Disclaimer: I do not own Naurto or any of its characters.

Pointers: 'italics' means that the character is thinking

Summary: R&R/Pein Arc to Current Arc - Asami wanted to bring her brother home and away from the Akatsuki. Little did she know what made her brother leave and the selfishness of her actions. Along the way, she finds the meaning of selflessness and sacrifice as well as a Ninja's most feared emotions: love and sadness. NarutoxOC

Author's Note: 'Thinking'

Prologue:

Enter Asami - Kirigakure's Ice Flower

I think in everyone's life there's a day that they can't forget. And upon not forgetting that day, you remember every slight detail about it. The day my brother had walked out of our family and our village, I remember how everything was. How smokey grey the stormy sky was, how the rain droplets felt like ice on my skin and even the mist was thicker than it usually was. How little people were out in the market and how the alley cat that use to rip and run the streets had quietly stayed in a box for shelter. Everything from the weather and to the actions of the people and animals around me, even how the rainwater smelled was crystal clear as can be. The soreness in my legs, how heavy my heart had felt, and even how cold my skin felt from being soaked in the cold rain had all felt like they had happened just a second ago.

The day my brother became rogue had always made me feel empty inside. The memory of my small legs running towards him, my arm outstretched and my eyes filled with tears but mixed by the rain that penetrated them. I swore back then that my brother would listen to my words, that they would change his mind and make him turn around and walk back to me. He would come back and we would walk back home together, side by side, and hand in hand. However, that was not how things were. No, he looked back at me and I knew right then and there that my words could not reach him but instead, went right through them. The determination in his eyes had only caused more detriment than I had already anticipated. I was going to be disappointed, but my young heart didn't want to listen.

It was until my legs began to quiver, but arms holding me up from the cobblestone ground. The rain water was making me cold, my body shivering from being drenched from head to toe. I slowly raised my head after staring at the ground, rain and tear mixed droplets trickling down my cheeks and to the ground. My brother had slowly closed his eyes and then looked away from me, he kept walking. Still, my determination did not waver. "Akihiko-nii!" I shouted, "Akihiko-nii! Please come back! Please, we can… I can fix everything!" And no matter how much I cried or pleaded, or how loud my voice screamed his name he did not bother to stop. My words had fallen on deaf ears and it was so blatant in my face, but I didn't care. I thought… I thought I could change his mind still.

Using all the strength I could muster, I found myself standing back on my feet and beginning to run. I was running again, I had managed that much but my body was going numb. The cold, my tiredness, just about everything was weighing down on me and I fell to the ground again. This time, I did not fight it. I knew I had lost; I had hit the ground until my hand was bruised and my eyes could not produce anymore tears. What was I going to do without him? My brother was my everything: he was my solace, my confidant and my best friend. I wasn't sure what I could do without him or who else I could rely on. I felt so broken and confused, but more than anything I felt hurt. I was sure that one day, one day I would be able to bring him back and everything would be back to how it was.

Selfish. Yeah, I was selfish more than anything. I had not bothered to learn why he left, I just knew I wanted him to come back. I didn't know what drove him away, but I had sworn that I could solve it. The events that had changed how my brother felt, to leave behind his loyalty to his village never… Never came to mind. As I said, I was selfish and I had not known it then and even now, I choose not to think of it. All I had known back then was that I was weak and in due time, with a large amount of training, I would win everything back. My brother, another Kirigakure shinobi, and my father's most honored son. I would play savior but when it really came down to it, I was no savior. I was just a selfish, stupid girl.

Nine years later…

"Kyah!" shouted the Mizune kunoichi as she waved her wounded hand side to side. Her bottom lip was poking out in a pout, her eyes nearly watering, and her hair in a complete mess from not being brushed and put into its usual coiffure. She definitely wasn't mentally prepared to train right now, her mind not into it, and her mind more on the good sleep she was having minutes before. Her brother had woken her up as usual for training, it used to be Akihiko who woke her, but now it was her one year older brother, Akira. He was standing there, watching her, as she looked her once pale knuckles that were now a pinkish red. At least she hadn't cut it or even broke it since that would've been troublesome. "Asami-chan, you can't be so rough all the time." Her brother said in which she turned around and looked at him, her eyes slightly narrowing. "I know what I'm doing! I don't need you telling me what to do, Akira-nii." She huffed before turning back around and looking at the wooden log. Who the hell was he? She didn't need him!

