He was not sure what happened he had gotten sick from eating some bad food he had kept in the small little tent he was staying in. He was not able to enter his clan village due to a civil war between two factions within his clan. The one side wanted to defect and join a bunch of rebels while the other one wanted to stay loyal to the Mizukage. None of this mattered to Ren who now had nowhere to stay and sleep. The hospital wanted to keep him but there were other issues involved that did not allow them to keep someone who would be better soon. With no home for him to eat or place for him to rest he needed to be taken in so the forms were filled and approved.

Many people had applied for the adoption process but they gave up on it after spending a while with him not even telling him they were there for him. It was hard since they felt sorry for him but he did not seem to act like a normal child, the thing they did not know was that having a slight tummy ache and feeling sick did not allow him to be like that. The parents who came to adopt him were mostly trash or stupid. As the day rolled on as Ren was lying asleep in the hospital bed they picked up on someone who they knew had many children and thought maybe she would take on one more. They did not know all too much other than she was an experienced shinobi mother and so the two main staff members in the adoption process approached this woman slowly with their plee.

Gin had promised herself not to get involved. This motto held true for many things. She had decided not to get involved with political affairs that didn't concern her. She had decided not to fight for so-called noble causes. And above all, she had decided not to make other people's problems her own. But here she was, staring down the nurse that was meant to guide her to the young boy's room. The bandages covering her face, the tattered clothes she wore and the multiple weapons hanging from her waist were more than enough to serve as an intimidation factor to the average shinobi. Not only that, but she had amassed a bit of reputation at the hospital because of her last few visits. An entire wing had been under reconstruction largely because of her. But carrying Soul Cutter - visibly hanging from its sheath - gave her a sense of parliamentary immunity. She was safe from any doctor's wrath. She heaved a sigh as she was led down the hallway and up the stairs.

What was she doing, anyways, deciding to take in a child she didn't even know?

Oddly enough, it hadn't been on a whim. Gin had never been the type of person to do anything half-assed. No, it wasn't that. It wasn't a whim or a selfish need for company. It wasn't charity, either. She didn't know what to call it yet, but Gin was sure of her decision and had arguably been sure ever since the prospect of adopting this kid literally came to her front door. The former Kazekage had bought a house recently in Kirigakure. Before then, she had been either mooching off of Sano's hotel room or living in the woods. And it would have stayed that way had she not been offered full citizenship and political asylum. She could finally start building a home for herself. She could bring her family here and have them live in peace, finally free from their current roles as political hostages to hold against the missing Kazekage, should she ever return.

The young woman had been settling into the house, using the money she had recently amassed to furnish the large house. Only a few days after moving in had she been approached by the equivalent of Kirigakure's child services. Gin was a sort of infamous and prominent figure in Kirigakure, as any member of the Seven Swordsmen would be. However, she was known under an alias, a persona that she had created for herself - Shinobu. The woman known as Kuroka Gin was still missing by and large, or at least that was the official statement. Ayakashi and Sanosuke were the only two people that knew better. But her made up character was largely based on her reality. Shinobu was a widow who had lost her children to an ungodly murderer and that her face had been disfigured by that same person when she avenged her family. Maybe that popular rumor was what had attracted child services to her doorstep. They had pleaded with her and handed her the boy's file. Gin said she would consider it, but arguably, her decision had been made the second she had been offered the boy's custody.

And now she stood at his door. Gin sighed one more time, wondering what she was getting herself into. As the nurse left her to speak with the boy, she pushed the door open. She guessed that her appearance wouldn't make the best of impressions and began to reconsider her choice in clothing. She chastised herself. It had been a while since she had last been a mother. This would take something used to again. To compensate, she tried to make her voice sound softer and more gentle than it usually did. There were still some rough edges to it, but it would have to do for now. "Ren, I take it?" She said as she took a seat in a chair next to the hospital bed. "I'll be taking care of you from now on," she said. The next words that came out of her mouth echoed on the room's walls before she could realize what she was saying. "Can you keep a secret?" She asked.

Was she just about to say who she was right off the bat? Without actually getting to know the kid? What if this didn't work out in the end? What if he wound up telling the entire village? Her children in Sunagakure would be in danger. She would be forced to give herself in and likely end up executed to keep them alive. But this kid was to be hers just as they were. And keeping who she was a secret would only deter from that. She knew as much deep down.

Ren was still sound asleep as he laid in the hospital bed, he spent way too much time there and had nearly reserved this bed with all his visits. It was then that he nearly woke up when he heard something but then he just rolled over and snuggled into his blanket. Hard to believe this was the same child who had been killing hundreds of Seven Bells shinobi. If he had been awake he would have noticed the noise he heard was  sigh but being a sleep it only made him stir.

