The night of the raid, Mist Shinobi brought kids from far and wide. Some dressed in garments I had never seen, others with accents I had never heard. We were all different in age, with me and Rin being some of the youngest. It didn't matter if you could barely speak, if your body was still developing, if the psychological ramifications of this event would scar you for the rest of your days. If you could walk, you could fight.

And they would make sure you fought.

The first few days in the warehouse…. were hell.

We started by being awoken with water. A mist shinobi dangled from above the hanging pipes on the ceiling, and spit a wave of ice cold water that swept the entirety of the room to the left. I held on to Rin as other kids crashed into us, delirious from the sudden jolt of adrenaline, and we coughed as the current slammed us into the wall.

"Get up, and get in line."

I looked at Rin, her eyes wide, her grip on my shivering hand tight enough to turn my fingers purple. She swallowed hard as she got up, wiping the droplets from her face with a useless sleeve and wringing out the water from her yukata as best she could. I followed, lips trembling against the cold, as we all silently filed into a single line.

Maybe, in another land, I would've been mystified by the "magic" this man just performed. Maybe, in another land, my eyes would've popped out of my head and my jaw would have dropped in awe.

But I wasn't in another land.

I was in THIS land.

I didn't have the luxury of being impressed. I didn't have the luxury to stare in awe.

"Names and ages." The man commanded.

This was the reality I lived in. And I learned, very quickly, that dwelling on "could haves" never did anybody good.

We all moved forward, one by one, all cold, all shivering, as the man wrote down the "roster" on a clipboard.

"Name."

"Yuki, Hanami."

"Age."

"Seven."

"To the left. Next."

"Name."

"Tamika."

"Full name."

"….I don't have one."

"Age."

"Five."

"Center line."

I watched the line move up, as I tried to figure out a pattern, something, anything that would help us get through this. The lines were evenly spaced out in the warehouse, all of them leading to a different door. But there was nothing. The groups that were selected were scrambled, and there was no pattern in height, gender, age, or even body type. If they were recruiting soldiers, it would've made sense to sort them by some sort of factor. The ones with able bodies go one way, while those with above average chakra control, go another.

But there was no such pattern. It was like throwing marbles into a bag. Whatever you pulled out, you got, and you played with.

"Name."

"Nohara, Rin."

"Age."

"…I don't know."

"To the right."

I felt my stomach churn. Panic rose in me and I had to stifle it in order to move forward. There wasn't any help from memory at a time like this; the manga never explained the inner workings or the ugly underground to Kirigakure. It was just an island. And island of horror that eventually turned peaceful.

But peace was a long, long way from here. And I didn't have the time, nor the patience, to wait for it.

"Name."

"Nohara, Rei."

"Age."

I stared at him, my eyes narrowing as he glanced up from his clipboard.

"Age." He repeated.

"I don't know." I said.

"Center."

I stared at the man, trying to memorize his face as I moved forward. Brown hair, brown eyes, unimpressive features. The only thing noticeable about him at all was one ring on his finger.

I buried the image into my head.

They continued sorting the kids into files. I stayed within my group, the terror in the air palpable. We didn't move.

We barely breathed.

The sorting finished, and 3 different shinobi split off from the main group to guide us through the doors. I glanced over to the group Rin was in, catching her eye for just a second.

Her hair was still damp, the cut on her cheek still swollen and red, and her eyes….

God, her eyes…

Fear.

A fear I couldn't do anything about. I couldn't help her. I couldn't take her away.

I couldn't even mouth "It'll be okay."

Because I knew…I knew my eyes looked the exact same.

The doors opened, and shinobi rounded everyone into their respective rooms. Rin followed hers, and I didn't turn my head away from her until I saw her cross through the doors.

"Come on." Another shinobi said, annoyed, as he ushered my group in. Light streamed in and we blinked back against the brightness, our eyes unaccustomed to such a luxury. Lights dangled from above, clanking in the mild breeze coming in from the windows. Water dripped from the overhead pipes, the laminated tile green and rotting in some areas from years of neglect.

"Welcome to the 4th brigade of the first division. This is your training ground now."

….First division?

"You will all be trained in aggressive combat. You have no choice, and fairly soon, you will have no name. File in to the left. We'll check your potential, and assign you a seal."

….what?

