Beta: Cyndaquil05

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Warnings: Addressed at the bottom of chapter 2.

Shout out to my beta for editing this so quick and inspiring a scene. :thumbs up:

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Cause another and another coming up out of the gutter

Till I'm drowning in an ocean of entitled motherfuckers

And they're pushing all my buttons

But they never seem to wonder why

Another and another, ask each other...

Angry Too by Lola Blanc

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Interlude - Hotoro)

Hotoro felt nauseous as he read the latest missive—this one from the daimyo of the Land of Fire, Mo.

In his deal with the devil, Orochimaru, Hotoro had rushed to rebuild his shinobi village to remain as a powerhouse. He unofficially sanctioned Orochimaru to do whatever it took to make this a possibility, and deliberately turned a blind eye to the heinous acts the monster had performed. He should have known Konoha would inevitably get involved, but he had hoped that by that point it would be too late and the new village—Otogakure—would be too strong for them to take on.

Instead, they were found out early and his new village was utterly destroyed. The crimes and cruelty Hotoro neglected to prevent were brought to light and now all the countries were demanding justice.

Mo from the Land of Fire, and Juko from the Land of Lightning, were especially vehement. Both threatening to declare war and take over the entire country if Hotoro didn't perform what they asked.

Hotoro was relatively positive Juko was only getting involved because no one wanted Mo—Konoha—to grab more power. They were already considered nearly impossible to defeat one on one thanks to their absurdly powerful monsters.

Hotoro definitely didn't want Mo to take his land away, but he really didn't want to give into their commands. The amount of money they were asking for reparations would destroy his country's economy. Even if Hotoro sold every single item in his possession—and the nobles did the same—it would not be enough! It was absurd—ridiculous!

Juko's demands were much more reasonable, but this current missive from Mo blatantly warned Hotoro that giving into Juko would inevitably mean war.

War.

In his country.

Between Kumogakure and Konohagakure.

His country would be destroyed. Whatever was left of it would be... would be... nothing.

Hotoro would give anything for his country to be saved.

But what could he do?

Give in to Mo and the economy would be viciously torn down and his people left to starve, or give in to Juko and have those vile Konoha monsters destroy his country out of spite?

He should have never made that deal with Orochimaru.

He should have helped Kirigakure.

He should have...

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Naasica)

I awoke curled up in Obito's lap in the living room of our home. Grogginess slowly escaped my mind as I returned to reality.

"Morning, hime," Obito quietly greeted me, rubbing my arm. "You okay?"

"Mn?" I tried to piece together when exactly I had fallen asleep, but all I remembered was— "I was with Naruto, and then... music?"

"You had another episode," Kakashi answered, entering the living room and handing me a strong cup of tea. "Obito found you in the back."

Another one? I took a swig of the tea, feeling it burn the back of my throat. I couldn't remember anything past a haze of red and black smoke and the sound of someone whistling. What's happening to me?

"It's okay," Obito soothed me. "It didn't last as long this time. They're getting better."

I suppose, I thought, shoving aside my worries.

If I was truly concerned about it I could prematurely resurrect Madara and have him take a look at me. Obito and Kakashi always found me before anything bad happened, and I didn't have the episodes when visiting Amegakure, so...

Everything will be fine, I reassured myself.

"Where did the kids go?"

"Exams," Obito answered. "We can see them after the second phase. I'm sure they'll finish it by tonight."

"Yes... yes, you're right."

"Why don't you take a nap? You look exhausted," Kakashi gently advised. "Come on."

"Yes," I murmured. "A nap... sounds nice."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Sakura)

The Chūnin Exams first phase was being held at the academy. She, Naruto, and Sasuke headed there early in the morning to meet up with their teammates. It wasn't surprising to find Hinata already there, the Hyūga heiress offering them a sweet smile.

"Good morning," Hinata said, her smile as soft as lavenders.

Sakura's eyes lingered a moment longer than necessary on the way Hinata now parted her hair to cover her bad eye. Sakura swallowed back her burst of guilt, trying to focus on the thoughts of: I will protect her this time.

Naruto let out a cheerful reply, slinging an arm around his childhood friend. "Hey Hina-chan! Oba-chan give you anything good?"

Hinata's smile took a turn to the chillier side and she pulled out a little vial from her sleeves. "A paralysis. I brought a spare for Shino to use."

