"Most severe wound is the stab wound three inches near the right coronary artery. Other than that, he only has mild injuries on his torso, ranging from a small gash to a third degree burn. He also has a contusion by his left latissimus dorsi reaching his deltoid muscle. Daito-san, use iryo-ninjutsu on the stab wound-- check if there's any debris in the wound first, then just apply the necessary salves and bandage the rest of his injuries in tent four."

"Don't waste chakra on that; that's just a shallow gash. Save your chakra for lethal injuries."

"Patient is unconscious. Has severe burns on both of his legs and right arm, maybe sporting a concussion-- we're going to have to amputate the burned appendages if we want to save him. However, with the severity of his injuries, he's going to be a liability. Hanako-san, euthanize him then place him by the crematorium. If he has any family left, inform them."

"Three broken ribs and a possible lung puncture based on the patient's difficulty in breathing. Take her to surgery in tent six. Inject her with 2.5 ml of morphine, followed by PRN doses starting at 0.5 ml every one hour, afterwards. For the rest of her injuries, use small amounts of chakra to encourage hemostasis. As soon as she's conscious, give her two chakra pills; we need more people in the front lines."

The latest battle just ended.

All medical staffs were in the state of disarray, panicking over who tends to what patient. The constant movements of silhouettes within lantern-lit tents were dizzying, accompanied by the coppery scent of blood and the suffocating smells of smoke, your medical mask useless in filtering the air for your sense of smell; you've learned to get used to it a long time ago. As for the screams of agony and barks of harsh orders, you've still yet to learn to tune them out.

You spent the entire day assessing every patient that entered your sector, then having to instruct your subordinates on how to treat said patients. Sleep was scarce, with your longest rest being an hour, and your longest active shift being five days straight. Too many were in-coming, and there's oh-so few of medical experts left to tend to them; majority being novices as they are students who would eventually be replacements for the iryo-nins that would inevitably perish. As the medical capital of your district, most of the heavily injured fall in your sector for treatment... or death.

All patients are categorized from Immediate Medical Attention to Low Priority-- from fatal wounds to small bruises (it's of an unspoken rule that those deemed Low Priority were never going to be tended to at all). You usually made it a point to prioritize jounin patients or at least anyone of high value in regards to their skill sets. Much to your self-loathing, you'd have to treat the rest as cannon fodders. Your sector simply can't save everyone-- either because you're too late to save a patient due to tending another, or you would have to save chakra.

Every resource has to be preserved for as long as possible, hence as the leader and Head Medic of the Resistance base district 7, sector five of the Shinobi division, the responsibility of having to choose who gets to live or die falls unto you.

Wanting a visual break from the roaming chaos, you glanced up. It's night, with the stars hidden from sight. The skies were never clear, ever since the first smog of war appeared-- the colors of orange, red, gray and yellow being the usual hues of the clouds. Unfortunately, the colors of the sky reflected the ground. Fire, ash, debris, blood, and death--

This is The Great Fourth Shinobi War.

It didn't last for days; it didn't last for months; it lasted for years-- almost a decade. It's been nine years, and yet there's no sign of the war stopping; not until every single one of you dropped dead.

It all started when Orochimaru used a white Zetsu as his vessel, which backfired as the white Zetsu managed to take control-- consuming the Snake Sannin, along with the powers and knowledge he possessed. The Zetsu Orochimaru continued to pose as the Sannin, only showing its true colors and affiliation after completing the Edo Tensei to summon all the deceased hokage leaders and receiving full control. Everyone present at the summoning ritual was slaughtered-- even Sasuke was not spared.

It spiraled out of control from there.

At the early days of war, while your numbers have yet to dwindle, Black Zetsu decided to give his mother a twisted 'Welcome Home' gift-- to hone all the 'stolen' chakra altogether and give it to the goddess, Otsutsuki Kaguya. He discovered that once a living being dies, its chakra does not disappear; it returns back to the God Tree.

Thus, the start of Black Zetsu's plan of total human extermination, before the return of the Rabbit Goddess.

