I was born on the 18th of February in the midst of peacetime. Five years had passed since the Second Shinobi World War and it would be a year to come til the next war would come reeling its ugly head, and then another before the next tragedy befell on Konoha.

My adoring mother gifted me the name Kareha in honour of the village that her grandparents had bled and sacrificed themselves for. As mum's pride and joy, my upbringing was always at the forefront of her priorities. Her own childhood had been plagued by war and a cruel absence of all the warmth that should've accompanied a prized daughter of the Senju family.

She was a beautiful and graceful woman with a streak of mischief, as all Senju women happened to be and in kaa-chan's words - I would no doubt grow to become. She had long brown hair loosely tied at the small of her back, full red lips often set in a soft smile and a straight sharp nose. She was usually found gliding around the house in an inky black kimono, which was really less disconcerting than it sounds; Senju emblem proudly displayed across the back. Her pair of striking red eyes and demeanour had been the few things I had inherited.

I was a pale washed out blonde, a slight shade off albino; complexion pale as opposed to mother's light tan. She often retold the story of how as soon as I was born there had been no doubt that I was Senju. Other than the fact that I had arrived through her vagina obviously. Her eyes would brighten as she gushed and recounted vivaciously the events that followed as I came into the world.

'Grandfather.' That had been the first word she had graced me with.

Apparently I had reacted very strangely, ceasing my wailing immediately after, evening out my breathing into soft puffs of air before slumbering for a whole three days.

I know, a bit morbid to address your newborn daughter as your old ass grandfather who had expired decades ago and was ten feet underground but what can I say, we Senju were a dynamic bunch.

I was supposedly the spitting image of my great grandfather, Senju Tobirama. Despite the fact that great grandfather had probably held mother a total of once before his untimely death, mother was adamant about his dedication to his village and family. The latter, I was not so convinced about. From the history books that I'd poured over, he had been a pragmatic asshole, paranoid and sharp tongued.

If anything, I thought mother and I could be likened more to my great granduncle, Hashirama. He was the indestructible backbone, light hearted jokester of our clan and the one who held huge responsibility for loosening the stick perpetually lodged into his brother's backside, enough for him to settle down anyway. I had great granduncle to thank for my existence today. I quickly clapped my hands together, murmuring my thanks before returning to my studies.

I was currently working through a few basic fuinjutsu designs, trying to memorise certain formations of technique formulae that I could hopefully adopt into my own seals later on. Fuinjutsu was a fickle art, which was why a budding genius like me was reduced to plagiarising seals, for now. Mother was eyeing me like a hawk from the kitchen making sure I didn't overextend myself and end up a splatter of organs upon her pristine floors. I was circulating chakra to my forehead as I studied, keeping multiple leaves plastered on. I dipped my brush back into the inkwell, holding back my sleeves. Sunlight spilled onto my back in sweet waves. I let out a sigh. If every day could learn from this one, it'd be perfection until the end of my existence. I have a bad habit of speaking too soon.

I paused my reading to look to the window curiously, a messenger bird tottered on the ledge not a moment later. Mother shot me an amused glance before detaching the note and sending the bird off. I dropped my brush, letting the leaves flutter from my forehead.

I was confused. We were situated at the borders of the Fire Country and mun had little contact with anyone. Well, not after she was hit up by some ninja and abandoned just as quickly. She retired from shinobi corps to raise me outside the village, cutting off almost all communication with Konoha as a whole. Despite her Senju status and competency as a ninja, the village had never reached out to her after she left. So why now? I eyed mum quietly and then watched the colour drain for her face. I made to stand up but she gestured for me to stay seated, striding over in an overly calm manner that suggested this was much worse than I could imagine.

She refilled my tea cup and I couldn't help but notice the slight stiffness in her usually impeccable tea ceremonial presentation. She suddenly spoke up. "Kareha, do you remember Uncle Sakumo?"

I gave a slow nod, not seeing where this was going.

"He went on a mission recently, and there's been a bit of a mishap."

I tilted my head in slight confusion. "Did his teammates die or something?"

She looked at me with a forlorn smile that I was well accustomed to. The one which said, 'I hope my baby girl never has to grow up'. She shook her head, "They've failed an important mission Kareha. And there seems like they'll be another war is upon us."

I must've had a bewildered expression on my face because she motioned for me to come over and scooped me into her arms. "But hadn't we just ended one?"

"It's not that easy to explain but I suppose it's because of the different factions arising across all the hidden villages. The political and military disconnection is bringing lots of unrest to the people. Every day the villages are losing more and more national power, leading to a lot of chaos and disorder." A dark look crossed her face. "Something that should never be introduced into a ninja village. Skirmishes within the smaller nations are further disrupting the fragile balance that the five nations had established from the previous war. A balance only held together by a measly piece of paper. One tear and it's all over." She paused. "Recently, Konoha sent out a team to bring an end to a prolonged conflict on the edge of its borders. They were tasked with supressing the revolt and solidifying a treaty with the Village Head."

