Uchiha Toshiko woke up on a dusty floor, gasping for breath, and cursing to the existence of a certain curly haired Uchiha.

She felt so violated, looking back at the week she spent under his genjutsu, trapped in her own mind without any control of her body, as if possessed by another entity. Perhaps it was a defence mechanism that he couldn't reverse the genjutsu without liquifying her brain. If she had survived, she would have killed Shisui with her bare hands.

She understood now what the mysterious 'plan' had been. Shisui had basically brainwashed the rebellious clan members to be loyal to Konoha. It said something about the village that homicide and brainwashing were the only two options to settle an internal dispute.

Toshiko took a deep breath, trying to calm herself, but something had permanently changed about how she felt about Konoha. The familiar chakra of Hashirama trees surrounding her didn't feel warm and welcome as it did, but oppressive and smouthering.

Unable to stay there anymore, she fled. Not caring where she was going, just away from the suffocating chakra. Toshiko travelled in some random direction for what felt like days, but clearly couldn't be as she hadn't dropped from exhaustion, hunger or thirst. She was probably hundreds of miles away from Konoha, (judging by the snow covered landscape in the middle of summer), when she finally deigned to stop.

It was then that she finally succumbed to tears. She felt betrayed. Despite her initial misgivings, she had considered Shisui a friend, had started trusting him, and he had betrayed her in such a fundamental manner. He had taken away her sense of self. She didn't know if she would ever be able to forgive that.

Lost in her turmoil, Toshiko didn't notice anyone approaching her until they spoke, "Where are your parents child?"

She looked up to see an old man dressed in samurai armour standing two feet away from her, looking at her with concern.

"Dead." She answered his question, momentarily unconcerned with his proximity.

He frowned. "What is your name?"

"Uchiha Toshiko." She couldn't even muster up the energy to think of a false name.

"You are a far way from home." The old man observed.

"I don't have a home." Toshiko bit out.

The old man frowned at her contemplatively for some time.

"Everyone has a home, child. But until you find yours, you are welcome in mine." He said before walking away in the snow.

Toshiko stared at him for a while, wondering why he would offer her his home, and then, throwing caution to the wind, she ended up following him.

Toshiko was a bit apprehensive at seeing dozens of samurai stationed outside his house, but everything cleared up when the old man introduced himself as Mifune, leader of the samurai of Tetsu no kuni.

It made sense, she supposed. She had already tried the shinobi and civilian lifestyles before becoming disillusioned with them. Perhaps it was time to become a samurai.

Life in the Land of Iron was very different from Konoha. The main difference was the contrasting morals of samurai and shinobi. Shinobi are expected to lie, steal, manipulate and murder. Samurai, however, lived by an honor that prohibited all of those.

The samurai only used chakra for body augmentation and 'ninshu'. And that was a completely different can of worms. Ninshu referred to use of chakra to empathize with people and prevent suffering. The mistake of comparing ninshu to ninjutsu lead to a comprehensive lecture on how shinobi had completely adulterated chakra usage and how ninjutsu is an abomination that shouldn't even be mentioned in the land of iron.

Toshiko didn't take much time to adjust to the life of samurai, especially since she wanted to leave behind everything associated with Konoha. She had become Mifune's ward and was assigned a teacher named Yoshiteru for tutelage in the ways of samurai.

Considering that she wasn't actually five years old and had actually trained in chakra augmentation with Tsunade for years, she was quickly advanced to Kenjutsu classes. Toshiko worked hard, training day and night, if only to be exhausted enough to sleep without nightmares. She felt numb most of the time, as if she had lost a part of herself. Stray thoughts of Fu, Shinki and Katsu in Root training and the massacre of the Uchiha clan occasionally ventured into her mind, but she couldn't muster up the motivation to care about it.

Toshiko was twelve when Mifune-sama invited her to his study and gently broke the news of the Uchiha massacre. The numbness left for moment as she was assaulted with feelings of guilt and distress, before returning, making her feel empty and wrung out.

Mifune-sama eyed her with sympathy. "You have progressed remarkably well in Kenjutsu, be it because of your natural genius or unenviable work ethic. I believe it is time for you to take the oath of samurai."

Toshiko knelt on one knee, bowing down. "I would be honoured, Mifune-sama."