Black Zetsu was quick to betray and literally stab Madara from the back, absorbing his chakra before consuming his weakened body afterwards, hence granting himself the legendary Uchiha's power, putting Madara's body under his 'safe-keeping' to use for his mother's vessel. Subsequently, you all took note to burn the dead to not contribute to Zetsu's army.

With the deceased hokage leaders fully under a white Zetsu's beck and call, along with its Zetsu army, winning the battle was impossible. The Zetsus' strength come from numbers; not power-- their only powerhouses are the four hokage, the Zetsu-possessed Orochimaru, and the Black-Zetsu-possessed Madara.

Your brother, Obito, quickly affiliated himself back to your side at the realization that 'his path for peace' was just a cover-up for the resurrection of the sleeping goddess.

It took you only six months to forgive him despite everything he has done that led to the war, to which he paid dearly with his life in exchange for your own. You granted your brother your forgiveness before he breathed his last breath; his last act of repentance and gift as a family was giving you his right eye, and the official title as The Last Uchiha.

The Shinobi Alliance then became the Resistance, spreading yourselves thin to protect as much civilians as you can, no matter the village affiliation, just so their corpses won't contribute to the Zetsu army, whilst fighting the Zetsu Army, itself. There were about 10 districts (each led by a kage or by their second-in-commands), and 62 sectors with 124 divisions-- each sector having an elite jounin in charge. Predictably, the numbers dwindle each year.

At the first year of the war, Kakashi urged you to take his left eye to complete your Mangekyou pair and transform them into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to further ensure your survival, as he was adamant on at least keeping one promise he made for Obito. You denied him every time he asked, but accepted it eventually-- having given no chance to argue at the time.

It was a bitter irony that fate decided to cruelly play, or rather, replay.

In the midst of escaping a Zetsu invasion in one of your underground bases, the tunnel was caving in on itself; a large boulder was falling to crush the chakra-exhausted Hatake, and when you were about to push him away was when he realized what you were about to do. Kakashi decided then that no one would be his next doomed savior.

His right side was crushed.

However, unlike Obito's sacrifice for him, you had no time to stay and cry out for him-- to properly exchange last words to each other, as the Zetsus were still chasing after survivors. Your last moments with Kakashi were only him plucking out his sharingan with his free hand and reaching it to you in a hurry, his expression of an eye smile coming out as a grimace with his last words being a wry: "Go on ahead; I'll be late".

You didn't tell him how you felt for him, and neither did he, but somehow, you both just knew, if the meaningful glances you two shared and the minute brushes of the back of your hands had said anything.

At the second year of the war, Sakura ran her chakra dry to save every patient she can reach, her kind heart not being able to pragmatically choose between which patient gets to live or die. To your morbid contentment, she died of chakra exhaustion and not killed by an enemy, as you'd rather have her not die a gruesome death like her deceased patients. She used everything in her arsenal to save as many lives as she can.

Haruno Sakura died satisfied as a true medical shinobi at heart, with Yamanaka Ino following her best friend's example.

At the sixth year of the war, Naruto and Hinata stayed behind at one of the most civilian-populated bases to give time for people-- shinobi and civilians, alike-- to retreat. The opposing numbers were bigger; the assault was heavier than the previous Zetsu invasions. Clearly, they were targeting the Uzumaki jinchuuriki through the use of innocent lives-- to rid of every powerhouse the Resistance may hold.

It was Hinata who had fallen first, supporting Naruto until the end.

With Naruto fighting a losing battle, he couldn't let them have a full victory, thus with all his chakra, he created his largest and last Rasenshuriken, decimating all the Zetsu involved. Naruto did not die by a Zetsu's hand, but by his own.

Even chakra-depleted, Uzumaki Naruto died with a smile on his face, right next to Hyuuga Hinata.

And now, you're what remained of the original Team 7, not knowing the fates of the other Konoha 12. You were placed away from the front lines, as you were heavily valued for your fuuinjutsu mastery, not to mention you're also an iryo-nin which is now a scarcity. However, it is your Mangekyou Sharingan's ability that made you priceless-- the reason how all of you managed to last this long, despite your human needs serving as a disadvantage compared to Zetsu's complete disregard for it.

