Art used was created by TheDarkLordCreator on deviantART. 

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Warning: All warnings were addressed at the bottom of the second chapter.

And maybe it's a dream; maybe nothing else is real?

But, it wouldn't mean a thing if I told you how I feel.

So I'm tired of all the pain, of the misery inside -

and I wish that I could live, feeling nothing, but the night.

You can tell me what to say, you can tell me where to go -

but, I doubt that I would care, and my heart would never know.

-Bad Apple

"Well done, well done!" Tsunade laughed.

I giggled with glee, pride blooming inside of me. Tsunade beamed at me, picking me up and beginning to twirl me around.

"I'm so proud of you, little Naa-chan! So proud!"

...

..

.

Warmth surrounded me. Soft, plush, blankets were wrapped tightly around me. They cocooned me, and swaddled me in a familiar warmth. Sunlight filtered in from the window beside my bed, and a cool breeze drifted in through it, gently lifting the curtains and swaying them.

I watched the curtains dance in the breeze with narrowed, lazy eyes. It was the first morning in a long while that I had been permitted to sleep in. There was no training, nor any missions awaiting me. Madara had given me the night off, as well, citing that I needed to rest.

He said that I was progressing well.

I suppose I was.

A couple more months had passed since I had begun training with chakra ratio. Since then, I had learned a handful of katon jutsus, and one futon. They were all small utility jutsus classed as D, or C. None of them would be the sort I would use often in battle, if at all. Ever still, it was important I knew them, for not only they could still prove useful, but I also needed to be comfortable and familiar with drawing upon the foreign natures.

I stretched out slowly in my bed, my nose twitching from another cool breeze.

Summer was coming to a close soon, and fall would be greeting us again. The trees were already losing their leaves and turning golden. It turned the village into a pretty sight when the sunset's orange-ish glow bounced off of them, seemingly setting them ablaze.

With much reluctance, I sat up and at a lackadaisical pace, I got out of bed.

Scratching my back, I pulled down my black pajama shirt, and then pulled up my fluffy orange long pajama pants. I slipped on my slippers, and headed down the hall.

Ahead of me, at the end of the hall, the door opened, and a cleaned up Kakashi stepped out.

I raised my eyebrow. "Why are you up?"

"Why are you?" Kakashi returned. "It's barely passed noon."

"Is it?" I mused. "Then I suppose I'll just grab something to eat and head back to bed."

"No," Kakashi said quickly, then stopped himself. He cleared his throat. "It's been a while since we got a break. Instead of wasting it with sleep, why not...?"

"Sleeping a day away is not wasting it," I corrected. "And why not what? Train? No, thank you. This is our day off. As in: rest our bodies."

Kakashi flushed. "I wasn't going to say train. I was just suggesting we... go... out?"

"Why do you seem so unsure about that?" I asked curiously. I narrowed my eyes and accused, "Kushina set you up to this. She just wants me to do something other than sleep, and you're grasping at straws trying to figure something out."

"Don't be stupid," Kakashi snapped.

My eyes narrowed.

"... Shut up," Kakashi mumbled.

"I knew it," I muttered. "Jeeze, fine. Why don't we go grab our punching bag and... grab a movie or something?"

Kakashi relaxed. "That works. Gets the red demon off my case."

"Now you just have to deal with the demon princess," I snickered.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not scared of you."

"Is that a challenge, I hear?"

He twitched. If I hadn't been watching for it, I was certain I would have missed it. My lips twitched in satisfaction. The two of us head down the steps, barely paying any attention to the cuddling couple on the couch.

Kushina raises a hand, not turning around at all. "Good morning. You're up early."

"Sleep is overrated and for the weak, anyway," I grumbled, heading towards the fridge.

Kakashi glanced over at the two. "We're going to the movies with Obito."

Minato turned his head at that point, smiling brightly. "That's wonderful! Do you guys need money?"

