DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS AND PLOTS. I ONLY OWN MY OC AND ANY OTHER OCS.

Will the darkness fall upon me, when the air is growing thin?
Will the light begin to pull me to its everlasting will?
I can hear the voices haunting, there is nothing left to fear,
And I am still calling, I am still calling to you.

Breaking Benjamin

Ashes of Eden

They are both sixteen when he tells her of his arranged marriage with an Uzumaki woman. She says that she is happy for him, that she is excited for him (she doesn't feel this way at all though.) She has no right to complain, not when he only views her as his friend. But when he asks if she is not bothered by it, she is confused at the look at he gives her (why does he look at her with hurt filled eyes?)

"Why would I be?" She asks. She can feel tears pooling behind her eyes but she holds it in (because she is an expert at hiding her emotions.) She does not need to cry, especially over something as minuscule as this (she hates her emotions.) She is a kunoichi, a person that has dealt with worse. "Tobirama, you always talked of having a family one day. You may be young but we are shinobi, we barely live out of our teen years."

"I know… It is just that–" They are interrupted by the sounds of the gates opening. They both turn around to see unfamiliar shinobi walking into the compound. Her eyes go to the whirlpool crest that is displayed on their armor and immediately, she does not want to be here.

The Uzumaki clan is here, which means his future wife is too.

She smiles as if it does not faze her when she sees the Uzumaki girl walk up to him and flirt with him (it does though and she wants to hurt her so bad.) It is not her right to complain, not when he is to marry for the sake of the clan (everything is always for the clan.) She is a nobody and it seems to remain that way no matter what she does. However, the girl is only there for a few days when there is news of an attack on her clan compound. Her departure is sudden, yet expected.

"Do you think the Uzumaki Clan is okay?" She asks him a few days later.

"Of course. They know how to protect themselves." She wants to ask more but someone runs up to them and whispers something into his ear. She asks what's wrong after the messenger is gone and it takes him a few seconds to tell her. "It seems that Nobume and her entourage were attacked on the way back to her clan."

She knows that with his tone, something happened to the Uzumaki girl. "She is dead," He says. "and everyone that was with her…is too."

She is eighteen and her heart is crying out for help. She does not know that it is and her heart does not know if it is for him or for all the lives she takes because of this accursed war (both, her heart must be in pain because of both.) He asks if she is okay but her answer always remains the same:

"Of course I am."

However, she is not. She does not flinch when the blood of her enemy splatters over her face (there is blood in her mouth.) She does not cry when her blade runs through the enemy's chest (it is a child). She joins her clansmen when they win a battle, happy that they will see another day (she hates herself for laughing along with them.) She talks to everyone as if the dead bodies around her do not bother her (the stench of death is everywhere.) But after everyone is gone and she is alone, her façade breaks and she cries for the lives that will go home in a scroll to their families. She cries for the lovers that will never reunite with one another. She cries for the children that will never know the forgiveness of love. She cries for the families that will never see their child grow.

She cries for life, for knowing that she is a murderer and there is nothing that she can do to change it.

They are walking together through the clan when his brother runs up to them. She respectfully bows to Hashirama because he is now the clan head. He needs his brother and so she walks away, towards the river that Hashirama met the famous Uchiha Madara years ago. As she sits alongs the cliff that overlooks the river, she is able to relax and let down the boundaries that she creates during the day (brick by brick, it crumbles.)

(She closes her eyes)

She lets the sun warm her cold body. She starts to drift off and this is when she makes her mistake (this is when her demons come out and haunt her).

"Why did you kill me?" Her eyes fly open and she whirls around. She sees a boy who is barely ten looking at her, his skin too pale even for an Uchiha (why is he so familiar?) She demands to know who he is, but he does not reply. "Why did you kill me?" He continues to ask. There is blood falling from his mouth and she finally realizes why he is so familiar.

She killed him a week prior to today.

"N-No…" She tells herself that he can't hurt her (this isn't real.) "Stay away!" The boy steps towards her and she moves back (he isn't real.)

"Why?" His lifeless eyes look at her and all she can think of is fear. With every step he takes, she sees all the lives that she has taken. The dead accumulate around him but when he takes another step, he suddenly disappears (along with everything else.)

(She opens her eyes)

She wakes up and sees red eyes looking down at her.

"Hey, are you okay?"

She looks around, slightly disorientated. "…Huh?" The questioning look that he gives her prompts her to change her answer to a 'yes' instead.

