Disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything in this fan fiction. They belong to their respected owners. If you think I do own this, then I will have Two Guns shoot you in the ass. :]
Pairing: Kadaj/Yuffie.
Warning: AU. Very Fluffy and innocent. Mentions of blood and violence, not much besides you will probably have to be on crack to understand it.
Summary: The Cetra forced her to take the enemy under her wing and to help him, at least, that's what she would tell anyone who found out.

..::One of Three::..

..::Innocence of a Child::..

"Just take care of him."

The girl heard the Cetra's voice echo through her head as she gripped the large weapon in her hand, eyes focused on the body laying a short distance away from her. She noted how his short silver locks covered his pale face, his eyes closed in a gentle manner, his body lay almost motionless - the only movement coming from a shot of pain that would rage through his body, his muscles would then flinch from the agony he found himself in. Her chocolate brown orbs slowly trailed over his fallen form, noting how his clothing was ripped and tattered, one of his jet-black leather gloves missing. She found herself cringing a bit before she spoke aloud to the woman in the Lifestream. "But Aerith... isn't he supposed to be dead?"

"Yes," the pink clothed woman's voice giggled. "However he is just a child, much like yourself. Don't you think he deserves a second chance?"

"But," she kept her eyes focused on the boy, "he's one of Sephiroth's insects or whatever. That makes him evil."

"When have you ever listened to Cloud," the voice spoke in a serious tone. "Besides... Kadaj is not evil, he's just... confused."

"Right," the girl mumbled. "Because when the good guys get confused, they bring back the big bad guy and try to destroy the world."

"Yuffie Kisaragi!"

"What?" She whined a bit before sighing, "Fine, Aerith, I'll take care of him, but if he tries to kill me, you're so taking him back!"

"Deal," Aerith giggled. "Now I'll leave you to tend to his wounds."

"Wait!"

Aerith's voice questioned curiously, "What is it?"

"Tell Zack I said Hi..." She answered with a light sigh, "and tell him to stop you from contacting me anymore about taking care of the baddies!"

"Yeah, yeah." The voice jokes, "Just do as I say, like the great ninja you are."

The little ninja smiled softly as she felt the connection to the Lifestream disconnect, her expression twisting to a frown as she turned her gaze to the silver not far away. She let out a small sigh as she gripped the strap to her messenger bag, starting over to the young male's broken and bleeding form. She felt a ping in her heart, she almost felt bad for the young silver, who had more or less been used by Sephiroth in some odd sense - she only learned this after Tifa explained to her that Vincent didn't mean that Kadaj was actually a insect. She could hardly imagine what was going to happen when the boy woke up, feeling a bit of dread.

"Just don't kill me when you wake up, alright?" She knelt down beside him, unzipping her bag and beginning to pull out the medical supplies inside, lining them up next to her. Once everything was out in the open, she turned her attention back to the silver haired boy and gently grabbed the zipper to his oddly leather outfit. Heat raised to her cheeks as she pulled it down to about his waist, carefully undressing his top half like a nervous child - only pausing when the boy would flinch or cringe. Her chocolate orbs scan over his very thin and wounded frame; there was no doubt in her mind, now that she had honestly gotten a good look at the villain, that he was very close to her age. "Poor guy."

"M-mother," a weak voiced whispered, causing the young ninja's gaze to snap up to the pale boy's face with surprise. His green cat-like orbs opened slightly, surprising the girl who could help but wonder how in gaia that he was even awake with these injures. Then again, she figured, he did die and was now laying in front of her, very much alive. He seemed just full of surprises, either that or Aerith is working to make her look like a moron; probably some sick Cetra revenge for the stealing of Materia. "Mo - "

"No way," she spoke quickly. "I'm not a mother, especially to you!"

"Wh - "

"Kadaj, just be quiet," the girl huffed a bit, although soon regretting it when she remembered just who this was. "I mean, you're still wounded and weak, you need to rest."

"Ho-how did you kn-know my na-name?" He questioned the girl in a low tone, completely ignoring her request. "Wh-who are yo-you?"

"You need to relax for a minute, so I can get you fixed up," the ninja replied swiftly while ignoring his questions. "I need you to close your eyes and keep your mouth shut, get some rest if possible. Can ya do that for me, Kadaj?"

He closes his eyes slowly, nodding. "... yes... I can..."

"That's a boy," she grinned before quickly cleaning the wounds while trying not to farther his discomfort from them. Much to her surprise, he only flinched a few times, even when she was dressing his wounds. However, when she turned back to her bag, starting to dig through it once more, she felt a shift in the air but ignored it. She knew there was little the boy could do to her at the moment, he could hardly even move let alone attack her. She found a pair of Cloud's jeans and an old long sleeved shirt, both items he hadn't wore in months, which was why she picked them out. She only brought them because of Aerith, who told her to bring something for a male to wear, then go to the location that she now was in. Shifting her gaze over to the male, she noticed him attempting to sit up. "Whatcha doing, buddy?"