The only thing standing in-between Zetsu's total elimination of the human race and humanity's survival is your space-time genjutsu: Kuninotokotachi-- a chakra-extensive jutsu that allows you to gaze into the future in your perspective with your left eye, or into the past of someone or something you're looking at with your right eye.

The responsibility to warn other bases to issue an emergency retreat is yours. The times you fail to warn others beforehand was due to chakra exhaustion-- unable to use your ultimate genjutsu to track Zetsu's future movements, hence it's of an unspoken rule that you conserve your chakra specifically for your Mangekyou ability. You limit yourself to only see through twenty four hours in advance-- seventy-two hours being your limited maximum, but even then, Zetsu would sometimes attack consecutively in days, giving you no time to recuperate your reserves. You're just fortunate that you have both your brother's pair of the Mangekyou Sharingan to save you from blindness, and to give you the ability of Kamui.

"Sensei, you can go rest. I'll take it from here," Your brief sky-watching was interrupted by your second-in-command, Araya Shigeko, her orange hair messy and skin pale from obvious exhaustion. Before you could even utter out a word of your argument, she continued. "Your future-check is nearing."

Sighing, you knew she knew of your role in this war. Technically, you can't assert against her 'suggestion' (which is an indirect order, really), despite your higher ranking, due to the necessity of your duty. Then again, what point is there for you to stay out here and supervise, not being able to help anyway?

About to comply and walk away, you halted when she spoke again.

"If you can, get some sleep."

The bags under your eyes were visible from a distance, that much you know, along with the others around you-- your sleep deprivation was no secret.

(When was the last time you slept again? A day ago? Two days? Or was it three? Fuck, if you know.)

Sleep is hard when you're weighed down by anxiety over your responsibilities; the guilt you have to carry for lives lost for your sake; the frustration over being limited to save lives, as you have to conserve your chakra. You guessed that your lack of sleep contributed to your difficulty on recovering your reserves. You're just so, so, so tired that there are times you've thought about ending your life right here and now, and suggesting for the rest to follow just so this could be over.

You want all this pain to end, and just be at peace.

You want to be reunited with your best friend, Shisui, and be carefree idiots together like old times. You want to continue keeping your last promise to Itachi and look after Sasuke together; maybe even apologize to him for letting his little brother die earlier than you. You want to prolong your role as Team 7's teacher; you want to teach Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke everything you know-- like the children you never had. You want to continue to raise them alongside Kakashi's side, and together, you'll be the dysfunctional family that you've learned to adore; Obito and Rin will be part of that make-shift family too, along with your pseudo-parents, Minato and Kushina. You want to tell Kushina that you did your best to preserve her clan's seal knowledge and the ways you improved it-- the seals you invented that you know Kushina would be proud of. You want... You want...

You want to be happy.

All it would take... is just one clean slice of kunai to your throat. It's just so easy.

Alas, you don't think your precious people would appreciate you giving up like that; not when you can still move, not when there are people still counting on you. You don't want to disappoint them for not trying.

With a nod of accordance towards your second-in-command, you headed back to your personal tent, located at the middle of the sector.

On your way, you weren't able to block out the countless moans of pain, the cries of grief, the sight of doctors being coated in blood from chest-down, along with their patients. For some reason, you subconsciously took the long route to reach your tent, passing by the corpses that piled by the crematorium at the edge of the sector. You caught a glimpse of the now deceased patient you ordered to be euthanized earlier, before his body was placed into the fire.

Diverting your sight elsewhere, you continued to walk away. Some stray embers would occasionally land on your eyes, impairing your sight, but giving you an excuse to shed some of your tears of well-hidden distress, before immediately wiping them away. It was as annoying as it was relieving. As leader, people look up to you for guidance and morale; you can't afford to show weakness and dishearten your comrades. You'd find any excuse to let out a few tears before reverting back into your tough, confident exterior.

Eventually, you reached your destination-- the headquarters of sector 5; your temporary house (not home; never home).

