"So when did you last see him?" the hunter-nin asked, holding the picture of his target out for the old shop keeper to see.

"Oh my," she said, thinking. "It's been almost a year since he passed this way. In fact, if memory serves, he should be coming through here sometime in the next few weeks. But I don't understand, he's never done anything to anyone here. In fact, he helped to rebuild our humble village after the last war. Are you sure he's really a rouge ninja?"

"Yes, and a dangerous one at that. At least a Tokubetsu Jounin, if not higher. He may not have ever done anything to hurt anyone here, but he's caused far too much trouble in other areas to just let him walk around freely." The hunter glanced out the door, always wary of his surroundings, "Tell me everything you know about him."

The old shop keeper nodded and reached for a chair to sit in. "It was near the end of the last war when I first saw him. The battles had finally moved on, and we where just beginning the task of rebuilding. I was down near the river, fetching water for the workers when I saw a large tangle of branches, with some bits of odd color thrown in. I went to investigate, and there he was, clinging to them like a raft, face torn open, bleeding like a stuck pig. I managed to pull him out of the water and ran to get help. We brought him to the village and patched him up as best we could. There was no mistaking that he was a ninja, even if he wore no symbol, but we just assumed that it had been torn away by the waters or lost in the battle. He looked enough like a native of the fire country that we assumed he was a Konoha ninja. We where never able to confirm that, because when he woke up it was obvious that he'd lost his memories. He couldn't remember a thing about who he was, where he was from, or about his personal life. Ninja arts, those he remembered, and then we were sure he was a ninja, but there was never anything beyond his accent and general appearance that told us about where he was from. He stayed here for almost a year, recovering. Once he was strong enough, he joined in the efforts to rebuild. We may never have finished if not for him. I remember, he had this one ninjutsu that was very helpful at felling trees and crushing rock."

The hunter stopped her there, "Do you remember anything special about the ninjutsu he used?"

"Oh yes. Never seen anything like it before, and probably never will again. It was like he was holding a typhoon in his hand, the way it swirled and howled. Left an unusual imprint on the rock face when he used it..."

"...Like a giant swirl..." finished the hunter, voice soft and faraway.

"That's it exactly. How did you know?"

The hunter didn't respond at first. Finally, "Because I've seen it before, many times. But that's impossible, there are only three ninja in the world that could use that technique, and all are dead."

"Well, unless there's a similar technique out there, we're thinking of the same jutsu."

"Did he ever tell you what it was called?"

"I'm not even sure he knew at first. It was one of those thing's locked away in his mind. But I do remember, about three years ago, he came back to town and was ecstatic about something. When I finally managed to calm him down enough to understand him, he said something like , 'I can remember it!' When I asked him what he could remember all he would say was, 'Rasengan! It's called the Rasengan!'"

Behind the mask, the hunter's face had blanched to a near translucent white. "That can't be right..."

"It's what he said," stated the woman.

"But then..." the hunter trailed off.

"Are you alright, son?"

Shaking it off, "Yes, yes, I'm fine. You been a major help. Thank you for your time."

"Listen, I know it's the job of a hunter-nin to capture and kill rouges, but let me tell you this. The man you are hunting is not a bad man. I can tell these sort of thing, you know. Maybe in the past he's done terrible things, but he's not that person anymore, even since he's regained some of his memories."

"Ma'am, if I'm right, and the person I'm hunting is who I think it is, then you've just helped to save an innocent man from a very nasty fate. And let me know that I need to call in some serious back up, because he's defiantly not a Tokubetsu Jounin. If I'm right, then he's far stronger then any ANBU hunter we have."

That was enough to shake the shop keepers resolve a bit, "That's a serious thing to say, especially coming from a hunter-nin."

"Yes it is, and I'm not joking when I say it." The hunter, once again looking out through the door, "I must leave now. Again, thank you for your time and information." He bowed and dissapeared.

