Bone of Contention
Part 1-4

Day 18
October 27th

.

"I, I don't understand."

Hashirama tilted his head to a side, confusion evident on his face and mentally agreeing with his younger brother's question. Was it possible to seal something like the Nine-tails? You know, without being the Sage of the Six Paths? It was the kind of thing that was spoke of only in legends, it held no place in the outside world, that kind of power was not suppose to be possible. It would be far too easy to abuse, to take it and twist until something impure and corrupt was born.

In front of the Senju brothers, Butsuma let out a low sigh, a callous hand reaching up to run scarred fingers through his hair as the other curled around the cup of tea placed upon the table. The thin, delicate china looked out of place in his father's rough hands, hands that'd taken so many lives they may as well have been bathed in blood. Like a flower held in the paws of a lion.

"One of our own overheard a few villagers talking on their way back from a mission. They weren't able to catch much without exposing themselves, but what they did managed to find out was that a child has managed to seal the Nine-Tails. And though we will be taking the words of civilians with a pinch of salt, I want the four of you to be careful in regards to this."

Considering the information that he'd just been presented with, Hashirama gave a small nod of acknowledgement to let his father know he'd be taking the warning into consideration for everything he did from here on out. He'd be more cautious whenever he left the compound now, he'd look over his shoulder thrice instead of the usual twice.

But he did have to let Naruto know about this. There was no one to warn the girl about this very real, very dangerous threat. If this kid that'd sealed the Nine-Tails was running free, well, Hashirama didn't want to know what he had planned for the Bijū he'd managed to seal into himself. That kind of power, if Naruto said the wrong thing, made a mistake near someone that unstable...

He didn't want to think on that, didn't want to think on the possibility of Naruto running into such a beast of a ninja. She was strong, but she was not strong enough to stand against a Bijū. No one was.

Swallowing down the lump that seemed to have grown in his throat, Hashirama ran a hand through his ruffled hair, allowing the stressed sigh to escape from between his lips.

It was all getting so much more difficult to deal with, the world continued spinning on even though he'd been tripped up and now he was being left behind. His thoughts differed than to what they had been but a month ago. His perception of the world had been challenged, Naruto had challenged his way of life, the way of clan life by just being there. The fact she was out there right now, surviving on her own without the support of a clan went against everything he'd ever been told.

Every clan child had it drilled into them, imprinted within their very being, that they would not survive without the clan. They shouldn't run away, because a runaway child was a dead child. The enemy wouldn't care if they had left the clan, they had the life blood of the clan running through their veins and that would make them a target of every enemy they came across, personal relations or not.

So what was Naruto? How was she managing al by herself? She herself had confessed to an Uzumaki mother, but the woman had died just before her father, and Hashirama was pretty sure that'd happened incredibly early in Naruto's life. She had stated that she had never met any of the Uzumaki, so it was obvious that she wasn't a clan child.

Trained by a wandering toad sage. Naruto could look after herself, but was she telling the truth about her father? If her mother was an Uzumaki, she would have the Uzumaki colouring, which meant Naruto's own sunny complexion was from her father.

Yet, no matter how hard he thought, how far back he reached into the recesses of his brain, only two clans with an abundance of blonds came to mind.

There were the Yamanakas, a clan who specialized in mind reading and other such related arts. But the colouring was wrong, their shades too light for Naruto to have been spawned from them. No, his friends chakra was far too vast in comparison to that clan's slightly below average reserves. That, and Naruto was a heavy hitter, a front line fighter well versed in a physical spar and ninjutsu too. The Yamanaka were known for sticking to the backlines, working together with the Nara and Akimichi clan in order to capture their opponent. Naruto was on the other side of the spectrum to that clan

Then, there were the clan of bombers that were from Stone country. but Hashirama remembered Naruto saying she'd had a confrontation with them just before they'd met. And while it was possible that they'd been trying to retrieve Naruto, a runaway child, Hashirama was sure that wasn't the case. Naruto didn't have the vibe of a liar, there was just something incredibly trusting about her. But he'd check the clan records, just in case.

"Hashirama, are you even listening to me?"

Head snapping up, the brunet flinched slightly at the disapproving look in his father's eyes, trying to ignore the concerned glances that his brothers exchanged between themselves before levelling their worried stares upon him. This was, after all, the second time in a week that he'd not given his father all of his attention, and he knew for sure that no matter what he said he wouldn't be getting out of trouble with only a warning this time.

"I'm sorry, I'm still kind of stuck on something. My apologies Father." He trailed off, well aware that the excuse had worn thin the first time he'd used it. It had still been worth trying though, even if his father's nostrils were currently flaring, though no words left his mouth.

Still, his intentions were clear when the three younger Senju brothers were dismissed, leaving only Hashirama in the room.

This couldn't be good.

.

When Hashirama found the oldest of his fellow siblings again, there was a rather prominent bruise casting a shadow across the left hand side of his face. Considering the fact Tobirama actually winced when he first caught sight of it, Hashirama was pretty sure it looked worse than it felt. And it felt bad. Only an hour had passed since he'd been struck, so no doubt what was currently a light purple bruise would swell and darken as time went on.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine Tobi." Scratching at the back of his neck and mindful of his swollen cheek, Hashirama dropped to the ground as a breath of air left from between his lips. The worn earth was still warm beneath his limbs, clinging to the very last of the autumn heat. Though considering that their current location was deep within the heart of Fire Country, the heat surrounding them would be considered summer warmth in any other country.

"The Bakugō Clan?" Tobirama was leaning over his shoulder, reading the scroll that Hashirama had just retrieved from the library.

"Why are you reading about those explosive nuts?" His silver haired brother, the spitting image of their mother in every physical feature, flopped down beside him on the soft grass, sprawling out in an almost boneless manner.