"The one led by Uncle Sakumo?"

"Yes. And something happened on this mission that forced Uncle Sakumo to choose between the lives of his teammates and the success of the mission." Her facial expression darkened.

My eyes widened, "He chose his teammates, didn't he?"

She gave an assenting nod, I felt her chin resting upon my head. "He made a noble choice, but the failure of this mission means that the war is going to reach us faster."

I gripped onto mum's hand in fear. The flames had been fanned. The war was coming. "What are they going to do? Are they going to execute Uncle Sakumo? Because he failed to complete his assignment?"

Mum stilled beneath me and answered a curt, "No, they're not." She had a faraway look in her eyes. "I suppose the guilt would end up doing the job though." She murmured. The conversation stagnated after that point.

That night we packed up all our necessities. I sealed up all our family heirlooms, which included the less well known sister of Raijin, the Shuijin. Mum had decided that it was no longer safe on the outskirts of the Fire Country and that we should head back to Konoha as soon as possible. I let my hand drift over the smooth surface of our wooden dining table. The one I spent countless hours learning to read and write and then countless more reading scrolls and practising seals.

This had been the simple lifestyle that I preferred. In which there was no pressure to excel, because there would be no one to compare myself to. I could move at my own pace, improve because of my own motivation and curiosity rather than the need to survive. Playing ninja was comfortable, actually living it out wasn't something I had ever entertained. No matter how many times it was explained to me, the idea of war never became a tangible concept, until now. I could almost feel death nipping at my heels. Dread settled at the bottom of my stomach like a rock lodged into the seafloor. It must've been somebody's form of a sick joke that I was born between two wars.

I felt bile rise up from my throat when we burnt the house down and then even more sick when mother's back faced me and there was an absence of our clan symbol. Her shoulders were held with no less pride and no less grace but I already felt like we had lost.

Slapping a chakra suppressant and anti-detector seal onto herself, she swept my small hand into hers as we leapt into the trees as small unnoticeable blobs of grey. It wasn't long until mum took to carrying me to shorten the travel time. The faster we arrived at Konoha, the safer we would be.

We sped through the day taking minimal breaks before setting up camp for the night. I stared moodily at the campfire. I knew what moving to Konoha meant for me, for us. Mum was going to join the war effort and she needed to integrate me into the village in the highly likely chance that she died. How heroic. No matter how many political allies and wealthy clansmen she arms me with, nothing was going to hide the fact that I would be a vulnerable orphan and the last of my clan.

Senju Tsunade? I swallowed thickly, she abandoned everything and had forsaken the village. There was no way she'd foster me even if she knew of my existence. I would be a sitting duck for the next ambitious fool to take advantage of. Fate sealed, the only unknown that lay before me now, was the bastard that I'd be politically arranged with. I stood up, patting off the dirt before slinking into my sleeping bag and watching the sky bitterly.

I could feel the heavy gaze that weighed on my tiny form but refused to acknowledge it. I couldn't ask for mum to let the others do the fighting in our stead. It'd be the people she grew up with and formed bonds with that would fight this war. And there wasn't a chance that Senju Mitama wouldn't be there fighting alongside them. Not that she had a choice. The letter this morning had not been the most subtle of a withdrawal. I rolled to my side, back facing her. Clenching my eyes shut, I tried to ignore the soft flickers of chakra spotting off in the distance. The whistling leaves lulled me into fitful unrest.

My eyes snapped open as a chakra signature extinguished suddenly. I shot out of the sleeping bag, reaching out for mother's presence. I relaxed as she appeared beside me, dead fox in hand. Quietly, I began rolling up our bedding and waited by the fire as she cooked the meat. The swirling emotions from last night had finally calmed. I would adapt. I had to.

"We'll reach Konoha by midday if we keep at yesterday's pace."

I made a soft noise of compliance, chewing slowly on the fox meat. Kaa-chan, too accustomed to my morning antics hummed in understanding as she covered up the fire. I was handed a bottle of water which I took a swig of. I furrowed as the bottle emptied itself too fast. Shaking it upside down, I huffed as a few drops reluctantly spilled out. I concentrated the moisture in the air, drawing it into the palm of my hand. Chakra started fluctuating wildly, before flattening out into weak waves lapping at an unyielding rock. I started panting, bent over my knees as I stared at a single droplet of water that sat obnoxiously in the palm of my hand. From behind, I heard a muted snickering as mother performed the water drawing technique correctly and deposited the water into the bottle.