"Thanks," Sasuke said on behalf of his teammate.

"How fast does it work?" Sakura inquired.

"Depends on how much adrenaline is already in the system. In the heat of battle... a minute? Outside perhaps five," Hinata answered. "Here, each of you take an antidote."

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto accepted the smaller capsules from the heiress, each pocketing them elsewhere.

"Good morning," came the soft voice of Shino. The group turned around to see a cheerful Ino waving at them.

The blonde beauty still had a sparkle in her eyes even after what they had gone through. Sakura found that nerve and optimism admirable, and she wished she could be as strong as Ino. Sakura had trouble getting through the night, let alone putting a happy twinkle in her eye.

That being said, the blonde did change her attire. She now wore mesh armor under a stylish—because of course it had to be stylish, it wouldn't be Ino otherwise—purple skirt and vest combo. She also wore a black scarf that covered her neck and lower half of her face to keep her scars hidden.

"Good morning beautiful people," Ino signed, and while Sakura couldn't see her mouth she knew she would be smiling.

"Are you excited?" Sakura asked Ino, signing her question as she verbalized it. She was still learning GSL and found it easier to speak while she made the motions. It was also easier for others to correct her if they knew what she was trying to say.

"Dad promised me a new jutsu or weapon if I won," Ino signed.

"Obito promised us a new weapon, too!" Naruto exclaimed, signing like Sakura had. "Man, think we could try to make it a tie?"

"No way," Sasuke disagreed, signing as he talked. Everyone agreed it was good practice to use signing whenever Ino was around. "The whole point of winning is gloating rights."

"You're an ass," Sakura politely informed her housemate.

"Yes," Sasuke agreed, then smirked. "Shisui isn't though, right Sakura?"

"You shut up before I break your legs," Sakura snarled, her cheeks immediately heating up.

"Wha—huh?" Naruto looked between the two, his eyes widened in bewilderment. "Of course Shisui isn't an ass! He's like, the nicest guy ever."

"I'm sure Sakura agrees with you," Sasuke smugly said.

Sakura wondered if they would be disqualified if she broke Sasuke's leg. She weighed the benefits over the disadvantage it would bring.

I can break his leg after the tournament, Sakura finally allowed. She settled on flipping him off, though, and grabbed Naruto and Hinata's hands before towing them inside.

"Let's leave the ass behind," Sakura muttered grumpily while Hinata giggled cutely at her, and Naruto kept his confused expression.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The first phase was being held in one of the largest classrooms at the academy. Sakura pulled her team into the room to find it already half-way full.

A year ago Sakura might have been intimidated by the crowd of Genin that currently glowered at her team.

A year ago Sakura would have paled with fear from such a thing.

This was not a year ago.

Sakura's lips curled back into a silent sneer, a blatant taunt.

She was stronger, better, and meaner now.

If they came for her, she would tear them apart with her bare hands.

Not that they would even get close enough to do such a thing. She learned her lesson well, and the moment she felt they were a threat to her or her teammates, they'd find an arrow through their heads.

She would protect her precious people.

No matter what.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Naasica)

The actual first phase of the exam began without much affair. Once the clock chimed at nine hundred, the doors locked shut behind everyone. They were grouped into their teams of three, and one team at a time was shuffled further into the room and into another room where the actual testing was.

This second room was small, cramped, and blaringly white. There was only a single flimsy wooden table with nine vials of colorless liquids. On the other side of the table sat a man in a fox mask and a long black jacket. All of the proctors wore the fox mask, a blatant taunt to the other villages about one of Konoha's secret weapons.

Naruto openly grinned at the mask proudly.

After all, being a jinchūriki was an honor. He was raised to believe that by both his family, and his fellow shinobi.

(In this world, nobody would dare to shame the child of the Yellow, and raised student of the Demon Princess and Ghost... and if they did, they were found nearly beaten to death the following morning.)

(Killing civilians was frowned upon but if a civilian fell down some stairs well... oopsie?)

"Each vial when ingested is worth one point," the proctor began, his voice coming out distorted through the mask. "You need six points to pass, but each point gained after will provide you with a bonus in the next phase. Three of the vials are a lethal poison unless ingested in a certain order. Three of the vials are a paralysis unless ingested in a certain order. Two are antidotes, and one is harmless. You have ten minutes to obtain your six points."