"So this is where you disappear off to whenever I can't find you." He sits next to her and immediately, her heart starts to beat harder (how can he not hear her heart?) But out of pure habit, she pushes these feelings down and leans against his arm, placing her head on his shoulder. She tells him that this place helps her relax, helps her escape the harsh reality of life (he helps too, not that she'd ever tell him.)

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Of course I am." She lies.

I'm fine.

"Leave me alone." She says, her voice is emotionless (she hates her life.) She just returned from a battle and she is tired (too tired.)

"Akari…"

She turns her head and walks away while she ignores the look that he gives her. She does not need his pity. She does not want to deal with anyone right now, not when the images of the battle are fresh in her mind (the bodies, they are everywhere.) It does not take long for her to find her place by the river but even then she cannot calm down (red, all she sees is red.) She feels the telltale burn of pressure behind her eyes and she knows that this time, she cannot keep the tears away. Almost like rain, there is a drop followed by another, until the tears do not stop. They continue (just like her screams.)

"Akari?!" She hears the panic in his voice but she cannot bring herself to care. He pulls her up before bringing her into his arms and typically, this alone will calm her down (but not today.) She wants to be anywhere but here. "What's wrong? Please, tell me." She hears the worry in his voice (so different than usual.)

"Leave me alone!" She pulls away with all her strength and runs off, not wanting to see the one man she loves more than anything on this earth. But he is not known as a powerful shinobi for nothing. He soon catches up to her and grabs her again, worried for his friend (something she'll only ever be.)

"You need to tell me what's wrong, that is the only way you'll be able to cope with anything."

"Fine. You want to know what's wrong? I'll tell you. I can't do this anymore." She says, looking down at her hands. "This life of being a shinobi, it's not something I can do anymore. The harassment, the names, the way I'm underestimated." Her tears never stop. "Why couldn't I have been normal Tobirama? Why couldn't I have been like my sister?" If she was, then her parents would not have ignored her and treated her like a no one. "I hate this life!"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Her face flies up to meet his and she is shocked to see the anger in his eyes. "Where is the Akari I know that wanted to prove her family wrong? Where is the girl that stood up to people twice her age to protect someone? Where is the girl that wanted to protect this Clan?" He demands to know.

At his question, she feels her anger overpower all the coldness and sadness. "…Where is that girl?" She says in a cold monotonous voice despite the varying array of emotions flying throughout her body. "She died when she learned that despite wanting to protect something, she needed to kill. That damn girl died when she had to take her first fucking life!" She screams.

But this does not answer his question. He grabs her shoulders and let's go of this emotion that he has been keeping at bay for so long. "Where the hell is the girl that I fell in love with then?!"

Both of their eyes widen the moment he asks his question. She cannot seem to comprehend his question for a few seconds (what the hell did he just say?) She opens her mouth to say something but nothing comes out. They stay like that for a few seconds before she feels a new emotion erupting within the mess that she already is.

Doubt.

"Is…Is this something sick fucking joke to you?!" There is a new wave of tears but now, it is because of humiliation (this is not about her job as a shinobi anymore, this is about their life.)

He lets out a sound of frustration before grabbing her. "No, it's not." He says before he places his hand on her cheek. "It never was." Before she can pull away, he brings his lips down onto hers.

They are soft, yet firm. She remains unresponsive, her mind going a million miles a minute. He pulls away a second later and she can only think of one thing.

He…loves her?

But before she can say or ask anything, he pulls her into a hug. "Now tell me what happened today."

Red, she sees red eyes and she sees everything in ruins she sees death she sees everything and everyone gone –

"A genjutsu," Her voice comes out hoarse. "I was put into a genjutsu." She tells him of her vision, of what that Uchiha showed her. She tells him that and more.

On this night, there were no more secrets between the two. She tells him of her feelings and he does too. And on this night, they not only have their first kiss but their second under the clear night sky while the full moon watches as a witness to their love.

A/N: Hey guys! I'm sorry that this chapter came out so late but I had finals and then after that I was going through some shit so I'm sorry! The follower notification that I would get whenever someone new followed/favorited made me so guilty! I also had a writer's block which made everything like ten times worse too so…

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I can't promise when the next one will come out but I'll make sure that it doesn't take too long because I have so many new ideas for new stories but I really want to get the ones I have already done first!

So please favorite/follow if you haven't done so already and don't forget to review!

Until next time!~