We moved to the left, all of us still wet, and shivering, as we began to move forward.

"Hold this piece of paper." I heard him say. The first girl in the room shook her head, her eyes watering.

"Hold the paper." The shinobi said, anger rising.

There were too many people ahead of me in line. I couldn't see what happened exactly, but I know I heard a cry.

"Next."

"What do you think they'll do…" A girl in front of me asked, her voice trembling. "I don't wanna be a shinobi…" She whispered. "I…"

"Next."

"They're going to kill all of us." The whisper from the boy behind me drifted to my ears and I felt the back of my neck prickle as we moved forward once more.

"Next."

As I approached the front, I began to see the tile stained red.

"Next."

I closed my eyes as I heart the silent rips of sword through flesh, my shoes slowly slurping against the floor as the bright red liquid stained them.

Slurp. Slurp. Slurp.

"Next."

"I'm scared." The girl in front of me whimpered, and I opened my eyes, if only to see what lied ahead.

Blood. Blood everywhere.

Kids were carted off to the sides, bodies held with no regard and dumped on top of each other.

I resisted the urge to scream and run.

Running got you killed. No questions asked.

"Next."

A group of "survivors" I guess you could say, huddled away from the shinobi. Kids who had passed the paper test, whatever that was. Eyes wide with fear, tembling hands clutching at each other, as they stared. I looked away.

"You'll be okay.." I shakily whispered at the girl in front of me. She was older, and taller than me, but still easily under 10. Her black hair hung to the middle of her waist and her clothes were torn and worn. She gave me a wary look over her shoulder as we approached the front of the line.

"How do you know?" She asked, her voice weak. Devoid of joy. Devoid of hope. Devoid of any possibility for survival.

"Just close your eyes." I suggested, my eyes still downcast. I didn't know if it would help. But I knew that..if I didn't pass the test…I didn't want to see the sword come.

"….What's your name?"

"Does it matter?" I scoffed, quietly.

"Next."

"If we die, I'd at least…like to know." She said, her voice quiet as she glanced over her shoulder.

"…Rei." I whispered.

"….Kina."

"Next."

She trembled, her shoulders shaking as we moved forward. She was up soon.

I wanted to tell her it would be okay. But how could I? How could I when we were standing on the blood of people who had once slept next to us, how could I when I wasn't even sure that I would be surviving?

I knew Rin, somehow, was supposed to make it to Konoha. The thought of her escaping this hell was enough for me to take another step forward. But the anime never said anything about Kiri before the war.

What if…What if Rin had a twin all along, and this is how she died?

What if this was how I was meant to die?

What good does knowing the future do if you can't do anything about it?

Suddenly, Konoha seemed like a far off dream. Unnatainable, unreachable.

I felt empty.

And this girl in front of me…Kina…she felt that too.

So I did what I could. I reached out, my cold, tiny hand, wrapping around Kinas' as we took a step forward, a reassuring hold of comradery. Because regardless of everything…I was still a human being.

And in my past life…when someone is suffering, you comforted them.

No matter how useless it may be.

"You'll be okay." I whispered.

I saw her take a deep breath, as she closed her eyes, extending her free hand to grasp the white sheet of paper the shinobi handed her.

"Feed chakra into it."

….chakra paper…

I scanned my memory for any reason as to why they would be checking our chakra natures as she took hold of the thin sheet.

Chakra paper…used to check chakra natures. Wind, fire, earth, lightning, water.

Sometimes you only had one. Trained shinobi could have more.

But some…some had naturally combined releases.

Kekkei Genkais.

I felt my eyes widen as I felt her hand tingle, a sign that she was feeding chakra into it. A sign that I was already too late.

Kiri was hunting Kekkei Genkais.

How could I have forgotten?

How could I have forgotten the cause for the civil war?

The poor had gotten powerful. The government wanted to stop them. And they did so by cutting out the shinobi with kekkei genkais first.

A razor sharp feeling of despair cut into my spine as I told my muscles to move. But the "no" that rose in my throat never left my lips. The neurons in my brain never got the chance to deliver the message to my muscles. And I was just a second…just a second too late.

"Well, well." The shinobi chuckled.

The paper crinkled, as it dampened.

Lightning.

Water.

"Another Kekkei Genkai." The man said, raising his sword.