The boy sucked his teeth and rolled his eyes, his arms still akimbo, as his sister began practicing once again. He mentally counted from five since he could tell that she would injure herself once again. Like she did the first four times since her morning training started. Just when he got to one, it happened. "Kyah! God dammit!" Asami hissed, her cerulean eyes now glaring daggers at the wooden log. "Screw this!" Infusing some chakra into her hand, to add more pack to her punch, she had punched the wooden log clean through and kicked it to help her pull her arm out of it. Akira closed his eyes, his arms unfolded, and the palm of his hand slapping against his forehead, "This is the fifth one you broke, what am I gonna tell 'Tou-san, eh?!" He finally snapped, realizing that she would be literally getting him and herself in trouble.

His sister spun around real quick, pointing at him accusingly. "Well excuse me, the damn thing had it coming!" Her finger went from pointing at him to pointing at the wooden log that had a hole clean through it as it was lying on the grass. "It kept hurting me and so I broke it! But hey, let's blame the person who almost broke her hand!" The girl threw her arms in the air, exasperated. Did he really believe that the stupid log didn't deserve to get broken? "I'm taking a bath, my training is done!" She stomped off, her brother looking at her wide-eyed. They had only been out there for a good hour and she was already giving up. He could tell that something was bothering her or maybe she was right about him being hard on her. Their personalities didn't work well together and not only that, she still missed training with Akihiko.

Asami was glad that she was out of those training grounds. She didn't feel like training, she didn't feel like being around Akira either. He was so annoying; he was the most annoying out of the rest her brothers. The kunoichi thought that if she had made things a little harder for them that maybe they would leave her alone. For a while, she had been a bit irritated with the fact that she found out that her father wanted her to join the ANBU. Asami wasn't sure what she wanted to be, but she didn't like the fact that her father didn't care about what she wanted. Of course, she wanted to do all he expected out of her which was to be the best thing since sliced bread but she didn't really care about all that. She wanted to be able to decide her own future, but then she would only end up hurting her father. So many difficult things to think about and she wasn't quite in the mood to further upset herself. She just wanted to get out of this house and have fun today.

"And where do you think you're going? You know you train way longer than that." Asami's eyes widened as she quickly spun around, her father standing right behind her with his arms crossed. Dammit. She thought she could escape but she could see that his face read that he wasn't having it. "I don't want to train 'Tou-san! And I'm not training with Akira-nii! He's so freakin' annoying and I can't concentrate right now, okay?" That was her fiery reply to her old man, who looked at her with a twinge of annoyance but most of all concern. Training was something that Asami was always serious about and he knew that. But right now, her heart and her mind was really not into it but he figured that he knew why. "How about I train with you… like old times?" His voice, which was usually rough and intense, was now one of a concerned father. Asami's eyes had widened in shock, her mouth nearly gaping open and she turned to look at him. "No, it's okay. Can I just skip out today? " asked the kunoichi as her father frowned deeply. "Just for today." He watched his youngest child run past him and towards the house, he then turned back to see Akira standing at the training grounds more than irritated and kicking the wooden log on the ground.

The teenager had taken a long bath and it helped soothe her hand even though it burned a little when the water touched it. Still, all tension she felt from this morning was slowly going away. If she could, she would stay in this bath forever. Outside of it lied complication and life, which a lot of people would like to escape from but the sad thing is that you can't run away from it forever. Still, she could run away for at least two hours in the bath. Once she got out and went to her room, she changed into her normal attire and placed her hair in its usual style. Her hair was a natural pixie cut save for the two, knee-length side locks that framed both sides of her face. The front bang had swooped over the right side of her face and occasionally covered her right eye. Sometimes she had placed her hair in pigtails or a ponytail with the only long hair parts of her hair that she had. Either way, she couldn't dote on her hair. There was something she had to do, something that was eating away at her mind for years.