As the resident poison master on the team, Hinata immediately stepped forward and began examining each vial in rapid succession. She performed diagnostic ninjutsu to feel the most predominant chemical compound in each vial, and from that she took educated guesses on what each was.

"I'll obviously be the drinker," Naruto said, holding out his hand. "Give all nine to me, Hina-chan."

Hinata nodded shortly, her eye narrowed as she pondered which order to give them to Naruto. After five minutes, she finally handed Naruto each vial one by one.

He gulped them down, wincing at their foul tastes, but otherwise suffering no ill effects.

The proctor wrote something down on his clipboard before handing them a button with the number nine on it. "Leave."

"Yes, sir," they chorused.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Obito)

Shino's little workers—as Ino liked to refer to them—tested out each of the vials presented. It barely took a minute for Shino to work out which ones were poisonous, which were antidotes, and which were nothing. Shino decided to be the one to drink it, as his little workers could purge the poisons as need be.

Team Obito passed with a solid nine points in under five minutes.

Ino held up her hands in high fives, and Sasuke and Shino accepted them with grins.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Kisame)

"Go Itsuki, go Itsuki, go!" Reo cheered at his teammate. Itsuki was bent over the viles, dipping odd sticks into each of them and looking at how the sticks would change colors.

"Reo, hush," Seiko scolded him. "This is an exam."

"But we've gotta show off how great we are! I bet, you know, if we do well we might even get an apprenticeship with some AWESOME people," Reo happily chattered.

That instantly got a sparkle in Team Kisame's eyes.

Not only were they the first Genin team to be trained by a member of the Akatsuki—ignoring Owari's undercover team—but they could potentially be trained by the Akatsuki in apprenticeship after being promoted.

"That last apprentice under Owari-sama was Mei-sama," Seiko sighed happily, touching her cheek. "I hope he'll choose me as an apprentice."

"I will literally fight you for that spot," Reo informed her.

"I think I got it," Itsuki said with a wry smile. "Reo, you okay to drink?"

"I trust you man," Reo said with a thumbs up.

Team Kisame passed with nine points in seven minutes.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Naasica)

There were about twenty teams that had passed the first phase of the exam. There was no fanfare about this, or any ridiculously pointless speeches to try and intimidate the contestants. The main proctor for the entire exam, Ibiki, was professional and curt.

Either you passed, or you didn't.

At the end of the first phase they were divided into groups based on how many points were earned. Then everyone was escorted out to training grounds 44—mockingly named the Forest of Death due to its tradition of being the burial ground for so many visiting Genin during the Chūnin Exams. Just as Sunagakure always used their desert, and Kumogakure always used their underground mazes, Konohagakure always used the Forest of Death in the second phase. Its wildlife claimed plenty of lives prior, and likely would continue to do so.

The teams with nine minutes were granted first entry into the forest, with those with six minutes or less having to wait a full hour before being allowed in.

They weren't given much information on the second phase—testing what information they could gather, they surmised—but simply told: Find a treasure, take it to the central tower. You are allowed to kill your opponents now. You have until moon high.

Treasure was such a vague term, but Team Naasica felt relatively confident it was being used in a literal sense here. If not, more information would have had to have been provided. From that point it was simply a matter of finding something new placed in the forest. It had to be obvious enough that a Chūnin, or Genin, could find it, but hidden enough that it would properly test them.

Luckily for them they had a Byakugan user who found a buried capsule the first two hours into the exam.

As Sakura got to work digging up the capsule—she was the only doton user on the team—Hinata stood guard, and Naruto scouted their surroundings outside of Hinata's Byakugan range.

He hopped from tree branch to tree branch at an almost lackadaisical pace. Naasica had told them the exam itself shouldn't be any bit of difficult. It was a straightforward assessment of their skills, and both teams were well prepared for the rank advancement. Team Kakashi would take private exams later, the kind that did not require a full team to compete.

They made it clear no one could replace... Chōji.

As Chūnin they would no longer be bound by the three man squad rule.

Naruto knew the only difficult part of the exams would be the one on one tournament. He had some exceptional teammates to face up against and he—

"HELP ME! SOMEBODY, PLEASE!"

Naruto froze in his hiding spot in the foliage, catching the strong scent of fresh blood. Looking in the direction of the screams Naruto could only vaguely make out a mangled corpse on the forest floor. It was too far away to be certain. He was about to move toward the screaming, but then he remembered Chōji.