The injured ankle had long since healed, but Hashirama still felt a bit guilty for having caused it. They just been sparring and then suddenly there was an opening for one of Naruto's favourite moves that he just couldn't ignore. He hadn't stopped to think that Tobirama would be able to combat a move he'd never seen before, that it wasn't a very durable Naruto he was sparring with.

It was lucky Tobirama had managed to move his leg so that he'd only come away with a twisted ankle, Hashirama was pretty sure that had the move hit like he'd intended it to a shin bone would have been broken instead of the sprained ankle that Tobirama got off with.

Scanning through the words, but unable to find anything regarding their physical features other than blond hair and typically blue or green eyes, Hashirama rolled the scroll back up again, pocketing it and making a mental note to return it to the clan archives.

"I ran into a girl when I was on patrol the other day."

Now Tobirama perked up, his attention quite clearly caught as the dark, curious eyes landed on him. As if searching for a fault, or interesting titbit of information in his words. It was true what he said, he had run into Naruto a few days back, even if it had been a meeting he'd personally gone out of his way to create.

It wasn't like he was lying, just omitting when it was he'd met the girl. He had run into her after all, having not noticed when the girl had swerved to a stop in their footrace and he'd ploughed right into her.

"And?"

"And I think she was running away from that clan. Whether she was a part of it, or did something to wrong them, I'm not sure." He couldn't picture Naruto doing that, but then again the both of them were ninja. It would be wrong of him to just full out accept Naruto, regardless of the good feeling she gave off, of the warm fuzzies that seemed to emit from her in waves. Being a ninja, was after all, about looking underneath the surface after all.

He'd remain cautious of the blond for now, no matter how brilliant a sparring partner she was, or how friendly she seemed. It wouldn't hurt anything for him to be cautious.

Picking the dirt out from his nail-beds, Hashirama sighed lightly, trying to ignore the weight that seemed to have set its nest up in his stomach.

"Well, as long as she was just passing through, then she's not our problem."

"Right, not our problem," he repeated, grimacing when the squirming mass in his stomach happily identified itself as guilt.

Day 19
October 28th

.

Stretching both arms above her head and rotating the limbs about in their joints until she heard the satisfying clicks of her body, Naruto hopped impatiently from one foot to the other, scowling as she did so. Surrounding her in the clearing, seven clones stared back with the same brilliant blue eyes and determined grin, ready and eager to start sparring.

It'd been just under a week since she had last seen Hashirama, and there was only so much seclusion that a girl could take before she left the relatively safety of that state of mind known as sanity. Just this morning she'd been playing with the idea of starting a game of tag between her clones.

She'd just never been this bored before. There'd always been something to do, plants to water, friends to talk to, an Ero-sennin to pull out of brothels.

Now all there was to do was train, because her own friend in this time period could only get so much time away from his clan before they became suspicious. And Naruto wouldn't let Kurama be used as a weapon, which is what would happen should they find out she was the Jinchuriki. As lonely as she was, she wasn't ready to go looking for more people and risk such a thing happening.

So instead she trained, attempted to keep the boredom at bay by scouting the surrounding area, the future site that Konoha would stand upon. It wasn't that long a trip, and sometimes Naruto would climb up the mountain face and just stare out at the endless forest that seemed to cover the place.

She'd trace the landscape with her eyes, trying to remember how Konoha had looked before Pein's invasion, before everything went wrong.

The reason behind her training was obvious. Even though she'd done okay in her fight alongside Hashirama, it didn't change the fact that her muscle memory was out. Any and all the taijutsu she'd known after the Chũnin exams was gone. And even then it was questionable if she'd land the hit. Her brain said her arms were longer, her legs stronger, than what they actually were.

And the only way to get around such a problem was to train and train so more.

Oh, she could remember the moves, but getting them to work in unison with her now much shorter limbs was almost impossible. This body appeared to have just had its eleventh birthday, so she had the time to grow into her moveset, and for a moment, she paused, wondering just when Hashirama's birthday was.

But the thought past quickly, because there was something more worrisome.

Black Zetsu.

He had ruined everything, every possible opportunity of peace between Uchiha and Senju, all in a desperate attempt to revive Kaguya. She needed to be strong enough to stop him, something that was going to be made even more difficult this time around considering she didn't have Sasuke to back up now.

The clone off to the side gave the signal and Naruto dashed forwards, renewed determination coursing through her body as she forced all her limbs into one of the katas she knew, forced the muscles to accept this new form.

Meanwhile, her mind began to slip elsewhere, only subconsciously focused on sparring.

Perhaps the most worrying thing so far though was that she'd been unable to contact Kurama. Slipping into her mindscape had become surprisingly difficult, and each time she went to meditate what she was really doing was just sitting on the floor and getting more and more frustrated when it didn't work. His chakra was also completely off limits to her, something that had not happened since she'd first worked with Jiraiya during the Chũnin exams.

There was no joint chakra from their amazing teamwork, there was no pure chakra that she'd taken from him while training with Bee, not even the base form that'd burned red and bubbled with the foxes killer intent was accessible to her now. She couldn't touch any of it, and while the thought of going to look for a strong ninja to fight, to put herself into a life of death situation to tease the chakra out was tempting, Naruto forced herself it resist it.

She had a job to do here, a future to save, and going off and risking such a thing was a sure fire way to completely fail.

She'd keep trying the meditating, it was safer.

Ducking a roundhouse kick that would have smashed into her cheekbone had she not, Naruto took the last clone down in a burst of smoke. The moves were coming back, slowly but surely. She'd just gotten so used to making progress in such amazing leaps and bounds that now that she was having to go back over things and relearn what she already knew, well it left her foaming with vexation.

A low whistle from her clone referee caught Naruto's attention instantly as she snapped her head around to look at the source, grinning when the copy pointed to the boar roasting over the open fire. She'd caught it a half hour ago and left the clone in charge of cooking; it was nice to walk away from a training session and have cooked food ready on demand.

Brushing off the seat of her pants, Naruto made her way over, dispelling the clone once it'd gotten the boar off the fire and put the flames out.