--

He stood on the hill overlooking the town, watching. It had been nearly a year since he'd come 'home,' and he was looking forward to visiting his friends. He walked with the long, purposeful strides of someone accustomed to traveling long distances for long periods of time. As he grew closer, traffic on the road increased. He knew most of the people he saw, and they all knew him. Every so often he stopped for a quick chat, and even once or twice to hug the small children that adored him, and missed him the most during his long journeys away. The greeting was always the same, "Hunter-nin, Hunter-nin! You're home!" Yes, they all called him Hunter-nin, fore he had no name, none that he could remember anyway. The only clues to his identity where the whisker marks on his face and the Hunter-nin tattoo on his shoulder. He greeted them all with a smile and a hug. Some commented on his appearance, asked if he'd learned anything knew on his journeys. The youngest asked if he'd brought them anything, and he'd always answer the same way, "Of course I did. And you know you won't get it right now, so don't even think about begging." The children would smile at that and finally let him move on.

He finally made it over the final hill and into the fields that the villagers kept. Now it was a constant barrage of, "Welcome back Hunter-Nin!" from the children and women working the fields, and shouts of, "Great timing Hunter-Nin! We were just about to start tilling a new field!" to which he'd just smile and shout back, "Don't I just have the best timing?"

Just as he made it onto the main street of the small village, the old shop keeper walked out, curious to all the noise.

She turned and saw him walking towards her and with a joyous shout of, "Hunter-Nin! You've come home early!" ran and hugged him tightly. "We've all missed you, and I'm glad to see you alive and well."

The man hugged her tightly, "As am I to see you doing so well." The embrace ended and he said, "Tell me Grandma Yuri, how has the village faired since I've been away?"

"All in good time son, all in good time. You look like you haven't had a decent bath in weeks Hunter-Nin. What where you thinking, letting yourself get so dirty. Come inside and wash up, you must be exhausted from your journey." The man nodded and they went inside. He dissapeared for a few minutes to wash the dirt of his face and hands. He came back and sat down in his favorite chair and she brought him a cup of tea. She settled in the chair across from his, "We have plenty of time to hear about this old village. Tell me about you, what kind of fascinating adventures have to been on this time?"

"Oh, just the usual," he said with a grin. "Wondering the continent, looking for anything to jog my memories, doing some work for local lords, taking out the occasional band of highway bandits pretending to be ninja; that sort of thing." He reached into an inner pocket of his traveling clock and pulled out two very full bags, "One's for you, and the other is to help buy the supplies for the new grain silos and tools for the next harvest."

She stared at the bags on the table. Reaching slowly for one, she opened it and gasped. "Hunter-Nin! Where did you get all of it!?"

"Like I said, I've been doing work for some of the local lords. It was nothing major, just a couple of rouge Chuunin from the Cloud village that had been robbing travelers near the castle and trying to pass it off on the lords men. He actually wanted to pay me quite a bit more, and even offered me a job in his service, but I turned it down. He refused to let me leave without taking at least this much," he added waving vaguely at the two bags. "I told him that I really had no use for that much money, but then I thought of you and the village, so I took it and saved it until I came this way. Think of it as repayment for letting me stay with you and tending to my wounds as well as you did."

"Stop with that, Hunter-Nin. There's no debt to be repaid. And even if there was, the help you given us over the years more then makes up for it."

"Still, I want you to have it. I have all the money I'll ever need already, so there's no point in my keeping it. You and the others can put it to better use then I ever could."

"What about replacing that battered old sword of yours, hmm? You could have bought something far better then that old thing."

"Now, grandma, we've had this discussion before. Just because it looks old and beaten up doesn't make it a bad sword. And anyway, if not for this old girl I never would have been able to remember so much."

"There's been more to come back then?"

"Yes, but not as much as I would have liked. Still nothing close to a name, or the village I'm from, but things about my past when I was still a real hunter-nin. Maybe even before that. I finally remembered why this sword was so familiar to me."

"That's great! Tell me, how did you know about the sword?"

"Well, it turns out I fought the last owner. I even managed to get the name of the man."

"Who was it?"

The man laughed, but it was a hallow, humorless sound. "Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

Grandma Yuri's eye's bugged, "You fought Zabuza Momochi and won!?"

"I don't think I was the one that finally beat him. It's hazy, but I can almost remember there being others there. A boy, with raven-black hair and cold eyes, and a girl, with hair the color of sakura blossoms and eye's like green-emeralds. There was someone else, and old man, he was a bridge-builder I think. Flashes of silver hair, and the sound of a thousand chirping birds. I think they where part of my team..." He sighed, thinking about the flashes of the memory always annoyed him slightly, because no matter what he did, he could make it any clearer, never get anymore detail.

