Disclaimer: The beautiful story of Naruto belongs to Kishimoto, as do all his characters. Naasica is the only character that belongs to me.

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

Beta: Cyndaquil123

"Some men just want to watch the world burn."

-Alfred

Grandmother tilted her head curiously at me, a coy smile playing on her lips. "Little sapling, what are you doing?"

I only smiled in response, clinging to the large tree in our backyard.

Grandmother giggled.

"Naa-chan! Where are you? Obaa-chan, have you seen Naa-chan?" Tsunade called out, opening our backyard door and peering at Grandmother. I hid in the leaves of the tree.

Grandmother gave Tsunade an innocent look. "I have not."

"Mm-hmm," Tsunade responded dubiously. Then she rolled her eyes, and frowned thoughtfully. Her chakra flared, and then her eyes snapped up to my spot. "There you are, you bratty sapling!"

I squealed when Tsunade flickered towards me and plucked me out of the branches. "You can't hide from baths forever."

"But you pull my hair when you wash it," I protested, already wincing at what she would do to my poor scalp.

Tsunade huffed. "That's because you keep squirming."

"Do not!"

"Do, too!'

"Do not!"

"Do, too!"

Grandmother laughed at us. "Oh, honestly, girls..."

. . .

. .

.

Early in the morning, I returned back to my room, and swapped places with my clone. I crawled into bed, and Kakashi gave a grumbling noise before scooting over. From my clones' memories, it seemed he had awoken in the middle of the night—likely due to a nightmare—and my clone pulled him into bed and tried to comfort him until he fell asleep.

I buried my face in my pillow, my hands clenching into fists.

Despite washing thoroughly, and that I wore gloves, I could still feel the dried blood on it.

The mission had gone off without a hitch. Zetsu watched over me, as I effortlessly eliminated the civilian family. They were unknown and large, but they were completely helpless. When Orochimaru's servant had arrived, I had already set up numerous traps around the perimeter.

She had been a screamer.

Tiredly, I closed my eyes and snuggled back into the warm blankets, a sort of warmth starting to glow inside of me.

I had succeeded Madara's mission, and he was pleased with me.

That alone seemed to validate what I had done.

So why did I feel so weary?

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

A camera flashed and Kakashi shot Kushina a disgruntled look. Kushina giggled at us. "Come now, of course I have to take pictures! Today you two are going to get your teams. This is a great thing!"

"Thank you, Nee-chan," I said, smiling warmly at her. "Ano... we should probably head out now, we don't want to be late."

Kushina gave a sigh. "Oh, alright. Be sure to bring by your guy's' full team to dinner, okay?"

"Okay, Nee-chan," we chorused, already out the door.

"And be nice to your new teammate, Kakashi-kun!" Kushina called.

"Why are you only telling me?" Kakashi shouted back, grabbing my hand and starting to run. "Whatever. Come on Naasica, we're going to be late."

"Okay, okay," I laughed. Kakashi's face was one of that of sheepish embarrassment, and irritation. It was a good face to have, in light of what the past week had been like for him. I squeezed his hand, and picked up the pace to run beside him.

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

We stopped running when we reached the entrance to the academy. Class hadn't started yet, but there was a large group of small kids gathered around our classroom window outside. Kakashi spared them an annoyed glance. "What are they doing?"

Shrugging, I responded, "Who knows?"

Peering a bit closer, I recognized one of the children. "Oi! Obito-kun."

All of their heads snapped towards us, and many of the girls squealed with delight upon seeing Kakashi. Obito gave me a big grin and jogged over to us—the rest of his classmates followed shortly behind. "Hey Naasica-chan. Huh? What's that on your guy's' head?"

"It's our hitai-ate," Kakashi said shortly. "We graduated yesterday."

"What?!" Obito yelped. "Th-That's insane!"

"That's so amazing!"

"Oowah~ So expected of Kakashi-kun."

"Senju-hime is so cool, and cute!"

"Kakashi-kun, you're so cool!"

Almost immediately the two of us were surrounded by cooing children, squealing fangirls/fanboys, and just general shallow adoration. I resisted the urge to smirk cockily at them. It wouldn't do if I showed such a narcissist nature to my fellow comrades so soon after all. Besides, the praise, in my opinion, wasn't earned.