"Very well. Do you, Uchiha Toshiko, swear on your life to use your gift of chakra to protect and nourish, and never harm the people of the elemental nations?"

"I do." Toshiko answered, confused. That was not the regular samurai oath.

Mifune-sama smiled at her inquiring expression. "You are special, Toshiko-chan. Your oath is supposed to be special. I, Mifune, Head Samurai, declare you a samurai of Land of Iron. May you be a credit to the Land."

Toshiko stood upand exited the room after bowing low. It was after many years that she felt a sense of purpose beyond getting stronger. She was a samurai of Land of Iron. She would protect its people with all her strength.

And that was what she did. Due to the isolation of Tetsu no kuni, there were considerably less threats in the land compared to the other elemental countries, but they were still there. Bandits, natural disasters, occasionally missing-nin straying in to try their luck against samurai- the civilians of Land of Iron still feared those. Over the years, Toshiko built a reputation of going above and beyond her duty to help the civilians. She became to be revered by the people and respected by the samurai. She didn't have any friends though. She wasn't going to be touching that with a ten foot pole, any time soon.

Slowly but surely, Toshiko felt that she was healing. She was gradually getting back her sense of self that she was afraid had been lost forever. Ofcourse that was when the Kage Summit happened.

"Kage Summit are requested to negotiate war treaties. Why is one happening now? There hasn't been any war for more than a decade." Toshiko asked.

"The Raikage is concerned about Akatsuki. It is an organisation of S ranked nuke-nin and has been alleged to be capturing jinchiruchi." Mifune-sama answered patiently.

"Akatsuki. Red dawn. Who are the members?" The image of Orochimaru and Sasori wearing black cloaks with red clouds came to her mind.

"The current members are unknown. Though, since Uchiha Itachi was a known members, we can guess that the strength of others is comparable."

Toshiko was about to reply when noticed the past tense. "What do you mean 'Uchiha Itachi was a known member'? Has he left?"

"He's dead. He was killed by  Uchiha Sasuke a month ago." He replied. "I was under the impression that you were aware."

"I wasn't." Toshiko said, mechanically. "I'll go see to the preparations."

Itachi was dead. Killed by his little brother. She didn't know what to feel about that. Itachi had been her friend. Itachi tried to help her when he discovered that she was brainwashed. Itachi developed the Mangekyou Sharingan at her death.

But this Itachi wasn't him. He had never met Toshiko. He wouldn't have hesitated to kill her if they ever crossed paths. This Itachi had murdered every member of the clan he had grown up in, save his little brother. This Itachi had spent many years in a criminal organization (probably undercover), and had committed countless crimes. Perhaps death was a relief to him. It would have been to the Itachi she had known, if he been in this situation.

Toshiko forcibly shoved those thoughts off and busied herself in the security preparations. She had left Konoha behind. There was no use in mulling over this.

Soon enough the Kages started arriving. But instead of Tsunade, Toshiko was surprised to see Danzo representing Konoha as the Hokage. The Godaime had supposedly fallen in a coma after the leader of Akatsuki attacked and essentially destroyed Konoha.

The summit started and was a clusterfuck from the beginning. The Five Kage began to argue about ideologies and whose fault it was that Akatsuki became so powerful. Toshiko was incredulous when Danzo revealed that Uchiha Madara was the real leader of Akatsuki, since he would be more than a hundred years old even if he was still alive.

She couldn't believe her eyes when Mifune-sama supported Danzo by suggesting that the Five Great Nations unite against Akatsuki under Danzo's leadership.

She quickly activated her Sharingan to see that Danzo was using a genjutsu on the Head Samurai. She had a feeling she knew which genjutsu it was, considering she had experienced it first hand.

The Mizukage's bodyguard, Ao, apparently had a Byakugan and was able to expose Danzo before she could. She was ready skewer the bandaged bastard with her sword when a wierd plant thing just phased into the room announcing that Uchiha Sasuke was near. This threw the Raikage into a fit of rage since apparently Sasuke was responsible for capturing his brother for the Akatsuki. In the resulting commotion, Danzo disappeared.

Oh no, he was not getting away this easily. Not after using that jutsu on Mifune-sama.