As the nurse noticed the woman had arrived as the door was opened she stood up and greeted silently and nudged for Ren to wake up as he yawned a bit and stretched out as the nurse now left them alone but kept a vigilant eye as she then stood a short distance from the room. His vitals were being checked by the strap attached to his right arm and everything looked to be good as he sat still yawning as he rubbed his eyes. He looked to the side and could not tell what he was looking at his eyes a bit watery as he just recently woke up. It had been a while since he had a visitor the previous two people just kept talking about going to play at the park and something about dogs and he accidentally pulled out his sword and told them to be quiet. This was the main reason the adoption process was so hard for them, everytime a family comes in to adopt they get scared off before they can even tell him why they there. He mistook it for a bunch of people trying to get information on where he liked to go to. He stared at the woman before him and after a while he blinked and rubbed his eyes again and looked at her clothing and became a bit tense. He was about to assume she was there to assassinate him when she spoke.

"Ren, I take it?" was the first thing she said as he was not as much panicked as he was bit scared he nodded quickly without any sign of distress other than his heart beating a bit loudly. As he nodded she took a seat next to him and said something unexpected. "I'll be taking care of you from now on" was the strangest thing he had ever heard. He went from being scared to being completely confused and this actually excited him cause he wanted to learn what was actually going on. Then to top it off she asked him if he could keep a secret, hitting his curiousity flat on the nose he replied with another nod as he was a bit too nervous to speak with the way she was dressed not matching her statement to take care of him. He kept a lot of secrets his only fall back would be that if it came to life or death he would always choose life even when he risks his life. The tension was building up and then he spoke in a very soft almost girl like voice. "I'm Ren" as he places his palm of his right hand on his chest. He felt he had to atleast introduce himself to her since she did not come to start talking for hours about where he would like to go and chose to surprise him with a secret. He did not even figure out he was up for adoption yet as he never realised the people reported his sleeping in tents and so on. His life would change and hopefully for the better as the tension was still in the air with a chance for him to bond with someone in his life again looming in the air.

Like a deer caught in the headlights, the look on the boy's face was a mixture of shock, fear and disbelief. Gin supposed it was only normal. Had she been in the same spot many years ago, while she still lived in the orphanage in Sunagakure, her reaction would have been along the same lines, albeit much less timid. Gin smiled underneath the bandages that covered her face, her only visible eye closing as she let out a chuckle. She didn't know whether it was just because of her looks or her reputation in Kirigakure, but he didn't seem to believe her when she said that she would take care of him from now on. Nevertheless, Gin was a person of her word. Maybe she could be able to do something to inspire a little more trust in the boy - take a few baby steps before showing him her face, so to speak.

The young woman reached for the weapons tied to her waist. She untied Soul Cutter, the majestic blade glimmering in its sheathe as she did so. The skull at the base of the blade and the diamonds encrusted into it had a habit of reflecting the sunlight. She would often seal the sword while on missions in order to keep it from giving away her position, should she need the secrecy and stealth. Taking the blade in her mechanical arm - seemingly human underneath her clothes - she held it in front of Ren. "Do you know what this is?" She asked him. She would let him take the sword from her hand and hold it himself. After he answered the question, she would follow with another one. "Do you know who I am?" She would ask.

Gin hoped that the sword would spike his interest and help him come out of his shell. She had read in his profile that he was a swordsman himself. And even if he didn't know that this was the legendary Soul Cutter, he could at least appreciate the fine craftsmanship. The latter question would help her get an idea of whether or not he was interested in public figures. It would let her know if he already had an opinion about her and what, exactly, the nature of that opinion was. Furthermore, it was insight to whether or not he would recognize her real face - that of the disgraced former Kazekage.

The lady who had not even told her his secret yet began to untie her sword from within its sheath, the blade was glimmering and he noticed a skull at the base of the blade. He looked on at the diamonds encrusted and the unique way in which some of the light in the room reflected off it. He had completely forgotten the strange way in which she was dressed and was staring at the beautiful sword for quite some time. She then moved the sword towards him he nearly panicked as his hair stood up slightly as he leaned back a bit scared as she just held the sword out in front of him. "Do you know what this is?" is what she asked him and he looked more carefully then finally recognised the sword and in his excitement took hold of the sword with both hands, while it was a bit rushed he was smiling his emotional state was a bit unstable from all the things that happened to him. While the things in his past shaped him, the war distorted some of his beliefs and changed him making him stronger but at the same time more fragile then he was before. He then finally answered her and said. "This is the legendary sword Soul Cutter, where did you get this?" and it was then that she asked if he knew who she was and he thought real hard and only answer he could think of was " You one of the legendary Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Mist ".

He stopped to breath a bit as excitement nearly overwhelmed him, but the way he looked at the sword again before holding it out in front of him, child like emotions that had eluded him did exist. Sadly unlike normal children who thought pirates, ships, mythical beasts and playing games was cool. He really liked swords a lot as he looked to the side and then said. "Thank you" he gave a slight pause before thinking of what to say. "for letting me hold your sword ". It may have came as a slight surprise, but he had read up on the legendary swords sometime after seeing one of them fly passed during the Seven Bells War.