What we had accomplished was not an achievement—it was an expectation. Madara and I had far greater things in mind than simply graduating. Becoming a Genin was not something to be coveted or to be happy about. It was just a tool—just a step in the right direction. So while their praise was nice, it was ultimately pointless and hollow.

Naturally, I wouldn't point this out to them, or the others. Instead, I smiled politely. "Thank you. Kakashi-kun and I worked very hard for this, and it is... appreciated... to be noticed."

Kakashi glanced at me, his eyes unreadable.

Suddenly, his hand snapped out and he grabbed my own. I blinked in surprise at this action, but did not protest as he suddenly flickered to the roof of the academy, consequentially dragging me with him. Once we were at the top, he abruptly released my hand. "... Come on. Let's meet up with Sensei and grab our new teammate."

"Ah... mm."

"No need!" Minato chirped.

We both snapped our heads around to find Minato landing lightly on the roof. He was wearing what had to be a sheepish look, and he was rubbing the back of his head.

"So... where's our third teammate?" I asked, cocking my head and looking up at Minato inquisitively. Minato smiled in response, and leaned towards us.

"Funny you should ask that," he commented. "It seems we'll be working as a three-man squad for awhile, at least until there's a graduating class with a spare student. As it stands, most classes already have a three-man squad in mind."

"I see," was all Kakashi said, but there was definitely a pleased note in his tone. He was most certainly satisfied with this outcome, and I couldn't resist sending him in a smug, knowing look. He responded by flushing, and averting his gaze from me, while simultaneously clearing his throat.

Minato eyed us for a couple more moments before a lazy smirk crawled across his face. "Interesting."

"I think not," Kakashi snapped.

Minato held up his hands in a peace-like gesture, chuckling. "Alright, alright."

"So... so as a three-man squad, what will we do?"

Minato's expression darkened for a moment. "I'm afraid we'll be... preparing."

"Preparing?"

"It seems we might be entering another war."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "... War?"

Minato sighed. "A shame, seeing how we just ended one war a scarce few years ago. No matter... Konoha will, naturally, avoid sending our Genin and children to the front lines, but given how we haven't fully recovered from the last war... It may be inevitable. Hopefully that won't happen for quite some time, but in the meantime, I'm going to be pushing you both very hard. I don't think I could live with myself if I did not prepare you for the worst."

I doubt Madara would be pleased if I dropped dead due to the war either, I mused. I have a nasty feeling his training is going to get more intense.

"Very well," I said easily. "Where shall we start then, Sensei?"

Minato smiled again. "I was hoping we could work on both of your guys' teamwork."

Kakashi snorted distastefully, and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Instead, I just continued to smile and chirp, "Okay, Minato-sensei! Where would you like to train?"

"How about we go to training ground six?" Minato suggested, his eyes bright. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a single silver bell. "I want you both to work together to get this from me. If you both get the bell by the end of the day then you can choose what we learn tomorrow. If not, then... D-Ranks!"

Kakashi and I had both done our studying, (well, I just knew from the anime) and we resisted the urge to cringe at the prospect of the D-Ranks. Given that we would be entering war, C-Ranks would be scarce anyway, and more than likely we would be sent out to fight before we actually received a standard C-Rank.

Frankly, I would rather train until we had to join the war, rather than waste the time attending to the errands of some civilians.

Kakashi and I exchanged grim looks. "This is going to be a hell of a fight. You ready?"

"As ever," Kakashi muttered.

Minato grinned at us. "Then let's head out to the training grounds!"

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

I lay on my stomach, wheezing. My legs and arms felt like jelly, and Kakashi was laying on top of me, on his back, breathing just as heavily. A low groan emitted from my lips as I tried to move a single one of my muscles.

"That was fun," Minato chirped, clapping his hands together. He looked a little dirty, but other than that, he was completely fine. Kakashi and I, meanwhile, were covered in burn marks, scratches, bruises, and grime. Kakashi gasped for air, letting out a strangled moan.

"I... hate... you..." Kakashi wheezed.

"So... much," I agreed, then groaned again.

