Haru and Hawaki stood petrified. Their usual handsome faces are scrunched up in utter disgust. Both of them stepped back, moving behind me, using me as a shield to the atrocity in front of us.

Kaname collapsed onto the couch, or what I assume is a couch underneath all that filth. Clothes, trash, old takeout containers, and some item's I'm not even sure what they are.

Oh, I think that one moved.

Haru had gone ghostly pale at the sight and I felt pity for him. He doesn't like uncleanliness.

"Huh? Who the hell are you? Get lost brats." Kaname's words were so slurred I could barely decipher them.

"She's the girl who needs help with Blood Release? Remember." Haru asked bitterly. Kaname turned onto his back and placed one hand on his forehead.

He turned his bloodshot eyes to me. "I don't take on students. Leave." My temple throbbed at his words.

Why this! "You just said you'd train her." Hawaki snapped. Kaname didn't even flinch. "I said that you didn't have to look anymore. That I'm the man you were looking for. I never said I'd teach you."

He's not wrong, but it pisses me off nonthess. "She's been looking for you for ages and crossed many lands to do so." Hawaki's voice is cold but firm. The two of them are sticking up for me.

Haru never really liked it when people showed me disrespect or got mouthy. A drunk who has only referred to me as a brat? Yeah, not on the go list. Seem's Hawaki isn't fond of him either.

"I'm not leaving until you take me on as your student." I crossed my arms across my chest defiantly and narrowed my eye on his dark blue ones.

He stared right back at me. No emotion is showing but that only made me more stubborn. The mess that was his living room became a distant thought as tension filled the space and all that there was is me and him.

Even in his drunken state, his presence is huge and I can feel his chakra move around, trying to intimidate mine. Like a lion standing his ground. Even Haru and Hawaki fidgeted under the pressure he was emitting.

Mixed in with it is a dormant sense of bloodlust that seemed ready to come out at any given second.

There's no doubt that he is Kaname. This confirms it. And in turn, made my resolve harden.

I tried my hand in making my presence known. Reaching out towards his chakra with my own, showing my readiness to do battle and gave him a preview of the bloodlust that I'm always fighting with to keep hidden.

Because the two of us were doing this, the room became heavy and harder to breathe.

Despite his state, his is definitely more threatening and powerful. But I won't back down. Not now. I need to fix what's wrong with me.

Sasori gave me this opportunity. I'm not letting it go to waste. There's no way in hell I'm giving up.

Never give up. That's my brothers ninja way and god damn it I'm gonna uphold it.

His presence vanished into thin air and he let out a sigh, covering his eyes with his hand. "You're a nuisance. But since you came all this way, you all can stay here for the night. But not for free. If you're serious, then put it into work and clean." He turned on his side, his back to us.

Haru and Hawaki looked appalled at the mere suggestion. I eyed the mess that leads further into the house. And it looks worse the more you go in.

With a sigh, I took out my pigtail and put my hair up into a high ponytail and began to head more into the place. "Are you crazy?! You'll catch something!" Hawaki hissed. I glanced back at him with a blank look.

"I lived with Naruto. I can do this."

~

After hours of cleaning I finally got the place spotless. And it's not a bad looking house he has now that it's all polished.

"Uh, Miyu. Why is there a fire in the backyard?" Haru asked as he stared out the kitchen window.

I stared off at a wall, thinking back to the items I found. "Sometimes the only way to fully clean something is with fire."

He began to sweat at my claim. Hey I tried! I scrubbed grime off the floors and walls, I washed mold off of the dishes and threw away a lot of hazardous takeout.

It took a lot of time and most of the cleaning supplies I had to make because all he had was a pack of sponges and a broom. Yeah. It wasn't a walk in the park.

Lucky, or unlucky I guess, Naruto and Pervy Sage live like slobs as well. And with Pervy Sage I don't trust a lot of his things so I burn them at times too.

Damn lecher. But the number one thing those two taught me is bleach fixes almost everything. Bleach. Use lots of bleach.

"It's like a different place." Hawaki said in awe. I hummed absent mindlessly and let my hair down so I could rub my head. "Didn't take you for a cleaner." He admitted, scratching the back of his neck.

I was quiet for a bit as I began to wring out the tenth sponge I used for the kitchen alone. "It was only me and Naruto growing up. Someone had to do it and he was more than content to live in filth."

I don't really like to clean, but I don't like living in dirty laundry and empty ramen containers either. It's the lesser of two evils.

"There's nothing in the fridge. Anything that was in there I had to throw out. Only thing left is liquor. You guys head to the village and grab some food, I'll wake Sleeping Beauty."

"Any preferences?" Haru asked as Hawaki peeked into his money pouch. "Spicy."

If I'm lucky, Kaname can't handle spice.

"Aye, aye captain." The boys mock, salute and head out. Alright. Now that those two are gone, time to face the drunk.

I walked into the living room and stared down at the man on the couch. You learn a lot about a person while cleaning after them. By the looks of it, he lives alone. No photos of a family, girlfriend, or even friends. Actually there are no photos at all.

Only cheesy books that the Pervy Sage writes and takeout containers. It's safe to say he doesn't have anyone in his life right now.

Based on his looks and what I found, he doesn't take care of his body. He doesn't eat right and doesn't get all of his vitamins.

And he definitely doesn't work out anymore. I found his weights buried under some nasty laundry. And in a box in his closet are his ninja tools. All of them are covered in dust. It's very . . . sad.

I've been to Pervy Sage's house, and even his isn't this bad. It's like he's given up.

