Ai Saikuro

Chapter Twelve

The Hokage's office was the same way it was the last time I saw it for the Land of Waves mission. It had that messy yet organized theme going for it and I always felt comforted by its presence or perhaps the presence of its owner.

"Hello, Ai." He smiled.

Sarutobi seemed to have aged slightly in the time I'd not seen him and it concerned me slightly. His wrinkles seemed to multiply between every visit, it was heart breaking, really. I wasn't heartless and I'd be lying if I said I didn't care about the ancient, old man.

"Hokage." I bowed slightly at my waist.

He smiled again and shook his head somehow managing to keep his overly large hat from flopping around. "No need to bow. Now, I called you in here for a reason."

I nodded in agreement, although we both knew I'd always bow to him and allowed him to continue.

"I've got a mission for you. I know you well enough to tell you're going stir-crazy in this village. It's too calm for you, you've always been a free one." He puffed on his ever present pipe. "I've got a mission that I think will fix that until the Chunin Exams."

He paused and looked at me to see if I was following allong. I was.

"The mission involves the ellimination of group of rogues that have been terrorizing a village nearby."

My breath caught. He isn't talking about...

"No, not the Atkatsuki." He smiled knowingly,"It's a rag tag group. Rookies, it should be fairly simple for you. You probably won't need more weapons than what you carry around now."

I rose a single eyebrow and took in the gleam in the old man's eyes.

"You testing me old man?" I smirked at him.

He shrugged innocently.

"You being the Hokage must know that one of the most important ninja rule is to never underestimate your opponent. Even if these guys are as weak as you claim, there might be a stronger foe that I encounter along the journey. Always be prepared, right Hokage?"

He grinned warmly, satisfied, and tossed me the mission file. I caught it and he waved me away to get packed.

"You should leave in an hour. This mission shouldn't take long for you. It's close and should be rather easy, I expect you back soon."

I gave his a curt nod and a solute before slipping out the door. I was secretely celebrating that he hadn't assigned me a Jonin to come along with me.

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The village was small. Almost small enough that I wondered if more than twenty people lived there in total. It was also poor, they had simple, straw cottages and from what I could see from my perch on one of the local trees, they were a close-nit group of people. Three men strolled towards a beautifully managed booth, the man who stood behind it stared at it as if it were his lifeline, like it would save him from eternal damnation. I watched the gait of what I was sure was the rogues; they were over-confident. Arrogant. The townspeople coward away from them as if they would lash out any second (which they could, I wasn't sure what they'd done in the past). By the time the group reached the man's table, the village had become filled with a tense, fearful silence. Everyone seemed to know what was going to happen. It was obvious. That's why when the reached out to dump the booth over they were sorely surprised when they were suddenly stopped by a rock, solid wall.

I leaped out of my tree landing on my wall and let it sink back into the earth. I could tell the guys were shell-shocked so I simply cocked my head mockingly.

"And what did you think you were doing?" My tone was emotionless and detached.

They froze, stuttering. I rose an eyebrow coldly.

"You won't like me if I have to ask again." Of course, they weren't going to like me if they answered the question or not because I was suppose to bring these guys to the grave no matter what.

"We-w wer-en-'t do-doing anythi-ng!" One was finally able to explain, through tremors.

"Really?" I looked at them and they nodded not noticing my obvious sarcasm hidden in the icy tone.

I turned my back and started leaving with a nod. I ignored the desperate pleas of the villagers and continued, waiting.

The shurikin would've nailed me in the middle of my back if I hadn't caught it. A small smirk appeared on my lips and disappeared as soon as I turned back to the crowd.

"That didn't look like the work of an innocent man, did it?" My voice was scary. I knew it, there was absolutely no feeling in it.

I slapped them in the face with a look of cold fury and they jumped back. I tossed the shuriken around by the tip of the blade where I caught only to snatch it back by its handle.

The Hokage was right, as usual; I was bored in such a peaceful environment. I liked constant action; I liked fighting, fighting for my life. Living on edge. Some would call me sadistic but everyone had a negative trait, right?

"I'll make you a deal: I will only use this shuriken to battle you. I won't even use my other hand or feat. I think that would be good enough."

They begun laughing and with a raised eyebrow I surged forward.

"Rule number one: never underestimate me." The blade slide in the man on the right's back like butter.

With wide eyes the two other's tried to make a break for it only to be halted by a wall of fire. "Don't make me end our deal."

I glanced around inconspicuously,checking to see if all the villagers are out of the way of the fight still. They were.

It was on.

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I kept my pace slow on the way back, I wasn't in a hurry to be back in the hustle and bustle that was the Hidden Village of the Leaf. The Hokage couldn't have been more right, the most exciting part of this mission had been when one of the rogues had grabbed a little girl and I had to get her back uninjured. Even when the rest of the rogues showed up from their 'hideout' they were simple to overtake. They had the brains of rats; no, that would insult the whole rat race.

I suddenly surged to a complete halt, so quick my clothes had to puff back to my body from the excess force. There was a chakra following me, not quite large enough to be a big concern but it was bugging me. I spun quickly on my heel towards the source only to be disappointed when I discover it had vanished as fast as it had appeared. I narrow my eyes and remain in my protective crouch for several more minutes before rocketing off with more speed and urgency this time.

I wanted to fight, sure, but I promised the Hokage a quick return and I'd be damned if I would break such an easy promise.

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The village gates poked over the horizon and I nearly sighed in relief. I was beyond paranoid by this point, I had been tensed the whole journey since I'd felt the chakra. It just didn't seem right...I recognized it but at the same time it was unfamiliar.

I swung myself to a stop at the gates and did my usual check in with the guards preceding my entrance into the village.

What annoyed me, though, was that the second I stepped into the gates I could sense trouble afoot.

I didn't need more than one guess to know where that came from. I took off in that direction.

Damn it! Why me? I'm not a babysitter!

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A/N: I didn't die! I'm sorry, time flies. I didn't realize it had been so long...Jeez... Well, here it is, better late than never.