"What do remember of Zabuza?"

"Lots actually," he said. "I remember he was jerk that treated Haku, that was his assistant/personal hunter-nin, like crap all the time. He was strong, damn strong. I know the first time we fought him, I got my ass kicked. The silver-haired man, who I'm pretty damn sure was my sensei at the time, managed to nearly defeat him. Haku used senbon to 'kill' Zabuza and ended the fight before Sensei could. After that, it's blank until the fight on the bridge. Haku used some kind of weird jutsu, I think it was a Kekke Genkai, looked like we, me and the raven-haired kid, where standing in a giant dome of mirrors. He kept attacking, and we couldn't get out. Finally, the raven-haired kid used some kind of a fire jutsu to try and melt the ice, but that didn't work. Haku nailed him with a serious amount of senbon and I'm pretty sure I though he'd killed him at the time. All I remember after that is a roaring sound and seeing red. Next clear memory is of me standing in front of Haku, his mask laying broken on the ground next to us, and I'm holding him by his robes in the air saying...something...I can't remember what, and crying. Haku told me about his past then, I can't remember most of it, but it gave me a feeling like he and I were the same, like we'd come from a similar background or something. Then Sensei did something, I think it was a summoning jutsu, hearing dogs growling, and the sound of chirping birds filled the air. Next thing I know, Sensei is standing with his arm through Haku's chest, and we're all just standing there in shock, even Zabuza. Haku manages to choke something out and falls, dead. Then Zabuza did something he'd never done before, he praised him. There was a sound from the other end of the bridge, and the fog that surrounded us cleared. There was a small army of men standing there. Zabuza said something to the guy in charge, Sensei said we were no longer hunting Zabuza, and then it's nothing but fighting. Somewhere during the battle Zabuza took a nasty blow, and there was no way to save him. He asked to be placed next to Haku, said something, and died. We buried him and Haku in the forest where we'd first fought them. And that's where I found the sword. We'd buried it to the hilt and left it there as a marker for his grave. After that, it's blank."

"It's no wonder they want you so badly..." she said softly.

The man looked at her, "Who wants me? What happened Grandma Yuri?"

She didn't speak at first. Finally, with a sigh and eyes focused on the table, "There was an ANBU Hunter-Nin from Konoha here earlier today."

The man groaned, "Great... I've been trying to lose them for nearly three months now."

"They've been following you that long?"

"Longer probably. I first noticed one when I was out in Kusa eight months ago. I didn't immediately connect him to following me, but when I saw another one out in the Snow country a few weeks later, I figured they were after me. I ran into one in the tea country a month after that. Since then, I've been trying to lose them. I don't know if it's the same one that's been following me, and I hope it's not, but if they're here then I can stay. I'd just be putting you all in danger."

"Calm down Hunter-Nin. I doubt that you have anything to worry about. The ANBU that was here didn't say anything about trying to capture you while you where in the village. I think he's planning on ambushing you outside, where there's less of a chance of hurting civilians."

"He wouldn't be the first ANBU to lie about something like that."

"Listen, he said he would come back tomorrow. Why don't you use your transformation jutsu and meet him. See what he's like. You were an ANBU Hunter-nin yourself, so you should be able to read his intentions."

The man blinked, "Yanno, for an old shop keeper, you sure are smart Grandma!"

"Well, when you've been around as long as I have, and seen the things I've seen, you learn a thing or two," she said with a laugh and a smile.

A bell at the front of the shop rang, signaling a customer. "Oh, I'll be right back. That's probably Kimiko coming to pick up her order."

--

"Hello there Kimi..." she stopped mid sentence. "Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you where Kimiko. Is there something I can do for you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for information on this man."

Yuri laughed, "You know, you're the second person today that's come in here asking me about him."

"Am I?"

"Yes, there was another Konoha ANBU Hunter-nin wearing a dog mask in here earlier."