Dinner time.

.

Tearing the succulent meat from the hind leg that was currently in her grasp, Naruto let her teeth slice through the meat. The sharp teeth from being a Jinchuriki were indeed very helpful, and it'd gotten her out of a few tight holds when she was younger and the civilians thought that just because she looked harmless they could try something. Oh, the ANBU had always stopped them, but there's been a few times Naruto had been forced to use her own wits to break free of a hold before they intervened. Back when she'd just been a scared little kid who didn't know what she'd done to deserve the looks. If she had her way, no other child would ever get those looks.

The sound of bushes being forcibly parted had her pausing for a second, sending out a charka probe to find out if the figure approaching was friendly or not. Naruto was reaching for her second leg when the results came back, half a second before Hashirama came stumbling through the undergrowth behind her.

"Hey, I've got some boar left over if you want- What the hell happened to your face!" Shooting to her feet and almost dropping the leg of the boar she'd just been able to bite into, Naruto stormed over to Hashirama's side, feeling her anger flare up deep within her chest.

Thrusting the boar leg at the boy until he caught hold of it with clumsy hands, Naruto took a gentle grip of her friend's chin, twisting his head to a side. Hashirama fought the movement for a second, before seemingly deciding it wasn't worth it and complied, allowing the blonde to get a good look at his left cheek. Or rather, where he cheek used to be.

Now there was a humongous bruise, a bruise that had swollen so much that Hashirama's eye was having trouble opening. The different shades of black, blue and purple weren't exactly the best match to the boy's pale skin either, resulting in a black eye that looked as ugly as sin.

"I got in an argument with my dad," he finally murmured, letting Naruto take his hand and pull him over to the fire pit.

One hand was still curled around the leg of food Naruto had forced upon him, and after a second of consideration, Hashirama took a bite of the meat.

"Sit, eat, then we'll talk." Seeing as she was currently channelling Sakura and Tsunade at their worst, the blonde could understand why her friend made no attempt to disobey those orders. Her friend and Baa-chan were scary after all.

That didn't change the fact that Naruto was glad the boy hadn't tried to fight her. Her heart wouldn't be in it, trying to out-stubborn the boy opposite her who'd clearly ended up on the wrong side of his father's temper.

She knew that things were a bit more wild back in these times, that it was a case of have as many children as possible because it was a certainty that at least one would die before reaching the age of ten. Children weren't as treasured here as what they'd been during her time in Konoha. But that didn't stop Naruto's heart from clenching at the thought.

Should she ever meet Hashirama's father, she certainly have a few choice words for the man.

Watching as Hashirama devoured the boar leg and then looked at her with the most pitiful eyes she'd ever seen, Naruto rolled her own and gestured for the boy to take as much boar as he'd like. She did feel kind of bad over how hungry Hashirama was. He'd clearly skipped out on the first meal of the day to come and meet her. She'd check her surrounding area in every direction for a good distance; Hashirama had to be travelling at least half an hour to come and see her. So really, he deserved some of the food she had cooked. It had nothing to do with the bruise on his face.

"Been training then?" Naruto asked, cocking her head to a side and grinning as the boy looked up from his meal and smiled.

"Yep. I'm getting much stronger now, you better be ready when e spar again because this time, it won't be a tie."

"Damn right it won't, because I'm going to wipe the floor with you! Dattebayo!" Naruto barked out a booming laugh at the end of her statement, watching as Hashirama forcibly swallowed his rather large mouthful of food far too soon in order to begin denying that hubris statement with several different description of how he'd be the one to win their next spar.

"Well, we'll fight when you're better, I don't think I could avoid going for that opening on your left side right now.

"Please, even handicapped I'm more than a match for you!"

.

They lazed around the smouldering remains of Naruto's fire for the next hour or so, just bantering back and forth. Naruto had laid back on the ground, sprawled out with her head twisted to a side to look at Hashirama. If this position meant she couldn't really notice the bruising on his face, then that was surely coincidence. She'd seen all sorts of wounds before, it'd be stupid for the one Hashirama was sporting to make her feel uneased.

That's what she kept telling herself anyway.

But as for Hashirama's father, well the man was damn lucky she wasn't up to her previous level of awesomeness, otherwise she'd have certainly shown him something about picking on someone below your skill level. She'd have crushed him like a bug for what he'd done to Hashirama. And it wouldn't be anything like the nice little talk she'd once given Zabuza.

No way, he wouldn't be getting off that easy.

"Here," Hashirama had pulled something from the bag he'd been carrying over his shoulder, offering up the items with two outstretched hands.

Sitting up, Naruto leaned forward, accepting the training weights that her only friend had brought with him. They were well made, clearly clan quality weights that'd been tailored specifically to a child's body. They'd be perfect for her.

"I snuck them out, you were looking at some of them back in Shōkessai, but the pay for cleaning out the town wasn't enough because you bought that tent so-"

"They're great Hash. Thank you. Now do you wanna run through some drills? I'm pretty sure I've got a good few you haven't." Strapping the weights onto her forearms and them rolling up her trousers to attach them to her shins, Naruto looked up at Hashirama from beneath her eyelashes, watching as the brunet haired boy gave a grin so large not even the bruise could stop the cheer shining through.

So perhaps she was a little eager to help Hashirama forget the fact he looked like his face had been merged with a giant plum, but Jiraiya's drills were quite helpful and good for training. They strengthened all limbs and joints, one drill had them fighting with just their legs while standing on their hands. Oh, it had it's practical applications, but that didn't mean Naruto hadn't thought it was the best thing she'd seen all month when Jiraiya first showed it to her. The memory of watching Ero-sennin flail around while in a half-hearted handstand still brought a smile to her face even now.

Her companion nodded, leaping to his feet and throwing the bones of meal into the fire pit.

"Sure, why not?"

.

Weight now fully supported on the palm of her hands, Naruto adjusted the placement of her fingers, legs twisted above her head to rest just above her skull in the precise handstand she was currently performing. Hashirama was opposite her, mirroring the cool down that she was currently leading after their strange little fight.