"You're barely 5 years old, what do you hope to achieve, stressing over a technique that many in their lifetime would never be able to execute." She rested a reassuring hand on shoulder giving me a closed eye smile.

I turned the slightest shade of red at her dismissal. "It's in my blood to be able to do at least this much." I said, shaking at the now full water bottle. "Great grandfather was revered for his water release mastery."

"As will you, one day."

"I'm going to be the laugh of the village when they realise the Nidaime's great granddaughter is a complete dud with water jutsus."

Mum let out a hearty laugh ruffling my hair. "I'm sure they wouldn't dare say a thing in fear of facing your wrath." I smiled, blushing under her praise. "With your attempts at fuinjutsu, they'd be running for the hills if they knew what was good for them." And… the heart-warming mother and daughter bonding evaporates.

"Kaa-chan! You just wait, I'm going to put the Uzumakis to shame with the kinds of seals that I'll bring to fruition. I've already started sketching out the basic formulae frame for the hiraishin's first tier. It's only a matter of time before I exceed even Tobirama's space time ninjutsu."

A fist came down on my head as I finished my exclamation. "It's great grandfather to you."

She had an amused smile on her face as I nursed my head with the pitifulness of a wilted flower. "Come on, time to head off, try to last more than two hours this time." She said, face completely straight, tone with a teasing lilt.

I huffed, "The hiraishin would definitely solve this issue." I mumbled, taking off into the trees and pushing a steady stream of chakra to the soles of my feet.

It was around midday when I finally dropped to the forest floor, whatever competitive streak that had motivated me before completely fizzing out. I drank the water offered to me greedily, eyeing kaa-chan's unruffled state with slight contempt. She fished out a piece of cloth to dab away the sweat clinging to my face. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she teased, "We've got to get you a shower before meeting the Hokage, huh?"

I narrowed my eyes, snorting with indignation, "I hardly think someone who's constantly surrounded by smelly shinobi would be averse to my sweatiness."

She laughed, "Too right you are." Sweeping my bangs away from my forehead she placed a small kiss there. "You did well keeping up, five hours is a new record."

I brushed the imaginary dust from my shoulders, "What can I say, my lineage is legendary." Turning my nose up I tittered, "Ever heard of my kaa-chan Senju Mitama, The Shinigami?"

She gave a theatrical gasp, mockingly pressing the back of her hand to her forehead, "You're the daughter of the great Mitama-sama? Forgive me for my insolence."

I give her acting an appreciative nod, sliding my hand into hers as we walked the rest of the way. I spotted the Konoha gates not soon afterwards. Great big looming doors swung wide open. I spotted the chakra signature before seeing his appearance, and from what I could tell, neither of them were particularly impressive. This severe lack of security was unsettling. Especially in a time of war- I closed my eyes, reaching out my senses, several faint signatures lurked not far off the road we had just come from. I bent on one knee, pressing an index finger to the ground. A team of five to the south east, another team of five to the west, despite the chakra being well suppressed, I could sense the refined edge to each individual signature.

Kaa-chan waited for me to finish my assessment with an indulgent smile. I returned her smile with an unabashed one and we continued our way. The guard straightened up as he saw us approaching. He immediately registered the person in front of him and bowed. "S-senju-sama, what can I help you with?"

Mother waved at him dismissively, "Maa, drop the formalities. And to answer, we're here to stay for good. First on the agenda would be paying Hiruzen-sama a visit." She mused, giving the chuunin a wink.

The man turned a distressing crimson and spluttered a bit before giving us a nod and a 'have a nice day'. Did I mention mum was an absolute bombshell of a Yamato Nadeshiko?

True to her words, I was dropped into a bath as soon as we enter our hotel room. I emerged from the little swim all prim and proper moments later. I donned a kimono that had koi fish adorned at the bottom and the Senju clan symbol stitched across the back. Gathering my pale hair into her hands, she twisted it into a braided bun that sat neatly atop my head, securing it with a butterfly kanzashi. Why I had to look this way, I had no idea. Wouldn't it be more respectful to present myself in ninja attire to the leader of a ninja village? I didn't voice these concerns after checking myself out in the mirror.

I looked every bit the Senju heiress that I was. It brought a smile to my lips as I stood sideways awkwardly, trying to catch a better look at the Senju symbol that mum had threaded through all my clothes.

The village was lively and warm, children pranced about chasing each other, and street vendors boisterously advertised their products. However the first tinges of a looming war had already taken place. There was an odd film of unsettledness that covered the villagers. Looking closer, the smiles were a little forced and the voices lacked colour. Unrest and fear weighed heavily on everyone. Here and there, hushed whispers would penetrate through the loudness of the bustling village. I felt the damp coldness leak back into my stomach. Tugging at mum's sleeve, I asked to see Uncle Sakuma after visiting the Hokage.

