Warning: Addressed at the bottom of 2.

Beta: Cyndaquil123

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"How much should I repent?

How can I atone for the evil that I have done?

Who is it, the person, the one to forgive me when I forgive none?

Good and evil clash with God and these emotions.

No one yet can see that everyone has been disposed."

Sam Luff (Solitude)

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

I brought my team to my old training grounds, all of them remaining completely silent during the walk. Naruto was on hyper guard, half-expecting me to turn around and launch a small splinter bomb at him at any moment. Hinata was naturally a quiet child, and Sakura seemed to be overcome by a fit of shyness.

When we reached the training field—a nice wide area with fast-growing grass, three training stumps, a pond, and surrounded by trees—I beckoned for each of them to take a seat. They sat in front of me, Naruto once again looking around him for any unseen traps, and then I sat down.

My lips curled into a small smile, one I used to greet clients. "Hello. Let's start with introductions, shall we? I'm Senju Naasica, Head of Senju. I enjoy collecting traditional hairsticks, and spending time with my loved ones. I dislike anyone who stands in my way. I don't really have a dream, per say, but I do hope to one day make the world a better place. Naru-chan, why don't you go?"

Naruto grimaced at my nickname for him. The blond rocked back and forth and said, "I'm Senju Naruto, second heir to Senju. Uhum, I really like junk food, but my evil siblings don't let me have hardly any." He tossed a glare my direction, to which my smile only widened. "I like reading, and experimenting, though. I hate arrogant assholes. And I know I'm going to be the greatest shinobi to have ever lived. I'll surpass everyone in my family!"

Wouldn't that be something to see? I thought fondly. "Very good. Hina-chan?"

Hinata inclined her head in a very elegant manner. "I am Hyūga Hinata, heiress to the Hyūga Clan. I love training with my mother, and sister, and collecting rare plants. I'm very proud of our garden. I am not overly fond of bugs that eat my plants, though. I hope to one day be as strong and kind as my mother."

Considering Hisana was an ANBU Captain, that's a high bar. Although I wouldn't call any woman who invents poisons to prolong suffering before death kind.

"And Sakura-chan?"

Sakura straightened up, squaring her shoulders back, even as she fiddled with her fingers. "I-I'm Haruno Sakura, civilian born. I, um, I—" Sakura's brow furrowed as she thought about what to say. "—I like to read and learn about new things. I, uh, I don't like bullies. I want to be a strong kunoichi."

"Very admirable," I praised. "Today I'll giving you all a brief assessment of your skills. The academy report can only say so much, after all. Naru-chan, why don't you start with a demonstration of your skills?"

Naruto hesitated. "All of them?"
"All of them, except your fūinjutsu. I'll regrow the trees if necessary," I assured him, glancing around at all the orange-leafed trees that I had already regrown in the past.

Naruto hopped up from his spot, meandering over to a safe distance. He rolled his shoulders, stretching out his arms and loosening his muscles. After a couple minutes of stretching, he let out a soft breath and began to run through handseals.

He sucked in a big gulp of air before spitting out a small condense bullet of air that completely exploded a row of five trees. Sakura gave a small yelp at that—after all, ninjutsu was something very rarely allowed in class—but Hinata only watched with polite interest, her hands folded neatly in front of her.

Naruto sucked in another deep breath before he let out a stream of sharp wind and whipped his head around, swinging that wind-whip through the trees and slicing through them.

He pulled his tanto and covered it in his chakra before he swung it down hard. Where he swung in the air, a slash of fūton chakra launched out in a arc from his attack, destroying yet another set of trees.

That was the end for his fūton repertoire, but Naruto went ahead and summoned a shadow clone that transformed into a small shuriken. Naruto threw that shuriken, and the shadow-clone-disguised-as-a-shuriken multiplied by a hundred and a barrage of shuriken fell upon the trees.

Naruto hesitated in showing much more, looking back towards me for approval.

"One more," I encouraged him.

With great reluctance, Naruto summoned forth his Rasengan and launched himself towards a tree.

The tree was completely destroyed upon impact.

"That's pretty much it. Shadow clone has a lot of versatility, so I can use all those attacks with the clones," Naruto said, shrugging with one shoulder. "Is that all, Nee—Sensei?"

"I believe so," I said. "Hina-chan?"

Hinata bowed towards me. "I'm sorry, Sensei. I do not know any ninjutsu, only my clan technique and poisons."

"Mm. I suppose that would be hard to show. How many poisons do you keep on you?"

"Only three," Hinata admitted. "I do use senbon, and I am learning chakra strings with Okaa-sama, but I am not yet proficient enough to utilize them."

"That's fine," I reassured her. "I'll leave that aspect up to Hisana-san, since she's much better at that than I. That being said, I do think you should have more long range in your arsenal than your poison-coated senbons, and chakra strings."

Hinata nodded, accepting this.

"Sakura-chan?" I inquired.

Sakura chewed on her bottom lip. "I, um, I don't know any ninjutsu outside the basic three. I can only use a couple genjutsu techniques."

"I see," was all I said. "If that's the case, then let's do a very simple physical test. All of you, give me five laps around the training grounds."

Sakura blanched, but Naruto already took off, Hinata right at his heels. I cleaned up the broken trees Naruto destroyed, regrowing those that were beyond repair.

Naruto and Hinata were both physically fit students. From what I gathered, Hinata received specialized training from her mother at a young age, and flourished under Hisana's specialized gentle fist which focused more on flexibility and fluidity, over the standard rigid gentle fist.

Naruto, I had a personal hand in training since he was small. I kept him on a proper diet (not too strict because children deserved their sweets), and a good exercise routine. Not hard enough to damage his muscles, but certainly enough to test his Uzumaki endurance.

I would place their physicality at high Genin.

Sakura, on the other hand...

Oh, boy, I was going to need to work with her a lot.

Her chakra control was damn good, already at A-Rank which was incredible for someone her age in this generation. Give her a few months under my care and she'd be S rank, if not SS in terms of chakra control. If her capacities were a bit bigger, I'd even start training her in fūinjutsu.

But she completely lacked any sort of durability. By the time Hinata and Naruto had completed their fifth lap, she was wheezing on her second.

Her fifth lap had her knees buckling, and her entire body trembling from exhaustion.

I rubbed my forehead with irritation, signaling for Naruto and Hinata to stop and for everyone to gather. All complied, albeit Sakura moving much more slowly than her clan-born and raised counterparts.

"Okay," I said, clapping my hands together. "Here's the thing... I've gotta meet with all of your parents to properly introduce myself, and all fun stuff. You're dismissed for now, but I expect you all here by five hundred tomorrow. Naruto, go see Shisui at the hospital before you go home, he wanted to talk to you."

