The girl was stirring. Yuzuki held her breath, as signs of life twitched through the smaller girl's features, slowly awakening from what was a very deep sleep. Finally, brown eyes fluttered open, and the girl groaned. Yuzuki smiled in relief. Her jutsu had not been a vain attempt.

"Wh...what happened?" The girl tried to sit up, but she didn't yet have the strength. She panted under the stress, and gave up. She glanced nervously at Yuzuki, who was taller, paler, and had a wilder mess of hair than her. Yuzuki's eyes were an unsettling, glittering purple color, like an insect, that peered from deep, sleep-deprived sockets. Probably not an endearing first sight, but the girl hadn't been that beautiful with a hole in her chest either.

"My name is Yuzuki." She gave her a lopsided smile. "I found you and brought you home, after you were abandoned. What's your name?"

The girl had distinctive purple paint streaks on her cheeks, probably the insignia of a clan. She opened her mouth to answer, paused, and a look of fear etched her young face. She closed her mouth again.

"You don't have to be shy, I just saved your life!" She leaned in and was shaking eagerly.

"It's... not like that." The girl closed her eyes, as if deep in thought. "I... just... I can't remember."

"Eh? You don't remember your own name?" Yuzuki frowned. Aw, crap. She hoped this wasn't an after-effect of her jutsu.

The girl sighed. Everything about her past seemed hazy, and even her own name escaped her. She had skills, which she remembered learning, but who had taught them and why she had wanted to learn were lost to her.

"Can I call you Tukiko?" Yuzuki asked, with a hopeful shift in her voice.

"Oh... I suppose it doesn't matter." The girl felt helpless. "I mean, you have to call me something, right?"

Yuzuki's face was alight with happiness. Her sullen features turned gleeful. "I always thought it was a pretty name!" She wobbled back and forth, near bursting with excitement. "You'll stay here with me, won't you Tukiko-san?"

The girl, who was now Tukiko, was able to nod slightly. The expression on Yuzuki's face was enough to make anyone want to stay. Her voice had been cracking as though it had not been used for conversation in a very long time, and she seemed enthusiastic to finally have company.

And that was how Rin Nohara died. And Tukiko was born.

Years passed, and people have a tendency to change with time.

Tukiko bounded through treetops, keeping herself close to her partner. Yuzuki was fast, and very easy to lose track of if you weren't keen enough.

Yuzuki stopped, and Tukiko paused on a branch just a notch below. Yuzuki's eyes scanned the tiny clearing that was beneath their feet, and she licked her lips as if anticipating prey. Tukiko kept perfectly still, and waited.

A head bobbed into their line of vision. Without a moment's hesitation, Yuzuki made a series of hand signs, and there was a chill in the air. The man froze, and then fell to the ground, his body spasming erratically.

"Sensei!" There were three others, much younger, who came running to the man's side. Tukiko felt something flip in her stomach, but this was something she had braced herself for. Seeing teams of ninja like this always pained her for some reason.

"N-no! Go, l-leave now!" The man cried out in pain, spitting projectile blood. The girl on their team screamed. Tukiko could hear Yuzuki laugh softly. Her partner was a twisted woman, who often took a small pleasure out of fear from others. Tukiko found it unsettling, but had become used to it over time.

With a last cry, the man was mangled and dead. The children, probably his Genin apprentices, were transfixed with fear, and shock was painfully setting into its place.

"Shall I put them out of their misery?" Yuzuki asked, and a hand reached for one of the katanas she kept clung over her shoulder. She unsheathed the weapon, and jumped down from her high perch, aiming to strike.

Panic pulsed through Tukiko's veins. She couldn't bear to watch this happen!

"Wait!"

Yuzuki hesitated with her katana barely an inch from a boy's neck. The boy's eyes rolled into his head, and he fell over, while his comrades watched nervously. They weren't very good ninjas, Yuzuki thought. Her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"Oi, this better be pretty damn important, I'm in the middle of something." She said lazily, not lowering her weapon but relaxing her stance. These kids would stand no chance.

