The next day, Bethany was sitting with Minato, while the Senju brothers helped the children with organizing and counting supplies. "Alright, it's time for me to start teaching you Fuuinjutsu, (Sealing jutsu) Bethany-Chan" he explained, placing a blank practice scroll, a brush and pot of ink in front of her. The girl nodded, "hai, Sensei" she said, determined. Minato picked up a brush and took out a scroll of his own, "now, Sealing is something that takes a lot of time and practice, not like jutsu which can be learned relatively easily once you have the hand signs mastered" he explained. "It's also a very delicate and complicated practice, so don't worry if you make some mistakes at first" he said.
"Hai, I understand, and I know it may take some time, but I'm still determined to succeed" Bethany said with conviction. Minato smiled, "heh, you know, you really are something, Bethany" he said. The young woman grinned at him and began her lesson. Surprisingly, it wasn't long before she mastered basic storage seals. "Wow, I'm impressed, it took even me a few weeks to master the basics, but you've mastered them in just a few hours- I think we may have a budding seal master on our hands" the blond praised. Bethany blushed, scratching the back of her head sheepishly, "well, I do have a good teacher" she said. After about an hour, they moved on to more advanced seals, as basic storage seals were about the only ones she'd need for the time being.
Bethany read all the information carefully and dutifully took notes. When she began to practice drawing the intermediate level seals, Bethany found that it was harder for her than the basics, as she was having trouble with the characters and began to get frustrated. After the 20th attempt, Bethany threw her brush down, and sighed, "damn it all, I don't get it!" she scowled, before turning to Minato, "Sensei, would you excuse me for a moment?" she asked, before getting up and walking over to a wall. The blond watched her curiously for a moment, but when she sat in the Lotus position and closed her eyes, the Yondamine understood. She was meditating to try and calm down. 'I have to do this,' she thought, 'I have to become stronger so I can keep my promise- I have to become stronger so I can achieve my dream and protect everyone,' Bethany opened her eyes, determination showing on her face, "I will become stronger so I can achieve my dream and protect everyone, no matter how hard I have to work for it" she said, standing up and going back to the table.
"Let's go" she said, picking up the brush and getting back to work.
ŚŅŸ
It was a rare day in the Chakra user's hideout. What made it rare was the fact that it was one of the few days that the children could rest and not have to worry about training, jobs, fighting or attacks and could just be themselves. Relax, play and just be like normal children. Bethany and the three Hokage watched as smiling children ran around, laughing and playing games and with toys. The girl felt a soft smile come to her face as she saw them, sighing as she thought about how soon this would have to end and the war would continue.
'No,'she thought fiercely, 'don't think about that, focus on the current peace' she frowned, 'well, semi-peace' Tobirama turned to his student, "you should think of a plan of action for when the fighting resumes" he said. Bethany's frown deepened, "I know, but we don't get a day off very often, I just want to relax today along with everyone else" she said, closing her eyes and facing the ceiling. The Nidamine scowled, "you should be more serious about this, Bethany- if you don't have a plan it could turn out badly for all of us" he said, crossing his arms. This time it was Bethany's turn to scowl, "don't you think I know that!" she said, a fierce intensity in her words that she didn't care to hide, "I may not have been involved in war as much as you three, but I sure as hell know how serious my responsibilities are now, and I also know that I'm going to have to work hard if I want keep everyone safe, let alone create our place of peace- our place to belong," she too crossed her arms over her chest, "but we are children, and as much as our innocence has been shredded, we still deserve to at least act like it hasn't and pretend like nothing's wrong every once in a while- because these rare days we have where we can act like we're still the innocent and normal children we once were is probably the only thing keeping a lot of us sane in this war- especially the younger ones, alright Sensei?" she asked, glaring slightly, and flaring her Chakra a little to emphasize that the conversation was over.