Naruto saluted, not even out of breath.

"Hinata, I'll walk you home. Sakura... give your parents the heads up and make sure you're presentable when I come to you."

Sakura nodded, still gasping for air. "Y-Yes, S-Sensei."

"Good. Dismissed."

Naruto flickered away, and Hinata gave me a slight bow before walking away. I matched her pace while I reflected over the very brief assessment I had given them.

Naruto was the obvious choice for me. I had to take him as a member of my team regardless if I wanted to, or not.

Hinata was someone I knew. Since her father and I worked closely on the council, and there were times where our children had to tag along, Hinata and Naruto had become playmates. I knew the two of them would work well together, which was essential in any team.

And in many ways they reminded me of how Kakashi and I were at that age. They were dedicated, talented, and good friends.

Sakura was a bit of a wild card.

I didn't remember her very much. I knew she was... someone. I recognized that pink hair as... as belonging to... someone, but I never associated her with anyone of importance.

A quick look at her report showed her to be a bland, brainy-type.

Sure, she might have an eidetic memory—that was only what the report said, and it's not like she'd been tested in livefire to see if that was the case—and a good talent in chakra control... but that was it.

Her taijutsu was shit, her ninjutsu was nonexistent, she had a temper apparently, and everything about her screamed pathetic.

And that caught my interest.

A bland, plain, boring little girl thrown into a world of superpowered monsters.

How would she fair?

She'd be crushed. Raped. Beaten. Broken.

Dead.

She'd be exactly like all those other eight, seven, six, nine, ten year olds I had to bury in the field. Like those broken, listless, putrid corpses discarded once they stopped screaming and amusing their captors.

So I took her for myself. I plucked her from the clutches of a potentially ignorant, and incompetent Jōnin, and I claimed her.

Pathetic would not be a word anyone would ever describe Sakura when I was done with her.

There were other children, of course. Other civilian boys and girls deemed as normal, but they all fared better in practicality. They all had an edge that would keep them alive, whereas Sakura really only had her fragile little mind.

They had a chance, where she did not.

Every day, and every night, I fought to protect innocent little children like her. When I failed, I claimed the monsters who took them.

But it would be so much better if they could defend themselves.

Really, if I didn't live such a time-consuming double life I would have become an academy instructor.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Hinata and I entered the Hyūga compound with experienced ease. Since I was now the guest, I allowed Hinata to lead me through the compound and into the main greeting room. I was entirely unsurprised to find Hisana and Hiashi already waiting for us, a pot of tea resting on the expensive table in front of them.

Hinata took her place beside Hisana, and I sat across from the three of them with perfect posture.

"Welcome, Senju-sama," Hiashi greeted me coolly.

"Thank you for seeing me, Hyūga-sama," I returned.

Hisana delicately cleared her throat. The matriarch's smile was warm, but her eyes were, as always, cold. "We are among friends, are we not? Let's dismiss the formalities now."

"As you wish," I demurred. "I am Hinata's new sensei."

"Unsurprising," Hisana answered briskly. "You had to have Naruto, and Hinata is one of the few classmates who has the experience to work with Naruto. I am surprised you did not receive Sasuke, as well, though?"

"Obito was deemed the better tutor for him," I answered.

"But you have trained Uchiha in the past, all of whom have become excellent shinobi," Hisana pointed out.

I could only shrug in response. "Hokage-sama decided Obito should train Sasuke."

"Mn," came Hisana. "You are aware of how I will be training Hinata?"

"Through your style of the gentle fist, and a focus on poisoned senbon. You also incorporate chakra strings to control the senbon after launch," I surmised. "Therefore, I will focus an emphasis on long range control, and disengage."

"Disengage?" Hiashi repeated.

"Correct. Hinata will already be gaining a large arsenal of offensive attacks, and her defensive techniques learned through the clan will take up a lot of her chakra. I have some ideas that will be less... intensive."

"Excellent," Hisana chirped, eyes like ice. "I know we couldn't ask for a better instructor. You'll undoubtedly keep our dear daughter safe, won't you?"

I smiled at that. "When I'm done with her, she won't need protecting."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

I lingered for a few more minutes at the Hyūga residence before I headed off to Haruno.

To my surprise, Mebuki, Sakura's mother, was eagerly awaiting for my arrival. She ushered me in, along with her tired daughter, and had me take a seat at the dinner table. She brought out a tea tray, all the while merrily chatting about her daughter and how proud she was of her.

It would have been endearing, if I wasn't already irritated with the woman.

When Mebuki finally took a seat, I pulled out a small scroll from my right sleeve and placed it on the dinner table. "Mebuki-san, would you please look through this?"

Curious, Mebuki placed her teacup down and reached across the table to take the scroll. She unrolled it quickly, frowning as she read its contents. "This looks like a food plan?"

"Correct. I'm afraid your daughter is dangerously underweight for being a kunoichi," I said, not unkindly.

Both Sakura and Mebuki gasped, completely astounded by this very idea.

"Underweight? But she's been watching her calorie intake for years," Mebuki fretted, looking worriedly over at her daughter.

"For a civilian that would be fine," I said, "but I'm afraid as a kunoichi she's eating too little. Her body is being starved from the severe lack of fats and protein, and now that she's become a Genin she can't play around anymore."

"But I don't want to get fat," Sakura blurted out, her bright green eyes shining. "Sasuke-kun will never notice me, then!"

I resisted the urge to show her my full displeasure at that completely moronic, childish, petulant statement. Instead, I settled for awarding her with the coldest, cruelest glare I had cultivated over the years. Pure disdain and disgust gleaned from my eyes and I curled my lip back and said, "Are you honestly going to imply that the only reason you're a kunoichi is for some boy?"

Sakura shrunk under my glower, tears pricking at her eyes as the blood drained from her face. "N-No, S-Sensei."

I was silent for a moment, considering my next approach. Finally, dropping my glare, I said, "Sakura, leave your mother and me alone for a moment. Get ready to go on a trip, too."

Sakura hesitated for a moment, but then she got up and left. I waited until I felt her chakra head up into her bedroom before I swung my thunderous gaze towards Mebuki, and the woman flinched away from me. "And you allow her this delusion, Mebuki-san? She's twelve."

"I-It's only a harmless crush," Mebuki stammered out, squirming.

"That she has starved herself for, and crippled her development as a kunoichi. I know the academy had sent home multiple meal plans for each student. Did you think yourself the exception to the rule, or perhaps that you knew better than professionals?" I snarled at her.

Mebuki shook her head, trembling from the onslaught of my quiet anger.