Minato just laughed at us. "Well, thankfully you two will just have to do some nice, easy, D-Rank missions tomorrow so you can recuperate. After that, I want to really work on your guys' taijutsu and combination techniques. While you work fine together, you both have a tendency of working individually. That's gonna have to change."

"Yes Sensei," we moaned.

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

A handful of weeks passed by since our first official training session with Minato as Genin. Naturally, a routine took place. Minato would push us further than he ever had before for a couple days, then we would take a small break the following day with meaningless D-Ranks. Rinse and repeat. Minato seemed to favor heavily on improving on what we already knew—namely our taijutsu, teamwork, and what ninjutsu we already knew. He said he didn't want to waste time on teaching us something new, when he knew there was a good chance we would be entering the war soon enough.

He said perfecting what we already knew would, more than likely, save our lives.

Due to this rather extraneous routine that had taken place during the day, Madara advised that I only came every other night, or something akin. It was also decided that I would not visit him while I was outside of the village, either due to because I was drafted to the front, or because I was on a mission with my team. It posed far too great of a risk.

Although I highly doubted I would be sent off to the frontlines so soon. Regardless, if Konoha needed me there or not, I was still the last living Senju in Konoha, moreover I had the coveted kekkai genkai.

I would be a prime target on the frontlines.

I figured, more than likely, our team would be sent to more... secure areas for reinforcements, or something akin.

I might have been treated with care, but I was still a weapon for the village. They couldn't afford to hide me away in times war.

No matter how much a few of them wanted to.

I stretched out my arms, raising them up to the sky and yawning. It was early evening, but it looked as if it was in the middle of the night, given the darkness. It had been storming heavily in Konoha the past few days, and would be for a while longer.

"Tonight looks like a light one though," I mused, staring up at the heavy clouds.

Closing my eyes, I relaxed and allowed my feet to guide me. I had a fairly good instinct to not run into anything with my eyes closed, and a very good idea of the layout of the village. I had nowhere specific to be, or anywhere to go, so I just allowed my feet to guide me.

The thunder rolled pleasantly above me, and continued to walk blindly.

For several minutes I did this in silence, however at the end of those several minutes, I finally stopped.

I opened my eyes.

That's when I noticed it.

My breath caught in my throat.

Note to self: Never do this again. Goddamn subconscious.

I stopped before the tree, reaching out a hand and brushing my fingers across the bark. It was the same tree, the very same tree that Grandmother had told me about. It was kept in our backyard and on good days, Grandmother would sit underneath it. Hashirama originally made it for her in the Uzumaki Compound to keep her company when he was away. When they were married and she moved to the Senju Compound, and then to Konoha, he brought the tree with them.

It was a big tree, smooth and chocolate brown. Despite the chillier weather, the leaves were still a beautiful, lush green. It was taller than the compound and I remembered Tsunade and Grandmother sitting underneath it with me. I remembered spinning, and reading, and laughing, and –

My fingers dug into the bark, my heart constricting as tears started to prick my eyes.

Grandmother, if I made a tree now for you, would you even come? Or would you... or would you turn away from me, so ashamed of what I'm doing now?

My fingers started to dig further into the bark, my nails bleeding and my eyes darkening. But, I'm doing this for you. For us. For all of us. Don't you see, Grandmother? This world took you from me. They took Tsunade away from me. They took Hashirama away from you! How could you find beauty in this world? How could you find happiness in this world? How could you smile? How could you just accept your death and leave me behind?!

Trembling, my left hand curled into a fist and I slammed it against the tree. It shook and quaked, the bark splintering off from my punch.

You stayed for Hashirama when he made you a tree.

But I know if I made you a tree now, you wouldn't even glance back at me.

This... This was the tree Hashirama had made for her. It was the tree she had raised me under, the tree she loved so dearly, and the tree that meant the world to her. My hands shook as they slowly started to convert into wood.

My wood twisted and wrapped around itself, not forming the neat little wooden trees Hashirama and Yamato could create, but some kind of darkened, sick thing. The twisted wood wrapped around their tree, slithering around it like some kind of snake. It tightened and squeezed, and Hashirama's tree shook and splintered, folding in where my wood pressured it to.

I retracted my hands, transforming them back to flesh, but leaving the grown wood.