He remembered Chōji dying to save a bunch of kinds, bunch of strangers, only to ultimately have those kids be put to death.

There was a... change inside of Naruto in that exact moment.

A year ago he would have gone in without hesitation, without a second thought. He would have helped the girl pitifully screaming with all her might.

A year ago he would have believed it was not a trap.

A year ago he would have cared.

This was not a year ago.

What does she matter? Naruto thought, cold and detached. If I save her... will I lose Sakura, and Hinata?

Naruto listened to her screams grow to a fervor pitch as she pleaded with her life. They became mangled and watered down, and listening to them told Naruto her lungs were filling up with—likely—blood.

She would be dead within a minute, he thought.

He turned on his heel, and he left.

Team Naasica passed in two and a half hours.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Obito)

Finding the treasure took longer for this team than Team Naasica since Sasuke's Sharingan couldn't literally see through mounds of dirt.

It was good enough to notice the slightly upturned mound of dirt they found three hours into the exam.

It was also good enough to alert his teammates they were found out by another team.

After what happened at Otogakure, though, Team Obito was without mercy or leniency.

Shino's bugs dove straight into the enemy team's orifices as Ino speared them with her lightning ninjutsu. Sasuke snapped the neck of the last surviving teammate, and Team Obito did not spare their corpses a second glance.

Children, or not.

Enemies of them would be eliminated.

No matter what.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Team Kisame)

"WHY ARE THERE BUGS BIGGER THAN OUR HEADS?!"

"SOMEONE ALREADY IMPALED TWO OTHER TEAMS AND LEFT THEIR HEADS ON A SPIKE?!"

"I think I found a—OH NO THAT'S ANOTHER BUG NEST."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Naasica)

After a wonderfully refreshing nap I decided to go shopping to make a congratulatory dinner for the kiddos that had passed. I knew our little minions would have easily made it through the first two phases without much fuss. The monthly in between to prepare for the traditional tournament would be packed with last minute training.

I honestly couldn't predict which of our little minions would win the tournament. They had all grown up into capable Genin.

Stepping out into the market, I merrily made my way down the streets. I smiled sweetly at the civilians who greeted me, and I stopped to chat with merchants who called out to me.

A demon, I was called, a monster, those outside of Konoha would whisper.

But here?

Here I was their war hero. The kind, beautiful, and powerful kunoichi who played a pivotal role in winning the war for Konoha. The abandoned orphan who rose up to play the role of clan leader. The heart broken woman who selflessly took in the jinchūriki and has raised him as her own.

I was adored by Konoha.

(And feared.)

So I had a role to play. A smile to wear, a mask that fit so snugly over my face I barely noticed it anymore.

After finishing my shopping, and bidding the baker goodbye—and carefully holding the bundle of freshly baked garlic bread—I was about to return home when—

A brush of chakra so tantalizingly familiar it made my heart stop. Just barely outside of my true sensing zone, I thought for a moment I must have imagined it but then I felt it again.

No.

That simply could not be.

That chakra signature could not possibly be in Konoha.

My stomach soured like rotten milk, my lips harshly turning down in a frown as I began to quickly make my way toward the hokage's office, where I felt the signature.

No, no, no, no, no.

Each step I took made my heart pound harder in my chest, and bursts of adrenaline shot through me. I had to actively focus on trying to calm down, to shove and repress the raw emotions that were threatening to spill out of me.

The hokage's office window was open, and jumping in to it, I found myself greeting a truly horrendous sight.

There, in all her shame, was Ts-fucking-nade and her little cun t Shizune.

No fucking way.

Minato glanced back at me, his face expressionless. My own posture and mask mirrored his own, refusing to allow so much of an inkling of killing intent to leak out despite how desperately I wanted to gut the traitors where they stood.

I adjusted my grip on my paper grocery bag, moving my gaze away from the stunned Tsunade.

A ghost. Just a ghost. Dead and gone. Nothing is there.

"Are you coming home for dinner?" I asked Minato, my voice pleasant and warm.

"Yes. I'll be home in an hour," Minato answered, offering up a polite smile.

"See you then," I said, turning away.

"Naasica—wait!" Tsunade called out to me, and oh did I want to turn around and oh did I want to rip out her tongue.