Trying to push one another off balance with nothing but their legs while stood on their hands had been just as fun as she remembered, and Hashirama seemed to think so too if his beaming face was any indication.

True the both of them stuck of sweat, and Naruto was well aware that had see not been in the very loose muscle shirt she was currently wearing there would be those unappealing sweat marks beneath her arms. Apparently they hadn't thought of breathable fabric, and her chakra control wasn't fully up to performing that control technique that let someone remain at a comfortable body temperature. That was the only reason Shino and Kiba had been able to prance around the Land of Fire in a heavy coat and leather jacket respectively.

"Someone sealed the Nine Tails!"

Naruto froze for a moment, body wavering slightly before her bright blue eyes slowly removed their gaze from the river to instead rest upon Hashirama, who'd just blurted out those five, startling words. It was clearly something he'd been thinking on for a while, and Naruto grimaced as her stomach flipped uncomfortably.

"What?"

"One of our clan members overheard some villages talking about it on their way back. Someone our age has sealed the Nine Tails."

It was only thanks to years of keeping the secret of her tenant that Naruto didn't freeze up again, instead moving into the next stage of the cool down whilst bouncing ideas around in her head. How should she respond to this? Hashirama would find out it was her eventually, so should she deny it now or dance around the issues? Regardless, she needed to say something to this news, didn't she?

"I- Just be careful Naruto. You haven't got a clan watching your back like I have. Please be careful who you talk to and tangle with? I don't want you getting hurt."

Looking over at the boy who was clearly so concerned for her, Naruto let the smile she felt brewing show, though kept the pain she felt out of it. She felt sick, not telling him the whole truth, not admitting that he was actually asking her to not get in a fight with herself.

But she knew Hashirama would tell his clan, couldn't get around not telling them if she did so. Not when the person they were all worried about was currently leading him through a cool down routine.

"I promise I'll try and stay out of trouble. Now cheer up, because this serious mood is too weird."

.

It was Hashirama's turn to chose what they did next, and the Senju opted to go for a run to the future Hokage mountain, which they would then climb with chakra aided limbs.

There had been banter, they'd teased and taunted one another ruthlessly as the raced up to the top, until they were both stood upon the very edge and calling out their victory, each japing the other as they pointed out one another's imagined flaws on the way up.

The boredom was gone, a distant memory as Naruto watched her only friend in this time period grin back at her, a bead of sweat dripping down the side of his temples and dirt smudged upon his nose.

Yet, Naruto knew it wouldn't last, knew the world would catch up with the both of them eventually.

Plonking herself down on the edge of the cliff face, Naruto ran her tongue across her lips, tasting the humid air that surrounded them. She could sense the storm clouds that would soon be rolling in from the west, and she really did not want to be sleeping in her underground den when that happened. While her treehouse project was coming along, she couldn't get much more done on it until she figured out some way to keep the roof stabilized during strong winds.

Everything would be so much easier if she just had Yamato here to summon a nice little wooden house from the ground. If Hashirama had uncovered his own wood release yet, then he clearly didn't trust her enough to use it for her benefit.

Not when it could be potentially used to track him back to the Senju clan.

"Hash?"

The boy looked up, seemingly having accepted the fact she'd occasionally be addressing him by his newly shortened name every so often.

"There's a storm coming in from the west, and it's going to be a big one. I think I'm going to find somewhere new to weather it out and do a bit of research on some jutsus I've got in the works , so I don't think I'll be back here for another week."

"Alright. Can we spar when you get back?"

"You really want me to put your face in the mud that much then just ask."

Grinning, Hashirama snatched up his bag, taking one last look over the edge of the cliff face before turning in the direction of his home. He paused for a second, but Naruto just waved him off.

"I don't care where you live, so long as you show up in a week's time again."

Sharing a smile, the two parted ways, Naruto heading back down the way she'd come and Hashirama disappearing over the other side of the ledge.

Day 25
November 3rd

.

Branches broke and leaves were misplaced behind him, leaving a very visible, very easy trail to follow but he just couldn't care. Didn't dare stop to cover his tracks because there just wasn't the time.

Ducking to avoid a larger than normal wooden limb that, in his haste, seemed to have appeared before his eyes, Nori Uchiha let out a low, ragged gasp, drawing in another just as quickly in an attempt to regain his breath.

The autumn rain was heavy on his shoulders, leaving the shrubbery flying by him dripping, his wet hair plastered to his face as the constant thumping sound of each droplet impacting upon the earth echoed in his ears. The rain was probably the only reason he hadn't been caught yet, he remembered Madara-nii saying that the rain washed away scent, though it'd been a few years ago that he'd heard this.

Five years old, that would have been how many summers he'd seen when his older brother gave him that lesson on fleeing from the enemy., and he'd not really thought much of it at the time. That was during the age where he'd believed he'd live simply because he was a special Uchiha. He was after all, the youngest brother of Madara Uchiha, genius extraordinaire. He was suppose to follow in his brothers footsteps, have as great a destiny to become an amazingly awesome ninja as his older brother was.

Yet, a scant three years later, here he was, fleeing for his life through the dense forest of Fire Country after a mission gone wrong.

It'd started out nice and easy to begin with, collect a hidden scroll from behind enemy lines and everything was suppose to run smoothly. They just hadn't been informed by the client that there was a clan protecting the scroll, that the Kaguya clan was the one protecting the scroll. There wasn't supposed to be more than a few bandits nearby.

Worst still, the Kaguya had known they were coming right from the start, had tracked them down and picked them off one by one. Now, of the four man team that'd left from the Uchiha stronghold, only Nori was left.

The information had been withheld, this mission had clearly been a set up to take down a few of the Uchiha by an enemy of the clan. It was suppose to have been an easy mission, suppose to have been an easy way to introduce him into the shinobi world in as risk free of an environment as can be provided.