Entering your tent, the messy arrays and displays of your experimental fuuinjutsu seals greeted your sight, further reminding you of the sacrifices that had to be made-- the people who threw away their lives-- to ensure your survival just so they can have a sliver of hope that maybe you'd be the key to their victory; their future. Brushing a hand over your hitai-ate on your forehead like a rosary, you moved over your work desk.

Checking your plastered seals, you made sure all activated seal keys stayed activated-- the Barrier Seal (its use for obvious reasons); the Foreign Chakra Detecting Seal (to be alerted if there are any Zetsu spores or Zetsu, themselves, present); the Anti-Odor Seal and Mute Seal (to not be detected by scent or sound); the A-Class Genjutsu Camouflage Seal (to be hidden from plain sight); Area Chakra Suppression Seal (just so none of your chakra signatures could be detected); lastly, the yet-to-be-activated Extensive Communication Seal (used to communicate with other bases).

You looked at your digital clock; it read: 11 : 57 pm.

It was now nearing midnight-- your scheduled time to check your future that awaits you on the next day. Whatever will happen, no matter how mundane, should be reported to all bases through a communication seal.

There is no exact time for you to check the future, actually. You just chose midnight as it is easier to pinpoint when the twenty-four hour mark would end. For today, you plan on future-seeing three days; your vision starting at the three-day mark before moving back to the first day. If no trouble were to arise at either the second or third day, you'll take your second-in-command's advice and try to sleep for a good six hours.

At the thought of rest, your eyelids were threatening to shut.

While the drowsiness is still present, you took the chance to use your Mangekyou before the fatigue wears off.

11 : 58 pm

Closing your eyes, you let your chakra flow into your eyes, turning your irises red and morphing them into the familiar shape of five triangular petals, with Obito's Mangekyou pattern at its middle. With your eyes open, you whispered:

"Kuninotokotachi." Landing yourself on the day three mark, you observed...

... What?

Your mouth suddenly turned dry, dry like the Suna desert at summer, as your skin lost its color in utter disbelief and hidden fear. Your left eye throbbed, as you skimmed through it again.

(12am, 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am-- 10pm, 11pm, 12am)

The third day is-- It's black-- why are all those time frames black?!

11 : 59 pm

Checking the second day, you tried again, unsure if it's a one-time thing and that your Mangekyou may be malfunctioning; in your subtle hysteria and denial, you want to believe that that could be the case. With your sharingan spinning wildly in desperation, you skimmed throughout all the time frames of day two.

(12am, 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am-- 10pm, 11pm, 12am)

You don't understand. This can't-- You can't-- Why won't--

Why is there nothing?!

With tears threatening to spill in your panic, you tried day one-- the day only a minute away from tonight. However, before your sight can transition to your targeted hour mark--

12 : 00 am

The ground quaked as a deafening explosion resounded from a close distance, waking the entire camp with alerted adrenaline; you can hear faint screaming outside. And then, another explosion, and another, and another-- it's continuous--

What is happening?!

Immediately, you sent your chakra on the emergency seal, notifying the other bases that you're under attack, as another explosion echoed nearby, shaking your tent. Afterwards, you quickly exited your tent, discarding your medical mask to breathe efficiently, preparing for possible hostile encounters.

The screaming is louder outside.

Nurses and doctors are rushing to support able and conscious patients to safety, as the others burned the tents that held comatose patients just so the Zetsus can't claim their bodies.

Another explosion reverberated, and you're certain that's nearby the Low Priority tent. The powerful shockwave almost made you lose your balance; no doubt that the source of explosion is nearby-- too close. You ran towards the sector's entrance.

How the hell did the Zetsus bypass the security!?

You know that should your sector be attacked, your protocol was to escape as a valuable asset, but damn it, you still have chakra to spare and use Obito's Kamui should the need for you to retreat arise.

"THERE'S EXPLOSION TAGS INSIDE--!" You heard someone shout, before another explosion coincided with the noise. Fuck, you were sure that was near your tent; should you have stayed any longer there, you would've been maimed.

But... Inside?

Inside what?!