But I behaved myself.

I left her alone.

For now, Owari whispered.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Five seconds.

Five.

I left the office.

Four.

I flickered across the streets.

Three.

I opened the front door.

Two.

I set down the groceries.

One.

I entered the private training grounds attached to the house and proceeded to destroy every last thing I could see.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Kisame)

Kisame sipped on his tea as he assessed his dishevelled Genin. His team had returned only a few minutes prior to completing the second phase of the exam, covered in grime, blood, dirt, sweat, and tears of their enemies.

"Let me get this straight," Kisame said, trying hard not to start laughing. "Out of the twenty teams that went into the second phase you stumbled across fifteen of them and murdered all of them?"
"I'm so tired," whispered Seiko, the heiress raising a shaky hand to brush bits of brain out of her hair.

"On top of falling into twenty flying leeches nests," Kisame went on, and at the mention of leeches his entire team shuddered violently, their gazes telling Kisame they were having a flashback of the horrible, horrible bugs.

"And to top it all off after killing the last team in your way you decided to spare this little girl, fake her death, and now kidnap her to my hotel room?" Kisame finished, nodding toward the quivering red haired child who was huddling behind Reo.

"She's an Uzumaki!" Reo declared. "Owari-sama said all Uzumaki are welcome in Amegakure."

That is true, Kisame thought. Mostly because they wanted to consolidate all potential jinchūrikis in one location and make sure none of the other villages had extras on hand. Could also have been because the hime might still feel a touch guilty about murdering her sister or whatever.

"So you fake her death and kidnap her," Kisame repeated, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Only his minions would jump straight to the most extreme method.

"Th-They d-didn't, um, k-kidnap me," the Uzumaki girl stammered out, her gaze lowered and demure.

Kisame couldn't hold back his laughter at that point.

She went along with it! Ahahaha. Oh wait until I tell hime about this one.

Obviously sneaking the girl to Ame wasn't any bit of issue. Naasica could smuggle anyone she wanted in and out of Konoha, and in worst case scenario Kisame could borrow one of Naasica's safehouses in Konoha to store the kiddo.

Actually the worst case scenario is we prematurely launch Plan Trim, but whatever.

Once Kisame's laughter died down, he grinned widely at his four kiddos. "Alright. Go get cleaned up, ah... what's your name kiddo?"

"K-Karin. Uzumaki Karin," Karin introduced herself.

"Karin," Kisame said, committing the name to memory. "Here, you can borrow some of my spare clothes. Get cleaned up, we'll be smuggling you outta here first thing tomorrow."

"S-So soon?" Seiko gasped.

"Sure. Owari's perfect for something like this," Kisame answered, and all of his Genin gasped.

"Lucky!" Seiko whined, glaring at Karin. "I wish I could get smuggled out of Konoha by Owari-sama."

"Me, too," Reo sighed longingly, the lovestruck fanboy clutching at his chest.

"W-Who is Owari-sama?" Karin asked hesitantly, her unease apparent.

All of the Ame Genin spluttered at this blasphemous question, but Kisame couldn't blame her. The Akatsuki was very careful to keep their anonymity outside of Amegakure. Kisame and Kakuzu were really the only Akatsuki members the other villages could confirm. Guren and Mei were virtually nobodies prior to joining the Akatsuki, Sasori kept his identity hidden through his puppets, and Deidara rarely left Amegakure and when he did he didn't let anyone see him live.

Owari operated largely through the shadows. Those in the dirtiest part of society heard whispers about the Black Angel of Ame, but he was largely dismissed as a myth. Konan and Nagato straight up never left Ame, and Hidan was too new of a member.

Despite being exhausted Seiko's inner fangirl reignited her energy to begin to bombard Karin with a list of Owari's accomplishments, "He rescued countless families and children from the monsters of war! He purged Amegakure of its evil and created a safe haven. He saved the refugees and kekkei genkai users from Kirigakure. He created the Akatsuki, he's—"

"Okay, okay," Kisame placated. "Karin can learn all about Owari back in Ame. Everyone get cleaned up. You reek."

"Yes, sir."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Naasica)

Disgust, bitterness, and pure unbridled rage bubbled like lava inside of me. Again and again I formed trees just to bunch them back down with my bare hands. It was hard not to imagine them being her stupid little face.

