Rei looked at the sheepish Mei and the quiet shy-looking quivering blond girl she dragged into his dimension.

"Care to run that by me again, Mei?" He asked, blankly blinking at his second apprentice slash soon-to-be-lover slash current pain in the ass. ​​

"Uh... you see, Yugito needed home and I thought... you know." Mei briefly glanced at Rei's face, noticing his unreadable expression, and lowered her head again.

"So... you basically stole a jinchuuriki from Kumo." Konan pointed with an amused tone.

Yugito suddenly found herself staring at the floor while fidgeting. She knew taking Mei's offer is basically treason which is certain death. She also knew that despite it looking like she was kidnapped, the Kumo Council would just spin their usual bullshit and put the blame on her. Not to kill her, but to gain even more hold of her. She hated them to her core. But... she didn't want to inconvenience Mei, one of the very few people who were nice to her.

Sure, Killer B was nice to her and tried to look out for her but he was always away, fighting on the front lines. A, B's surrogate brother, was also trying to be nice to her but Yugito knew it was more because of B rather than out of his own volition. She was not that close to either of them and that's why she accepted Mei's proposal. There was just nobody genuinely waiting for her in Kumo.

"Hey! Rei wanted a sample of her chakra. Now, here she is," Mei gestured to Yugito who looked between her and Rei in complete shock. "I would say I fulfilled the mission requirement better than anyone!" Mei gave Konan a defiant stare.

"And by doing that you most likely utterly pissed the Raikage off. Please, at least tell me you didn't leave the mark behind." Rei asked hopefully.

"Uh... no? I made sure to mark the entire training ground with the 'Yozora was here' mark." Mei tilted her head confusingly, causing Rei to facepalm. "You know what?" He drawled tiredly, "Fuck the Raikage. Anyway," He turned towards the fearful Yugito, "welcome to our home." He smiled ruffling the girl's hair which made her flinch and Konan and Rei suddenly understood why exactly Mei dragged Yugito back with her.

'I guess a sudden contact with a man will be a bit too much for her in the following weeks. It will take a bit to get the mental trauma out of her.' Rei turned towards Mei. "Since you brought in the stray cat, you will feed, bathe, and train her." He told her jokingly, making Konan snicker while Mei looked as if she just ate a lemon. She didn't consider who would take care of Yugito. She definitely didn't think it would be her... "Consider her your pet and your first apprentice." Rei quipped and turned around to leave Mei's room alongside Konan who was mirthfully snickering at Mei's predicament.

The two left and the room descended to complete awkward silence.

"Uh... am I a bother?" Yugito asked unsurely only for Mei to drop back onto her bed and bounce up and down for a bit with an audible groan.

"No..." Mei answered with a pout. "I have no clue how you interpreted that but if you were a bother Rei would have thrown you out, no questions asked. That was basically him allowing you to stay here. I just..." Mei grew silent only to let out a frustrated yell and started flailing her arms in the air, startling Yugito for a moment. Her frustration finally dropping, Mei calmed down and continued, breathing a bit harder than usual, "I am just angry at myself for not considering who would take care of you. I could have pinned you on Konan if I did." Mei sullenly said.

'So I am a bother...' Yugito sweatdropped while also feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach as sadness overcame her. 'Even here nobody wants me.' She bit her lower lip.

"It would have been infinitely better for you," Mei continued a bit miffed at saying that, causing Yugito to stop her self-pitying and snap her gaze back to Mei who still laid on her bed. "Konan trained me, Konan trained Ringo, Konan trained Tsun... ahem," Mei coughed, "my second sister Tsu. Only Tsu can match Konan when it comes to the women here and even that is only when Konan is not using some of her Jutsu. Being in Konan's care would give you the best training available. That's why I wanted to pin you on her." Mei explained and Yugito's heart warmed as her eyes widened at being told Mei thought about what would be best for her.

"This Konan... is she... Konan of Kiri?" Yugito asked unsurely. The woman looked around eighteen at best and definitely didn't seem to be somebody who tore Kumo fleet to shreds by herself, brutally killing thousands in the process. Nor did she look like someone whose specialty was drowning people alongside their own castles.

"Yes... she is the strongest one of us women here." Mei huffed.

"But I thought you gained your SS-rank sooner?" Yugito tilted her head. Mei's story about how she decimated the Iwa army of ten thousand mercenaries and over five hundred ninjas was legendary. Sure, many versions were outright retarded but still! Mei's fame was a big factor in why Yugito took the offer of protection.

"And who do you think trained me, duh..." Mei rolled her eyes, causing Yugito to avert her eyes in shame but for the first time since she entered Rei's dimension, a small smile appeared on her lips. "Konan can be a bitch sometimes. Especially during training. I might want to one-up her to satisfy my vindictive pettiness," Mei acknowledged that very easily, too easily in Yugito's opinion, "but I look up to her, you know? She is like a mother I never had to me." Mei quietly added with a nostalgic smile.

Yugito didn't know what to do in this emotional situation and did the only thing she knew would calm her if she was distraught. She unsurely walked towards Mei, dragging herself above her on all four as the girl still laid on her bed, and then Yugito suddenly hugged the surprised Mei whose arms snaked around Yugito's torso, both enjoying the comforting feeling of their embrace.

"Ne~... wanna be friends, Yu-chan?" Mei suddenly said, causing Yugito to frown at her new nickname.

"Hm." Yugito made what she later deemed to be at the same time the best and the worst mistake in her life... she agreed.

"Good! That means I will have to train you so I won't be embarrassed by your strength! I wonder if Ringo would like a sparring partner..."

The poor stray cat had no idea what was in store for her in the future.