Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto or any of the people/places found in his homeworld.

Author's Note: So, it ends up that I'd written this a while back, though it went through some pretty major revisions before the break -- the addition of the story about my friend . . . which is totally (and sadly) true. Its a sad world we live in, ne? With some really horrible people. Anyway, this chapter is back to the normal-ish length, since I believe adding anything else into it would make it kind of long-winded and tedious. Forgive the angsty-ness of the chapter, but it's a hurdle that must be crossed for stuff to move forward. This installment of the Fangrlz tale is a bit darker than the first, just to warn you, but I'll do my best to balance a bit of humor in and around. This is a point of growth for the girls, so much drama will be unfolding. For my lovely fans and joyful readers, you can ignore the mood-crushing below comment (or read it if you'd like), and enjoy the chapter! I'll try to get the next one out as soon as I can!

To Kon (an anonymous reviewer) -- Congratulations! You're my first flame! Though I doubt you'll be reading this far, since you commented and probably then stopped reading at Chapter 16 of Fangrlz, allow me to respond. "16 chapters and no Naruto = fail." Seriously? First of all, this is fanfiction, thus, though Naruto is the title character, he doesn't necessarily need to be at the center of all the action. I've read some amazing fanfiction based off of the Naruto series that takes place before he even exists, where he's never even mentioned at all. Secondly, the title of this fic (and it's sequel(s)) is Fangrlz, not Naruto. It is about the five OCs, not Naruto. I'm sorry if it disappoints you that he's not in the central action, but that is my literary choice, and you're the only one who has voiced any problem with it. Seeing, also, as you're my first and only flame for the tale, I think I'm doing pretty well regardless.

Chapter 6: The Choice of a Leader

KATIE

I'm standing still.

I'm oh, so peaceful.

I can't pretend that I'm fine.

--Plumb ("I Can't Do This")

--

I sit at the edge of a cliff, feet dangling out over open air. My eyes gaze down toward the Leaf Village, yet they don't really see the numerous houses and scattered trees. My mind is elsewhere, struggling with the issues at hand -- issues that I can't help but feel responsible for.

I had forced the others to return home with me. I had acted selfishly, afraid of my growing feelings toward the masked enigma -- toward Tobi -- hiding that reason behind the obvious danger of this world. I actually convinced both myself and the girls that the danger was the real reason, but now . . . now I have realized the truth. It doesn't make me feel any better. In fact, it makes me feel so much worse.

Granted, my fear of the danger was just as real. There's no denying that.

So, now the people here have called us back from the "real world" to help them fight a war against the Rain Village -- against the Akatsuki. They'll be in more danger here than they ever were back home. Is this my fault? If we had stayed, would this have happened? In trying to protect them, have I actually condemned them?

More importantly, what am I going to do? My heart is torn in two. I realize and accept that I'm in love -- or something like it -- with Tobi, but that makes everything so much more difficult. I can't fight him; my heart won't let me. Nor can I fight my friends. Still, I can't just sit back and watch from the sidelines. That would be condemning them all to death.

What have I done?

What am I going to do?

"Can't sleep?" a smooth voice asks from behind me.

I jerk from my revere and turn to identify the speaker, slipping the small silver object I'd been fingering beneath the bindings on my arms. Kakashi is walking calmly toward me. I force a smile.

"Apparently," I answer. "There are too many thoughts running circles in my head."

Kakashi comes to stand beside me, hands in his pockets, as I look back out at the sleeping village. "Anything you want to talk about?" he inquires.

I take a slow breath. I can't tell him what's really bothering me. "I'm scared," I reply truthfully.

"That's understandable."

"I'm scared less for me, though," I add, "than for my friends. I don't want them to get hurt."

Kakashi nods. "Which is why you took them away before."

"Exactly."

It's his turn to take a deep breath. "Though I admit," he says, "that I wasn't happy about that at the time -- that I was rather angry with you -- I understand your reasoning, your logic. I appreciate it."