So much for that. He'd laugh if it wasn't for the fact he couldn't breathe, that his lungs burned for a quantity of air he couldn't draw in without stopping.

There was a reason every half decent clan kept tabs on the a select few minor clans that what they did others. The Kaguya was one of those minor clans. Altogether they weren't that outstanding as a clan, but every so often they would be graced with a child possessing an interesting kekkei genkai by the name of Shikotsumyaku. It was because of this kekkei genkai that most clans liked to know whenever a Shikotsumyaku wielder was born, so that they knew who to steer clear of.

The last one known to the various clans had died in battle with the Senju clan, but not before taking out several high levelled ninjas. And now there was another one that could pull his bones out and use them as weapons. Another ninja that used Shikotsumyaku.

And he was the one chasing Nori.

The entire team of Uchiha had been taken by surprise, and it was only thanks to the quick manifestation of his Sharingan that Nori had managed to scamper away. Their attackers had seemed more than happy to let the kekkei genkai user chase him down, to play with his latest catch like a cat does a mouse.

So while Nori was running for his life, terrified beyond all comprehension, this was nothing but a game to his pursuer, a game Nori was going to lose.

The entire Kaguya clan was known for its ruthlessness, known to fight until the bitter end, to the death. Nori wasn't stupid, he knew that he was outclassed and that if- no, when it came down to the fight, he'd die. Sharingan or no Sharingan.

But he had to try, he had to keep fleeing, because Madara-nii and Izuna were waiting for him to come home.

They'd already lost Katsuro and Mikobi, Nori didn't want to be the next sibling to be added to the list of the dead.

.

A clearing bloomed into existence and Nori had to force himself to land, because there was no way he could leap from one edge of the clearing to the next, he wasn't that good at tree jumping yet. He'd been struggling to stay up there as long as he had already.

A panicked breath left from between his lips, the sweat that'd pooled to the small of his back, a result of breaking past physical boundaries his muscles had tried to set, left his thin tee-shirt stuck to his skin in the uncomfortably human weather. The rain had dragged all of the fabric he was wearing down, and every time he turned his head to a side, the long bangs that framed his face had a tendency to whip out, slapping at his nose and cheeks.

He knew this clearing though, it was just another thirty minutes east until he'd be back deep within Uchiha land, instead of this no man's land. He'd be able to meet up with other clan members, and surely they'd be able to actually fight the Kaguya that was enjoying this game of cat and mouse far too much? If the Senju could take down an adult who used Shikotsumyaku, then surely the Uchiha would be able to take out a teenager with minimum casualties?

"So, the little Uchiha has finally run out of breath."

Said breath caught in his throat at the question that was phrased more like a statement of victory. His limbs shook with adrenaline and fear as he twisted to get a look at the older boy, eyes wide and terrified beneath the black fringe of hair that'd been moulded to his forehead in the rain.

The Kaguya teen was about fourteen years old, older than Madara-nii and right now, at this moment in time, Nori couldn't picture his brother going up against this boy, this boy who'd so brutally slaughtered his clansmen as if they were nothing more than pigs.

His stomach flipped again, bile flooding into his mouth but Nori forced it back down. This was the last possible moment to start throwing up in, it'd only mean a quicker death if he ended up vomiting. There was nothing to do now other than to fight, because if he tried to flee, he'd be turning his back on the Kaguya, and that was just asking to be stabbed.

There was no other way, and he could feel the tears gathering around the corners of his eyes as the inevitable result presented itself in his mind. Long, pale fingers brushed back white hair from brilliant green eyes, the two red dots on the Kaguya's temples seemed far too bright against the dreary shades brought on by the downpour of autumn rain from above.

"I'd like to know the prey's name before it is slaughtered. Children are always so boring." He spoke with clinical detachment, as if Nori was not even human. But wasn't that what he'd just said? Nori was the prey here, he was no longer human to this ninja, just the next target to be taken down.

He didn't want things to drag on, if things were to drag on that meant there'd be far much more pain for Nori, and the little Uchiha wasn't sure he could handle that. But, but stalling might mean back up, even if the odds were minuscule this far from Uchiha land.

Struggling to calm his breathing enough to speak, Nori focused his eyes that burnt with chakra upon the older boy, trying to allow no fear to show on his face. The tear that escaped from the corner of his eyes said otherwise.

"Uchiha Nori."

"And I am Kaguya Manzu. Now let us play." The teen gave a smooth wave of his hands and tiny bullets of bones exploded from the tips of his fingers, rocketing towards Nori far too fast for him to dodge them all but just slow enough that his Sharingan could process the movement. It took every ounce of his concentration to duck the ones that would kill him instantly in his exhausted state, but one still caught him along the forearm, one slicing through the flesh of his thigh.

Biting his lip in order to keep in the scream that wanted to escape, Nori ended up with a whimper instead. Perhaps less attention grabbing than a scream but is opponent still caught the sound regardless. He ran his hands through the seals for a grand fire-ball technique, even if the numbingly cold rain had made his fingers shaky and seemingly unresponsive, which left him taking much longer than usual. A Uchiha wasn't declared battle-ready until they'd mastered the grand fireball technique and Nori had been so proud of himself a fortnight ago when he preformed it.

Now he'd give anything to go back and fail that particular test.

The ball of fire flared in the direction of the Kaguya, but Nori already knew it wouldn't be enough to stop him, not when the older boy was only playing with him, giving him the illusion that he stood a chance.

Still though, the blaze of chakra, the laze of fire, might be enough to bring any Uchihas that were nearby running, so it hopefully wouldn't be a complete waste of chakra.

As he'd expected, but hoped otherwise, the snowy haired teen cleared the fireball with ease, with all the grace of a fully trained ninja. As he twisted in the air, a sword made of bone expanded outwards from his arm, and it was only thanks to the Sharingan that Nori managed to get away with a slash to the side, instead of being cut completely in two.

