Peacefully, I walk down the street that leads towards the training grounds we were to meet. Beside me, Hikaru looks at the ground, his feet dragging as his face pinched in concentration. It was obvious that he had something on his mind, but I didn't dare ask. Knowing him, he'll either tell me or ask me about something soon enough.

"Hey, Shizukana?"

"Mm?"
I mumbled without looking towards Hikaru. Looking forward, I continue to walk towards the meeting area. Naruto and Sakura already appearing in sight as they lean up against the chain mail fence.

"Why did your mother think of you as a monster?"

I freeze instantly, my body going rigid as the tiny hairs on my body stand on end.

"Where did this come from?" I asked in a whisper, my tone icy and cool.

"I don't know...it's been on my mind lately but I never thought to ask you about it before. Was it because you looked so much like Ketsueki? What did he even do that was so bad?"

Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose and shake my head. Looking up from the ground, I look Hikaru straight in the eye and cross my arms in a relaxed manner.

"You know all those times that I went to the library after my training sessions?-"

Hikaru nods "yeah?"
"Well, I was doing research. Turns out Mujihina and Ketsueki Sairen lived during the time of the Warring States period. The same time frame that Madara Uchiha, Tobirama Senju and Hashirama Senju lived-"

Hikaru cuts in. "Okay so? What has this got to do with anything?"

Growling, I flash my fangs at him. "You'd find out if you'd quit interrupting me!"

Rolling his eyes, Hikaru nods and waves for me to continue.

"As I was saying. They all lived around the same time frame. The difference, however, was that the Sairen clan didn't partake in the war, and was, in fact, a neutral party in all the violence—yes I know. Weird.—Anyways. The five of them didn't actually meet until the Uchiha and Senju called a truce and began to form the village of Konoha. During that time, Hashirama and Madara were sending out letters asking for clans to join the village alliance.-"

"And the Sairen agreed."

Lifting a hand, I give Hikaru a swift slap across the back of his head. " not quite."

"Then get to the point!!"
I growl lowly at him.

"The Sairen, in fact, DECLINED, because of the area the village would be situated. They needed water to be at their strongest. Konoha was only abundant with the resource of trees. A no go for a clan that is extremely dependent on large bodies of water. Instead, they offered to send two representatives to talk about negotiations on merely being allies.

The two that were sent had to stay for three months to figure out ground rules, promises, all that good stuff---The two that were sent were Mujihina and Ketsueki.
From personal handwritten accounts that I found from the two, negotiations went so well, that the Five of them actually became really good friends. Such good friends In fact, that when Mujihina and Ketsueki took over the clan, relations between Konoha and the Sairen clan became better."

"LIKE I SAID, GET TO THE POINT!" snaps Hikaru

"FINE! Sairen are an emotional group of people, we take relationships of any kind extremely seriously. Ketsueki...he was...extremely bad at keeping his emotions in check. So when Hashirama kills Madara, his Best friend.-"

Hikaru's eyes widen in horror as the the the realization hits him.

"He went insane....from the sorrow of losing his friend....."

"Precisely. To make the situation worse, Mujihina was fatally injured during the battle because she tried to stop the two from fighting. Ketsueki's chakra shield went crazy, killing nearby villagers and many Shinobi. Hashirama and Tobirama were forced to dispose of him in order to stop the destruction."

"So everyone's afraid that you'll go crazy like him."

"Exactly."

Hikaru runs a hand through his hair in obvious worry. Shaking his head he turns around in a circle before stopping and staring at me with wide eyes.

"But you've been through so much more than that! They can't expect you to go crazy like he did!"

I laugh humourlessly as I look towards the ground. "I was given his private journal by the clan head, Hikaru. He lost his little brother to a disease. Father was killed by an Uchiha, mother committed Suicide. Before Madara died, his wife passed during childbirth........He was literally dying from the inside out, Hikaru. And also-"

I turn and look at him with sad eyes.