"I got it covered," I dismissed, grabbing cinnamon roll dough out of the fridge.

"I'll pay for my own," Kakashi insisted.

"We'll see," was all I said in return.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Kakashi and I stood outside of Obito's home. In comfortable silence we waited for an answer to our knocking. It came a few minutes later, Kiko—Obito's mother—answered the door. Her willow figure stood over us and she gave us a warm smile. "Are you two here for Obi-chan?"

"We were going to the movies and wanted to see if Obito-kun would join us," I answered, giving her a charming smile.

She reflexively returned my smile with a brighter one of her own. I felt inwardly proud of myself at that—I had worked hard under Madara's careful tutelage to be more charismatic. I certainly wasn't as charming or magnetic as he was, but I liked to think I was coming along alright.

"He's right upstairs, I'll go grab him," Kiko answered. The door closed behind her and Kakashi and I exchanged glances.

"So what movie are we going to see?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't even know what's playing."

My nose crinkled. "I hope this isn't a waste of time."

"It certainly will be; that's the point."

I snorted just as the door opened and Obito stepped out. He was wearing a pair of long dark blue pants and a white shirt with the Uchiha crest on the right shoulder of it. "What are we doing?"

"Wasting our time," I answered cheekily.

"Oh, good," Obito responded dryly. "I was worried we would actually be doing something significant for today."

"Whatever," Kakashi muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Let's just go and get this over with before Kushina does something drastic."

With a lazy shrug, Obito stepped out, adjusted his goggles over the top of his head and shut the door behind him. The three of us began a slow walk towards the entertainment area in Konoha. Obito folded his arms behind his head. "Man, I'm actually still pretty beat from that last training session!"

I smiled faintly. "You've certainly come a long way, though. You lasted a lot longer than what you would have when you first joined the team. I am reasonably confident you will be acceptable to take the exams with us."

"Exams?" Obito echoed.

Kakashi gave me a long side-glance. "You actually think he'll be ready?"

"Certainly," I said, self-assured. "He is improving at an exponential rate and will, undoubtedly, continue to do so until he has caught up to us. The exams are in the spring, and I suspect this winter will go by quickly."

"What are you guys talking about?" Obito demanded.

"The Chūnin Exams," I explained. "They'll be held in Konoha for spring. Kakashi and I will obviously be able to enter and pass through them easily, but a third member is required to join, as you can only enlist as squads. You would be our third member, Obito."

Obito's eyes widened and a pink hue colored his cheeks. "You—You think I could—?"

I sniffed. "I'm the one training you. Of course you would be able to enter. Anyone I train simply has to excel at whatever I'm training them in."

A blinding grin shone on Obito's face and he launched himself at me, picking me up and twirling me around, and around. I let out squawk of indigence, and Kakashi was quick to pry me out of Obito's arms. I glared at Obito. "What was that for?"

Obito was dancing in place, his eyes shining. "I'm just—that's just—no one has ever—thank you, Oni-hime! Thank you."

"Never do that again," I warned him, feeling embarrassed. It had been a long time since someone had done that to me and it brought up all sorts of uncomfortable memories.

Memories I would like to pretend I did not have.

Swallowing roughly, I turned on my heel and began to head further ahead, an ecstatic Obito, and sedated Kakashi trailing behind me.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Later that evening, Madara handed me a scroll. It was a tattered thing, tied together with a red ribbon. With careful hands, I took it and examined it.

"This will be your summon."

My eyes widened. "So soon?"

"He is one of the few summoners we can trust to not try and undermine our cause. More than that, he will be able to be used in both of your words. As Senju Naasica, and as my apprentice," Madara stated.

"He?" I repeated. "As in singular?"

"Yes. Unlike most summons, this summoning contract is a contract to one individual."

"Who?"

"If he had a name, it has long since been forgotten," Madara said softly. "This was a scroll the Uchiha plundered from an old temple. It cost the Uchiha five lives retrieving it, only to be found out it was useless to us."