"I was thinking of going tomorrow and setting up the compound first, but that's actually a great idea. I'll ask him to babysit you for a bit and then I'll come pick you up after I've finished all the official business."

I pouted, "I don't need to be babysat."

"I won't be gone long, and think about it, you'll have your own proper bedroom in the Senju compound right afterwards."

I brightened up at the mention of the compound. That had been one of the few things I looked forward to during our move. I could already breathe in the legacy from here. The wooden panels that the Shodaime had no doubt produced himself, and walked upon and slept upon and eaten upon. I sighed in content.

There was no one who deserved as much respect as my great granduncle who had to put up with rude ass prats every day of his life. I shuddered, imagining the patience you'd have to channel hanging around Uchiha Madara and my stupid great grandfather. Not to mention his legendary mokuton and charisma that lead the world into the beginnings of a peaceful era. If mum had allowed this admiration to fester, it would no doubt evolve into a full blown obsession. I then wondered if Hashirama had legions of fan girls pinning after him back in the day. I shook away an image of Senju girls dog piling great granduncle.

Passing into the more ninja populated section of the village, more people started recognising kaa-chan. Or so I gathered from the excessive bowing and gushing. Kaa-chan just returned the warm attention with smiles and nods. We entered the Hokage tower with few hiccups. Mum's amiable expression soon turned sour as we neared the Hokage's office. A man exited with barely concealed fury and I could immediately tell that this was the source of kaa-chan's soiled mood. "Shimura-san." She clipped, laconic.

If he was shocked he covered it well, "Mitama-san. It's been too long." He stressed the 'too' enough warning me that this was nothing as simple as just a cordial exchange. His eyes flickered to me in interest, "And your daughter I presume. She's grown up well."

I bowed my head slightly, "It's nice to meet you, my name's Kareha."

"So polite. How wonderful." His airy tone contrasted with his tender choice of words. I schooled my expression as to not betray my annoyance. Was he mocking me?

He addressed kaa-chan. "Well I have business to attend to. My apologies for this inadequate welcoming." Then to me he gave an ominous. "I hope to see you soon, Kareha."

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I felt his gaze still lingering on me. I couldn't bring myself to answer him and it didn't seem like he expected one as he swept away as quickly as he had arrived.

Mum's voice pierced through the thick air. "Beware of that man Kareha. He has a lot of political sway and enough underhanded machinations to not have to rely on it."

There was something unnerving about the man. His chakra resembled parasite squirming beneath his skin. I detected something else in his signature, something foreign but oddly familiar, that seemed agitated as it clashed against his own chakra reserves.

I nodded at kaa-chan who seemed appeased for now. She suddenly had an excited look to her as she knocked on the office door. She gave me a cheeky smile, pressing a finger to her lips and winking. Curiosity rose up. "Come in."

She pushed open the door and I was met with one Sarutobi Hiruzen drowning in paperwork and exhaustion. I bowed, "Hokage-sama." His eyes met mine and the cigar promptly dropped from his mouth as he gaped at me. "Sensei…"

Bewildered I looked to my mother for help. She laughed at the two of us, pressing me into her side affectionately. "She really does look like him doesn't she? I keep telling her she's practically her great grandfather's mini-me but she just insists that she's more like Hashirama-sama. The way she idolises that man…" she shook her head amusedly.

"I- never in a million years… So this is little Kareha-chan. The likeliness is truly uncanny." He rubbed at his face tiredly. "I actually thought sensei's ghost had come to reprimand me for a good moment." At that time, he seemed decades older and adopted an abstracted look in his eyes. He quickly broke out of it, standing up and bringing kaa-chan into a hug. "Senju Mitama is back, everything is in order once more." He looked over at me with a grandfatherly gaze, "And she's even brought back a precious little Senju with her."

I blushed under the praise. "It's an honour to meet the God of Shinobi, Hokage-sama."

He had a sheepish smile as he rested a hand on my head. "It really is a sight, seeing my sensei's lookalike speaking to me." He shook out of his reverie, "It's a great pleasure to finally meet you Kareha-chan. I wish I could say I had heard a lot about you," he shoots a teasing jab at kaa-chan, "You really should've sent me at least a letter or two."

Kaa-chan gave him an apologetic smile. He claps his hands together, "Well what brings you two here, I doubt it was limited to paying this old man a visit."

"Hiruzen-sama!" a scandalised kaa-chan exclaimed.

He let out a gruff chuckle, "Only joking. Although I would assume you'd like me to return the Senju compound?"

Kaa-chan blushed a delicate pink, coughing slightly she continued, "Yes, Kareha and I were planning to settle back into the compound."