"Let me make myself perfectly clear," I said slowly, thoroughly disgusted by the sheer imbecile of this woman, "Sakura has great potential to become a powerful kunoichi. I will not see that squandered. You will follow my meal plans, and if I catch so much of a hint as dieting I will have her removed from your care, Mebuki-san."

"Wh-What?!" Mebuki demanded, whimpering when I looked back at her. "B-But she's m-my—"

"You're an adult who should have known better," I returned icily. "And most importantly of all a mother who only gets in the way of her daughter is the absolute worse. All you'll ever do is bring her pain if you stand between her and her dreams."

I'll see you skinned alive and gutted before I watch any child go through that.

A mother who was only in the way was more than a nuisance.

A mother who forced her child to choose between her and her dreams was worse than scum.

I'll tie your limbs to horses and have you pulled apart, I thought venomously. Then I'll stitch you back together and do it all over again. Over, and over.

Before I accidentally leaked any murderous desire, I dropped my glare and rewarded her with a fake, bright smile. "You understand now, though, don't you? You'll make sure Sakura-chan gets her appropriate meals, and you won't be in her way... right?"

"Yes," Mebuki whispered, tears in her eyes. Her hands trembled as she gripped them tightly together. "Pl-Please d-don't take her from me."

"I have little tolerance for adults who only hinder their children's dreams," I said simply. "Hate me if you want, but I'm doing this for Sakura-chan's best interest. You want her to succeed, don't you?"

Mebuki nodded, biting her lip hard to hold back the onslaught of tears that would inevitably come.

"Then don't fuck her over," I said pleasantly. "I'll be taking Sakura-chan shopping to get her clothes that won't make it easy for enemies to rape and kill her."

All the blood drained from Mebuki's face, and a strained choke sob escaped her. I stood up from my spot at the dinner table, giving her a warm smile, and reaching over to pat her cheek. She cringed away from me, but I still touched her cheek. "There, there, Mebuki-san. We wouldn't want Sakura-chan to see you upset now, would we?"

With a hum in my heart, I turned away and headed out of the room. I called up to Sakura from upstairs. "Come down, Sakura-chan. I'm going to take you shopping."

"Shopping?" Sakura squealed, rushing down the steps. "Really?"

"Really. We'll be getting you a proper kunoichi outfit and some supplies."

"Oh, wow, thanks, Sensei! Oh—um, is that okay, Kaa-chan?"

Mebuki would not turn around to address her daughter. Instead, she said with obviously forced cheer, "Of course, my little blossom. Have fun with Senju-sama."

Sakura looked a little perturbed by her mother, but then I took her small, dainty little hand and she was back to looking at me with plain admiration. I escorted her out of the house, and she told me, "Y'know, Sensei, I hope I can be just like you. I-I do like Sasuke-kun, but t-to be honest..." Sakura's cheeks turned red and she shyly looked at the ground. "I've always admired you. When I read about everything you've done for the village, and then I saw you in person..."

Sakura trailed off, a cute little smile on her face as she shuffled her feet. "You're beautiful and strong. I want to be just like you."

That made me smile in amusement, and I bent down to be at eye-level with Sakura. "You know something, Sakura-chan?"

"Uh-huh?"

"I chose you," I told her. Then deciding a little white lie wouldn't hurt I went on, "Out of every single one of the graduates, I chose you because I could see what potential you have. The path ahead of you will be hard, but if you allow me to guide you... I will lead you to greatness."

Sakura's eyes shined with unshed tears, her whole demeanor brightening up like a sunrise. "R-Really?"

"I promise. And I don't break my promises." I offered her my hand once again. "Come here, Sakura-chan, and let me take care of you."

Sakura took my hand, continuing to look at me with innocent adoration.

The first thing Sakura needed was proper clothes. I brought her into the best armor store in Konoha, and she took everything in with wide, wide eyes. She did a double-take when she saw some of the prices, spluttering, "S-Sensei, I couldn't possibly—"

"Now, now," I soothed, "I'm afraid I really must insist. Good clothes and armor are essential for a young kunoichi, and as your sensei it's my duty to make sure you are prepared. Now help me pick out something you would like."

Sakura hesitantly started to browse, but she kept flinching when she saw the price tags. I watched her roam around, noting when her eyes lingered a little longer over a couple pieces of clothing. After I gave her a solid twenty minutes to browse, I picked out the stuff she eyed the most, and took them to the counter.

Sakura trailed behind me, looking like she wanted to protest, but knowing it would be a waste of time.

"I'll need multiple copies of these made," I told the owner, who greeted me with a smile, "and please set up Sakura-chan on my tab."

"S-Sensei!"

"The other Genin will also be getting their supplies here. You don't have a shinobi family to help you with this, so I'm taking over," I dismissed. "Don't skimp out, I can handle it."

Sakura chewed on her lip, not one to argue against an authority figure.

"Senju-sama, would you like us to include a repair kit?" the cashier inquired. "Sakura-san's extra sets will be available in a couple days, would you like them delivered to her home address, or yours?"

"Include a repair kit—I'll show you how to use one, Sakura-chan—and please have them sent to her address," I said. The cashier handed me the appropriate paperwork and I quickly filled everything out. Once that was done, I had Sakura change into one of the outfits before we moved on, to make sure it fit well enough to not require tailoring.

The young girl came back out dressed in long black leggings, a flat light-red skirt with slits on the side, a matching sleeveless shirt, and unattached red sleeves with built-in arm guards, The ensemble was complete with black gloves, and black boots that doubled as shin-guards.

Sakura beamed at herself in the mirror. "This looks great, Sensei!"

"Of course it does," I said. "Come along now, Sakura-chan. We have a couple more places to hit."

"Yes, Sensei."

Next stop was a haircut, which Sakura only briefly protested against before my glare cut her off. Her hair was chopped off to be above the shoulder, and I told her when she became a stronger kunoichi she could grow it back out.

Once that was taken care of, I dragged her over to the weapons store and said, "Pick out two."

"But I only know how to use kunai and shuriken."

"I know. I'm going to correct that."

Sakura swallowed and browsed around for a solid half hour before she returned, tentatively, with a pair of daggers, and a long whip.

I inclined my head, recognizing that she likely chose the whip out of admiration for me. "Alright, come with me."

Sakura followed behind me closely, holding the beautiful weapons to her chest. I took her behind the counter, guiding her to a small workroom where Takasu, owner of the shop, was currently working on a commission.

"Takasu," I interrupted, "would you please commission some weapons for my student?"

The large, dark-skinned man turned around and gave us a once-over look. He said, "Some daggers and a whip for her?"

"Yes."