"Useless?" I echoed.

Madara chuckled dryly. "Useless. The contract can only be used for someone who has died."

My breath hitched. "What? How can that be?"

"We thought it was impossible," Madara mused. "Surely, the dead could not fight us. But, that is exactly what must be done. We thought about trying to sell it—pawn it off on some fool, but my brother decided against it. Against the clan's wishes, we hid it away... just in case. And here you are, someone who has died, and yet lives again."

My fingers brushed along the scroll, gently stroking it. It felt rough, and dirty beneath my fingers. It was certainly an old scroll—but how old exactly? And what creature lied inside that would only bow to the once-dead?

Hesitantly, I pulled at the red ribbon that held it together. It came away easily, and I began to carefully unroll the scroll. Intricate lines were drawn all around it—unlike anything I had seen before. It didn't look like any fūinjutsu Kushina had taught me—didn't look like it belonged in this world, at all. The lines were delicate, and curved, and held an almost foreboding sense. The overall design reminded me vaguely of what Tim Burton might think up of.

There didn't seem to be any point to the design; no beginning or ending, either.

I looked over to Madara in confusion, and he stared back at me. "Well?"

"Well what? What does any of this mean?"

Madara blinked slowly. "I can only see a blank scroll. I have only ever been near death; never truly dead. I cannot help you with this. I can only tell you what I know, and I have already told you all I have discovered."

I bit my bottom lip. "None of this makes any sense. It's just a drawing... I think."

Madara gave me a small, albeit bemused smile. "Always look underneath the underneath."

Taking the chastise with an inward grimace, I nodded. "Yes, Madara-sama."

Madara gestured to the cave. "Now, begin your warm-up."

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

Early in the morning when I returned, I pulled out the scroll and looked at it once again, trying to heed Madara's words.

I couldn't stop staring at it.

It was bugging me. The fact that I couldn't find an end nor a beginning. Everything had an end and a beginning. Even circles had starting points. But these lines were so tightly wound together, and in such an abstract design, none of it made any sense. The more I stared at it, the more it bothered me.

It just wasn't right. It didn't make any sense. What was purpose behind these lines? Kushina always insisted that seals had to be symmetrical. They had to have balance, or else they would lose control and either not work, or explode upon use. There was no balance to this. There was no rationality behind it.

Everything needed to have a reason. Everything needed to have a purpose, or else what was the point of it?

What was the purpose behind this? It couldn't be a seal, could it? It broke every law of fūinjutsu I had been taught. And, yet, it had to be some sort of seal for it to be a summoning contract.

Or was this all a hoax?

But, no... Madara only saw a blank scroll. There was no genjutsu powerful enough to deceive Madara, both now and in his prime.

I could already feel a headache coming on from the frustration. I had to know. I had to understand.

My finger touched the very center of the drawing—or what I perceived to be the center.

Was this the beginning? Did it start here?

What did they think when they first placed their brush against this paper? What was their intention?

Who gave this scroll a purpose?

Idly, I traced my finger along the lines. It was almost a maze, really. If I ignored what it truly was, I could treat it like a game. A test of intellect. A truly challenging game, for it seemed to have no possible ways of winning.

There was no end.

Why not make one?

My lips twitched upwards in a smirk at the idea. I ceased my idle tracing, and began to drag my finger along with renewed purpose. I began from the bottom right and started to follow a path I had set forth in my mind. It took a few tries but finally I had managed to interconnect every line together in one smooth motion.

Suddenly the scroll burned my hand and I reflexively dropped it.

The drawing glowed on the scrolled, it filled the room with its bright light. My eyes grew wide in disbelief as I saw the drawing begin to lift off the paper. The lines twisted and curled into the air like smoke before they began to converge into one another. Within moments all the lines had formed together a sort of black ball.