The ANBU in the blank mask nodded, "Thank you for telling me this. I was about to report home that my back-up never arrived." The ANBU bowed politely and left the store. Yuri sighed deeply, relieved that he hadn't noticed the presence of the very man they where looking for. She was about to head back into the back of the story when the door opened once again, this time reveling Kimiko.

"Did that ANBU hunter come in here?" she asked, concerned.

"Yes, but I don't think he noticed him."

"Good," she sighed, relieved, as Yuri handed her the bundle containing her order. "I still can't figure out why Konoha's sending all these ANBU after Hunter-Nin."

"Well, for all the good he's done, he technically is a rouge ninja, and it's their job to hunt rouges down."

"I know that, but why so many... I never thought I'd see one ANBU in my entire life, and he makes the fourth in less then a year."

"There's no point trying to figure out why. We just have to deal with it."

"I guess you're right," she said. "Tell Hunter-Nin I said hi and welcome home."

"I will Kimiko," she said as the young lady left the store.

She turned to the door that lead into the back of the story and was surprised to see Hunter-Nin appear from behind a perfectly camouflaged cloak. "Where'd you get that one?"

"Made it myself when I realized I was being followed. Easier then using the transformation jutsu, and less chance of being discovered."

"Where you there when the ANBU was here?"

"No, but I was watching through the door. That ANBU is familiar... but I can't figure out from where..."

"Maybe you worked with him before?"

"More then likely, but its more then that. I know him, but I can't get a name..."

"Well, maybe it will come to you tonight while you sleep."

"I hope so," he said sincerely.

"Let's sit back down and you can finish telling me about your adventures."

--

The clearing was deep in the forest surrounding the village. One second, there was nothing bigger then a Goliath beetle resting on a tree trunk, the next, two ANBU stood in the dappled shade at the tree line.

"You should have made contact before gathering information, you know that."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't risk waiting. I had intel that said he would be arriving days earlier then we expected."

The ANBU in the blank mask nodded. "You have yet to report in?"

"No. I was just about to when I received your message."

"Good. We need to compare information before either of us can report in."

"Fine."

--

The next morning, Yuri awoke to the sounds of her favorite house guest snoring away in his bed. She smiled and went about her usual morning routine, knowing he wouldn't wake up until at least noon, if not later. It was normal for him, on his first day home.

She had to turn away several village children that wanted to see him, saying he hadn't gotten out of bed, and that he was allowed to sleep in because he never slept enough while he traveled. The children always pouted and tried to sneak upstairs, but she always caught them and they always left with promises of coming back just after lunch.

Yuri bustled around the house, getting everything breakable well out of arms reach of children, since the second noon rolled around she would be inundated by every child in the village coming to see their favorite ninja.

Finally, not a minute before her clock struck noon, the snoring abruptly stopped and there was a thud from upstairs signaling Hunter-Nin had woken up and fallen out of bed like he always did.

3...

2...

1...

"Grandma Yuri! Is he awake yet!" called dozens of little voices as the children gathered outside and the one unlucky older child was forced inside as the spokesman.

"Go tell the kids he'll meet them in the usual place as soon as he's changed and eaten something."

Face split into a huge grin, the child ran out and told them the news. There was a resounded roar of delight and the pounding of dozens of little feet running to the river to wait for their favorite playmate.

Said playmate wondered down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and pulling his sleeping hat off his now blonde hair. "What's goin' on?"

"Oh just the kids calling for you. Hurry up and eat something before they come back and drag you out themselves."

He grinned at the smell of the grilled kabocha stew that Yuri was famous for. "Oh how I've missed that smell," he sighed, sitting down at the table as she set a bowl down for him. She settled across the table with a bowl of her own and they ate lunch together.

"When's that ANBU hunter supposed to come by?"

"He said same time as yesterday, but that would mean he'd come when you're out playing with the kids."

"Probably for the best. It's going to be bad enough having to disappoint them all because I can't use any jutsu while the hunters are here."

"They'll get over it. And the older boys could do without that one jutsu of yours."

"What, those three still trying to learn it?"

"Yes, the idiots."

"I told them already they can't do it. They just don't have the chakra to do a jutsu like that."

"You never should have shown it to them in the first place."

"I know... but we agreed to blame it on the head injury. I can't be blamed for what I do the day after a tree falls on my head."