"I'll have them ready in a week."

"Thank you. Sakura-chan put those down. Your real weapons will be ready later."

"Yes, Sensei," Sakura said, hurriedly placing down the display weapons.

I smiled at her. "Good. Now head home, Sakura-chan. You'll be in for a rough ride while we bring your body up to snuff."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

I walked into my home, only just remembering it was my turn to go grocery shopping. Before I could turn back around and head out, I began to hear some very odd grunting sounds.

Curious, I headed further in, entering into the living room to find Naruto and Shisui dancing terribly while glaring at one another. Obito was on the couch, a hand over his chin as he, with a completely serious look on his face, studied the two of them.

Itachi sat perfectly still beside Obito, his face twisted into pain as he watched Naruto and Shisui.

"Uh," I said, drawing their attention towards me.

"It's a dance off," Shisui said, starting to wave his arms erratically in the air, "and I'm about to win!"

"The hell you are!" Naruto exclaimed, dropping down to the ground and doing an impressive worm. "Eat worms, fuckface!"

"Language," I immediately scolded.

Itachi caught my eye, the poor boy mouthing: Help me.

Taking pity on him I said, "Itachi, why don't you help me go grocery shopping?"

"Yes, thank you," Itachi breathed with relief, standing up and rushing over to me.

"I'll catch up with you later, hime," Obito told me, "and we'll help carry everything back."

Immediately understanding that the we Obito used referred to him and Kakashi—who was likely still helping Minato with paperwork so he could come home on time for dinner—I inclined my head. "C'mon Itachi, let's get some dangos and tea before we go."

Itachi perked up at that, "Yes, Shishō!"

Since Itachi and I had stopped for dangos and tea before shopping, it wasn't too surprising that Obito was already at the store. The goggle-obsessed man had a single basket filled with junk food, and was talking to a young woman.

A young woman who was looking at Obito wil plain adoration, and not the idolizing kind. The kind that meant she wanted to be a little more than friend.

Welp.

I sent Itachi off to start the shop, while I dealt with this whore.

I hooked my arm through Obito's, giving the woman—oh, wait, that was Rin—who was talking to him a look of irritation.

Rin blushed under my scrutiny, holding her shopping basket closer. "O-Oh, Senju-sama, hello."

"Can my boyfriend and I help you?" I asked her pointedly.

Then Kakashi appeared on Obito's other side, slinging an arm around his shoulder. "Can my boyfriend and girlfriend help you?"

Rin's cheeks turned redder than tomatoes and she rapidly shook her head. "N-No, I-I was only t-talking to O-Obito-kun about Sh-Shisui."

"Isn't he a bit too young for you?" I asked coldly.

"Now, now," Obito said, moving his arms around to put them on Kakashi's waist, and mine. "Your jealousy is showing, guys. She's just being nice."

Kakashi and I didn't say anything, continuing to half-heartedly glare at Rin until the woman took the hint and scurried off. Obito watched his ex-crush leave, sighing.

"What am I going to do with you two?" Obito asked, looking up to the sky.

"You do the same thing every time we have a suitor," Kakashi retorted. "Don't even."

"Well," Obito said, before his shoulders dropped. "Yeah. I guess I do."

"We're a hot mess of possessiveness," I remarked. "Like dogs marking their territory."

"We've been at this for ten years, though, we really shouldn't be."

"Oh, yeah," I said, recalling that we had reached the ten year mark in our eccentric relationship. "Hey how come Obito hasn't proposed to us, yet?"

"Wha—Why do I have to propose?"

"Because you're lucky to have us," Kakashi reasoned.

Obito considered this, then nodded his head. "Will you guys do me the honor of being my best friends in the whole wide world for all of eternity?"

Kakashi mock sniffled. "I thought you'd never ask."

I wiped away a fake tear. "What a beautiful day. I love you both."

Obito started to fan himself. "I can't believe this day actually came... fiances."

That warranted some shit-eating grins from us.

As much as Minato wished the three of us were properly dating, what we had going on was even better, in my opinion.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

At midnight Obito, Kakashi, and I headed out to the training grounds we told our teams to meet at later that day. We went through the forest, and set up numerous traps—all non lethal— and discussing our team.

Kakashi started it off, tying a wire around some branches. "Assessment?"

"Naruto and Hinata are where I expected them to be, but Sakura is going to require some heavy remedial work for at least a month," I said. "Physically, she's way too behind."

Obito groaned. "Yours, too? Ino's the same."

"Don't tell me: civilian diet?"

At Obito's nod, I scowled. "Inoichi screwed over his daughter by spoiling her too much. Did you already talk to the parents?"

"Yeah," Obito sighed. "The mom will make sure Ino eats, and Inoichi was definitely apologetic."

"Did you warn them?"

"I threatened you would be by next," Obito said with a cheeky grin.

"Hopefully they'll remedy it. Do you have a plan for Ino?"

"I'll do what you did for me," Obito answered. "That should be enough, right?"

"It'll do. It might be best if I took Ino for a while and gave her and Sakura some one-on-one practice," I mused. "The two might feel better about being so far behind if they can share in their misery. Or it'll help keep them motivated if they aren't the only ones doing remedial work."

"Then can you take Shikamaru?" Kakashi asked. "He's... well, frankly he's one of the most out of shape graduates I've seen. I know the Akimichi are known for being a big clan, so I'm not sure what's healthy or what's not for Chōji. I'd prefer if he had more muscle than fat, though."

"Hm. Alright," I agreed. "You two will have to take Naruto and Hinata while I work with the others, then. Are they at least geared appropriately? I had to take Sakura shopping earlier."

"Chōji could use some more body armor," Kakashi admitted, "and Kiba had next to nothing, but I'll take them shopping later today after the assessment."

"We know Sasuke's fine, and Shino actually was, too. Maybe a bit over prepared if anything. It's really only Ino on my team that's... kind of pathetic. She may have some great unique skills, but she's completely spoiled. She wouldn't even cut her hair."

"Then make her," I stressed.

"If I did that Inoichi would skin me alive," Obito protested.

"He doesn't get a say anymore since he let his daughter starve herself for some boy," I snarled viciously.

"Calm down, Naasica," Kakashi advised. "I'm sure Ino will get a haircut for you tomorrow."

"Ah-ah," I said, clicking my tongue. "Obito, you better make damn sure her hair is cut off today."

Obito whined, but agreed.

Come five hundred, we headed back to the training field to find the first of our students arriving.

So the three of us took a seat in the trees, repressing our chakra and scents, and watched them.

It'd be neat if one of them spotted us, but that was doubtful to happen. If they did spot us, we'd give them a bonus. Like buy them lunch, or something.