Their tree, the tree that had once stood tall and beautiful, was forced to bend over to the will of my own tree that had wrapped around it and grown on top of it. My leaves weren't the pretty green, but a bright, burning orange. Eyes brimming with tears, I wiped furiously away at them.

Suddenly sickened at the scene, I turned on my heel and left. My feet pounded into the ground as I sprinted away, my stomach heaving.

Above me, I could hear the first crackling sound of thunder.

"Goddamnit," I whispered, closing my heads and shaking my head. "Goddamnit."

Why can't you understand?

Why won't you understand?

"Goddamnit!" I screamed, then abruptly I slammed into something. My eyes snapped open, and I could see Kakashi, snapping out his arms and catching me before I fell back. His eyes were wide.

"Naasica?"

I froze, fear creeping into me.

He saw.

He saw me without my mask.

He saw me.

He saw me.

He. Sees. Me.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked, worry etched into his tone and expression. I shook my head, cold fear crawling through me. Adrenaline started to pump inside of me, causing goosebumps to rise and everything seemed to intensify. I started to pull away, but Kakashi's grip tightened. "Naasica, what's wrong?"

I licked my dry lips, and the thunder roared above us. "I..."

It began to downpour, and I couldn't resist the bitter laugh. "Sure. Why not. Let it rain. This is already such a fucking great day."

"Naasica?"

I shook my head, still laughing humorlessly. "Isn't it great? This is just a fan-fucking-tastic world, isn't it? Everything is so goddamn perfect."

I yanked myself out of Kakashi's arms and abruptly started to walk away. Everything was spinning around me, somehow. A handful of cold, slick stones gathered in the pit of my stomach, and with each step, they seemed to grow bigger; heavier. My legs moved in an almost jerkish motion, no matter how dearly I tried to smooth out my actions.

A shudder ran through me. It seemed like I was on a precipice; my toes were dangling over the edge of a dark, dark abyss. I wanted to step back, I wanted to turn my back to that horrible pit that awaited me if I fell, but I found I was unable to. My emotions were running high, and all I could think about in the back of my head was: Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, badbad, badbad, badbadbad—

Kakashi easily caught up to me, and started to walk beside me. "You seem..."

"Like an insane psychopath?" I muttered, then giggled.

Laughing was so much better than screaming.

Kakashi blinked in surprise at that. "What? No. I was just going to say... you seem like you really need this."

"Need what?" I asked irritably, picking up my pace.

I couldn't reform it. I couldn't seem to put it back on. I was trying my damndest to place the mask back on, but I just couldn't. I lacked the willpower to completely suppress my childish hormones. Everything seemed to be tumbling and spiraling out of control.

I had to get away. I had to hide and regroup.

I had to run away.

I was teetering on the edge.

"Like you really needed to drop your guard," Kakashi said.

I froze.

"The rain ruined your cover-up, by the way," Kakashi added. "I see the bags under your eyes."

I clutched my forehead, my eyes drooping, and I started to laugh again, beginning to move again. I wanted to sprint, but my legs felt like jelly, and my head was spinning. I knew I had to get away from here—away from him, but my body just refused to operate like I wanted it to. "Of course. So much for waterproof."

"I'm glad," Kakashi said quietly.

"What?"

Kakashi glanced over at me. "Like I said: it seems like you really need this. It's not healthy to suppress everything, you know."

"That's rich coming from you."

"I have my own ways of coping," Kakashi responded mildly. "And I let my guard down occasionally."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah. I wasn't hiding how I felt after... after what Tou-san did. You, on the other hand, I've never seen you upset. Never seen you frustrated, or sad. You're always... cheerful, or tired. I don't think Nee-chan's noticed, yet, or Minato-sensei. They haven't spent as much time with you as I have. But, they will."

I snorted.

What do I do? My mask isn't coming back to me. I just...

I was leaning over the edge.

"Why do you insist on hiding this?" Kakashi asked, glancing over at me.

I swallowed roughly, stopping when Kakashi grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. A part of me was screaming to yank my hand out of his grasp, but the more dominant part of me just sort of... froze. His touch sent a sharp jolt through my system, and it did nothing to soothe my growing panic. Because I couldn't escape him for the moment, I refused to meet his gaze, my entire body facing away from him and my head bowed to hide my expression. "It's what's expected of me."