He finished the bowl and got up to get more. "What about the ones that I left the teaching scrolls with? Have they improved any?"

"A few have. Most are still on the first scroll. I think Aki's oldest has managed to get through the second, and Kai's middle boy is nearly there."

"That's good. I have a few new ones for them, but I might just take them aside while I'm here and give them a personal lesson or two."

"As long as you don't go and teach them fire jutsu or something insane like that..."

Hunter-Nin laughed, "Don't worry about that Grandma Yuri. They aren't anywhere near strong enough for fire jutsu."

The pounding of feet could be heard off in the distance.

"Huh-boy. They really are impatient," he sighed and gulped the last of his stew. "I'd better get changed or else they're gunna drag me across town in my pajama's again."

"Quickly now, I think they're already to Aki's fields. He dashed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Two minutes later, "Grandma Yuri! We've come to take Hunter-Nin!" The children crowded around the door, trying to get in, but only succeeding in blocking the entrance. It took nearly a full minute to ge them untangled, and by then Hunter-Nin was walking down the stairs.

"Hunter-Nin!!" they all shouted joyously.

"Hey kids!" he grinned warmly. "What's say we get outta here before something gets broken and Grandma Yuri starts yelling?"

"Yay!!" they all yelled and flooded out of the house as quick as they could.

With a wink and smile at Yuri, Hunter-Nin followed them out.

Yuri stood there, ears ringing slightly from all the noise, and smiled. Things where always more interesting with Hunter-Nin around.

--

"Show us your sword Hunter-Nin!"

"I wanna see the Rasengan again!"

"Did you bring us anything Hunter-Nin??"

"Kids, kids, please!" he begged, trying to get them to stop talking over each other. "One at a time."

"Presents!" demanded a few, and the rest nodded.

He set the large bag he'd been carrying down and said, "Alright then, you know the rules. Line up and wait your turn. And no pushing. Last thing I want is your parents yelling at me because I started another fight by bringing you guys stuff."

The kids did what he said, and lined up, more or less patiently. Most were fidgeting and discussing what kind of stuff he'd brought them this time.

Twenty minutes later saw the kids showing off their presents to each other. Some had well made wooden swords and shields, others had little wooden carvings of animals and mythical beasts. The girls were given costume jewelry and dolls mostly, but he knew them all well enough to know which girls wanted swords and the like as much as the boys did. The oldest children where given new tools and clothing along with the little toy animals they all loved.

"Alrighty then, everyone happy?"

There were a few kids that wanted to trade for something else, and they where accommodated accordingly.

Finally, everyone was happy. "Okay kids, have fun with your new toys and stuff for a few minutes. I need to talk to a couple of you privately."

They all nodded and waited to see who he was going to pull aside. He call for four boys and one of the girls, all from the older crowd, and all ones that he'd been teaching simple jutsu's too over the years. He led them a ways away from the group, so they wouldn't be overheard. "I hear from Grandma Yuri that you've all been practicing hard."

"Yes Hunter-Nin," they said.

"She also said that you two had nearly finished the scrolls I'd left here last year."

The boys nodded.

"Well then, I'm just going to have to give you a little test before I leave. I've brought some more advanced scrolls, but I want to make sure you're ready before I give them to you."

"What about us?" asked the girl, who'd only just recently started learning jutsu, but was progressing far more rapidly then the others.

"Well, I want to see what you can do first, but if I'm satisfied, then I'll leave copies with you too."

They all grinned, "We'll do our best!"

"Course you will. You've had the best Sensei around, so you can only expect to be the best."

"You're the only Sensei around Hunter-Nin," the reminded him.

"So? Just means I'm defiantly the best."

The all laughed and he let them get back to playing with the others. He assumed his usual role at this yearly event, getting dragged between knots of kids every time one of them felt he hadn't been paying them enough attention, all begging for him to show them something different.

"Please Hunter-Nin..." one group begged. "Show us the Rasengan!"

"I can't," he stated firmly.

"But why not??" they demanded.

"I can't tell you right now. But just believe me when I say that I can't."