Hokage-sama gave an understanding nod, "All's set and ready. The blood seals are all intact from when you left."

My eyes widened at the mention of blood seals that had most likely been created by Mito-sama herself. Hokage-sama seemed to sense my interest on the subject and asked, "Are you interested in sealing, Kareha-chan?"

I nodded my head. "I'm on my way to becoming a seal master."

He adorned a fond look, "Oh? And why is that? I would've thought kids these days would be more interested in the flashy ninjutsu."

"Fuinjutsu is flashy!" I said defensively before realising how childish that sounded. The two adults burst into laughter. Wait, that hadn't even been the point I was trying to make.

"Well you're not wrong there Kareha-chan. I'm looking forward to seeing you doing great flashy things in the future."

I blushed again. "Good." I muttered.

He smiled good naturedly, "You remind me of one of my students a lot."

I creased my brows. He couldn't be insinuating Tsunade and I were similar, could he? "I'm sorry but in what way?" I blurted out in unison with mum. We both looked at Hokage-sama and then to each other.

He burst into laughter. "Like mother, like daughter, huh?" his chuckled died down as he gave a quiet sigh. "I guess it isn't exactly a good thing to be compared to my wayward students. Jiraiya might be a bit socially unacceptable with his associations with women but he's a good kid. Really passionate about the things that matter to him." He shot me a wink. "And he has a real knack with fuinjutsu. If he drops by the village, I'll send him straight to you for a little introductory."

"Definitely not Hiruzen-sama, that lecherous geezer's going nowhere near my precious dumpling. If he can recall all the previous experiences he's had with the beat down Tsunade and I have given to him, he'll act accordingly."

"Is he really that bad?" I prompted. And as expected the flame in her eyes reached a molten burn.

"That old man takes advantage of every female, although I guess in a twisted way the fact that he's not discriminatory is somewhat redeeming. I saw him going after a grandmother and her poor granddaughter once. I can just guess what he was thinking, two birds one stone. That little leech, just thinking about it puts an itch to my fist."

Hokage-sama winces and inches backwards. "Haha, the topic of Jiraiya always gets the female population sparked up,"

"Hm, and not in a good way. Well, we're off now, got things to do and places to be. Make sure to join us for dinner some time Hiruzen-sama, we have a lot to catch up on!" Kaa-chan scooted us out of the room. Before we left, I heard a quiet "Sorry and thank you for coming back." and one look to kaa-chan told me that she had heard it also.

As we walked to Uncle Sakumo's, kaa-chan asked how I felt about the hokage. I replied that he was too old for his job and received a smack on the head. "Hiruzen-sama is still young, little kids will never understand." She stopped before glancing down at me mischievously, "Speaking of little kids, Hiruzen-sama has a son around your age called Asuma." She wiggled her eyebrows at me and I scoffed. "Actually never mind, last I remembered, the boy's a decade older than you. I won't accept it!"

She rang the doorbell of a decently sized complex. "Stop having a one sided conversation with yourself. I never said I would be marrying him."

"You never know Kareha, fate has weird ways of messing with people. But just in case-"

"-Mitama?" A dishevelled man opened the door, revealing his messy silver hair and a chin of light stubble. He had a weary look in his eyes and fatigue of a man on his death bed. He was in standard konoha ninja attire, sans the flak jacket and forehead protector.

I drank in his appearance with cold trepidation and worry. This shell of a man wasn't my- "Uncle Sakumo?"

He looked down at me and a brief smile broke onto his face. "What is my little Kareha-hime doing here?"

I relaxed, gifting him a delighted beam. "We're here to visit you! And we're staying for good." Parroting mum.

Kaa-chan leaned on the door frame coolly, "So are you going to force us to stand outside for the whole day, Sakumo?"

He blinked, "Oh, my bad, come in, come in."

He served us some tea, "So what have you two been up to, it's been a good half year since I've seen you guys huh?"

"I've spent every day missing you, Uncle Sakumo." I replied with a sly grin.

He dissolved into sheepish laughter, rubbing the back of his head shyly. "As have I for you, Kareha-hime."

I grinned. "I've started on unravelling the hiraishin. I think I'm slowly getting there. I've done a bit more research on space time fuinjutsu and there seems to be quite some correlation between each design I've seen and I doubt the hiraishin would be any different. I've got the outline done and filled in bits and pieces of the formulae. The intersection of the first and second set in the first tier is quite a pain though. I - " I looked up at the two adults who had taken to watching me with matching indulgence. I stared down at my lap, "I'm rambling aren't I?"

He ruffled my hair, "You'll get there. I believe in you."