For one, she decided she was going to leave the village and look for her brother.

The Akatsuki were growing strong, her brother a member now. She had overheard her father talking about it with her mother. They were a strong organization, but she knew that her brother still loved her. He would come back once she showed him what he had left behind. She was more than determined to make sure that they were going to able to be a family again. It didn't matter how much she risked her life for it, she loved and him and she needed to save him. She had everything she needed for the mission too. She had her umbrella sword, her usual ninja tools, and some food as well some money that would last her a short while. She heard of the rumor that they were capturing about of Jinchuurikis, what for? She didn't know but it didn't matter to her either way.

There were a lot of things she was deciding to leave today; her family, friends, and village. It was the only way she could find Akihiko without feeling like she was endangering everyone else, but not only that… Could she really put on the pressure of being a missing-nin? She would be sought after day by day, possibly made into a criminal. Everything could go wrong about this operation, but if she just let Akihiko continue as he was then what could she say about herself? How could she call herself a real sister? Or say that she actually cared about him.

As she was leaving the house, she had walked to the bottom of the stairs and saw her mother sewing away at the living room. She had sat on a pillow-seat, the engawa doors open so that the fresh air could travel in the house. The look on her mother's face that was so peaceful and serene had caused a pang of guilt to erupt in Asami's chest. Her mother was so happy now, but how would she feel when her only daughter had left the village in search for her s-ranked criminal brother? She could only imagine the grief and worry that would erupt in her mother, and she was willing to let that happen. Asami's eyes had saddened, her eyelids lowering halfway as she looked away in thought. She couldn't let her guilt stop her now; she had already made up her mind. "Asami-chan?" The tender, loving voice that belonged to her mother called out her name. It almost made it hard to even look at her mother, but she had soon let her gaze set on the woman.

"Yes, 'Kaa-san?" She said, her voice hiding her hurt and guilt. Even so, she managed to pull a smile in order to fool her mother. Even though Asami wasn't much of a great liar, she had to pull the works in order for her mother to believe her.

The dark-haired woman had looked up, her seagreen-colored eyes looking at her only daughter. "Are you going out today? When will you be back home? Do you have a mission?"

As usual, she was berated with questions. The teenager had clenched and then unclenched her hand, trying her hardest not to give away even the slightest thing. "Yeah, I'm going out today. It's not a mission though and I probably won't be back until nightfall. I won't be out for long."

Lies on top of lies, even though they had just been said they had already been eating away at her. "Just make it before dinner, Sami-chan."

The bluenette could feel herself cringe. "I know, 'Kaa-san." She then took two steps but then came to a pause. Stepping back a few times, she looked at her mother. "'Kaa-san." She called the woman, who immediately stopped what she was doing and gave Asami her full attention. "I love you."

The woman appeared surprised but then smiled warmly. That was all Asami needed, a mental image of that. Hopefully, her mother's loving smile would pull her through during her journey. "I love you too, Asami-chan." She replied, causing Asami to fight back tears and give an equally loving smile.

Once she had opened the door, she had gently closed it.

This was it.

She was leaving.

Her first few steps were hesitant, her eyes looking around the city. The tall cylinder shaped building were at their usual, the mist was heavy and thick. She inhaled the wet air and she even found herself affectionately thinking about how she was going to miss it. And most of all, she would miss the Mizukage. Terumi, Mei was more than a wonderful leader, she was someone that Asami had once looked up to. The woman was beautiful as well as affectionate to those she had grown fond of and for that, she would miss that most of all. However, she could not see her before departure or else the mission would've certainly go down the toilet.

And with that said, Asami made her way to the village gates. 'I'm coming, Akihiko-nii. I'm going to bring you back home, the both of us will come home together. Just you wait…' She thought, her mind steady as her heart.

So, what do you guys think? This is just a little teaser.

Asami: Female Japanese name meaning "Morning Sea."

Akihiko: Male Japanese name meaning "Bright, shining prince." Although Aki means "Autumn."

Akira: Unisex Japanese name meaning "Bright or clear"

'Kaa and 'Tou-san - Country accent for Otou-san and Okaa-san.

Onii-san/Nii - A term used to call your older brother.