My temper tantrum was interrupted by a sharp whistle.

It jolted me, a zing of electricity shooting through me in surprise at the sudden noise. So wrapped up in my fit, I had ignored my surroundings.

Obito had been the one to whistle at me, Kakashi standing beside him with a cup of warm tea in his hands.

I bit hard on my bottom lip, making it bleed. Reluctantly, I looked down at my shaky hands, finding them raw, bloodied, and bruised. The pain was easy to ignore, and I curled my fingers into fists. With a deep breath in, I began to circulate my chakra throughout my body to purge the adrenaline and force my heartbeat to steady. As I began this process, Obito and Kakashi approached me, both quietly stepping over the numerous piles of splinters I had created.

Kakashi placed his other hand on the small of the back, the warmth of his palm spreading. He lifted the mug up to my lips and kindly said, "Drink."

I took a tentative sip of tea, letting out a soft sigh as the warmth spread through me. Obito carefully placed a blanket around my shoulders and murmured, "Come on inside. Let's get those hands bandaged up."

Doing anything other than that would warrant lectures. I knew I needed to calm down and recollect myself before Naruto and the others returned, so I did as told. My dear, dear, teammates cleaned me up and put me in some warm comfy pajamas. Obito took over dinner duty just as Itachi and Shisui returned home. Both boys noticed the now destroyed training grounds—and piles of splinters—but neither said anything. Shisui offered me a kiss on the cheek, and Itachi asked if maybe macaroons (my favorite) sounded good for dessert tonight.

Kakashi sat beside me on the couch, and after Shisui got changed into his own pajamas and joined us—he rested his head on my lap and I placed a bandaged hand over his forehead—did I finally admit, "Tsunade returned to Konoha."

There was a sharp chop in the kitchen as Obito cut off the head of a fish with a tad too much force than what was necessary.

"Why?" came the obvious question from Shisui, as he tenderly lifted my hand off his forehead and began to use Shosen to heal it.

"Don't know. Don't care."

"Are we going to kill her?" asked Obito from the kitchen.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," murmured Itachi as he began to gently fold together the macaroon batters.

Raion hopped in through the living room window, still in his ANBU gear with dried bloodstains on his mask and pants. "Not technically illegal. She's not recognized as a citizen of Konoha anymore. Without a citizenship in at least one major town she's outside of the law. In a legal sense."

"Tsunade Senju was declared dead already," Shisui added.

"I haven't decided on anything," I said, closing my eyes as I leaned into Kakashi. "I know better than to act impulsively. She could have taken up a new identity and registered as a citizen elsewhere."

Not that it would really stop me. If I wanted her dead, she would be dead.

There were very few people who could stop me, and none of them would.

It was just that I wanted her to suffer. Death would be an end—a mercy to her existence that I genuinely did not believe she deserved yet. No matter how much I wanted to rip her throat out, I knew it would ultimately bring her more pain to remain alive. She was a drunk, miserable old hag lost in her memories and torturing herself over her regrets.

She hated herself and put herself through hell on my behalf.

As long as she continued to do such, I didn't want to actually murder her (yet).

Did she come back to Konoha to remind herself of why she had to suffer?

Or does she dare try to seek forgiveness now?

If she was healing, if she was no longer hurting herself—

That would not be tolerated.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

(Interlude - ?)

? hummed an old song, perched on a tree branch as ? watched the demon princess of Konoha throw a fit at the presence of her old cousin. It was ? in a way, put a ? on ? face.

? hadn't meant to come to Konoha again so soon, but when ? caught wind of Tsuande's return, ? couldn't possibly resist on seeing their reunion. Work was important, most certainly, but ? ? Naasica and ? knew this ? ? ? ? could miss out.

? allow ? to linger a moment or two longer before ? would return to hunting Rabu.

After all...

? was the "vilest" of them all.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

I've been publishing my entire original story for free on wattpad over the course of a few months. The chapters are uploaded weekly every Saturday, and I would so, so, SO appreciate any support that can be given for this.

It can be found on my wattpad account, the story is called Dawn of the Rose.

Reo is Itama's reincarnation. Fight me.

Answer: Konoha 100%. Let me smother Naruto with family love.

Question: Are you for revenge, or forgiveness? Who would you want to get revenge on... or who do you wish you could bring yourself to forgive?

Reviews are love!