"Thanks, Kakashi," I whisper. "That means a lot. It's just --" I sigh, trying to find the right words. "Though we mostly joked back home, I truly see it now. They look up to me as a leader, and as such, I can't just sit by and let them get themselves hurt. We're just kids, Kakashi, regular kids -- not trained shinobi. We can't shove down our emotions and fight like you can. You're asking us to go to war, and I couldn't live with myself if something happened to one of them. I'm not exactly the oldest. Ashley and I are about pretty much the same age; she might actually be older! It's just -- I feel responsible for them. They're like family to me, Kakashi. I can't let them get hurt."

"Katie, you don't have to --"

"I've already lost one friend to senseless violence," I state, tearing my gaze from him to stare once more out across the Leaf Village. "She was only eleven. We both were. In our world -- at that age -- we were still innocent -- powerless -- children!"

My hands curl into fists against my knees as Kakashi studies me with that single, dark eye. Finally, he asks that question. "What happened?"

For an eternal moment, I continue to gaze wordlessly forward. Then, slowly, I pull my knees to my chest and hug them. "She disappeared one summer. She was just gone. No one knew what happened to her, and for two months they searched. For two months, I prayed she would be found." I press my lips together. "Well, she was -- or what was left of her. Tell me, Kakashi, how much does a body decay when left out in the open air for two months?"

My words are biting, but he doesn't answer the vocal stab. I didn't really expect him to. He just watches me. I don't have to look at him to know that. I can feel it. He shifts, looking out over the village along with me -- probably toward his apartment -- toward Ashley. "Do the girls know?" he asks.

"No," I reply. "I haven't told them. That happened before I moved to Kingsford."

Kakashi gives a thoughtful hum, and I rest my chin on my knees. "That's why I act as I do -- so protective of them. Now that I'm older -- stronger -- I will protect them with all that I am. If I have the power to keep them safe, then I'll be damned if I don't use it." My jaw tightens. "I don't care what it takes. I will protect them."

Silence meets my words. I don't dare look at him; I can't do it. Would he see what I'm planning? I can't risk it. That was the only warning he'll get -- the only explanation for my actions to come.

"You know," he says at last, voice oddly light, "the girls aren't eleven. They're older, too – stronger, too. They can fight their own battles. They don't need you to fight them instead." When I bristle, he puts a hand on my shoulder. "I'm not saying they don't need you at all. I'm saying you don't need to carry the world on your own. You don't need to carry them everywhere. They have two good feet. Let them walk. You can't underestimate them. I know for a fact that Ashley --"

"I killed a man, Kakashi," I cut in bluntly. "I know it was in self-defense -- an accident -- a fluke even -- but that doesn't change the fact that I killed him. I know how the thought of his death -- of his blood on my hands -- haunts me. That was just a one-time, chance thing too! I don't want to imagine the guilt -- the horror! -- that any one of us will feel after going into battle and killing anyone like that! It might be in self-defense, but at the large scale that comes with war? We can't handle that!"

I turn on him now, face desperate for him to understand. "You may want to keep them out of it, but you and I both know that they won't be able to stay away when the ones they love are in danger. One way or another, they'll get involved. What then?" Kakashi is silent for a moment after my rant draws to a close, and I wonder if I've said too much. Finally, he speaks.

"How old are you, Katie?"

That question takes me by surprise, and I blink at him several times before answering. "Seventeen. Eighteen next month . . . or it was next month back home." His visible eye echoes my previous surprise. I throw him a wry smile. "Yeah, I know."

"I would never have guessed," he said faintly.

"Oh?"

"You look younger, but you act so much older."

"I get that a lot, actually."

He crosses his arms over his chest, shifting his weight to one side. "You claim your world to be a peaceful one, and yet you act so mature -- like someone forced to grow up fast."

I frown slightly, turning back away from him. "Just because we don't train our kids to be weapons doesn't mean our world is totally peaceful. We have our wars. My father was in the military, and likewise, I was taught a great deal of self-control -- how to act when and where and around whom. I guess that's what makes me seem more mature in certain situations. I spent a lot of time around adults as a kid."

"I see, and now you've taken this upon yourself." I give a bare nod, and he sighs. "Let me give you some advice, Katie."

The tone in his voice sounds almost -- accepting. Warily, I incline my head. "Shoot."

Kakashi quirks an eyebrow but does so. "Being a leader is tough work. You need to be able to make good decisions, but you also need to be able to take responsibility for and accept the fact that as a leader, you're going to have to make bad decisions -- difficult ones that people will criticize you for. You just need to trust that you're doing the right thing."