Come six hundred all the students had arrived, each one of them struggling to stay away.

Except Naruto and Sasuke who were looking around with suspicious eyes.

Eventually they started chatting with one another, but it wasn't anything of interest until...

"Well I heard all of our teachers are dating each other," Ino said, tossing her hair back.

"No, they ain't," Naruto disagreed. "They're just really close."

"But they always go on dates with each other," Ino retorted, "and they literally call each other boyfriend and girlfriend."

"Look," Naruto said forcefully, "there's nothing serious going on between them. Trust me. I've lived with them my whole life, and while they might very well decide one day they all want to get married, that isn't happening any time soon."

"Their whole relationship is built on them not wanting others to ask them out," Sasuke added. "Nee-chan still gets a lot of marriage proposals, and it's easier when she goes to court if she has two concubines."

"Concubines?" Sakura repeated, her face turning red. "S-So d-do th-they...?"

Naruto and Sasuke turned green, but refused to answer that question.

Not that they would have ever known. Sex was something that always had to be done out of the house and far, far away from the children under our care.

Especially since Naruto knew how to open fūinjutsu locks, and Sasuke had a habit of playing ninja and breaking into locked rooms.

Obito covered his mouth as he quietly shook, struggling to hide his laughter at Naruto and Sasuke's queasy looks. "Those brats haven't even heard anything!"

"The very idea of it makes them sick," Kakashi remarked, looking entirely beside himself with amusement.

"How rude," I said, shaking my head. "Unfortunately, we weren't born asexual."

We all sighed at that, wishing we could indeed repress our hormones. Well, Kakashi and I sighed. Obito was pretty dang happy about his hormones, the pervert.

"Can we change the subject?" Naruto pleaded, clutching his stomach. "I don't wanna think about that nasty stuff."

"It's not nasty," Hinata corrected Naruto, "it's perfectly natural. Okaa-sama said it's common for teams to develop non-commitment intimate relationships as they mature, since trust is a rare thing to find outside of your team."

Sakura and Naruto both looked red-faced and sick. Ino, on the other hand, was blushing furiously as she looked over at Sasuke, who was holding his hand over his mouth and trying not to get sick.

"Uh, I don't swing that way," Kiba told his teammates, "sorry."

"Ugh," Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Think we should step in now?" Kakashi asked.

"Are you kidding? Look at how they're traumatizing themselves, this is great," Obito chortled.

"Who knew our relationship would be the reason our future Genin traumatized themselves," I mused, struggling to keep the smile off my face.

"I never thought I would ever hear those words," Kakashi remarked, sounding astounded. "I'm not looking forward to the puberty talk."

"Oh, I'll handle the kunoichis," I said, hoping I might be able to make them cry profusely like Kushina did with me.

"Urk. I don't wanna talk to Naruto, or Sasuke about that kind of stuff. It was awkward enough with Raion and Itachi!"

I reached around and patted my dear teammate's shoulder. "There, there."

"Let's put a pin this discussion for later," Kakashi suggested. "C'mon. I wanna hear them scream and beg for mercy."

"And you call me evil!" I laughed.

The three of us left our hiding spots in the trees, startling nearly half of our students.

Obito chirped. "Morning, everyone! Any questions before we get started?"

Ino held up her arm straight away. "Senseis, are you dating each other?"

"Yes," we all said, because that's what we told everyone.

Ino shot Naruto a smug look.

Shisui entered the training ground, carrying a bag of medical supplies. As soon as Naruto and Sasuke saw Shisui—and the bag—they both looked extremely worried. The other students didn't recognize Shisui, so they didn't understand why he was there.

Shisui had a big smile on his face. "Hey, guys. Sorry if I'm late."

"Why are you here, Nii-chan?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Shisui-chan has kindly agreed to fix you all up if you get too bagned up," I chirped, smiling at Shisui who beamed at me.

Shisui patted his bag of medical supplies. "That's right. Merely a precaution. I'm sure none of you will need medical attention."

Obito cleared his throat.

"Ino-chan," Obito chirped, clapping his hands together, "Can you lift your ponytail up for me? Grab it by the end?"

"Huh?" Ino blinked, grabbing the tip of it and doing as instructed. "Like this?"

Fast as a heartbeat, Obito had flung a shuriken at her hair and effectively chopped off her ponytail. Ino's shrill scream of horror made me itching to clip her vocal chords, but I refrained.

"Enough," Obito said, cutting Ino's scream off with his sharp glare. "I warned you yesterday to get it chopped off. If you aren't going to follow instructions, go be a civilian."

Ino's bottom lip trembled, but she bit on it hard enough to keep her tears at bay.

Kakashi stepped forward, deciding to move the lesson forward.

"Monday through Fridays you'll be with your regular team," Kakashi said loudly. "Saturday you'll receive special instructions, and Sunday, today, is when we will pool you all together and give you an assessment."

"This assessment determines if you get to do missions next week, or not," Obito said, wicked grin on his face. "Fail, and you'll be stuck training the entire week. Succeed, and you'll get to take missions in the morning."

"Of course you have to succeed at least three times before you get to take anything more than D," I purred, my lips curling into a devilish smile. "But I doubt that will happen any time soon."

Kiba scoffed, puffing up his chest. "We'll get this done first try! What's the stupid test?"

"Oh it's very simple," Kakashi said, nodding his head. He gestured towards the forest behind us. "We've set up a few obstacles in there, and at the very center there are some flags. Get through the obstacles, grab a flag, and make it back. That's it."

"Of course if any one of your teammates becomes incapable of moving—either because Shisui has to stop and heal you, or exhaustion—you have to start all the way over," Obito elaborated. "Easy, yeah?"

Most of the students looked confident after that explanation.

In fact, all of them did except Naruto and Sasuke.

Those two were looking at us with grim acceptance.

"There is one tiny little handicap," I said, pinching two of my fingers and grinning with malice. "We'll be tying you by your ankles to your teammates, and you'll be blindfolded."

Oh that silence was delicious. Their looks of horror—although Naruto looked immeasurably relieved that was the only thing we would add on—and gaping mouths were hilarious.

In fact, Obito started laughing right then and there. "AHAHA! Look at them, Oni-hime! I've figured out why you loved torturing me now. Was I this funny?"

"You were a blast," I admitted, chortling.

"B-But that's impossible," Ino yelped.

"Nope," the three of us chorused.

"We could do it at your age," Kakashi said, neglecting the fact that two of us were prodigies and were Jōnin by their age. "We wouldn't make you do anything we couldn't do."

"You were already a Jōnin!" Naruto howled, pointing an accusatory finger at us. "You're just plain sadistic!"