"Well looks like I'm not needed here. You two have your quality sappy bonding time, and I'll be off." Kaa-chan stood up, "I've got a couple of things to take care of, Sakumo, would you care to babysit Kareha for a little bit? I'll bring around dinner in few."

"It'd be my pleasure spend time with the pretty young lady."

"Yup, and that's my cue to leave. Have a good time children. Thanks again, Senpai." Kaa-chan left the room before shunshinning. "Don't call me that!" Uncle Sakumo called after her.

A peaceful quiet settled between us as I sighed contently into the tea. Uncle Sakumo was oddly reserved, it was a little disconcerting. "Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

He shrugged out of his stupor and glanced at me warily. A shaky smile plastered itself unwilling, "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" his voice cracked slightly at the end and I felt my heart drop to my stomach.

"Uncle…" I crawled in his lap and hugged him around the middle. Kaa-chan's words echoed in my mind. "Are they going to execute Uncle Sakumo?" "I suppose the guilt would end up doing the job."

I clenched tightly onto his shirt. "You're my hero you know that? If I ever have the honour of going into battle with you, I'd trust you with my life. If I had to handpick members on a mission, I'd choose you to have my back over anyone else." I nodded righteously, before adding as an afterthought. "Not even Hashirama-sama," for good measure.

He gave a broken laugh, "Thank you, hime." He wrapped his arms around me, shuddering into my small form. I held my breath for a long while, not daring to break the fragile silence between us. I waited patiently for his façade to unravel and for everything to come crumbling down. His weakness was safe with me, I'd be patient.

He tried to steady himself with stilted intakes, each breath trembled worse than the last before he let go, body wracking with convulsions of deep sorrow. He pressed his face into my hair, groaning in agony, trying to release all the pain and emotions. My chest prickled and throbbed as I listened to his torment. The last fragments of his pride remained as he attempted to muffle his cries, coughing out strangled nonsensical words. I could feel the wetness touching the crown of my head and couldn't help but start crying also. And as god would have it, I was not a pretty or quiet crier. I wailed into his shirt, using it as a wiping cloth for my tears, snot and all. Embarrassingly enough, he had recovered before me and was fixed with the responsibility of comforting me instead. After a while, I had calmed down enough to mumble a quiet, "I love you."

He released a coarse laugh, "I love you too."

I retired into a comfortable sitting position in his lap, cup of tea relieving me from my hiccups which were a constant consequence of crying.

"So, Mitama told you about the mission huh?" he didn't sound impressed with kaa-chan revealing such sensitive information to a kid. I hummed in assent.

"Kaa-chan likes to tell me everything, she says she doesn't want me to grow up clueless and ignorant. I have a responsibility to uphold as the Senju heiress. Plus when it comes to family, there's nothing that should be hidden."

I don't think he trusted himself to speak because he just nodded and pat my head. I felt warm and secure in his lap. I didn't want to lose anyone to this war, I couldn't. But there were many things I was capable of doing but unfortunately wishful thinking was not one of them.

"Hey Uncle, if kaa-chan dies, will you take care of me?" I turn my head to see him staring at me, clearly upset.

"Hime, why would you ask that?"

I took a deep breath, avoiding his searching eyes. "Senju Mitama is a powerful shinobi, I know that… but when she's in battle, she'll be nothing but a major target. To put it crudely, I'm not confident that she'll be able to defend against those who want to exterminate the Senju clan." "She's is a glass canon, able to dish out devastating jutsus, but is also very susceptible to enemy attacks. And knowing her, she'd place herself smack bang in the middle of the frontlines." My voice faltered. I was trying to be rational and objective but the truth was painful. I clammed my mouth shut, pressing my lips tightly together. If I continued to speak, I was afraid I would dissolve into more crying.

Uncle pressed my face into his chest and sighed. "I'm sorry that I failed that mission, hime, but I promise that if your kaa-chan is at the frontlines, that I'll be right beside her, fighting and protecting her."

"Stupid." I hit him lightly on the shoulder. "The war would've come regardless of whether you failed that mission or not. And have you been listening? I don't want any of you on the frontlines." I knew I sounded like a petulant child but I hoped that they would understand it as desperation, so that they would try that extra bit harder to return to me in one piece.

Dinner was a warm affair. Kaa-chan had returned with ramen and a few sticks of dango for the sweet tooth in Uncle. I wrinkled my nose at him digging into the balls of sugar heartily. Mum began animatedly regaling tales of 'Captain Hatake' who she had had a crush on as a young kunoichi. Her theatrical exaggeration of her younger fan girl-self and her spot on high pitched squeals made me almost believe her. She took a lot of joy in shamelessly teasing Uncle who wouldn't stop blushing throughout the whole conversation. Halfway through dinner the door opened and closed quietly. I sensed a familiar chakra signature. Must be Kakashi. I glanced at Uncle's grim face and gathered this to be true.