"Alright old man. I need you to not be a pain in my ass. Hey. Wake up." I shook his shoulder.

He slurred something unintelligible but remained asleep. I repeated this process a few more times. He's still out cold. My temple throbbed madly.

"I have an older brother, a skirt chasing sage sensei, and a gambling, drunk, Hokage. You? You don't stand a chance."

I stormed into the kitchen and grabbed a pot and a metal ladle. I set it down and moved the small table in front of the couch diagonally. Hm. the corner seems to be in the right place. Alright, good to go.

I grabbed my weapons of choice and then began to bang them into one another. "Get your ass moving!" I shouted.

Kaname let out a scream and fell off the couch, slamming his head into the corner of the table on his way down.

I smirked as he immediately placed his hand over his forehead.

"Good morning." I smiled sickly sweet. Kaname scowled up at me, rubbing his head. "You're an evil little thing." He grumbled.

I just kept my smile and looked around. He did the same and tensed up. Kaname slowly stood and gawked at his new house.

"I cleaned your house. That shows I'm serious right? So. Will you teach me?" I asked as I placed a hand on my hip and tilted my head a bit.

He closed his mouth and pursed his lips, shooting me a look. "I never said I'd teach you. I said you could stay the night."

I crossed my arms again and pushed down my growing anger. "Well I'm not leaving. I want you to teach me. I need you to teach me." Kaname let out a long sigh and dragged his hand down his face.

"I don't take on students. And I don't teach Blood Release. Look, I get it. You have something new and you want to learn how to use it. But I don't teach it anymore. I'm not going to teach it. Not to you and not to anyone else."

This stubborn old fool. "Why? Why won't you be my teacher. You're a ninja. Don't all of you get high off the fact that your students listen to you?"

His brows scrunched up a bit. "What? No, no ninja's like that."

I rolled my eyes at that. "Please. All of you are like that. You're all just wanting to please your master and have a little student of your own who does the same in this really old tradition."

He raised an eyebrow and took in my attire. "You're a ninja, right? That's kind of offensive." I scoffed.

Whatever. I wasn't really kind when I was following all the rules. Most of the rules. Some. Some of the rules. At least my track record was better than Naurto's.

Until this whole disaster happened at least.

"I don't need a student to ease my ego. I don't do any ninja work anymore. I don't do ninjutsu, and I don't do Blood Release. I'm retired. I'm never doing it again. So buzz off. You're just gonna have to learn it all by yourself."

Why is he being so stubborn? He should know that I can't learn it by myself.

"Look, this was given to me, and whether I like it or not, I'm stuck with it. I can't control it. If I don't learn how to use it, I'm going to end up hurting people. Those two boys with me? I'll hurt them and I'd sooner die then do that. I need you to teach me."

He stared at me for a while. "The bloodlust?"

My breath caught in my throat. He knows. Of course he does. "Yeah. I'm having a hard time controlling it. It's always screaming at me to let loose. Every waking moment, even right now."

His eye never left mine. He isn't shocked. He isn't pitying me. He's just staring at me with his cold, unchanging, eyes.

"The bloodlust will never leave. You weren't born into this, I can tell. So I'll just let you know that. The biggest drawback to our Kekkei Genkai is the constant bloodlust. It will never go away. You're just gonna have to live with it."

What?

I . . . I will always have bloodlust? The voice is always going to gnaw at my mind? That's it?

"Give up on it. Find a way to suppress it. Numb it. Learning the Kekkei Genkai isn't going to help. Blood Release brings nothing but misfortune. The more you use it, the more insane you get. Until eventually you'll end up dead like the rest of them. The only reason I'm still alive is because I can numb it. I find alcohol helps a lot."

So the more I use it, the more the voice takes over. That explains some of it I suppose. So my only real option is to drink my problems away like him.

Living with this constant need to shed blood. No. That can't be it. There has to be something more. I can't give up. Not now. Itachi.

"If I don't learn everything I can about it, I'll still end up hurting my friends. If I can't use it properly, it'll still put us in danger. Maybe the bloodlust won't ever go away. But I can learn how to protect myself and those around me with it. Teach me."

His eyebrow twitched, apparently not expecting my response. "I told you that much out of the kindness of my heart. But I'm not going to tell you anything else and I'm not going to teach you."

"Well then I guess we're going to be roommates then. Because I'm not leaving." I growled out.

Our glares clashed with one another. I can't back down. There has to be another way. If I can just control this, if I can just find a way to suppress the voice a different way, that'll be enough for me.

I need to learn. My time is running out. I can't afford to give up.

Kaname threw his hands up in the air. "You're insufferable. Fine. Stay. It won't do you any good."

A long silence filled the space. The front door swung open.

"So this apparently the spiciest curry. We had to sign a waiver and everything-" Hawaki stopped mid sentence and looked between the two of us before landing on the bloody bump on Kaname's forehead.

"Poochi, time?" He asked his partner in crime. Haru glanced at the clock on the wall. "Nine hours, forty-seven minutes, and about thirteen seconds before she hit him. New record."

My eye twitched. I'm not that bad, am I?

"I actually got this hitting the table. Makes the hangover all the more killer." Kaname complained, touching his wound. Haru just snorted. "That's what you think."

Kaname shot me an accusatory glare before glancing at the bags with interest. "Those from Shouiichi's?" Hawaki nodded, holding it up. "Yep. Super spicy."

Kaname glanced at me and smirked in triumph. "I love spicy food."

Damn it.