For a moment, it's hard to breathe. The right thing Does he know? Has he realized the decision I'm close to making now? I chew on my lower lip. What is right in this situation? Honestly, I want to just crawl under a rock and hide.

Again, Kakashi's hand finds my shoulder. "As I said before, you also don't have to make those decisions alone. Friends are friends for a reason. They help you make those tough decisions and stand by you through thick and thin. Don't forget that." He gives my shoulder a small squeeze before letting go. "You do need to get some rest, though," the half-masked shinobi continues. "You have a long walk ahead of you."

"A long walk?"

"To contact your friends in the Lightning Country. It's very likely they won't believe us with just a written message, so Tsunade is considering sending a team with you to contact them personally. The more allies we have in this, the less likely it is you five will have to actually fight." He smiles. "See? Friends are a good thing."

I resist the urge to touch the band around my arm, a sense of dread gripping my stomach. "Right."

"What are their names, by the way?"

"Who?"

"The squad you traveled with."

"Oh." My stomach twists even further. Names? How am I supposed to know the names of any Cloud Ninja? My mind screams TRAP!!! If I don't give him names, he'll know something is wrong. Licking my lips, I say the first three Japanese names that come to mind -- from another anime, of course. "Haji, Kai, and Saya," I reply.

"You must be excited to see them again," Kakashi states. I say nothing, wondering how long I can keep up the façade of having travelled with Cloud Ninja during my time here. "Katie? Is something wrong?"

"I'm -- not looking forward to it."

"Oh?"

"We didn't exactly part under the best of circumstances," I say faintly. That is true enough, and a half-truth is better than an outright lie. Tobi had begged me not to leave, but I had done so anyway. I had snuck out while he slept. If I do go back to him, can he ever forgive me for that?

And what will Madara do? I resist the urge to shudder.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Kakashi assures me.

"Yeah," I sigh doubtfully. "I don't know what I'll say, though -- what I'll do."

Kakashi pats my head, making me scowl. "Just follow your heart, Katie. It'll turn out alright. First, though, you need to get some sleep."

I force a smile. "The same goes for you, Kakashi."

The silver-haired shinobi eyes me for a long moment, and again, doubt wanders into my mind. I wonder if he sees through me -- if he sees the real source of my anxiety. "Ashley trusts you," he says at last, "and because of that, even though I don't know you personally very well, I trust you also. From what I do know of you now, though, you have a strong will, a logical mind, and a caring heart. Trust in those things, and you'll make a fine leader." He nods his head to me respectfully. "Good night, Katie."

"Good night," I answer, slightly stunned by his words.

As he vanishes, guilt and uncertainty wash over me again. His words echo back from my memory. Ashley trusts you. If I go to Tobi, will I be betraying that trust? Just follow your heart. I search my heart and find only his face -- his voice -- his laughter -- his touch. I find only him.

I drop my head to my knees, hugging them once more to my chest. What do I do? Where do I go? To bed? I snort. Right. As if I can actually get some sleep with such a dilemma.

As a leader, you're going to have to make bad decisions -- difficult ones that people will criticize you for. You just need to trust that you're doing the right thing.

I lift my head. The right thing. He said I have a logical mind and that I should trust it -- it and my heart. I rise to my feet and sling the cloak that had been folded beside me over my shoulders. There's only one thing I can do -- one course of action that is as logical as it is foolhardy. A bad decision, but a right one. I may be wrong, but it must be done.

At that moment, something shifts inside of me, hardening my expression. Once I act on this -- once this decision is carried out -- there will be no going back. There will be consequences – dark and dire consequences – results that I would rather do without – but I find I don't care anymore. I will do what needs to be done.

I turn my back on the Village Hidden in the Leaves, knowing that as I do so, I'm turning my back on my friends as well. My hands form the dragon sign as if of their own accord and I feel the now-familiar sensation of my chakra flowing through me as I focus, hearing it crackle in my ears. I close my eyes and his face stares back at me.

"This is my choice," I say to no one, lifting my hand to the sky. Light streaks down towards me from the dark clouds, consuming me.