"I've already gone insane a couple times, Love. When I killed my mother, siblings, and when Pandora died. Not to mention, I went a little batshit crazy when I found out Silver was still alive, even AFTER I stabbed him in the back of the head."

I sigh and turn back towards the direction that Naruto and Sakura were waiting. I look at them with a soft expression.

"If I ever end up like that...I want you to be the one to kill me. Promise me."

"Shizukana, you can't seriously-"

"Promise me."

Silence elapses over the two of us, as we continue to make our way towards the two.

"I promise."
Ketsueki's words ring in my head as a painful warning.

"Do not let them call you a monster. They do not understand. Don't let them do to you what they did to me."

Sighing, I turn my head and give Hikaru a soft smile. "Thank you, Hikaru."
Hikaru refuses to look me in the eye as we finally reach Naruto and Sakura.

"Hey, guys! What took you so long!" Cried Sakura, her face erupting in a smile as she waves at us.

"Oh, nothing!-" I let out a nervous chuckle as I rub the back of my neck sheepishly. "Just had to drop the kid off with Temari and Shikamaru, considering that they're the only ones available right now."

From beside Sakura, Naruto narrows his eyes at the both of us and gives me the look saying 'I know that's there's more to it'
I simply wave him off and turn my attention back to Sakura.

——-/————-

Adrenaline courses through my veins as I get into a defensive position. My Chakra pulsed as it awaited to great some damage to the opponent that faced us.

I waited eagerly as Kakashi put away his book and lifted his headband, his Sharingan flashing dangerously.

"I have a feeling that I'm going to have to take this a little bit more seriously this time around."

I let out a laugh "damn straight old man!"
I watch as Naruto did the same thing he did back when we did the bell test for the first time. He rushes forward and attacks Kakashi with the same amount of force that he did back when we were twelve.

The difference?

Naruto actually had skills to back up his cocky statements now.

I watch in amusement as Kakashi pins Naruto's hand behind his back, Kunai aimed for the back of his head. My amusement grows as Naruto's clone points a kunai at Kakashi's back.

Kakashi tch's and voices his thoughts in a bored undertone.
"You haven't changed a bit. Still as impatient as ever. I haven't even said 'go' yet."
I look towards Hikaru, sending him a look that only the two of us could understand. His eyes glacé with understanding, a mischievous smile making its way across his lips.

"Let's do this." He whispers
My fangs flash in the sun as I smile at him.

"Go"

I go to move, but the Kakashi that was standing there exploded in a puff of smoke, revealing it to only be a simple log. Growling, I close my eyes and tune out the world.

Instantly, various colours explode in my vision, each one representing a different Chakra. I zone in on the one that I recognize to be Kakashi.

He was beneath us, underground to be precise.
"Below."

That was the only word that I needed to say.
Snapping my eyes open, I watch as Sakura infuses her hand with Chakra and punches the ground, cause it to break apart.

Within the rubble, I spot the slightly terrified Kakashi. Grinning, I take off in a crack of lightning.
I swing the kunai at him, Kakashi dodging it by only a hair.

"OI!"

"Aim to kill, right?"

Getting low, I kick at him, a blade protruding from the end of my boot. The blade misses his neck by only an inch, but that was not my main concern.

I needed to scare him or shock him into stopping his movement for even just a second.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

I go to reach for the bells, but Kakashi jumps, only to be tackled by Naruto and his clones. Jumping away, I let my Chakra flare momentarily, a signal for Hikaru to come to my side.
I watch as Sakura and Naruto manage to Chance him into the woods that surrounded the training area.

I turn and smirk at Hikaru, my eyes flashing dangerously.
"let's scare Kakashi a little, what do you think?"

Hikaru expression matches mine as he reaches up to tighten his ponytail.

"let's do it!"

The both of disappear in a crack of lightning, near him nor I making any other noise as we take to the trees. Jumping to where Sakura and Naruto were situated, I raise a single finger to my lips.