The pouted and begged and pleaded, but his determination never wavered. They switched tactics, trying to lead him into doing it, but that didn't work. Finally, they resorted to their old stand-by, a dog pile on Hunter-Nin. Which, even though it was great fun for kids and him alike, failed to work. Finally, with a promise of giving everyone piggy-back rides through the trees if they'd stop asking him, he succeeded in getting them to stop.

So, three hours and an aching set of shoulders, arms, and back later, the kids where happy. It was getting to be time for the younger kids to be getting home, so there was a general outcry of "Can't we please stay later?" and pouted "It's not fair!"'s. This went on until some of the parents came to collect their kids, and the older kids with younger siblings realized that if they didn't get them home soon they where going to end up grounded and that's the last thing you want to have happen with Hunter-Nin in town.

He leaned against a tree and waved as a large chunk of the kids left homeward. Those left where of the older and thankfully quieter variety. Of course, that didn't stop them from finally having their turn at trying to get him to do all of his cool little tricks. Which was a waste of time, but you can't blame a kid for trying, right?

"Too bad it's so cool," he said, after they finally calmed down and stopped begging. "It's would be a perfect day to go swimming."

"The water's too cold," said one. "The snows still melting up in the mountains."

"I know," he nodded. "I nearly fell off the side of a glacier a few months ago up in the Snow Country."

"Whoa! How'd you pull that off?"

"Eh...I was trying to climb down the face, and my axe came loose. The other one barely held long enough for me to plant my feet and start digging a new footing."

"Were you scared?"

"Feh, it was only a three hundred foot drop into freezing cold water. I've been though worse."

"Man Hunter-Nin... you do the coolest stuff," said one, in awe of his hero.

"I guess," he shrugged humbly.

"Hey Hunter-Nin, do you really have to leave again?" asked one of the girls.

"Come on guys, you know I can't stay more then a couple of days. There's too much stuff I gotta get done."

"Awwwwwwwww," they all groaned, disappointed that he still wouldn't stay more then a week.

He was about to say something, but froze, listening. He'd gone from grinning to stone faced and serious-eyed in the blink of an eye. "Everyone down!" he yelled and shoved one of the boys away from the tree he'd been leaning against. Split second later, a kunai was buried tip-first, still quivering from the impact, at the exact point where the boy's nose had been a second before. Hunter-Nin was already on his feet, hands flying and forming the chakra sign for his favorite jutsu. Five clones appeared next to him and four fanned out into the forest. "All of you, stay low to the ground and don't move. I'll be right back." He dissapeared, leaving his final clone to watch them.

The kids stayed there, not moving, not speaking, for over a minute before he reappeared. All but one clone vanished and he said, "Lost him, whoever he was." The kids stood up and before they could say anything he threw in, "That's why I can't stay any longer then I normally do. Stuff like that always happens where I am. You kids get home. Now. And I don't want to hear any arguments. I'll send my clone with you as protection." They protested, but he just glared at them until the gave up and headed back to the village. He watched them leave for a minute, then turned to examine the kunai. There was a message attached to the hilt:

We know you're here. Meet us at the top of the tallest hill, midnight tonight, or else we will come after you.

He sighed and pulled a pen from his pocket. Turning the note over he wrote:

Fine. Just please, don't hurt the villagers. They shouldn't have to pay for what I've done.

He reattached the note to the hilt and left quickly, not wanting to risk another attack.

--

"Hunter-Nin! You're home early. Did something happen?"

"Yeah, one of those ANBU after me nearly split Shikoku's head open with a kunai," he said, still bristling. "Bastard had the gall to use a kid to get my attention."

"But that can't be right. Both the ANBU where here all day. They just left, not five minutes ago."

"Then there's a third out there somewhere, and he's a royal pain in the ass."

"Did you see him?"

"Not his mask, but I got a good look at the back of him before I lost him about a mile outside of the village. Used a smoke bomb to get away." He cursed the ANBU to the depths of hell before continuing, "He left a note with that kunai. Wants to meet with me at midnight. Basically threatened to tear the village apart looking for me if I didn't show."

"Oh my..." she said. "That's not good."

"No, no it isn't. I can't run, because then they definatly will tear apart the village to make sure I'm not just hiding out somewhere. And if I go, I'm going to have to fight off three freaking ANBU hunters, which I really don't want to do, because then they'll really send the big guns out after me." He sighed and slumped into a chair, "I hate my life..."