He did not recognise her face too well but something about her looked strange, he could not remember where but he was sure he saw her face in an old book somewhere. The book was not that old but he could not remember the title, he did know the book had small bits of information on the various Kage of today and some of the Kage of the past. He thought maybe he was remembering wrong and he did come across on books covering information mostly on the Mizukage and vague information about the Kage of other villages, there were rumors of a new Tsuchikage and his mind trailed off.

He began looking at her he from the corner of his eyes as he had his head looking to the side blushing. He was a bit embarrassed that he got all excited and did not think to just look at the sword and not touch it. His loose shirt slid down a bit showing his bandage on his shoulder which was still a bit red showing signs of an injury but the blood was dry so perhaps he had healed already. He was nervous but the sword won him over as he now was more excited and curious then scared and confused. Knowing she was a legendary swordsman meant she was an allie and letting him hold the sword won him over. He then asked a question very nervously. "What is your name?"

Gin couldn't help but smile as Ren clearly recognized Soul Cutter. His face showed an expression of sheer awe and amazement. That was definitely a good way to break the ice between the two. She would let Ren hold the blade for a while. Gin took it back once the young boy offered it to her. She let the blade rest on her lap. She would tie it back onto her waist with her other blade later on. She still didn't know why she hadn't gotten rid of the other sword that hung by her side. It was plain, with no real special abilities. It was an old blade that brought nothing but bad memories. It had been a gift from her late husband while she was bedridden - similar to the way that Ren was now. The former Kazekage had tried to get rid of it many times, but hadn't been able to. She couldn't bring herself to part with it.

She tore her eyes away from the old sword and looked back at Ren. He needed to have her undivided attention. It would be selfish of her to give him any less. The young woman closed her eyes briefly when she was asked her name. This was her last chance to reconsider, and yet, the thought didn't cross her mind. She began to untie the bandages that covered her face while she spoke. "I've been called a lot of things over the years," She rolled the several layers of bandages off one at a time. The skin on her forehead was now visible, along with an implanted sharingan and the scar over it. "Nowadays people call me Shinobu. I'm sure they also call me a menace while others call me a hero. In a far away country, I am known as a disgrace to my people - a traitor, a killer." The skin on her cheekbones was now visible, showing the features of a fair young woman. Her pale blonde hair - dyed that way to keep her signature silver locks hidden - cascaded down her shoulders and back. "Before that, my name was 'mother' to my children, 'daughter' to my mother. I was called a Lady by some and a Warrior by others." Her entire face was now visible as the bandages lay tossed aside on her lap, over the sheathed Soul Cutter.

Gin looked at him with a kind smile. "But above all else, I was known as Gin Kuroka, Kazekage of the Village Hidden in the Sand," She said. "But that is our little secret."

He did not notice it much that she had looked to her side for a while to an old sword. Having at the time been focused on the Soul Cutter earlier. She did pay close enough attention to pick up when he asked for her name. She began to remove the bandages from her face one bandage at a time while speaking. She mentioned that she had been called many things over the years, but her name for now was Shinobu. He blushed for a moment, his emotions only ever being there for less than a second before his cold training and harsh up bringing would force him to shake it off. He then looked directly at her sharingan as tears nearly built up in his eyes, which reflected light slight with the build up of water in his eyes as he began to think back.

In the past during his days in the academy he had a friend who possessed the sharingan named Uchiha Tora, that was the best friend he ever had and he remembered how the sharingan led to his friend's death. He also knew how powerful it was even though his friend only used it to copy him most of the time. He nearly would have been trapped in thought if he did not pick up on the words traitor. He was about to ask her about that when he noticed her silver locks of hair, he liked the color and was once again distracted. She then began to mention how she was known as mother by her children, and how she once had a mother who called her daughter, she mentioned she was known as both a lady and a warrior. When her entire face was revealed she smiled somewhat and told him her secret.

She was Kuroka Gin, the former Kazekage as she said that fear nearly swept over him, thinking that now he was a liability to her. Then his heart started racing for a moment as his eyes opened wider before the wind blew in cooling him off, allowing him to calm down a bit when he finally figured. She would not tell him all this to kill him so he shaked his head and forced out a smile then said. "So I call you Shinobu, right?". He was not fully sure of his situation and that he was adopted but at this stage he atleast liked that someone sat down to speak with him for a change. He hardly had anyone to talk to or be with and looked down. Deep down he wanted some affection and some love but he did not really know this too well himself, the harshness of his life creeping up on him. The darkness wrapped around him greatly. He finally said. " You really going to take care of me?"

This day would change his life forever as his life was about to have greater meaning.