"Yeah," we agreed, since... well, it was true.

"Oh and one other thing," Obito added slyly, "no talking. Every time you make a noise, we'll purposefully land a hit on one of your joints. Trust me. It'll hurt."

"H-How long are we going to be doing this?" Ino whimpered.

"Since we have our very own medic on hand... until you literally can't anymore." I clapped my hands. "Won't this be fun?"

Sasuke hesitantly asked us, "Are you guys going to be attacking us while we go through the forest?"

"Oh, most definitely," Obito agreed. "Don't worry, we won't go above Genin level for this exercise, so it's perfectly possible to dodge our attacks."

The poor things didn't look so confident.

We had everyone group together with their team, before we approached them with the ropes and blindfolds we had brought.

"Your team is only as strong as your weakest link," I said, tying all their ankles together, with Sakura at the center. Then I handed each of them a blindfold and Naruto groaned loudly when he realized what we would be doing.

"Don't bother with your Byakugan. They're coated in chakra seals, so you won't see anything past them," I said, helping Hinata tie the blind over her eyes.

Once everyone was situated, Obito blew the whistle for them to start.

None of them even got to the halfway point.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The Akatsuki tower as at the heart of Amegakure, towering above all other skyscrapers. It loomed above citizens, made up of steel and concrete. There were many roads to get to the Akatsuki tower, since it acted very similarly to a hokage tower. At the bottom of the tower was where our shinobi and kunoichi received their missions, and above them was many of our research labs—although some of the more important ones were in the basement—and finally above that was the Akatsuki quarters.

The Akatsuki, the vanguard of Ame's God and his angels.

Only the strongest shinobi and kunoichi could join the Akatsuki. Many tried. Nearly all failed.

Since Amegakure had become a place of refuge we had a good influx of missing-nin—nearly all from the destroyed Kirigakure—who came and settled with us.

It was actually very easy to get into Amegakure, but it was impossible to leave without permission. Permission was only given to Jōnin and above. Even our merchants, who reluctantly had to leave the city, did so under extremely heavy guard, and was usually joined by a pair of Akatsuki members.

We didn't want any information to get out about exactly how big we had gotten, or how many shinobi and kunoichi we truly had.

Most missions were conducted in our boarders, but some missions offered too good of pay to refuse. Half the money we made outside of Amegakure through those missions went directly to funding Amegakure.

And while most of Amegakure was nothing by skyscrapers, there was plenty of farm lands around us, too. We used to have to import a lot of food and goods, but not any more.

Amegakure had finally become entirely self-sufficient.

And everyone knew it was thanks to God and his angels of Black and White.

All along the streets one could find many black and white paper angels hanging in windows, or doors.

Hang the Angel of White for good fortune, and may she turn her gaze upon you.

Hang the Angel of Black for protection, and may he purge those who would harm you.

There were no markers for Pein, their god, because he never ventured from his tower. He dedicated his time to being a persistent sentinelle of the city, watching each person who enters... and each one who leaves.

May the angels save us, and God protect us.

It was perturbing to be one of those angels, and to see Pein as a god. Especially since I knew he was little more than tool for Madara and myself. If anyone deserved godhood, it would have been my master, but that would not be happening for a while longer.

I visited Amegakure when I could. Often times after I went to sleep—around twenty two hundred—I would leave a clone in my place for slipping back to Amegakure as Owari. I trusted Kisame to keep things running smoothly in my place, but it was still good to check in as often as I could.

The main goal of my visit that night was to see how the research department was doing, so I teleported directly to my room in the Akatsuki tower, and began my descent to the researching labs.

"O-Owari-sama!" Guren greeted, stumbling in surprise to see me. Her cheeks dusted pink, and her eyes were wide with open adoration. Sasori's Akatsuki partner was obviously very happy to see me. "You're back from your mission?"

Guren, Kurisu's older sister, had grown up into a fine young woman. She kept her blue hair in a spiky ponytail, and wore her Amegakure hitai-ate proudly over her forehead. She dressed in a more tom-boy style, but I thought it suited her very well.

"For now," I answered her. "Are you well, Guren-chan?"

"Yes, of course, Owari-sama," Guren said quickly, her eyes bright. "I—"

Whatever Guren wanted to say was cut off when Mei Terumi, Deidara's partner in the Akatsuki, strode into the room with confidence that would make most women envious. The yoton user was always dedicated to looking as gorgeous as possible, growing out her long dark red hair, and wearing a light touch of makeup. Even in her short Akatsuki cloak—all Akatsuki cloaks acted more like a poncho, only falling midway down to allow easier maneuverability—she presented herself as a powerful, beautiful woman.

Upon seeing me, Mei's face lit up and she exclaimed, "Owari-sama! You're back."

"For now," I said, unminding as Mei hurriedly attached herself to my right arm. "You're looking very well, too, Mei-chan."

Mei held my right arm close, ignoring how Guren glowered hatefully at her. Mei smiled seductively at me, purring, "You sure you can't stay, Owari-sama? It's been ages since our last training session."

Guren abruptly grabbed my left arm, pulling me towards her and scowling at Mei. "Owari-sama is too busy for you, Mei."

"Eh? You're not too busy for me, are you, Owari-sama?"

I resisted the urge to sigh. I had brought both of them into Amegakure as young girls—Guren was eleven, and Mei was twelve—and gave them personal training when I could. Guren was the sister of Kurisu, and was immediately taken with the idea of changing the world for the better. When I saw her natural talent as a kunoichi, and her kekkei genkai—shoton, crystal release—I took a personal interest in her. I trained her when I could, and when I had to devote time elsewhere Konan picked up the slack.

Guren proved herself time and time again to be a resourceful, loyal, and powerful young woman. A couple years ago we finally deemed her strong enough to join the coveted ranks of the Akatsuki.

Mei, like Guren, was someone I had also trained. I knew Mei was a powerful kunoichi—she had been Mizukage before, if I recalled correctly—and I was more than happy to cultivate her loyalty to us, and her power. She rose through the ranks with a fervor and even tried to fight Kisame for the position of being my partner.

He completely annihilated her, but she put up a good enough showing to become Deidara's partner in the Akatsuki.

Unfortunately the two girls simply didn't like each other. They were always competing, bickering, and trying to one up each other in a vain attempt to grab my affection.

I understood why they were doing it. Both were orphaned at a young age, I had rescued them from terrible fates, brought them someplace safe, and gave them a purpose.

Although I did like to imagine that they both genuinely believed in my cause, too, and weren't simply following me out of affection, but it was hard to say.