The blow stung, sizzled with pain but the Uchiha boy couldn't afford to pay his wound any attention, not when he wouldn't be given the time to bleed out with the way the teen was coming at him again. His eyes shut without his permission, not wanting the last thing his Sharingan saw to be the blow that would bring about his death.

Teeth gritted, the young Uchiha waited for the unavoidable blow that would strike him from life.

.

Only, it never came.

Eyes snapping open at the lack of impact, Nori was just in time to see a figure throw themselves between the Kaguya and himself, pushing the Uchiha to a side as it did so.

The sound of bone meeting metal echoed about in his ears, louder than the thunderous pounding of the rain around him.

Had it not been a life or death situation, Nori would have happily screamed his thanks to the god for bringing his saviour to him, for listening to his desperately worded prays between the his hopeless attempts to pull breath into his lungs.

Looking up to thank his clansman, Nori froze at the sight before him.

That was not a Uchiha.

Bright blonde hair, sunny even with the rain that weight down the short spikes had appeared before him, hanging low around the nape of a tanned neck.

The Kaguya boy had skidded to a halt now form where his saviour had thrown his attack of to a side, his green eyes narrowed at the sight before him. Nori wasn't sure he was even breathing as his saviour looked over their shoulder.

The face that greeted him was just as warm as her hair had suggested. Even soaking wet, it was pretty easy to see that his saviour was female. Her thick black lashes had gathered together in clumps as a result of the precipitation falling from the sky. Her cheeks were still rounded with youth, three whisker like markings etched into the skin of each one. Relief and another curious emotion was leaking into the bright blue eyes that peered back at him, a bemused smile on her lips.

"You okay kid?" Her mouth twisted up into a determined smile when she finished voicing her question, clearly already fully aware of the fact she'd just saved him for certain death.

Dumbly Nori nodded, unable to escape the stupor he'd suddenly found himself in. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a small voice whispered that she couldn't be any older than Madara-nii, if not younger.

Even the Kaguya seemed to be struggling to accept the girl's sudden appearance in the midst of their battle, though he seemed to be preparing to actually fight his golden haired saviour.

The girl turned back to look at his pursuer, arms moving to form a handseal that he couldn't see, being situated behind her as he was. It was with a dazed expression that he watched as several clones of the girl exploded into existence around them. He'd never seen anything like it. There were clones that could be made of earth and water, but these ones seemed to have just appeared without any indication of what nature they were.

The girl who he assumed to be the original seeing as she'd not moved yet, threw a set of bandages at one of her clones, who approached him with steady and sure footsteps, though it's hands were held high to show it meant no harm.

"I'm going to patch up your wounds will the boss fights, because otherwise you're gonna bleed out. Don't worry, you're in safe hands for now. Trust me." Like hell he'd be trusting this stranger, even if she had saved him from certain death.

However, he would be willing to allow her to face the Kaguya teen, because she was in, by far, the better condition compared to him. He wasn't stupid, he knew he didn't stand a chance. He could only pray this girl did.

.

Soft bandages were wrapped around the wound he'd taken from the sword first, his shirt having been removed to see that the clone would have full access to anything that needed treatment. Hissing in pain when the white fabric began to put pressure on the cut, Nori twisted his head to look down into the clearing.

The clone had carried him up into the wooden bark, settling him down out of the way of the main body who was about to do battle. All the remaining clones had formed a perimeter around the Kaguya and the main body, watching as the two ninja slowly began to circle one another.

Even from up here, Nori could see that the girl's eyes were narrowed, her lips pressed into a firm line.

"I'm not going to let you have the kid, can't you just turn back and go on your way? We don't need to fight really."

Nori couldn't believe what he was hearing. The girl was actually trying to talk him down? What kind of nutcase was he relying on here?

"Oh I don't think so, my orders are to take him down."

The girl's face tightened, her fists clenching until the knuckles of her tanned skin whitened under the pressure.

"Then I'll stop you." Determination leaked into her words, one look at her face was all it took for Nori to know for sure was that the girl would most certainly be following through with her words, or she'd die trying. The other ninja just laughed, adjusting his stance and summoning a small knife of bone from the palm of his hand. The girl's eyes followed the movement as she too drew a kunai, shifting her feet until she was stood in a defensive position while the clones copied her movement.

Hissing beneath his breath as the clone currently tending to his wounds began to work on his injured thigh, Nori watched the very determined blonde with wide Sharingan eyes.

She was damn serious about defending him. Any other ninja would have walked away, not gotten between a fighting pair. But clearly this girl wasn't a normal ninja.

And then leapt at each other.

It was a smooth flow of twisting limbs, the symphony of clanks as weapon met weapon, fist met arm and legs crashed together. The girl's taijutsu was good, on par with the Kaguya's as they fought. It was only ten seconds, but it felt like forever watching them go at one another.

When the two broke apart, the boy wiped a thin stream of blood away from his arm, lips tilted up in a smirk as the girl copied his action to remove the blood from her cheek.

"That all you got?"

"Like hell!" The girl snarled back, giving a signal and her clones threw themselves forwards, all rushing to get a piece of the Kaguya boy. It was a blur of blonde in the rain, smoke forming when one of the clones, well, popped. It was almost like they were made out of smoke or something, they could only take one hit really, but that was the same for every other variation of clone he'd come across before.

"Boss is pretty confident she can win," the clone beside him spoke up, her bright blue eyes still focused upon his wounds, more specifically, the one upon his arm now, seeing as the others were attended to, "so don't worry, Boss'll look after you." The clone gave a blindingly bright grin, startlingly bright considering the downpour of rain around them.

What kind of shinobi was this girl? Why was she helping him when everyone knew it was survival of the fittest. There was a chance, that by saving him here, he'd be pitted against her later on in his life, that they'd be enemies and he'd have a chance to cut her life short. Why would she risk that?

.