"Because you're the Senju heiress?"

In part.

"Yeah," I answered softly.

"So?" Kakashi challenged. "Who cares?"

"I'm the heiress, there are certain ways I must act—"

"Says who?"

When I didn't answer, Kakashi let out a snort.

"The only one who chooses how you act is yourself," Kakashi told me. "Granted, there are certain... behaviors... that are encouraged more than others, but... but if it's eating you up, then you shouldn't push yourself like that."

"You're the one who's always saying that shinobi and kunoichi should follow conduct," I retorted.

Kakashi shrugged, and looked down. "... Maybe I was wrong. I don't... I don't like seeing you so... so distant from me."

I jerked, trying again to pull away from him, but he kept holding my hand. "What?"

"I told you," Kakashi said quietly. "The others don't spend as much time with you as I do, so I can tell that you always got your guard up. You're sincere, but at the same time it's like you're just going through the motions. Like half of you here, and the other half of you is elsewhere. I don't know."

"Am I really that transparent?" I wondered.

"I think," Kakashi began, "that you should just be like this."

I deigned him with a dry look. Sardonically, I responded, "This? You think I should be like this?"

"If this is how you really are, then yes."

Snorting, I looked at where I was. We had stopped to stand on top of Hashirama's head. I hadn't even realized, and the irony of where we stood was not lost upon me. I looked up at the crying sky. My hands clenched into fists. Kakashi's iron-tight grip on my wrist relaxed, and he lowered his hand to properly grab my own. It wasn't a tight hold, like he had previously, but rather gentle and it reminded me vaguely of what I did to him when I was trying to comfort him.

Does he think I need to be comforted?

I snorted at the thought. "What if I was bit crazy?"

"That's okay," Kakashi told me. My head snapped up and I locked gazes with him. His black eyes were burning with a stubborn ferocity that reminded me of Grandmother when she was talking about something she was passionate about. There was no denying the sincerity behind his words when I stared into his eyes.

I felt my stiffness start to ebb away; replaced with a sort of overbearing exhaustion. My body began to slack, and for some odd reasons, I trembled. The turmoil of emotions I had felt, just minutes prior, when I was thinking of Grandmother, began to drain away.

In their place was something I couldn't quite describe—couldn't quite understand. My voice cracked. "What if I was a bit mean?"

"That's okay."

"What if I was bad?"

"That just makes things interesting."

I laughed loudly at that, and the thunder roared above me. The answer was so flippant, and so unexpected, it had surprised me. The fear that had previously gripped me tightly melted away under the rain, and at his words. I teetered, as if I was on the cusp of a cliff, about to fall back into something vast and unknown. I felt emotionally drained, and defeated, yet oddly... oddly satisfied.

I was teetering at that edge, but I knew I wasn't going to fall in, because suddenly, ohsosuddenly, there was a rope around me.

There was an anchor.

I looked back over at Kakashi, and I offered him a small, sincere smile. "You mean it?"

Kakashi stared unflinchingly at me. "I swear it. You're... you're my best friend."

I turned to face him, and I grabbed his hands, my gaze softening. "Okay. I guess I can try."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

And in that one tiny moment, not once did Madara or our plans cross my mind.

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

"The best lies have a grain of truth in them," I told Madara that night. After my rather sentimental moment with Kakashi had passed, we had gone home and I had realized what I had done. Panicking, I told Kushina and Kakashi I had a migraine, and headed to bed. I immediately went straight to Madara after creating a clone. I had explained a little bit of what had happened.

"So you will add a bit of your true nature into your mask?" Madara summarized.

"Yes," I said. "I think it'll make it more believable."

Madara gave a small nod, his dark eyes pinning me. "It probably will, especially if this... Kakashi... had seen through you. Very well. I do not think I need to warn you against being too open, do I?"

"No, Madara-sama," I answered quickly. "They are... they are still our enemies. I cannot relax my guard completely."

He smiled at me. "I am glad you understand. What brought on this emotional imbalance that dropped your guard in the first place?"

Hesitantly, I explained, "I had... I had been thinking about Grandmother."