Tent one to six exploded simultaneously-- the loud detonation overlapping the people's panic, and this time, you needed to conduct chakra on your feet just so you won't be swept away by the blast. You can feel the sweltering heat licking your sweat-matted skin, the fringes of your clothing searing from being too near the source of the heat.

By now, you're sure the Civilian division is being escorted by the Shinobi to retreat, but you can't seem to pinpoint where the Zetsus are exactly attacking from.

Seeing a familiar mop of messy orange hair among the bustling crowd and thick smoke, you called out.

"Shigeko!" Your voice was enough to garner her attention.

"Sensei, what are you still doing here?! You need to go! We're being bombed!" She immediately grabbed your wrist and pulled you with her, running.

"Where are the Zetsus?! How did they bypass the security?!" You were sure that at this point, your tent was burning, along with the seal keys-- deactivating all defenses your base had; your sector is now vulnerable to the outside.

"They're not here, but they'll eventually find us!"

"What do you--"

As if to answer your question, from a distance away, you saw a nurse supporting his hobbling patient, along with a few others, before that patient just exploded, blowing off a considerable portion of land and people, shocking you into silence.

They... The shinobi that returned are walking bombs.

At the realization, your shock turned into boiling fury.

"Son of a bitch!"

You paused your sprinting, having the need to announce to the others where the source of the bombs are coming from-- that it's inside survivors of the latest battle.

"We're going to have to discard all our latest patients and leave them behind," You bitterly resolved, your self-loathing doubling, already imagining the look of dreadful acceptance from the people that returned; you should've taken extra measures.-- fuck, fuck, fuck! "I'm going to kill that Black Zetsu when I find him--"

"You speak as if you can," A voice behind you said, as if summoned by the utterance of his name.

"You," Glaring at the source of all your suffering, you grabbed a kunai from your holster, readying to fight.

"Sensei, you can't-- he has the Rinnegan!" Your subordinate warned, but you paid her warning no heed. Indeed, Black Zetsu surrounded Madara's body like armor, using him like a wearable puppet-- the dojutsu under his control, whilst leeching off from the Uchiha's chakra.

This creature is the mastermind behind your family's deaths; the head of the entire human genocide. If you're going down, he's going down with you-- using a plan you had in mind a few months ago. If he goes, the white Zetsus will lose leadership, because in the end, they're all just clones playing follow the leader. Without Black Zetsu, they will collapse, and the Alliance can go on and usurp them, even without you.

"The white Zetsus won't be far behind with him here. Go with the others and leave me-- that's an order." She knew then and there that there's no swaying you to change your mind; your authoritative tone being of indicative finality.

With a hesitant nod, she ran away.

Once your subordinate was a considerable distance away, you glowered at the creature before you.

"You've been a pest for these past years; your Mangekyou abilities are really annoying," He started, opting to converse, treating it as your last conversation as a show of his confidence on which one of you is walking out of here alive. "Because of you, I had to time wasteful invasions to predict when you usually use it,"

Huh, so basically, you've become predictable. As a shinobi, you found that a huge blow to your self-esteem.

"So you've come to me, yourself, because you know I can easily escape your army,"

"I know you won't escape from me; not when you want to fight me,"

"Well, that's because I'm in a need to rid of a pest as well, you weed!" And with that, you activated your sharingan and shunshin-ed behind him, your three tomoe spinning with unbridled rage. To your expectation, he easily dodged your kunai strike, before dodging another attempt when you once again, shunshin-ed behind him.

Shunshin no Jutsu!

At the appearance of your after-images in your consecutive attacks, your mind subconsciously wandered off to your memories of the genius behind the technique.

"Wanna join me in my training regime? Only you are welcome to see how the magnificent Shisui-sama came to be, as strong and awesome as he is, before you now!"

"The secret to my shunshin is prediction and precision-- without the sharingan, you can only master prediction. You need the sharingan to slow your surroundings, while tracking your own movements, and taking note of your muscle memory and reflexes. You just practice the shunshin with the sharingan, and then you practice the jutsu without it. It's all trial and error and then, your eyes just get used to it. And bam! You got Shunshin no Shisui!"