"Don't talk like that," she said. "Sure, things may seem gloomy right now, but they'll get better."

"Yeah, after I manage to kill some of the best trained ninja on the planet. Of course, I'll end up on the watch list in every country if I do and then I'm really gunna be screwed."

"Maybe it won't be that bad..."

"I really wish I had that kind of optimism Grandma. I really do." He stood up, "I'm going to take a bath." He left without another word.

"Poor thing..." she sighed as he retreated upstairs.

--

"Yes I know, he told me when he came home."

"Well, I don't want my son around him if there are ninja after him," Shikoku's mother stated firmly.

"I still think he's just as safe around Hunter-Nin as he is when your husband takes him out hunting, but if you want to keep him away, then I won't stop you."

"What's going on?" said Hunter-Nin as he reached the bottom of the stairs, dressed but still drying his hair.

"Why didn't you tell anyone you where being hunted by ANBU?"

He blinked, "I did?"

"I hadn't heard anything about it. If I had, I would never have let my son near you!"

"Please, listen to me. The ANBU would never hurt an innocent child. He knew there was no way I'd let the kunai hit, and was probably hoping I would've gotten hit while trying to get your son to safety. I understand you're worried, but I agree with Grandma Yuri. Shikoku is just as safe with me as he is on any hunting trip with your husband."

"I don't care Hunter-Nin. I don't want you around my son anymore."

He sighed, "If that's really what you want, then I shall do as you say. But I can't stop the boy from seeking me out if he wants to, nor would I ever try and stop him unless I seriously believed that his life would be in danger." He turned and retreated back upstairs.

"Oh dear, now he's going to be sulking all night."

"Serves him right, lying to us like that."

"Oh stop it. He's never done anything to any of us and here you are acting like he's some monster that destroyed your home."

"Well, we all know he was part of the battle that destroyed the village. How do we know he really wasn't on the enemy's side. So what if he looks like a ninja from Konoha? He could have been rouge before the battle and fighting for the wrong side."

"We don't," came her simple reply. "But I'd like to think his behavior over the last five years would be a good indication of which side he was on."

Shikoku's mother shook her head, "Mark my words Yuri, Hunter-Nin is trouble, and you'd be wise to turn him out." She turned and left before Yuri could say anything.

"That's where you're wrong," she sighed to the silent house.

--

Three forms appeared from the shadows of the clearing.

"You idiot! What where you thinking, throwing a kunai at that poor kid!?"

"Oh please, if he's really the one we want then the kid was in no danger."

"And if he hadn't been!? You where willing to risk a kids life over it!?"

"You said it yourself, ANBU-san. This is the guy we want, and I just proved you right!"

"This isn't how we do things," said the ANBU in the blank mask. "Remember, you aren't out of the probationary period yet. If you don't do as we say, we can still have you washed out of the program. One more mistake like that and you will be gone."

"Yes ANBU-san," he huffed. "May I leave now, I have more information to collect."

Blank Mask nodded and the probationary ANBU in the cat mask dissapeared.

"Stupid kid..." grumbled Dog Mask. "I can't believe he did that!"

"Yes, well, this year's applicants weren't really up to standard. There are far too many young hot-heads in the pool, and not enough suitable missions. We really should have been given someone older and more experienced."

"Got that right..."

"Did you get a good look at him?"

"Yeah," he said. "The scars make it diffictult to tell at first, but there's no doubt it's him."

Blank Mask sighed, "Then this mission just got quite a bit more difficult."

"Tell me about it... Do you want me to report in?"

"Yes. I'll need to finish setting up for tonight."

"Is this really a good idea, confronting him like this?"

"Do you have any other ideas?"

"Right..." he pulled a scroll from a pouch at his belt and opened it. He bit his thumb and wiped it across the surface, "Summoning Jutsu!" A single large falcon appeared. He grabbed another scroll, opened it, scribbled an addition to the report already on it, re-sealed it, tied it to the falcon's leg, and set the bird on it's way. "See you at midnight," he said as he dissapeared back into the shadows, leaving the remaining ANBU alone.

Blank Mask sighed and glanced up at the sun. 8 Hours until midnight.