"I see."

A moment of silence fell between us.

"Something else happened," Madara questioned, though it came out more like a statement.

I lowered my gaze demurely. "Not much. I just... I was surprisingly emotional."

Another moment of silence.

"I understand that these tasks are not for the light hearted," Madara finally said. "I am... very... pleased that you have been handling them so well."

My head snapped up, my eyes widening, and my heart leapt into my throat. "M-Madara-sama?"

But it was already spoken; already said and done, and Madara was turning away from me to move onto the next task.

However, for the remainder of the night, nothing could squash down that smile on my face, or that warm, bubbling happiness his words gave me.

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

Three months after being made Genin, two weeks after my conversation with Kakashi, and it happened.

We were sent out.

It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. We were to relieve another Genin team of guard duty, and watch over the post for a week, until we were replaced.

The post had been under Konoha's guard since the First Great War. It was far from our village, but still deep within our lands. It was a few kilometers from the border between the Land of Fire, and the Land of Valleys (which housed Kusogakure—Village hidden in the grass). From what I had been able to gather, Iwagakure had infiltrated Kusogakure and forcibly took over the Land of Valleys in an attempt to attack the Land of Fire. Unfortunately for them, there were a handful of Konoha shinobi and kunoichi hidden in the village.

These shinobi and kunoichi were able to send word of help to Konoha—although they did not give any specifics. Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's father, was sent with a small team to analyze the situation. Sadly, though, the shinobi and kunoichi who had infiltrated Kusogakure on our behalf were found out and butchered. Sakumo valiantly lead his team further into Kusogakure and discovered a hidden grove where they had planted all the information they had gathered.

When they had found this information, he and his team were discovered and ambushed. Sakumo was then left with a choice of retrieving this valuable information, or protecting his comrades—as he couldn't protect both from the Iwagakure shinobi.

He chose his teammates, and in consequence Konohagakure lost out in very valuable information for this war. It could be argued that because of this decision, he even cost Konoha the war. Information was a priceless thing, especially in times of war, and every shinobi and kunoichi should be willing to lay down their lives for it. You never knew what would give you the edge.

What would give your village the edge.

It was this burden of guilt that had ultimately driven Sakumo to an honorable suicide.

Our mission should have been relatively easy and safe (relatively, of course, as we were still at war).

"We should be nearing the base now," Minato said, slowing down.

I was about to reply, but cut myself off as I read the atmosphere.

There was this unnatural coldness in the air. It hung heavily, oppressively, upon us. A shiver ran up my spine, as this sense of wrongness descended upon me. Reflexively, my back straightened, and my eyes hardened. Involuntarily, I had moved closer to Minato and Kakashi, my shoulders brushing against Kakashi's as we walked.

I could hear this buzzing sound—like flies—ahead of us. Minato tensed, and held out his arms, signaling for us to stop.

That was the only warning we had before the ground erupted beneath our feet. I leapt back, Kakashi at my side, as two Iwagakure shinobi jumped up from the ground behind us.

"Tt," I muttered, whirling around and delivering a kick aimed right at their heads. The one I had kicked at, a blonde shinobi, gave me a grin and easily ducked beneath it. "Kakashi, you take that one, I got this one."

"Easy," Kakashi said, palming a kunai.

Blondie gave a chuckle, leering at me. "My, my, what pretty little eyes you have there."

My eyes narrowed, and I flickered towards him, pulling out a kunai. The man pulled out a long, red katana from his back and parried my first jab. He kicked directly at my head, and I channeled chakra into the bottom of my feet and propelled myself above him. I twisted and flipped over him, landing deftly on my left foot before whirling around to face him.

His foot came flying at me again, and I held my arms to brace myself against the blow, pushing my chakra into my arms to reinforce their strength. The kick connected harshly against my arms with a resounding smack, and I inwardly winced, knowing that it would leave behind a very nasty bruise in the morning. He landed in front of me, and I sliced up at him with my kunai. He quickly grabbed my arm with the kunai, and I immediately released my hold of it, dropping it to my other hand.