"Guren-chan, Mei-chan, I'm afraid I have to go check on Kurisu-kun now," I said, gently untangling myself from their grips. Both women pouted, but I was not someone dissuaded by pouty faces. Still... I amended, "If I have time after making my rounds, I'll be delighted to oversee a sparring sessions between the two of you."

They beamed.

Like puppies, I swear.

"I suppose you could come see me wipe the floor with Guren-chan's face. It might even improve her appearance," Mei chirped.

"Big talk for such an old hag," Guren snarked.

I'm older than both of you...

I bit my inner cheek from saying that, though, choosing instead to make my escape while the two of them started bickering again.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Kurisu's lab was on the upper levels, and his office had a beautiful view of Amegakure.

He was standing in front of that open window when I entered his office. The young man stood tall, and proud, a far cry from the broken boy I had rescued over a decade ago.

"What a truly wonderful place this is," Kurisu remarked, his unseeing eyes gazing out across the city. Since everything was bathed in chakra, he could "see" through his chakra sense.

"Soon, the whole world will be like this," I murmured, folding my hands in front of me. "How are you, Kurisu-kun?"

He swung his head toward me, smiling with warmth. "Same as always, Owari-sama."

"The nightmares are still gone?"

"Yes. In my dreams a black angel chases them all away," he said quietly, "Thank you for asking, Owari-sama."

"Of course. You are my subordinate, and I will do what I can for you," I responded. "Please take care of yourself."

"You are truly too kind," Kurisu said a small smile on his face. "We are blessed to have you watch over us. But, please, be at ease. We work hard to repay what you have done. You, who came for us, and saved us, when on else would. We were forgotten trash, discarded scum, but you gave us life and purpose."

I lowered my head, speaking barely above a whisper, "I did what anyone should have done... How goes your work?"

"We have made good breakthroughs in mutation," Kurisu said confidently, proudly. His chest puffed up a bit and his shoulders squared back. "The Acolytes of the Black Angel will not disappoint, I swear."

Their self-appointed name still rubbed me the wrong way, but I knew better than to protest it again. Those that I had saved from monsters during the war had congregated to Amegakure. They flocked together, broken little children with nowhere else to go. The only thing they had in common was how much the world fucked them over, and that I, their Black Angel, had saved them.

With religious zealot, they devoted themselves to my cause. Some for the same reasons I had: they wanted a better world. Others because they had nowhere else to go.

Here, in Amegakure, they were safe, protected, and cherished.

Many of them were too crippled to fight, so they put trained their minds instead. They devoted themselves to research and development with a fervor not seen in ordinary folk. Kurisu became their leader, designating each group to a certain aspect.

Group Liberation researched the ideal way to remove bijū, repress bijū, and find bijū.

Group Purge researched bioweapons that we could unleash upon the village to severely weaken their force. They were currently hoping to mutate a strand of the pox, in addition to different poison gases that could be used effectively.

Group Obliteration researched weapons of mass destruction, both inventing and finding pre-existing ones to be used.

Group Redemption worked with doctors and iryo-nin to perfect our health care system. After the war, we would have a lot of injured men and women who would require immediate care, after all. We wanted to make sure everything went smoothly afterwards.

Group Shadow acted as one of our spy network, mostly through trade and merchants.

By the time the war rolled around, or we were ready to hunt the bijū, we would be more than prepared.

"I'm glad progress is being made. Are all the departments doing well?"

"Yes, Owari-sama! Everything is currently ahead of schedule."

That made me smile. "That's good to hear. Please keep up the good work."

Kurisu bowed to me. "Praise is unnecessary. All I need is to feel your chakra near me and know that I am safe."

I reached forward, placing a black gloved hand over Kurisu's head. "You give me too much credit, aha... although I have heard that my chakra is rather unpleasant to be around. Does it not bother you?"

Kurisu's head snapped up, his face contorting into rage. "Who would dare!?"

"Ah... no one you need to concern yourself with."

Kurisu's lips curled back into a quiet snarl. "They should be gutted for that insult. Owari-sama's chakra is... incredible."

I gave a slight tilt of my head. "Incredible?"

"Like a black fire," Kurisu whispered, "a dark flame that will engulf the entire world. It is rage, hatred, love, and a determination unlike any I have ever felt. It is righteous, and all-consuming, Owari-sama. Being near you is... overwhelming, and inspiring. I am humbled by your presence, and I draw strength in your heat."

"That seems... intense," I observed. "You are truly unbothered by it?"

"I am safe in the black fire," Kurisu said softly, like a sigh. "It only burns monsters. I can feel its hunger for them... it's craves their blood. Yes, yes... I am safe in the black fire, because those monsters will be eaten."

I gave Kurisu's head another pat. "That's right. I'll eat up every last one of them."

Kurisu shuddered, hunching his shoulders down with relief. "Promise?"

"I swear."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

With that taken care of, I found my partner and offered to buy him drinks and food at our favorite little spot in Amegakure.

Never one to deny free food, Kisame happily agreed.

Our favorite little spot was a tiny bakery that had a loft up top reserved special for me and Kisame. We could pull a screen back so I could eat without my mask, and they simply had the best tiny cakes in the whole world. Kisame could eat nearly fifty of them without slowing down, they were delightfully fluffy.

We grabbed our food and drinks before we took our seat. Then we chatted for a little bit before I got around to telling Kisame about my new Genin team.

As I finished explaining the assessment to Kisame, my partner chortled. "Ah, man! I wish I had my own Genin team to harass."

"You can get a team from Ame," I pointed out. "Hell, you can get them trained up and we can pit our teams against each other in the exams."

Kisame looked thoughtful. "You know... I think I'll do exactly that. It's boring here during the day now that you've gotta focus on Konoha again. Kicking kids up and down the training grounds might be a good way to pass time."

My partner took a big drink and I said, "As long as you don't actually kill them."

Kisame's face twisted up. "That was an accident! I didn't realize they'd die from one swing."

"Uh-huh."

Kisame scoffed. "Kill one—"

"Fve."

"—five people by mistake and you never live it down."

"Yep," I said, popping the p. "I've never, ever done that."

Kisame gave me a flat look of disbelief. "You're delusional. I seem to recall you accidentally fed twelve of our prisoners to that cannibalistic summon of yours."

"He's not a cannibal. He doesn't eat other ghosts," I corrected. "And... I honestly forgot about them."

"How? You did it twelve times!"

I shrugged. "I've killed a lot of people. They all blur together, to be honest."

Kisame rubbed his chin as he considered this. "Hmm. You know, I can't remember their faces very well now that I think about it. I think—I think I killed someone with a mole on their nose before. Maybe?"