"Your body needs to be fast and flexible, but as a kunoichi, I think you have that both down. As a matter of fact, if you do awaken your sharingan, you'd be faster than me! Haha, what's that look for?! You don't believe me? I'm totally serious; it's simply biology!"

"You know I trust you, right? That's why I shared all my secrets to you, so... If I ask to you to have faith in me, would you trust me?... A-ah, don't cry! Shoot, that sounded like I'm about to die, huh. Sorry, sorry, that's not how I wanted it to sound like at all. C'mon, you know I'll always be right here; I'm stuck with you forever, remember?"

"I'm sorry that we... I had to end like this. Agh, I know I messed up, and made this hurt more by confessing, but I did my best, y'know? I... I really tried... I-I really do want to be with you, but... I can't... I can't be selfish. Innocent people will die if I do, and you will hurt more; I don't want that, but... I hope you'll forgive me for the way I'll give you your... last gift. I just... Just know, I do everything I do with always you and Itachi in mind. Ja ne."

"Sage Art: Yin Release Lightning Dispatch!"

Shit!

You immediately dodged from the destination of the purple lightning before it could leave Zetsu Madara's hands, appearing at the opposite side, but instantly noted to yourself that the discharge was a lot smaller than you last remember when Madara, himself, wielded the technique. Now, why is that? Shouldn't Black Zetsu be able to amplify that?

Now that you paid attention to it, Madara's chakra signature is significantly weaker than you last sensed it to be, even if it was years ago.

Oh.

So Black Zetsu has to limit the amount of chakra he's giving Madara, so that the Uchiha won't overpower him, whilst giving enough chakra to keep him alive while being able to use a jutsu. The creature is afraid of Madara gaining back control. But then, if he's handicapped like this, then why risk fighting you--

Woods and vines of vast sizes erupted from the ground, trampling over the remaining standing tents with no direction, as you immediately latched your feet on one of the growing plantations to regain your footing, as you lost your kunai in your state of imbalance. As soon as the vegetation stopped growing, large thorns protruded immediately-- its intention to impale you; unfortunately, some managed to graze you, tearing parts of your pants and vest.

With a leap, you landed away from the danger zone, only to step foot back on the soot-covered soil. It may be risky to return back on the ground where the Mokuton could appear at anywhere, but it's a lot better than landing on plants that can be manipulated by the enemy.

With the large magnitude of the flora's coverage, no doubt this belongs to the Shodaime. And true to your assumption, his edo tensei self was perched on one of the plants' vines, overlooking the destruction that was once your sector, his eyes blank, and consciousness absent.

"I should've known you'd get extra help," You grumbled to Black Zetsu, as he wryly smiled.

"True. However, it's not him who's my extra help. He's only here just so none could interfere," Glancing around, indeed, the vegetation became a maze of a dangerous jungle, making it extremely difficult to get in or out. But then, new chakra signatures entered your range, disrupting your visual observation.

These... chakra signatures...

He fucking didn't!

"I didn't manage to get the pink-haired brat, but I hope they will suffice,"

At your peripheries, you could see the familiar colors of your deceased found family-- yellow, black, and silver. There came Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi, their cracked skins and paper textures visible, now that you looked at them directly. Like the Shodaime, their eyes held no signs of consciousness. If it's even possible, they looked more dead.

"Hope you won't get intimidated and leave." Black Zetsu mocked, as you were overly aware that he was grating you to not retreat to your Kamui dimension. And by Kami, it is working.

"I won't let you desecrate them like this. You will die here today." You will continue as planned.

"I was expecting that answer," Merely glancing at the three edo tensei corpses, he ordered. "Kill her."

The remains of the three Team 7 members charged at you, instantly taking notice that they were aiming for your face-- your eyes.

You first dodged Naruto's rasengan, before shunshin-ing away from Sasuke's fireball jutsu-- their attacks coinciding with each other; uncaring of potentially hitting each other. When you heard the familiar chirps of Kakashi's chidori, you were sure that your face was red in blind anger at the thought of Zetsu making Kakashi use his signature technique against a comrade-- a friend.