"Don't... don't hurt them." Tukiko jumped down to stand by her side, and she looked pleadingly into Yuzuki's face. "Our target is dead, we can collect the bounty now, but these children are innocent..."

Yuzuki snorted. "You're so soft for a kunoichi." She groaned and rolled her neck. "Don't you think we should sever the loose ends? I don't like leaving my stories unfinished."

Tukiko was much more benevolent than Yuzuki, and it showed even in their appearances. Tukiko looked more gentle, round, and her eyes were compassionate. Yuzuki was much sharper, ferocious, and unforgiving.

"Please, just this once." Tukiko said softly. "If... if they rat us out... then... I'll kill them myself."

Yuzuki stared at her, considering her request, and she sheathed her katana, while a laugh broke through her lips.

"I'll let them live, just for the opportunity to watch you kill them later!" She sounded amused. "Ah, I never see you get down to the good parts... it's always fun..." She licked her lips again, and gave the children a warning glare. Without a second warning, they ran away, leaving the unconscious one behind on the ground.

So much for loyalty.

Yuzuki stepped over the child like he was rock, and she tilted her face to peer down at Tukiko curiously. She grinned, as if delighted by what she found, and patted her friend on the cheeks.

"Aw, c'mon, I didn't kill them kids, are you gonna still be sad about it?" She laughed, and crouched down beside the body of the man whose life had just been eliminated. "Oh, what a handsome bastard too, it's a shame I didn't realize that before I gave them a show..." She searched through his pockets and took anything that looked either valuable or interesting. Tukiko sighed and marked the man's name off in a little book. There were many names that had been scribbled over, and many rewards collected for the deeds. After Tukiko had started her new life, she had trained with Yuzuki in the arts of stealth and assassination, and learned much about her new comrade.

Firstly, that Yuzuki was terrifying, and she seemed to enjoy the thrill of combat more than most fully grown shinobi.

Secondly, Yuzuki's eyes saw something that most eyes didn't see, and she could hear things that most people couldn't hear.

Thirdly, that no matter what, no matter how badly she messed up, Yuzuki would never hurt her. There had been times that Tukiko was terrified that she was going to be killed in a swift moment of rage, but never had the other woman so much as hit her. Instead, she would pat Tukiko's cheeks affectionately, laugh, and slink away, as if nothing happened.

Tukiko wanted to leave this madness, maybe start a life as a civilian and work things out on her own, but she felt too attached to her strange partner now. Besides, she seemed to have the skills to keep up with her, so maybe this was the kind of life that she had before everything disappeared.

There was a soft chuckle. Tukiko rose from her thoughts and noticed that Yuzuki was holding something very small, and grinning very widely at it.

"Looks like he had a family." She sneered, shoving the thing in Tukiko's face. Taking it, she saw a few photos of the man with a smiling woman and a few kids. Her heart thumped, and she shivered involuntarily. They had just murdered someone's husband, someone's father, for money...

"I can't believe it..." She muttered.

"What, this guy?" Yuzuki waved it off. "I bet he did something, killed someone on a mission, and the family wants revenge. That's how those ninja are, you know?" After patting down the corpse, Yuzuki stood back up. "I can see him now. He's just reaching out for them now, those kids. Too bad he's dead." She flipped her messy mane of hair and began to walk away. "C'mon, before anyone catches us."

That was the thing about Yuzuki's eyes. They could see souls, ghosts, whatever you wanted to call them. Sometimes Yuzuki would make remarks about the souls of those who had recently passed on, and it would usually disturb people enough to throw them off. She had fun with it.

Tukiko also stood up, and carefully avoided stepping on the child that was still knocked out cold. "I'm sorry." She mouthed, before catching up with Yuzuki, who was singing whimsically as she strolled through the forest.