I jabbed at him, and he let go of my arm to grip his katana with both hands and parry the blow again. We struggled for a moment against each other, but his superior physical strength got the better of me and I lost my grip on the kunai. I tossed it up in the air, and his eyes followed it for a split second. In that hairline of a second, I flickered and grabbed a hold of his wrist holding the katana.

With strength harnessed under Madara's careful guidance, I pushed an absurd amount of chakra into my hand and squeezed hard on his wrist. I heard the bones fracture and break under my pressure, and a vindictive glee rushed through me.

He immediately lost his grip on his katana and made a grab for me with his other hand. I jumped back, then leapt up, kicking at my falling kunai and propelling it towards him. He twisted, attempting to dodge it, but it sliced through the side of his neck, drawing a good amount of blood.

A smirk crawled its way across my face, but I lost it immediately when I felt two hands grab a hold of my feet.

Electricity pumped through me, overriding all of my senses with hot pain.

Fuck! I thought, my eyes trailing down to see the two hands poking out of the ground.

The lightning was overbearing, and it had every inch of me screaming in protest against the energy. Gritting my teeth, I slammed the palm of my hand into the ground below. Wood erupted beneath them, digging into the ground like sharp spears. The hands were withdrawn instantaneously, and I pulled back my hand, shaking.

Trembles ran through me, and it took a surprising amount of willpower not to twitch. There was still an echo of the pain burning through me, but I ignored it. I had to.

In all honesty, if it wasn't for Madara's pain-tolerance training, I would have undoubtedly had passed out from that attack.

It might have been hellish, but it was damn well worth it.

"Wood-style?" the blonde shinobi said, tilting his head. An Iwagakure kunoichi popped up from the ground, raising an eyebrow at me. "Well, well, looks like we hit the jackpot."

She grinned at me. "I'll say. Just think of what our village could really do with that ability."

A minute shudder ran through me, though not from fear.

From disgust.

"Worthless," I muttered, slapping my hands together and then slamming it onto the ground. "You are both... just... so... worthless."

The ground trembled beneath me, and roots snapped out, shooting out at them. The easily dodged the roots, but the roots were just a stepping stone. I raised my hands again, forming the Tiger seal, and smirking.

In a millisecond, the roots exploded outwards in a focused direction. Thousands of splints hailed upon the Iwagakure shinobi and kunoichi before they even had a chance to blink. It pierced through them, blood spraying out from the force of the blows, and painting the area.

Only the kunoichi didn't die instantly from the attack. She laid there, a human pin-cushion, and gurgled, and choked in her own blood. I eyed her coolly, then turned my back to her.

She was an enemy.

Then the hairs on the back of my neck tingled, and my eyes widened as a kunai was placed against my throat. A soft, slimy, voice whispered into my ear. "Neat trick. I wouldn't suggest trying it again."

Fear pumped through me for a split second, accompanied by another rush of adrenaline.

A hand was placed on my waist, and a cold fury washed over me, replacing the fear easily.

Don't.

Touch.

Me.

Those were the only three thoughts I had until there was a gurgling sound, and the hand fell away, as well as the kunai.

I turned my head, finding a slightly battered Kakashi pulling out his kunai from the back of the Iwagakure shinobi. Kakashi eyed the gasping man for a moment, then snorted and turned away. "... You okay?"

"I'm fine," I said easily enough. "You?"

"Fine," Kakashi admitted. "We should check in with Minato-sensei now."

"Mm."

(ง ⌣ ⌣) ง

"It's surprising they made it past our original border patrol," Minato commented, holding an unconscious enemy over his shoulder. He then shifted his weight and placed the shinobi against a tree, pulling out cuffs, and chakra-restraining rope. "I doubt they were here long, mind you, but still... I'll have to send a message to Hokage-sama immediately and tell him what happened. We'll need to send Jōnin-level squads here to re-secure it again."

"We could do that," Kakashi said, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "It would be easy."

Minato shook his head. "It's not that simple. Besides, you're still children; still Genin for that matter. You shouldn't be dealing with this kind of things. Leave it to the Jōnin, Chūnin, and ANBU for now."

"Yes, Sensei," we chorused.

Minato ran his hands over his face and sighed. "I don't sense anyone else in the area, but..."

Minato glanced over towards the wooden base, his eyes narrowed. "We'll need to see if we can find the other team that was stationed here before us."