I had never met Kakashi in real life. But on Uncle's occasional visits to our old house, he would talk about his prodigy of a son ceaselessly. It was endearing, really, but when you've heard the same story of Kakashi single-handedly wiping out a group of bandits at 5 and a half, it gets quite old. I swear I knew more about Kakashi than he knew about himself. I sighed. And I happened to also glean that Kakashi was a major stickler for rules and a bit of a Nidaime in the making. The father and son duo must not be on great terms as of now then. Judging by the slight fluctuations, Kakashi's chakra full heartedly agreed.

He stared at our little mismatched group eating dinner, before pretending we weren't there and moving past us.

"Kakashi." He paused in his step. "Have you eaten?" He didn't reply and continued to walk, presumably into his bedroom. Uncle Sakumo placed down his chopsticks and sighed. Kaa-chan shot him a pitying look.

"The boy will grow out of it. I'm sure Kakashi-kun is just trying to adjust, he'll come around. All teenagers go through this stage. I'm really dreading the day Kareha hits puberty."

I copied uncle and also placed down my chopsticks. "I don't need the hormones to start acting out. If you'd like, I could give a demonstration now. A free trial of a month of pubescent Kareha if you will." I receive a light smack on the arm for being snarky.

Finishing off the last of my ramen with a loud slurp, I shot Uncle Sakumo a meaningful look and excused myself. "You guys need some adult catch up time right?"

Kaa-chan looked at me curiously and decided to entertain me. "That's very thoughtful of you Kareha, but where will you go?"

I faltered. That was true. "I- I'll go hang out with Kakashi-kun!"

The two adults simultaneously shot me incredulous looks. Uncle stuttered slightly, "Uh, hime I don't think that's a good idea."

"Too late." I said, rushing in the direction of Kakashi's bedroom.

You'd think that with all my confidence I'd just burst into Kakashi's bedroom and we'd hit it off. Well, that was not exactly the situation I found myself in. I sat outside his bedroom in a strange predicament where we both knew that I was sitting outside and nobody was going to do anything about it. It was ok, I just had to wait it out. Convincing kaa-chan to join the support barracks wasn't going to take that long, was it?

Oh, who was I kidding? It'd be a miracle if this conversation would last less than two hours and even more of a miracle if kaa-chan agreed. I braced myself for the long wait.

Boredom. It was pure torture. The under stimulation of the mind if not for its time consumption would be a formidable T&I technique. I sighed, gathering water natured chakra to my palm, I tried to draw moisture from the air. After holding my breath for a few moments, one droplet of water deposited itself meekly upon my palm. Oh for gods sak-

Kakashi opened his door and scanned me with an unimpressed stare and then moved his focus to the little droplet of water in my palm. His unimpressed stare grew even more so. I deflated. At least the droplet had been slightly larger than the one I managed to produce this morning.

He moved to close the door, when I stuck my foot in the way. "I challenge you, your best jutsu against mine."

A strange indiscernible emotion passed his face as he scoffed before going back into his bedroom. I felt disheartened until he returned shortly with all his ninja gear. My eyes widened in disbelief, how seriously was he taking this? I was less than half his age! He then shot me a cruel smirk and gestured for me to follow him. I was not looking forward to this beat down of the century.

As we passed by kaa-chan and uncle, they both quietened, disbelief blatantly showing. I gave them a small two fingered salute and a cheeky grin (false bravado) as I followed Kakashi out.

We stood in a small clearing behind the house. He crossed his arms tapping his feet impatiently on the ground. "Name your price. What are we betting on?" I developed a shrewd twitch in my finger as I said this.

He looked at me warily before smirking again, "When I win, you can't speak for a whole month."

I gasped. "That's low, Kakashi-san. It'll be like foregoing your mask for a month. It's not possible."

"Oh? If you're that worried you can pull out now." he turned to leave.

"Wait! I'll do it. My condition for winning is, I get to call you whatever I want for the rest of our lifetimes." If there was the slightest chance I won, I might as well milk it for what it was worth. I stuck out my hand which he took gingerly and we shook on it.

"My jutsu takes a while to create so you'll just have to watch for a while to make sure I'm not cheating." He raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. I unsealed my sealing material and started drawing out the most dangerous seal I knew and had just completed learning. "After I've finished drawing the seal, I'll be using it on one of the trees over there," I pointed at the light beginnings of a forest a few metres away.

He hovered behind me curiously as I started drawing. Twenty minutes later I stood up proudly, wiping off my hands and rolling my shoulders. I took a step back. "All done. Ladies first." I gestured at one of the trees that he was about to victimise.