Dazed, I reached out my hand towards the thing. It gently lowered itself into my hand, and I realized that a sort of black gas was oozing out from all around it, giving it a sort of haunting appearance. The sphere turned around slowly, on the front of it was the skull of some sort of animal—a dog, perhaps. Behind its sockets, a single orange glow emitted.

Hello.

"You... you are the summoning creature?" I asked, shock from the ordeal morphing into cautious curiosity.

We are the sole summoning spirit of this contract, the thing said. You wish to make a contract with us?

The thing spoke in an old dialect—in the same manner that Kurama referred to himself, and lords in feudal Japan.

"I... do," I began slowly, "How do I make this contract?"

It seemed to watch me for several moments. Do you wish violence or peace?

"Peace, but I will embark on violence to achieve it," I answered confidently.

Then we want the blood of one of your kind. Give it to us, and we will serve you in life and undeath.

"How much blood?"

Enough to end the life.

That, I thought, would be troublesome to get in Konoha. I will have to simply bring the spirit on another mission from Madara-sama.

"I understand," I answered. "I will summon you again when I have it."

Then we are done here, it hissed out slowly, dissolving into smoke. The smoke then fell down on the scroll, recreating the lines.

Interesting, I thought.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

"A sacrifice," Madara repeated, obviously amused. "Amusing and very... classic. Although, I suppose it is an archaic creature. Very well, tonight we shall ascertain a sacrifice for you. Do you remember that old outpost I had you and Zetsu clear out and secure a month ago?"

I did. It was mostly filled with bandits who had squatted near the road to raid passing merchant caravans.

No one missed them.

Once it was cleared, Madara had me grow one of my trees there. He had me doing that at every spot we cleared; each trees' roots stretched as far as I could make them, intersecting one another and creating a clear path for me to travel through.

As consequence, I could transport myself nearly anywhere in the nations at an instant with little to no strain on myself.

"Go there," Madara instructed. "North of there, there is a small lord with a small fortune. He is a miser and at loathe to part with his money, even in a bank. Naturally, Zetsu has confirmed that all his wealth is being kept in his estate. Use him as your sacrifice. Collect the fortune and bring it back here."

I bowed. "It will be done, Madara-sama."

His eyes gleamed as he watched me bow before I dismissed myself to get changed. Once I was battle-ready, I gestured for one of the clones to follow me and headed towards my small tree in the cave.

(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง

The estate was guarded by numerous mercenaries. Some had a considerable amount of chakra, and others had the amount of civilians.

The white clone popped his head out of the tree next to me. "Madara-sama wants me to tell you that he wants a stealth job. You are not ready for a massacre of this level, yet."

Instantly, I felt disappointment. It bothered me that I was not yet at an acceptable level for me to perform all jobs perfectly. In an ideal world it would be better to slaughter the mercenaries to guarantee I would not be caught; but, since I did not know nearly enough ninjutsu outside of my mouton, that would be impossible. My taijutsu was not up to par that I could only use it against that many enemies, and my katon ninjutsu was, at best, C-Rank. Don't even get me started on fūton.

I was anxious to perform as Madara's tool to the fullest, and being unable to left me feeling disappointed at myself.

I resisted the urge to sigh, choosing instead to let the useless emotions drain out of me.

It was a waste to dwell on such things on a mission. Emotions were meaningless to a tool, if not an outright hindrance. Right now I was Madara's tool. I was his right hand, and he was relying on me. I could not fail him. I would not fail him.

With a sharp eye, I began to survey the estate. It was smaller than the Hyūga and Senju, but larger than the Hokage's. Tall walls—about ten meters or so—surrounded it, with many guards circling around them; however, it was flat and square so I had a clear view of the entire estate, and its guards. Coupled my sight with my chakra sensing and it was easy to see the rotation.

To the back of the estate was a sharp cliff that overlook a vast river, while the front and sides were surrounded by tall trees (I hid among one at that moment). For over an hour I watched the guards go about their routines. Many of them were relaxed and talked with one another. I could sense more inside, but they were all grouped together in one room—probably their living quarters—and many were asleep.