"Sir," we said, then both of us flickered towards the base. We stopped short at the entrance, and exchanged glances.

Together, we slid the door open. There were two hallways immediately before us. "I'll take left."

"Then I'll go right," Kakashi responded.

We split off.

Quietly, I listened for the buzzing sound again. When I had found it, I began to make my way towards it. The coldness lingered in the air, unsettling me. The adrenaline from the battle that had already began to leave me, returned in full force. There was this disgusting feeling growing heavily in my chest, and I felt my heart speed up.

Carefully, I slid the door open to the room, and instantly my hands flew up to my mouth to repress the gag.

Horrible, bitter, sour, and grotesque stench overwhelmed my senses. Instinctive tears pricked at my eyes, and I fumbled desperately for my breather-mask in my pack. I had to withdraw my hands, holding my breath, as I quickly put it on. Taking a deep breath as the mask filtered the air—though there was still a faint smell of the wretched stuff—I surveyed the room.

I found their bodies.

It was a team of Genin, of children, and their instructor.

I knew them.

Or at least, I had seen them in a few of my joint class sessions. These fresh Genin. Two boys, and one girl. The girl was an Inuzuka, Momo. She was always loud in class, but she meant well. Her ninken, her puppy, would always trail behind her silently. She was a pretty thing with big brown eyes, and short curly black hair. The boys were twins from the Aburame clan Shida, and Shimo. Like so many of their clan, they chose to wear sunglasses to shield their eyes, and wore large—too large for their small stature—jackets with their hood pulled up. They were always quiet and kept to themselves, but they were always willing to help.

I didn't recognize the Jōnin instructor. A younger woman with long gray hair.

Ten. The Genin were ten.

They lived for ten years.

And then they met this fate.

Embers were curdling in the pit of my stomach, as I continued to stare at them.

If I had not seen them before, if I had not memorized their faces to their names before, if I had not known them before, I would not have recognized them for anything more than husks.

The girl was bound to a chair, still, and her eyes were empty sockets, blood dried from onto her face. Her lower jaw was missing, and her clothes were drenched in her own blood. There were countless scratches covering her arms and legs, and an old bruise rested on her forehead.

At her feet, still bound, was a mass of fur that had been beaten beyond recognition.

The embers burned, as if a fan was blowing on them, urging them.

Shida and Shimo were on opposite sides of the room, laying down. Shimo was gutted, and nailed to the floor. Organs spilled out of his chest and stomach, all squashed together. His empty eye sockets stared back at me lifelessly, and his face was twisted into unimaginable pain.

Shida, on the opposite side, was in a mimicking position, only his hands were badly burned.

Fire raged through me, burning me from the inside out. I was rocking onto the heels of my feet, teetering. The Jōnin was in the corner, naked, bound, and covered in burns. Her face was so badly burnt, the majority of her skin and muscles had fallen off, leaving nothing, but charred bone.

The buzzing sound was impossibly loud, and it was largely due to the fact of the hundreds of flies and larvae covering their corpses—eating them.

My hands were shaking, and I swallowed back the bile. The stench of death overwhelmed my nostrils. Disgust and hatred swelled inside of me, causing goosebumps to rise and unsettling chills to rush down me. My skin felt electrified, and despite the coldness that had wrapped around me, there was a blazing hot anger swirling inside of me.

Children.

Children.

They were ten fucking years old.

They were tortured to death.

Horrible.

Horrible.

What a God-awful world.

I knew this was a war, but you don't just do this kind of thing.

And Naruto wanted to fight for this war? For these kinds of... of... humans?

No.

Absolutely not.

Disgusting.

Disgusting.

A shudder raced through me

I felt someone approach behind me, and suddenly hands were placed over my eyes, covering the scene. I gently pulled back, and the door closed shut behind me. The hands dropped away, and I turned back to Kakashi who was eyeing me. "We found them. So let's tell Sensei."

I swallowed. "Right."

Horriblehorriblehorrible. Wrongwrongwrong. Sicksicksick.

Swallowing roughly, I turned on my heel and walked out of the room.

This world was wrong.

I needed to fix it.

My hands clenched into fists.