She still had her eyes closed. And for that, I was thankful.

The sword came down quickly, and I, at least, took comfort in the fact that she felt minimal pain.

Red liquid slashed across my face as I took a sharp inhale, droplets of blood entering my mouth and I could taste nothing but copper and iron and blood.

Her hand went limp around mine, as she fell to the floor. I stumbled away, letting go of her hand like it was made of razors, and I took another step back as the ever increasing puddle at our feet grew.

"Shame." Another shinobi muttered. "Storm Release is useful here."

I stared at her body as a shinobi came and dragged her away by her hair, my stomach heaving, my lungs, frozen.

I had told you once, I was still human.

This event was what made me question whether or not I still had humanity in me.

Because as soon as she hit the floor, the surprise, the shock, the pain I felt…melted. And I was overwhelmed…by how stupid I had almost been.

I remember thinking how I had almost destroyed everything. How I had been ready to take a step forward, as if I could've done something. As if I could've helped. As if anything I would've done would've landed me anywhere, except the same cold floor Kina laid on.

Her face was turned towards me as they laid her on top of the rest of the bodies, and I remember feeling a sense of regret. I felt an overwhelming need to say something, to apologize.

I could've warned her. I could've pulled her back.

But where would that have gotten us?

It would just be one more body added to the pile. My body.

And I had to survive.

I realized very quickly that playing the hero only got you killed. Looking out for others was a trait that wasn't abundant in this world, for good reason.

Safety isn't guaranteed.

You can't be soft here.

Not in Kiri.

What had that old lady said? Forgiveness isn't important as long as you both just live.

I stared at her empty gaze for a minute, her blood still dripping down her throat, before I looked away.

I like to think it was this moment that marked my path on to being a shinobi.

Civilians are warm. They're kind and honest and good. They have hope, and love, and live a life with purpose.

Shinobi are cold. They get the job done, no matter the cost. They grow hard, their hearts become stone, their bodies become weapons, and they stop caring about dead people.

Dead girls. Dead boys. Dead kids.

They don't bat an eye.

I realize then, I'm not supposed to, either.

"Next."

I took a step forward.

Water.

My chakra nature was water.

"File up." A shinobi barked, and the survivors…me included….walked to the other side of the wall, away from the blood, the bodies, the empty gazes of eyes with no life behind them.

"As a member of the first division, you are expected to fight. You will be the manpower Kiri needs to defeat the rebellion, and you will learn quickly. You will be trained to resist the worst of the worst. Torture, mental or physical, needs to be nothing to you." The shinobi said, staring us down. "So, let's begin."

"Lights!" He said, as the dim lights above us flickered out. I stayed still as the kids around me shifted slightly, uneasy. Some began to whimper, others began to cry softly.

Darkness takes away visibility. And visibility is the key to reassurance. "You believe it if you see it" remember?

In the past 24 hours, we had been taken from our homes, dragged into a warehouse, witnessed murder, beatings, death…

And this..this was the last straw for a lot of the kids.

Psychological torture. The cherry on top of the sundae that was this militia.

Shinobi flitted around us, and the ever-rising sound of whispers began to flood the room.

It started with a small sound, a little whisper in one person's ear. Then two. Then three. Then four.

It got louder, and louder, and louder. Tiny voices, once irrelevant, grew and grew and grew, until all you could hear was the violent, rabid whispering of what seemed to be a hundred people, speaking quickly, speaking as if they were directly in your ear.

"I'll rip you apart limb from limb, you won't even get to see it coming, you'll die, you'll die, you'll die"

I gagged as I heard the whisper in my ear, and I kept my eyes shut.

"I will rip your throat out in your sleep and make your family watch, just wait, you'll die"

The whispers got louder, louder, louder. People began to scream, and they progressively got heavier, more desperate. I realized my breathing was rapid, and I shut my eyes as the screams got louder and louder.

I clamped my jaw shut. I knew if I started, I wouldn't stop. I felt a scream rise in my throat as I suppressed it, covering my mouth with my hands as I closed my eyes.

"You'll die, you'll die, you'll die."

The whispers elevated into shouts, into screams, into wails.

Some kids began to vomit, the stench floating in my nostrils as kept my eyes closed. I could still feel Kinas blood on my face, and I clenched my eyes shut harder, as if I could make it all go away. I wanted to make it go away. I wanted it to end.