Toshiko ignored Sasuke's arrival and his resulting clash with the Kages and chose gave chase to Danzo, along with Yoshiteru and his squad.

They didn't get far before they were intercepted by what appeared to be Konoha ANBU. Toshiko knew from past experience that they were Root.

They were skilled fighters. The samurai were able to keep up with them but every second spent fighting gave Danzo the opportunity to flee further, which was their goal. The samurai code of honour was working against them and the Root members definitely didn't have hesitation in using dirty tricks. Ten minutes later, Toshiko lost her patience and used the Great Fireball jutsu to distract them. Not expecting a samurai to use ninjutsu, they were caught off gaurd and Toshiko was able to use the opportunity to stab one of them (apparently the leader) in the chest, while the others escaped. Toshiko was about to follow when she was stopped short by the call of her name.

Yoshiteru-sensei was the one who had called her and was looking at her with disappointment. "Toshiko-kun, do you intend to see the face of the opponent you killed to honour their life, or I have completely failed in teaching you the samurai code?"

The chastisement rankled when Danzo and Root members were getting further away with each wasted moment. But Toshiko acquiesced. It would take less time than arguing.

All thoughts of following Danzo left her mind when she removed the Root member's mask. The lifeless eyes of her first friend stared back at her.

Yamanaka Fuu. She had killed Fuu.

Toshiko was distantly aware of falling to her knees. She felt a sharp pain in her eyes and tears rolling down her cheeks. She absently wiped them, only to realise that it was blood.

"Toshiko-kun, what is it?" Yoshiteru's tone was concerned.

The bells of town centre began to ring before Toshiko could answer, recalling the samurai.

Apparently, Uchiha Madara had arrived after Danzo's flight declaring the fourth shinobi war against the Five Great Nations if they failed to deliver the remaining jinchuriki. Mifune-sama had decided that the samurai would also be participating in this war against a threat to the elemental nations. The Land of Iron was going to war. Toshiko's grief had to be put on the backburner.

With all the preparations and planning Toshiko rarely got any opportunity to train. While she instinctively knew that her newly acquired Mangekyou Sharingan gave her the ability of Kamui, she never got the chance to practice it. It was a very useful ability, she had to admit, no matter how it was acquired. It basically gave her access to another dimension and ability to teleport.

Mifune-sama decided to send Toshiko to a hidden base to protect the remaining jinchuriki- Naruto and Killer B. She was a bit disappointed to not be participating in the only war in history in which all five great nations were allied, but did not protest. The jinchuriki were the whole point of the war.

Toshiko set out sail to an island in Kumo along with Naruto, and three other Konoha ninja- Yamato, Gai and Aoba. Seeing Naruto again, now as a sixteen year old teenager, but still as loud and annoying as ever, Toshiko realised that this was the longest she had ever lived.

She apparently jinxed herself with the thought as a soon enough they were attacked by a giant octopus. She watched in disbelief as Naruto became convinced that it the octopus that was supposed to help him become stronger according to the great toad sage. The octopus didn't share that opinion as it grabbed Naruto in one of its arm, doing its best to kill him.

Toshiko shook herself out of her stupor. It was her job to protect the jinchuriki, no matter how stupid they acted. As if by instinct, she activated her Mangekyou Sharingan for the first time and teleported the giant arm holding Naruto to the Kamui dimension, setting him free.

"Nee-chan, you have the Sharingan!! Are you an Uchiha? Are you related to Sasuke-teme? Hey, are you related to Kakashi-sensei? Your power is the same as his." Toshiko realised her mistake as the brat started pestering her with questions.

Thankfully, they were interupted by the arrival of Killer B, who had seen the giant octopus attack their ship. She felt relief for a second before the man started to rap.

Toshiko sweat dropped. Were all the jinchuriki this weird?

Naruto immediately asked B to train him and was refused immediately. Toshiko wished she hadn't seen the subsequent pleading and cajoling, but she had, unfortunately, with her Sharingan. The Harem no jutsu was forever burned in her brain.

Eventually B agreed to train Naruto and Toshiko reverted to her own training. Kamui could be very powerful if she learned to use it correctly. The teleportation wasn't instantaneous like the fourth Hokage's hiraishin, but accidently Toshiko discovered that she could be subsequently present in the Kamui dimension and the real dimension, making her intangible and immune to attacks. The only downside was that her attacks would also be useless in that situation. The trick would be to perfect the timing between attack and defense.