Black Zetsu will fucking lose, even if it's the last thing you do.

Focusing, you noticed that they just charge without thinking-- their fighting styles are different from when they were alive. They're like... puppets. Looking at Zetsu, he looked too concentrated to be just watching your fight.

Telepathic orders, perhaps?

It doesn't matter-- all it matters is that you're faster than all of them, and that Black Zetsu is incapable of using Madara's Limbo without having that be used against him. They won't run out of chakra, but you will; so, you have to make this quick.

Feigning to teleport by Kakashi's side, you then appeared behind Black Zetsu, your hand reaching for any part of him. Seemingly to expect this, he moved out of your reach, and had Sasuke move after you, his hand sparking with the familiar blue electricity.

You can dodge the chidori, however, that would let your target escape; you're sure that Black Zetsu would be more cautious if you let him slip through your fingers, and you're not certain if another chance like this would show up again.

Making your choice, you persisted after Zetsu, twisting your body in a way to be able to grab the creature's arm, while trying to take the least lethal damage from Sasuke's strike. Your eye morphed into its Mangekyou stage, as Sasuke passed by you, and then--

"Kamui!"

You, Madara, and Black Zetsu disappeared from the world.

...

The moment you landed on the rough cement of your Kamui dimension, your knees buckled at your weight, having your body fall on the ground with a 'thud', as you held the left side of your stomach-- the outer layer of the wound cauterized, as the gash kept bleeding. Your forehead met the floor, along with the sweat lining from it, resisting the urge to lay down. Now that you have the time to breathe, you can feel every wound you've sustained.

Ah fuck, the cuts are starting to sting, and you're bleeding out.

Ah well, at least it wasn't an instant death; at least Sasuke didn't puncture you and wasn't dragged here with you; at least it wouldn't be Sasuke who would actually kill you.

Shisui and Naruto would be so proud of you finding silver linings in these trying times.

Grimacing, you panted, as you tended to your injury, your hand glowing a soft green; you heard something shift behind you, and just when you were about to stand on your feet and jump back, you felt Black Zetsu pierce his hand through your back, his hand coated with your blood on your front side, as you choked on the same substance. He raised your body up, your feet dangling, as he was marveling at the grotesque display of your dying figure.

"You didn't think this through, did you? You can't trap me here; not when I still have access to your eyes, and I'm not stupid enough to give you the chance to destroy them."

Ah, well, you tried your best.

You chuckled, the blood continuing to drip from your mouth and torso, the liquid pooling underneath you. You slowly raised a hand to the back of your head, much to Black Zetsu's confusion, as you then untied your hitai-ate, letting the material drop on your puddle of blood with a 'clang'.

You tried your best making out of here alive.

"You-- You didn't-- You brat!" You only smirked, when he realized what was under the accessory the whole time.

There, displayed on your forehead, was the imprint of your modified Caged Bird Seal-- a Hyuuga-origin seal that seals away the Byakugan in death. However, you made some unique adjustments, just for this moment; this was a seal you applied months prior for this day.

"Take my eyes... before or... after my death, and... they'll be... dust..." And when you die, so will your body. "Get... fu...cked."

Growling, Black Zetsu swiftly pulled his arm away from your chest, dropping you on the ground, as he hastily unlatched himself from Madara, then latched onto you.

You knew he was about to force your body to use your Kamui in your moment of weakness, but before he could fully coat you, with all the willpower you had left, you grabbed for a kunai from your holster, and aimed for your throat, and then--

Darkness.

Ah, so that's why your Kuninotokotachi didn't work.

Today was your last day.

"Forgive me; for, I believe this is of my doing. I have realized too late that my oversight could cause such catastrophe. I have failed both as a father and as a peacemaker. Let me make an attempt to atone for my mistake, but for that, I would need your cooperation. Can I ask this of you?"

And then, there was light.

~*~*~

Wavelength: Whoops, this isn't considered a prologue anymore I guess, with how long it is.

miss chief: no beta, we die like men, even if i am the beta--