There was a whirling sound from down below and Nori watched as the girl shot forwards, a blue orb of chakra -visible chakra?!- swirling about in her hand and the clear source of the unnatural noise. The blond was still dashing forwards, attack raised and when it made contact with the shield of bone that the Kaguya had created, the shell of ivory gave off the most unholy of screeches as the blue orb began to tear through it, strip by strip, as if it were a drill.

The shield was big though, and Nori didn't even get the time to scream between spotting the twisting bone lance and then watching it drive right through the blonde girl's torso.

He did managed a choked cry of disbelief though, his good hand shooting up to cover his mouth as his eyes widened at the fatal blow his strange saviour had suffered. He hadn't been able to cry for the Uchiha that'd died, shock having held him too tight in its clutches, but now-

Kaguya Manzu gave a flick of the lance in his hand, sending both it and the girl currently skewered upon it crashing to a side, his vivid green eyes scanning the tree-line before they came to rest upon Nori.

In a cruel mockery of a smile, his lips twisted upward, parting to begin a gloat.

But he never got to start.

The clone beside Nori popped at the same time as the most oppressive, most domineering chakra he'd ever felt in his life dropped down on them with the weight of a mountain.

It felt vile, the air seemed to be burning around them and Nori could feel his heart pounding in his chest at the sudden influx of killer intent. He'd felt his father use it before, just to show him and his brothers what they would be facing on the battlefield. He'd unleashed all of the killer intent he could manage, and at the time Nori had thrown up.

Right now, his body just wanted to stop working.

He wanted to cease existing, because only then would he ever be free of the unspeakable feeling.

He clearly wasn't the only one though, the Kaguya was immobilised too, his too bright eyes like saucers in his face.

Nori didn't need to guess to know that the killer intent down in the clearing was that much thicker than what he could feel. He couldn't hear anything over the roaring of his blood in his ears, of his body screaming at him to not flee, but to just lie down and die, to play dead and hope the source would assume it to be true. The only reason that he was able to focus his gaze at all was began the killer intent lessened after it's sudden burst.

Oh, it was still strong, so strong that it made his father's seem nothing more than a toddler trying to play at an adult game, but it was a significant drop from the levels it'd previous been burning at.

The air was still heavy around them, but it wasn't inducing horrible thoughts of suicide any longer. Instead, the main focus of the killer intent, the red chakra that saturated the air, seemed to be gyrating in a whirlwind like pattern, forming a terrifying visage at the epicentre.

Above the small whirlwind was the phizog of a demonic looking fox.

And there were nine strands twisting about in the air beneath that image.

Nori couldn't breathe.

The chakra collapsed inwards as suddenly as it had appeared, surging to coat the figure that was currently kneeling in the dirt. It wrapped around her body in a freak parody of a cloak, one long, sulphurous tail of bubbling, burning red chakra lashing back and forth without any conscious thought on the girl's part.

The lance was quickly removed, thrown to a side and Nori felt sick as he watched the wound sizzle before healing over completely, not even leaving a scar.

The Kaguya was scrambling backwards, his eyes still so wide that they threatened to pop free from his head. No words were exchanged as the girl turned to look at her opponent, neither standing or kneeling. Instead, she was braced in a low crouch, reminding Nori of the Inuzukas he'd heard of in his lessons.

And then she roared, a wave of pure, poisonous chakra scorching the ground around her before she burst into action. The Kaguya had been chasing Nori in order to kill the younger boy.

Instead, he appeared to have met his own death instead.

.

The fight was over in the blink of an eye.

The Kaguya who had once been a teenaged ninja, was now scattered around the clearing in several bloodied pieces, some parts still resembling a body part. Some were just bloodied smears.

But Kaguya Manzu was most certainly now very, very dead.

Nori let his Sharingan eyes, the eyes that recorded everything and made sure he'd be able to remember the open-mouthed scream of terror from Kaguya, swan over to look at the still bubbling form of the girl.

The chakra, the thick red chakra was dying down now, leaving the blonde haired girl stumbling slightly, thrusting out one arm to catch her torso before she fell right into a patch of blood. Nori had never seen so much blood before. The girl's shirt was ruined, the huge hole from the lance leaving a good section of her torso visible to the outside world. The chakra had dissolved into nothingness now from where it'd once clung to the girl's form and it was as if the whole thing had never happened.

Aside from the whole 'body parts littering the clearing' thing.

Nori didn't dare draw any more attention upon himself now. That had been the most brutal death he'd ever seen, and the Kaguya hadn't exactly been kind to the Uchiha they'd killed.

"Damn it!" The girl screamed, slamming her fist into the wet earth beneath her and letting out a low wail, shoulders shaking. With what, Nori didn't know, nor did he really want to find out.

.

Five minutes passed before she seemed to remember his existence. In that time, Nori hadn't moved an inch, instead taking in everything that had to do with his current condition.

First and most important of all, his chakra was low, dangerously so. That last fireball, after using so much to flee and before that, fight the Kaguya had left him almost running on empty, and he was starting to feel dizzy.

Second of all, his wounds were no longer a danger to him, now that they'd been hastily treated.

Third, and most embarrassing of the lot, he'd wet himself at some point during the chase and clearing battle. It had to have been at the flood of unreal killer intent, otherwise he'd have been perfectly in control of that bodily function. It could have been worse though, and he'd cling to that thought for now.

The blonde was moving.

Freezing in place, Nori looked over at the girl, feeling his Sharingan fade as his chakra level dropped far lower than he'd ever felt before.

"You okay kid?" She was looking at him with sad blue eyes, the whisker marks on her cheeks slowly becoming less pronounced. Her body was still shaking, but now he could see it was with exhaustion, a result of coming down from the adrenaline that'd no doubt been flooding her body minutes ago.

Slowly, cautiously, he nodded.

There was no way with his injuries he'd be able to outrun this girl, even if she was as exhausted as him. Fighting her was out of the question. He knew who she was now. She was the one who'd sealed the Kyuubi inside her body, there was no way that she wasn't that child. She was younger than Madara-nii.