Yamato and Aoba watched her train. They were suspicious of her since she revealed to possess the Sharingan and didn't offer any explanation. Their suspicion, however, didn't faze her as much as Naruto's impromptu friendliness did.

"It would be great when you'd need Sasuke. He thinks he doesn't have any family left. Even the bastard would smile when he'd realise that it wasn't true." The nine tails jinchuriki cornered her one day at dinner.

"Why do you care so much about Sasuke though? Didn't he betray your village?" Toshiko couldn't help but ask. She had heard much of Sasuke in the last few months, none of it being good. She didn't know why Naruto would care for the person who was working with the organisation whose goal was to capture and kill him.

"Sasuke is my friend and I don't abandon my friends." Naruto answered, his eyes lit with determination. "I'm going to bring him back to Konoha."

"Why?" She asked softly.

"If I can't save my friend, how am I supposed to save the village when I become the Hokage?" He grinned.

"Why do you want to become Hokage? After the way the village treated you, why do wish to protect them?" It was a question that she had since she saw the blonde being beat up in front of Yakiniku Q. She remembered his thirteen year old self declaring his wish to become with the same determination as now. Why though? What made it possible for him to forgive them? Was the loyalty to Konoha also brainwashed into his mind as it had once been in hers?

Naruto's eyes darkened at the question. "I understand that the way they treated me wasn't right. They were acting that way because of grief and fear but that doesn't justify it. Keeping grudges, however, would be a failing on my part. I want to become Hokage so that no child goes through what I or Sasuke or Gaara had to go through. I won't give up till I find a way. That is my ninja way."

Toshiko stared at the blonde in wonder. It was the same boy who had tried to convince Killer B to teach him by turning into a naked girl, and now he was sprouting wisdom that men five times his age would be unable to grasp.

Toshiko didn't fail to realise that she herself had left Konoha, unable to forgive and move on and in the process abandoned her friends to terrible fates.

Naruto's words, however, had begun to heal something inside her, something so deep she didn't even know she was hurting from it.

Her soul searching, however, was interupted by absolute chaos during the next few days. Naruto was able to enter the tailed beast mode and discovered Hoshigaki Kisame hiding inside Killer B's sword. Maito Gai was able to defeat him but he sent information to his allies before committing suicide. Soon enough the island was invaded by Kabuto, who had become an ally to the Akatsuki. Toshiko, who had a personal grudge against him tried her best to capture him but 'Uchiha Madara' appeared and rescued him along with kidnapping Yamato.

What struck Toshiko as interesting was the fact that 'Madara' was using Kamui.

The next few days were complete chaos. Toshiko was reassigned to fourth division under Hatake Kakashi. She fought Zetsu clones taking the shape of dead shinobi. She fought actual reanimated zombies who refused to stay dead no matter how many times they were killed. The showstopper however was definitely Uchiha Madara, the real one this time. He appeared on the battlefield as an Edo-tensei and proceeded to wipe the floor with the entire division. It was almost beautiful, the way he cut through so many shinobi without even getting hit a single time.

Toshiko, perhaps in fit of madness, or some weird protective urge Naruto had somehow instilled into her, decided to engage Madara in single combat.

Sharingan blazing, she teleported in front of him, trying to take him by a surprise attack. It obviously didn't work.

"Ah, an Uchiha. I wondered if I'd be facing someone from my clan." Madara spoke, casually dodging her sword, seemingly without effort.

Toshiko didn't reply. She was too busy trying not to be hit. Even liberal use of Kamui couldn't save her from those deadly taijutsu strikes. Her skills in medical jutsu were being put to test. They didn't match, of course. Madara was damaging her far more quickly than she could heal herself. The worst part was that she knew that he was just toying with her.

"You have potential." He commented, holding a completely spent Toshiko by the throat. "Too bad you won't have time to grow into it."

"Rasenshuriken!" Naruto came running towards Madara, probably trying to rescue her. Madara responded by throwing her towards Naruto's jutsu.

The last thing Toshiko saw was Naruto's horrified face as thousand wind blades tore her body to shreds.