Screams, so many screams, echoed in the room loud enough to make me sob.

"You'll die! You'll die! You'll Die!"

….I don't know how long it went on for. I don't know how long people suffered.

But I stayed still. Tears on my cheeks. Hand on my face, blood on my fingers, eyes closed.

And by the time the lights flickered on, and I could open my eyes, I was surrounded two different types of death.

There is a death, where the body dies. The brain is an incredible thing, and panic, fear, and danger can literally send your body into shock. The whole "dying of fear" thing, is very, very much real.

And then, there's a death, when your spirit dies.

When you see no point to anything anymore. When you see no purpose, no light at the end of the tunnel, no potential for things to get better. It's a death of spirit, when you stop trying for anything, and accept the circumstances that life has dealt you, and you just don't care, you just don't try anymore.

Those still standing, died this death.

That's what made it easy to mold children into shinobi.

Break their spirit. Break their minds. Break their bodies. And they'll do anything you want.

If they don't care, then they're easy to manipulate.

Right?

"Congratulations." A shinobi quipped from above, dangling on the pipes. "Those still standing, move forward."

They moved like the walking dead. I walked after them, slowly, feeling like my mind and my body were on two different planes of existence. My body was sore, and cold, and shivering. My mind…was blank.

It was an empty slate.

I was an empty slate.

I kept my head down as I leaned against the wall, looking glowering at the kids around me as my chest heaved.

Walking bodies with no shine in them ambled forward, doing as they were told. No fights, no sounds, no will. No life in their step. No light in their eyes.

…Did I have light in mine?

"Line up."

Once again, we formed a line. The numbers of kids had dwindled from a good group of 50, to maybe 15. Bodies still remained on the floor. Nobody paid attention to them.

I considered this our first training session in "emotional suppression."

Nobody cried. Nobody spoke.

We just..stared. And that's exactly what they wanted.

A shinobi walked around us, staring at us faces. I remember, so vividly, what I wanted to do. I wanted to glare at him, to fight, to spit in his face and force him to look at the faces of the kids he had killed.

But instead, I just stared. I looked at him in the eye, my face blank. I memorized his face. Black hair, mole on his nose, yellow teeth.

He circled us like a vulture, assessing our "emotional standing" and when nobody did anything, when he was satisfied that we were broken, that we wouldn't fight, or argue…he walked to the front of the line, an evil smirk across his face as he stared us all down once more.

"Welcome to the First Division."

...And I remembered, so vividly, thinking that when the time came, he was going to be the first to go.

After that "initiation" we were officially part of the militia, and as such, we needed to receive our seals.

The seals they gave were some I'd never seen before. Each of us got it on our faces. Two light blue lines, going horizontally, one on top of the other on our right cheeks.

"For precautions." They had said.

Bullshit.

The seals were used for tracking. The person who did them, a shinobi of higher rank, the one who spoke to us the first night here, infused them with his chakra. If we ran, we were found. If we fought, we were disposed of. A flick of the finger, and the seal could be activated. The two lines on my cheek were two lines of basic explosiveness. One wrong move was all it took, and boom.

Why the face, you ask?

Tell me, if the only thing stopping you from freedom was a seal on your arm, or leg…wouldn't you sacrifice that limb to escape this hell?

"Food is lined up outside. Go. Come back once finished, and we'll begin training."

Silently, the bodies around me slowly began to file out. Faces downcast, hearts empty, spirits broken.

I stayed towards the back, looking back at the shinobi in the room as I tried to take in their appearances. Every last one.

"What do you want." The shinobi with the mole on his nose asked.

I turned away, moving forward as I exited the room.

These are the things I knew:

We lived in Kiri. Kiri, assuming, at its lowest point of stability. The third ninja war was looming, the second had just ended, and civil war was erupting. Manpower was needed. By any means necessary.

The warehouse was owned by the "National" side of Kiri. Meaning it was owned by the actual government OF kiri, not the rebels. The Mizukage knew this existed.

The Mizukage knew, and didn't care. Looking back, why would he? The death of a few for the benefit of many was a small price to pay when you weighed it out. What were we to him? Orphans who would slowly drain the resources of the village that ACTUAL shinobi worked for? Orphans who would undoubtedly defect, rebel, and fight back against the government that failed them?