He sighed, motioning me to step backwards. He went through the hand signs slightly unfamiliarly, calling upon condensed lightning chakra to his hand, immediately the sound of chirping birds lit up the air. He started running towards the trees, shooting through three in a row before the chakra fizzled out unsteadily. I gaped unabashedly, what the hell? It was some sort of nature transformation, a highly concentrated ball of sparking lightning chakra. I couldn't discern much else, it happened way too fast and I hadn't had the preparation to analyse it properly in those short moments.

"Tch." The electricity had licked at his clothes, singing the ends of his sleeve. He shook out his hand and sighed before turning to me with expectantly.

I wiped the palms of my hand on my kimono and strode towards a tree, transferring the seal so that the formulae slithered onto the grooves of the tree. I gulped, waving at Kakashi to clear off. I bound back myself, holding a hand seal, before releasing it along with a large amount of chakra, "Kai!"

I fell to one knee as the seal flashed red and disappeared. A high pitched whining sound echoed across the clearing. A growing white sphere encompassed the tree, circling it and pulsing for a moment before folding in on itself and disappearing along with a major chunk of the tree. The remains of the tree collapsed to the forest floor with a loud crash. I panted, pushing myself unsteadily to my feet.

"W-What was that?" As emotionally stunted as he was, Kakashi was indeed able to sound distressed, I mused as my vision started swimming in front of me.

I gave up trying to stand up and plopped unceremoniously to my butt. Staring at the remains of the tree I let out a small huff of disappointment. "It's a fuinjutsu assisted version of a nature transformation kekkei tota. I've been researching a way to combine all nature releases just to see where it takes me. From my understanding, combining all five nature releases has the potential to breathe life into inanimate objects, or even the dead." I heard Kakashi suck in air through his teeth. That was right, his mother had passed away hadn't she. I shook my head sadly. The future of this seal was grim. "This seal took half of Uzumaki Mito-sama's lifetime to finish and it isn't even the completed product."

"Which elements have you managed to incorporate?"

I stared up at his thoughtful look. "This was dust release, a mix of techniques that are fire, earth and wind-based chakra. The tsuchikage is well known for this jutsu. It's not a bloodline release so I can copy it with the assistance of seals. As you can tell, I'm not very proficient at it, I had to change the seal from Mito-sama's to complement my own chakra pathways and as a result, it takes ages to ready and I can only manage to implode a small amount of area." I looked back down at the forest floor, yanking a few blades of grass out. "I guess you win then, Kakashi-san, you managed to mow down three trees after all."

He scoffed. "You're such a child, just call me Kakashi."

I paused. I stared. I blinked. "What?" I asked dumbly.

He dragged a hand through his hair. "Kakashi-san makes me sound like an old man. Just call me Kakashi."

He… he was going to let me win. He winced away from my blinding smile. "Oh, but I…" he looked down at me. I blushed slightly, "I've depleted my chakra reserves. Can you get my kaa-chan?"

He rolled his eyes before crouching in front of me. My eyes widened. Was I worming my way into the ice cube's heart? I wrapped my arms around his neck as he lifted me up. "Thank you Kakashi-nii." He paused in his step minutely before going ahead. I smiled brightly, chin resting on his shoulder. That was right, I could call him whatever and he had no say about it. If he thought he was wriggling his way out of this one with just 'Kakashi' then he was dead wrong. This was the best day ever.

The look on the two adults' faces as we came back in was spectacular. Kaa-chan had a stupefied expression paired with Uncle Sakumo who gaped like a drowning goldfish. Kakashi-nii shrugged me into kaa-chan's hold and left. I waved at his back, "See you, Kakashi-nii!" he made no notice of it and disappeared into the dark hallway.

Uncle Sakumo stared at me like I was Amaterasu herself gazing down on a faithful servant. I felt extremely awkward at the way his eyes sparkled at me. "Uh, uncle?"

He grasped my hand in his and gave me a purposeful nod. One that said 'I leave my son in your capable hands'. I just froze, stunned.

That night being piggybacked home by kaa-chan, it almost felt like nothing had changed. In fact, things were becoming more exciting. The evening lights dance across the streets and there was a soft muted chatter of nightlife that made me feel oddly at home. "Why did you do something so thoughtless? You can die from chakra exhaustion you know."

I nodded into her shoulder then proceeded to explain my actions self-consciously. "I made a bet that whoever had the better jutsu got a wish granted to them by the other."

Mum cracked up laughing. "Gambling? You've got too much Senju blood running through those veins, Kareha." I was too tired to question her and left it at that. It probably just another comparison to Tobirama.

Kaa-chan deposited me into my bed and I fell asleep before I could insist on exploring the compound. The last words that escaped from my lips brought a smile to her face. "Let's go see the Hatake's tomorrow."