The blonde jumped up onto the tree-branch, kneeling beside him and still with that forced, oh so sad smile on her face.

"I'm going to pick you up okay? I promise I won't hurt you, there's just another clearing a bit upstream where I was camping so it's safe. My name's Namikaze Naruto by the way."

"Okay." His words were forced, choked out from his clenching throat.

It was not okay at all.

Upstream was in the opposite direction to the Uchiha stronghold, his previous destination. But what else could he say? No? Ha, he might be in shock, but he wasn't stupid enough to tell this girl no.

The girl gathered him up in her arms, adjusting their bodies until he was held tight to her side, legs wrapped around her waist much like how a toddler was carried by their mother. Only, this girl couldn't be more than four years older than him.

Any other time, he would have protested, would have never allowed himself to be babied in such a way. But he was prey here, in the presence of the king of the predators that sat at the top of the food chain, high above all others.

This girl was dangerous, more dangerous than he would probably ever know, so provoking her he would not be doing.

.

The clearing was one he'd visited previously, back when Madara-nii had taken both him, Izuna and Mikobi out on their first and only camping trip outside the lands. The thought of his twin, dead for ten months now, stung and Nori pushed it down, determined to not yet become another body. He had to live for the both of them, seeing as Mikobi wasn't able to.

The girl, Namikaze, set him down gently just outside of a worn looking tent. It was pitched up under the canopy of trees, giving it shelter from the rain that was still falling from above. With movements made jerky by battle fatigue, Namikaze began rifling through her tent pulling out several different bags. Some held dry-cured meat, others had different collections of fruits, vegetables and nuts held within them.

After a moment, she seemed to find what she was searching for in the form of a chocolate bar, which she hastily unwrapped and bit a chunk off of. Nori had never even seen chocolate before, so was easily startled when the girl thrust the confectionary under his nose.

"Eat, get your blood-sugar levels back up, you've lost a good deal of the stuff." Not as much as the Kaguya had. He wanted to point it out, but didn't dare to do so. Not only would that be ungrateful to the girl that'd saved his life, but insulting someone with her levels of power was just asking to be murdered in his sleep.

Accepting the chocolate, Nori bit into the food, experimentally pressing his tongue flat against the piece in his mouth. The food was from the girl's personal supplies. Chocolate was scare, usually for nobles only, so he highly doubted that it was laced with poison. Why waste the chocolate when she could just slit his throat right here and right now?

"Listen, I'm sorry, about what you saw earlier. I- It won't happen again. I've got it under control, I promise." The demon? She controlled it? No, that wasn't what she was referring to. The chakra then, she was speaking of the demonic chakra.

"You can sleep here for the night and then I'll take you as close to your clan as I dare get in the morning."

Unclipping the water-skin from her backpack, the girl took a long swig before passing the waterproof canvas over into his waiting hands. Numb, Nori just nodded, shaky hand tipping the container back until he got as many mouthfuls as his dry throat needed. The girl, Namikaze, pushed some of her dry-cured meat and an apple into his hand, and Nori couldn't find it in himself to get annoyed. So he just sat and ate, mind aching from all the thoughts that were currently rocketing around inside his head.

"I'm going to set up everything for night, what's your name Uchiha-san?"

Blinking, Nori forced his eyes onto Namikaze, forced himself to really look at her and see the human girl and not the fearsome power she held inside.

"It's Nori."

"Nice to meet you Nori!"

.

The tent was a small, one-man sort of thing, clearly meant for a sole traveller of the adult kind. It was modest, but more than enough for two children seeking shelter from the rain. Namikaze clearly hadn't had it that long, for the scent that clung to its canvas structure didn't belong to her at all.

Shivering, Nori stripped off his shirt, pants and underwear, pulling on the spare pair that Namikaze had offered him before shooing him into the tent. She'd informed him that she planned to give her own blood splattered clothes -what was left of her top that was- a quick wash before bed and had offered to do the same for his. His cheeks burned red as he held his dirtied clothes out of the tent flap, feeling the material snatched away from his fingertips.

There was a soft 'poof' sound, indicating that Namikaze had summoned up a clone to do the job for her, while the girl herself shuffled into the tent after wringing her short blonde hair free of as much water as possible. There was a collection of blankets thrown about, enough to make a comfortable nest for the two of them, and Nori only hesitated slightly before approaching them and laying himself down. His wounds were treated, he was in clean underwear and currently had a strong protector. He could almost feel the last of the adrenaline flee his system, leaving him laid on the blankets and shivering.

Until a body laid down uncomfortably close to his own.

"I just saved you life, I'm not having you die from the elements now that I've put in all that work, dattebayo." The verbal tick had Nori giving a wobbly smile, even as his eyelids drooped in an attempt to close.

The girl's teeth were actually chattering from where she was laid beside him and Nori came to the startling realization that she too was human, that she could die just like he could, and here she was, making herself obviously vulnerable to him. Was it an attempt to comfort him? Could it have been anything else?

He didn't know if that was her true intention, but he appreciated it all the same, and just for now, he allowed himself to ignore every instinct that was screaming at him to get away and rolled closer to the girl, laying so that they were facing one another and mere inches apart.

"Thank you." For saving my life. The last was implied, but he knew the girl heard him, loud and clear. Namikaze pulled him into a hug as his words and she was just so warm that Nori couldn't summon the willpower to wiggle away.

"I'm sorry," was her whispered reply and he knew why. Because she knew that he wouldn't be out of the clan grounds on his own. The fact she even bothered to say it made him feel the tiniest bit safer.

Though he'd never admit to holding the girl as tightly as she held him that night.

Urg, long chapter is long. And so now we start seeing some changes, such as Naruto losing herself to the KI of Kyuubi. I actually think this chapter is twice as long as the original, so enjoy? (This was wrote over 24 hours, please be kind, I'm a bit sleep deprived at the moment)

Any questions?

Tsume
xxx