There was a reason the mist had the highest number of defections in this world. He knew, very well, that orphans wouldn't fight for Kiri. Civilians wouldn't saddle up and fight to the death to defend the land that scorned them. Only the desperate, the ones searching for a way out, would go that route. If only to survive, they would pledge their allegiance to the system that had failed them, and undoubtedly die at that systems hands.

The rest, had to be forced, and It was with a sickening snort that I realized why a bunch of children were forced into the first division.

You can't have rebellion if you kill potential opposers.

The first division, the first to die, the sooner the potential opposition was killed.

If you snuff out the spark, theres no way for there to be a fire.

Integration was crucial. It was you fight, or you die.

…and they were banking on us dying.

"….Rei… A quiet voice said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I jumped at the sound, my shoulder hitting the wall I was leaning on hard. I snapped my head around, fear rising in my chest.

"….rin." I choked, my voice wavering.

Her face was gaunt. Her hair, still damp, her clothes, sticking to her thin frame and she shivered. There were red marks on her arms, swollen, bruising, and I, for the first time, was at a loss for words.

What do you say to a child who has gone through what we have?

What do you tell a child that has witnessed a dozen murders and is expected to go back to that same room in just a few minutes?

'I'm sorry'?

Please.

We stared at each other. There was only a few feet between us, but she felt…so…far…away.

The past 24 hours had changed everything.

The past 24 hours had destroyed…everything.

We kept staring, taking each other in.

Gone were the girls who played in the orphanage. Gone were the girls who could wander and daydream and smile and laugh and joke like sisters.

Kiri had ruined that.

Kiri had ruined everything.

This is who we were now.

"…you got seals." She muttered, staring at the thin blue lines on my cheek.

"…..you did too." I whispered, trying my best to smile as tears welled up in my eyes.

Two purple lines ran down her cheeks.

Figures that's where she got them from.

"…I guess they're different for every division." She said, looking down. "Medical is purple."

"Right." I said, sinking back against the wall. "First division is blue."

"Right." She repeated.

We stayed in silence, as food was brought to us by an unnamed Shinobi. We stared at it on the floor, unable to form words, both our stomachs churning at the thought of even swallowing saliva, much less bread.

What do you say?

What can you say?

"Rei…" She began, her voice wavering. I closed my eyes. If she started crying, there was no way I would be able to hold myself together.

I knew what she wanted to say.

But I just….couldnt.

I couldn't speak.

Rin needed comfort. She needed assurance that this wasn't permanent. She needed to get away as fast as possible. And I was hell bent on making that "as fast as possible" come as fast as fucking possible.

But I couldn't say anything. I couldn't give her that reassurance.

The words wouldn't come out, and even if they had been able to, I wasn't sure if I wanted her to hear it.

So I settled for the next best thing.

"I know." I whispered.

She sniffled once more, moving closer to me as I wrapped one arm around her thin frame.

Unspoken words, unspoken worries built between us as we stayed where we were.

"Just..work hard." I said, my voice shaking. "Work hard, and grow strong…and someday…"

Someday we'll get out of here. Someday we'll be so far away, you'll wonder if this place ever really existed. You'll meet great people, you'll make great friends, you'll even fall in love. You have a future ahead of you. It doesn't end here.

I won't let it end here.

She sniffled once more as she wrapped her arms around my torso.

"As long as we're together, right?" She whispered, her voice shaking.

I swallowed hard, one tear falling down my cheek as I nodded, pulling away.

"Right."

AN: AHHHHH

I know this sounds ridiculous but I was putting myself on the edge of my own seat writing this. So i hope this ch did the same for you guys.

Honestly, i'm thinking i might change the rating on this to "m" even though things tone WAY down in a couple chapters. Just because of the initial violence, you know? I need to make sure you understand how brutal Kiri is in comparison to good o'l Konoha.

So yeah! The twins are going through forced training and honestly...it's hard to write.

I've never considered myself 'good' at writing horror or fear, but I do my best! Let me know what you think in the reviews, and to all that already have reviewed, thank you so much! I appreciate those little paragraphs more than you'll ever know. :)

Big things are coming for our little twinsies, next chapter should be up in another couple days!

Thanks for reading! :)