The both of them give me a look of determination. Grinning, I slow down my breathing and conceal my Chakra.
Closing my eyes, I let rage fill my veins. I think of all my worst memories, every little thing that pisses me off.
Slowly, I feel the familiar sting and tingle in my scalp and eyes.

"Shizukana, what-"

I cut off Naruto and hush him, sending him a sly wink before turning to Hikaru.
His White hair and blood red eyes were the true sign to me that the transformation worked. Power flooded my veins, my Chakra reserves feeling more full then they have in a while.
Meeting Hikaru's gaze, we both nod before reaching into our weapons pouch. We both pull our an ANBU mask. While mine was the beautiful white mask with the painting of waves.
Hikaru's was painting black with lines of red drawn all over it.

Grinning, I whisper quietly to myself, knowing full well that Kakashi could hear me.

"Lorelei has come for you."

Looking back to the two on the ground, I quickly sign to them the instruction to what we have to do.
I hoped that they understood what I asked of them.

Charging forward, I open up my gorge and pull the water out of it. Jumping off the tree, my water soars and catches my feet and propels me through the air.

Effortlessly, I weave between the trees, Hikaru in his most from following close behind.
Below, Sakura and Naruto followed close behind.

"let's finish this before it drags out any longer."

With that said, I move in front of the tree Kakashi was hiding behind. He dodges the water spike that I chuck at him and heads towards the small body of water to our left. Landing on the ground, the water from my gorge surrounds me protectively.
His hands move at such a speed that I have a hard time comprehending the signs that he was weaving.

Before I could understand what he has even uttered, a massive water dragon formed above us, diving towards us with relentless intent.

Gritting my teeth, I push Chakra into my shoes and force myself to stay put. Reaching out a hand, I send my water our after Naruto and Sakura, who have swept away in the massive wave.

Pulling them towards me, I turn and quickly double checked that they knew the plan.
"just get him immobilized, all I have to do it touch him, and I'll be able to control him completely."

Looking up towards Hikaru, I flicker my eyes from his most form back to Kakashi. Within an instant, Hikaru is gone, distracting Kakashi while we talk.
"I don't care what it takes, just get him to the point where he's semi defenceless."

Silence surrounds us for a second before Naruto's eyes widen in excitement.
"that's it!!-"

I usher for him to hurry and continue.
"he hasn't finished reading that book pervy-sage has given him!! Meaning he doesn't know how it ends! If we threaten to spoil it for him-"

"he'll cover his ears to stop from hearing!" cuts in Sakura.

"meaning he won't hear me coming..BRILLIANT! let's do it!"
I cry, smiling from ear to ear.
Nodding, we all turn and charge off to where we hear fighting.

When we get closer to Hikaru and Kakashi, I separate from the two and situate myself begin the old man.
Once I hear them utter the words Kakashi dreads to hear, I slowly sneak towards the unsuspecting Jounin.

"no stop! Stop talking!"
That's all I needed to hear.
Charging forward, I press my hand to his shoulder and push chakra into his body before he has time to react.

Smirking in triumph, I take a step back as Kakashi's eyes snap open and his eyes narrow into a glare at me.
My smirk turns into an innocent smile as the other three go to stand beside me.

"you guys did an excellent job, thank you."

Kakashi's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "what are you-"
I small my hands open, Chakra pulsating from them.
Kakashi freezes, and his body becomes rigid and stiff looking.

"W-What have you-AH!"

I grimace slightly and make his body move without his own consent.

"Guys just hurry and grab the bells. This isn't exactly painless for Kakashi. I'd like to be able to take the Chakra out as soon as possible."

Nodding, Sakura reaches to grab the bells, and just as they do, I release my hold on Kakashi, causing him to fall to the ground.

He looks up at me with narrowed eyes.
"Don't you EVER, do that again."

Hikaru laughs from beside me, his body fully going back to its physical form.

"I make no promises."

_____________
Another chapter! Hope you all liked it!
-Mizuko