There were no trees in the estate, so I knew I had to go through the hard way.

Clenching my gloved hands together, I steeled myself.

Then, I moved.

Shifting my chakra to the flat of my feet I glided down the tree and crossed the distance between me and the wall. The guards were looking away, towards the river and talking quietly on the wall above me. I could hear them vaguely talking about fishing, but I paid little heed.

Placing the palms of my hands flat against the wall, I began to pull myself up using my chakra and quietly crawl up the wall, not unlike a spider.

Reaching the top, I peered up at the guards—still talking. With one hand, I cast the most basic genjutsu—a Sensory conflicting one that caused them to see only what they're expecting to see. They only gave a heartbeat of a pause in their conversation before continuing.

Resisting the urge to smile smugly, I climbed over the wall and hopped over the other side. It was quick work to flicker across the garden and crawl in through an unlocked window—you would be surprised at how careless people can be when they believe they have a perfect security system.

From there, I merely followed Zetsu's instructions on where the lord was, while easily evading the sleepy guards who wandered the halls.

After I found the lord, I quietly locked the door behind me and rendered the lord fully unconscious—assuring that there was no way for him to wake up on accident. With that done, I instructed Zetsu to begin searching the estate for the fortune, while I summoned the spirit.

Do you have the blood we requested? It demanded.

I gestured towards the unconscious man. "I am about to give it to you now.

It floated towards him. We will take him now.

Before I could ask what they meant by that, they buried themselves inside the lord's chest and—

I flinched.

The sound of crunching bone filled the air as the middle aged man was, literally, sucked into the orb from the inside out. His eyes shot open, and his mouth gaped in surprise, but no sounds could escape him for his lungs were already sucked in.

It didn't last more than thirty seconds, at most, and when it was over, there was not a single hair left of him.

It seemed to sigh in content. Satisfactory. Very well. We will serve, as promised.

Suppressing my disgust, I got to the point. "What are your abilities?"

Possession. Necromancy. Mind attacks.

"Elaborate," I demanded.

We can possess things, living or not. Our previous mastered favored us possessing his weapons and fighting alongside him. We would possess his worst enemies and force proper death on them through seppuku if he so chose, or have them murder loved ones.

We cannot bring souls themselves back into their bodies; we can fall forth the echoes of their spirit and bind them any way we please, though.

We can enter anyone's mind. Their memories become our memories. Their fears... laid bare before us.

I considered this, and an idea came to me. "You can possess... anything?"

Yes.

"Even... trees?"

Yes.

I quickly formed a small tree—no bigger than four feet—from my right hand. Instead of growing it into the ground, though, I hardened its roots and grew them out like legs. I grew two branches on each side, giving them claws. I even went so far as to carve out two sockets for eyes and a permanent smile.

"Possess that. Tell me what you can do with it."

The thing floated around the tree for a moment before entering inside of it. A single orange glow emitted behind the tree's eyes for a moment. It walked around the room, its branches clacking. This thing is made from your chakra, and you are our master. We are able to do whatever you are able to do.

To prove this statement, it grew its own leaves—a bright, electric blue that glowed. It waved its right arm around and the arm transformed into something thicker... sturdier...

A smile bloomed across my face. "This is my order, then. When I summon you in that tree, to the world that is your true form. You are a... trent. A unique summon to me. All your abilities are exclusive to what you can use in that form. Any other time I summon you outside of that form, you are to use your true form and all your abilities to their maximum potential.

Understood.

I paused. "Now we only need a name for you... as a trent, and as your true form. Do you have a preference?"

No.

I chuckled, as the names came to me. "As a trent, you will be referred to as Heiwa. In your true form, you are Sensō."

Yes, mistress.

"Hime?" the clone inquired, appearing from the floorboard. "I found the fortune."

My smile grew wider. "Then this mission was a grand success. Let's collect it and be gone from this place."