I tried to think if I had done that, but I didn't recall anyone with a mole on their face. Then again all I could piece together was a lot of intestines, guts, spleens, dicks, lungs, livers, kidneys, hearts... Really all I could remember about my kills was a haze of gore and red.

Lots of red.

"I wish I could kill someone who had blue blood," I murmured. "Something to change up the pace. I'm so sick of red."

"That'd be great! We could skin them and see if their organs are blue, too. Green would be neat to see."

"Maybe purple?" I suggested. "What would have purple blood, though?"

Kisame made a hmm sound at that. "Do bijū bleed?"

"I-I don't think so?"

"Welp. Maybe that snake fucker will make some kind of new mutation that will bleed purple."

I shuddered with disgust. "Ugh. Don't remind me of his existence, it only makes me want to choke someone."

"Should I remind you about Tsunade instead, then?"

I reflexively lashed out, very nearly severing Kisame's head. If he hadn't been prepared for my instant flash of anger, and already raised Samehada in defense, he would have been in serious trouble.

As it happened, after my wood-covered fist slammed against his sword, my anger slipped away. I let out a hard sigh, slumping back in my seat as Kisame lowered his sword and started to laugh. "God I hope I'm there for the family reunion."

"Me, too," I muttered, "you can help me get creative with what to do with the body."

"Don't sell yourself short," Kisame consoled me, "I'm sure you'd be able to come up with something for her."

"Really?"

"Sure. You're my evil partner in crime, aren't you?"

That got a smile. "Yeah."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

BONUS

Kisame gave a small little wave as Naasica headed back to Konoha. His partner typically only operated on three hours worth of sleep—difficult for anyone, even Kisame—since she devoted a lot of her time to Konoha, and the Akatsuki. Kisame had to admit it was impressive how she was able to maintain her body, and mind, through chakra pulses and cleansing. It was something Madara himself taught Naasica—and she taught Kisame—that allowed shinobi and kunoichi to function with extremely minimal amount of sleep.

Of course no one could function that way indefinitely. She'd have a "crash" period about once a month where she would sleep like the dead for a solid twenty hours. She had it set up so that way during that time she'd be visiting Mo—technically—but in reality she'd be here, at the Akatsuki base, in her special bedroom. It was covered head to toe in privacy, and security seals made by Madara and Naasica.

It was actually a pretty sweet room. Kisame used it when Naasica wasn't around—with her permission—since it was literally the safest place he could think to relax. While Amegakure was heavily protected, it was also filled with some crazy fanatics devoted to a made up god and some angels.

Just a tad too crazy for Kisame to feel completely comfortable in.

Kisame scratched the back of his head as he thought about what to do next. He could take a mission and hunt down some interesting meatbags but he wasn't really feeling it. Bounty hunting got boring after a while, and while he and Naasica could spice things up by challenging each other, it sounded like she'd be busy in Konoha for a while.

Maybe I really should get my own team? Kisame mused to himself. I really just got to grab some Genin and claim them, right? I'm Akatsuki, and Owari's partner, so I doubt any Genin will protest the idea. Yeah... I could pit them against Naasica's team in the Exams, too.

That really did sound like a fun idea. How pissed would she be if his team kicked her team's ass?

Kisame couldn't resist chuckling at that, just imagining the way her cheeks would flush red, and her eyes would get that delightfully dangerous light in them.

He loved getting under her skin. She was always so dramatic, and when she really got into it...

Well. Kisame never would have thought about making a man swallow a self-release storage scroll filled with powerful cockroaches that when opened up in his stomach, would have them starting eating him from the inside out.

And laying eggs.

That was crazy gross.

But also crazy interesting to watch, Kisame admitted. In a perturbed, disturbed kind of way.

Kisame started heading out of the bedroom, descending the Akatsuki tower. As Owari's partner, Kisame was awarded with a certain level of reverence. It was unsaid that Kisame acted on Owari's behalf at times—which was true, since Naasica couldn't be here all the time—and consequently saying no to Kisame instantly garnered Owari's undivided attention.

You didn't want Owari's undivided attention.

Especially if the sadist behind the mask was in a foul mood.

God, she's going to torture those poor kids, Kisame thought, resisting the urge to cackle. I wish I was in Konoha. That'd be hilarious to watch. I can just imagine their faces—Oh, maybe she'll replay the memory in a genjutsu for me.

Kisame ignored the deep bows from everyone he passed.

He did pause when he saw one of his colleagues walking down the hallway. Kisame raised his hand in a half-hearted greeting. "Yo, Sasori!"

Sasori was a short, hunched-over, puppet master that Naasica and Konan recruited about five years ago. He acted as one of Akatsuki's spymasters—Owari being second, and Kakuzu being third—and was reluctant to socialize with anyone.

Sasori paused. "Do you require something, Hoshigaki-san?"

"Nope," Kisame said cheerfully. "Gonna start my own Genin team."

"What?"

"Yeah, it'll be great."

Sasori stared unblinkingly at Kisame before letting out a tight sigh and starting to walk away.

Kisame politely moved out of his way, casually asking, "When are you heading out to Suna? Owari-chan gave you the mission, didn't he?"

Sasori said shortly, "He did. I'll be leaving in a few days. The poisons I'm brewing take a while to destil."

"Ah. Welp. Have fun with that! You taking your partner?"

Guren, one of Owari's students, was Sasori's partner. Kisame thought she'd be tagging along, but he didn't know the details of Owari's plan.

"Yes," Sasori said simply, walking away.

Fun guy, Kisame thought sarcastically, continuing on his way. He eventually reached the record room—where reports were kept on all active shinobi and kunoichi.

Except the Akatsuki. They were too important to put down on paper. The receptionist at the front let out an eep when she saw Kisame, big blue eyes widening. "K-K-Kisame-sama! H-How may I help you?"

"Gimme a list of all active Genin. Ah... but make sure they're under fourteen. Wouldn't wanna be called a cheater," Kisame said, grinning with all his teeth.

"Y-Yes, Kisame-sama!"

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Two wonderful fan arts of Naasica as an adult were drawn by arneewenn (deviantART) and OCGuruJenn (deviantART). Please check them out when you can!

Arneewenn's: www DOT deviantart DOT com / arneewenn / art / Naasica-s-Spats-are-a-10-10-for-me-773357304

OCGuruJenn's: www DOT deviantart DOT com / ocgurujenn / art / Rotted-Rowan-Adult-772922929

Answer: I want to make the world a good place. Unite humanity and have everyone focus on space travel and saving the world, I suppose. That might make a villain too, though.

Question: Movie or book that you think defines you? Or maybe a character that you relate very well to?

Reviews are love!