"What's that for?"

"For you to change into," she answered the boy who seemed to love ignoring her. "What you're in is nothing but rags now, these are clean and will keep you nice and warm!"

"Right."

She grinned at the nodding boy; "Can you sit up for me, big guy?"

"Like this?"

"Yup," she gave the now sitting boy a light nod. She then carefully moved her arm around his slim waist, careful not to injure him farther, feeling his body tense up. She chose to ignore it and drape his arm over her shoulders, then motioned for him to brace himself, which he did, and helped him stand. She could feel his body flinch in pain, which caused her to frown, but once again ignored it as she started helping him over to a nearby tree - bringing the clothing with her, still clenched in her hand. Once they reached the tree, she leaned him against it and gave him one of her famous grins; "Do you think you can handle this by yourself?"

He nods and motions for her to leave, she returned the nod and started walking to the edge of the lake. She stopped at the very end of the shore and sat down, observing the stilled water for a moment. To be honest, she was slightly surprised by the silver; he was not nearly as aggressive and cruel as before. Hell, he'd hardly said anything since she told him to be quite, much to her surprise, he was being quite polite. She remembered what he was like, at least, what she had heard about him - how cruel he was, torturing the Turks, and attempting to bring back that psycho Sephiroth. She reminded herself that he succeed in bring back Sephiroth, only for Cloud to slaughter him again - worthless but still quite evil, maybe Aerith had been right.

"Miss..." Kadaj's voice gently called out, "I'm done..."

"Alright, coming!" She hopped up and jogged over to the boy, who had moved from behind the tree to the front of it. She wasn't surprised at the sight she witnessed once she took in the silver's appearance. He looked like he was drowning in the clothes that she stole from Cloud, who was much larger then the boy. Still, when she reached the silver, she wrapped an arm around his waist and placed one of his arms over her shoulders. She asked if he was ready, which he nodded to slowly, and the two began their way over to edge of the water.

Once there - and with some struggle - she helped him seat himself on the ground, then gently flopped down next to him while gazing at him out of the corner of her eye. Much to her surprise, when she sat down, he leaned over and against her carefully. She knew he was just using her for support right now, but it was kind of cute and innocent; is this really the remnant that Cloud fought weeks ago? "Kadaj?"

He didn't speak, only glanced up at her with curious eyes. She found herself grinning like a child at this point, observing him before finding her tongue once more. "Are you hungry by any chance?"

"A little..."

"Got it," she replied to his quiet answer and gently pushed him up straight and stood. She could feel his aura, which only produced a pitiful feeling of abandonment - she almost felt like a horrible person in that moment. She slowly shook her head, letting him know that she wasn't leaving, holding up her pointer finger for him to give her one minute. She witnessed a small nod from the boy before turning on her feels, heading over to her bag once more. She grabbed it up and started back over to him, sitting down and digging through the contents of the pack. She found herself smiling; "I have something in here for us to eat."

He leaned against her once more, trying to spy what was in the object the girl was digging through. "What is it?"

"Just gimme a second, sheesh," she teased as she continued her action. "I hope you like it though. You're going to have to tell me what you like to eat, so I can get it for ya until you're able to get around by yourself."

"I'm not picky."

She flashed a smirk and gave the boy a nod, then wrapped her fingers around two boxes in her bag. She pulled out the objects and handed one to the silver male, which he takes with a curious look in his eyes. She didn't speak and only set hers out in front of her and opened the container; revealing a few rice balls and a sandwich, probably the one without meat. She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Kadaj blinked a few times and sat up straight, opening his own box that contained the same as the ninja's. "Do you like it or not?"

"Did you make these," he questioned in a quiet tone.

"No way," she shook her head with a sheepish smile. "I stole these from the table on my way out. Tifa probably made them for Denzel and Marlene."

"Won't she be mad?"

"Probably but it doesn't matter," she confessed. "You need it more then they do. Besides, I'm a super awesome thief, she won't know it was me - I'm too good."

"Thanks," he closed his eyes and gave her a light smile.

"No Problem," She found herself blushing at his cuteness. She watched as he opened his eyes once more and slowly picked up a rice ball. He began to nibble at it as his smile widened, making Yuffie wonder if this was seriously the same boy that Cloud fought. That Kadaj was cruel and selfish, this boy was almost innocent and kind of sweet. It just seemed impossible that he was really Kadaj, and what surprised her the most was how he warmed up to her. This was the first person who didn't treat her like a child or like a nuisance; who knew that the great ninja Yuffie would find herself in a situation like this.

Author's Note: I didn't think that I would like this pairing, but this idea came to when I was reviewing some of my work on another site. I decided that I couldn't help myself and this came out. It's a rewrite of the original piece, which will never see this site. It's a three part fic, much like my Rod/Shotgun fic, but it's much more fluffy and what not. Enjoy?