" Tsuande asked.

"Um well,"

We explained everything to her and I saw worry in her eyes while looking at Mariah.

"Someone has to take her home," She said eyeing each of us.

No one wanted to do it but it had to be done.

"I'll do it," I sighed.

"Good luck Sasuke," They all said.

I slowly walked out of the office with Mariah by my side skipping. We started to walk towards her apartment.

"Uh Sasuke? This isn't the way to the Kira compound." She said as we reached her apartment.

"I know, you don't live at the compound."

"WHAT?! OF COURSE I DO!"

We entered the apartment and I led her to the couch. I saw Kurayami walk into the room and gave me a confused look. I explained everything to her. I made her sit on the couch and I knelt down to her level.

"Mariah, you live here. Your clan.........died." I said sadly.

It took her a while to process what I had just told her. I saw tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes threatening to fall. "W-what?" She whispered.

"They died when you were five. You've lived here since then."

"H-how.........did...........they.......die?" She said in-between cries.

"I don't want to tell you. It's all in your diary though if you really want to know."

She jumped off the couch and ran to a door; she opened it then closed it and repeated the process until she found the right room. When she saw the diary on the bed she dove for it and flipped through the pages. I sat next to her on the bed while she read the entry about the massacre.

After reading all of the entries she started to cry even more then she was before. I pulled her into a hug and let her cry on my chest. Kurayami came towards her and curled up next to her. After a few hours of her crying Mariah finally fell asleep in my arms.

The last few days have been really hard on Mariah. She's been depressed and sad since that night but today is when she will return to normal. In a few minutes it will be exactly three days. We waited and then she started to glow black. One second she was four and the next she was thirteen.

"Mariah?" Sakura asked.

She didn't answer.

"That was an interesting experience." She finally said after a few minutes.

"You remember everything?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, even everything that happened while I was four. It was painful going through that at four years old."

We then grabbed her and pulled her into a hug.