Tobirama closed his eyes and turned away, refusing to say another word. Suddenly, a young girl came up to them, she was around seven years old and had slightly lavender hair, tied into two plats, along with white eyes "Bethany-Taicho, um- ah, well, that is-" she stammered, pointing her two index fingers together in a manner that reminded Bethany of Hinata Hyuuga. Come to think of it, her eyes looked like Hyuuga eyes. The young woman thought about it. There were people who had gotten the Sharingan in their world, as was the case with Madara, while she herself possessed the Mokuton Bloodline. It could be that this girl did have the Byakugan as well. Turing her attention back to the shy white-eyed girl, the wood-style user smiled softly, "yes, what do you need, is there something wrong?" she asked gently.
The girl shook head, "no, I-," she sighed, "I-ah, I don't want to fight anymore," the girl shuddered and stared at the ground, "I can't- I'm sorry I just-" she stared at the older girl with a scared look on her face, "my mother gave her life so that I could be free, free of the possibility that I would become a weapon- and now she's dead," the girl broke into sobs, "dead just like everyone else- and there's no point to any of this, we fight, we die, we kill, and all for- what?" her body began to shake, "I can't do it anymore, I can't!" it was at that point that the girls legs gave way and she collapsed onto the ground in a sobbing mess. Or at least she would have if Bethany hadn't caught her quickly in her arms. Turning around to one of the wooden benches that were littered here and their around the hideout, the young woman sat with the girl in her arms, her small hands clinging tightly onto her shirt. 'Her body's so small,' she thought in sadness, 'she's so young- she shouldn't have to worry about this, she should be playing and being the innocent child that she deserves to be- we all should!' Bethany thought, despair filling her as she thought of all the children that had been lost to this war, all the children who had been buried so far- some of them by her.
She then thought of Akito and his determination to keep everyone safe. That had been one thing that she'd admired about him, she thought. Even though they hadn't always gotten along, he was just doing his best to protect all the children who were under his care. Even if they didn't want to fight, Akito knew that they had to or risk death by the enemy. It was sad to think that, but he was only being objective for the group as a whole, and though she hadn't been a leader for very long unlike Akito- she could already see how his way of thinking worked. The boy hadn't had time to worry about every singular person's feelings when he had so many to protect and look after. Bethany smiled softly, "may I ask your name, little one?" she said gently. The girl wiped her eyes, "M-Makoto, Makoto Hikari" she sniffed. The older girl held her gently yet firmly, "Makoto-Chan, I understand how you feel, really I do," she started, "I never wanted to fight and kill in the beginning either, and in fact I still don't," she paused a moment, to let the girl absorb that information.
Makoto looked up at her, "really? But everyone talks about how fierce you are in battle- they say you never show an ounce of fear!?" the girl- no, the child said in confusion. Bethany smiled sadly, "you don't have to be afraid to hate fighting, and the only reason I seem so fearless is because of my determination" she replied. Makoto frowned, "determination?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. The brown-haired girl nodded, "my determination comes from my desire to bring an end to this worthless war, and to keep all of you safe- to do that I am willing to do whatever I have to, even if it means I have to fight and kill others," she said. Makoto's eyes widened slightly, "you're willing to go through all that- just to protect us?" she asked in amazement. When her Taicho nodded, the girl couldn't help the question that burned on her tongue, "why?" what she got in answer almost broke her heart, Bethany smiled a small sad smile: "so that no one else has to suffer like you and I, so that we can all finally be free of this nightmare called war- to create true peace, even if it's only for people like us".
In that moment, Bethany was a hero in Makoto's eyes. To be able to give up her own peace for their sake, and not just for the sake of her promise to Akito-Taicho, but because she truly wished for there to be a time when everyone, whether they had chakra or not could understand each other and live together in harmony, was something that she admired more than anything, "Bethany-Taicho?" she asked softly. The brown-haired girl looked at her questioningly, "yes, Makoto-Chan?" she asked in reply. The child's eyes were no longer plagued by sadness or hesitancy, "I swear this now, no matter what happens, I will help you in any way that I can to achieve your dream- even if I die in the process, at least no others will have to suffer at the hands of war like we have- just like you said" she replied, with just as much determination and will in her eyes and heart as Bethany herself. The older girl blinked, then smiled in appreciation, "arigato, Makoto" she said happily, showing the girl that she saw her as an equal for her help.
Makoto grinned, "anytime, Bethany-Taicho- you know, I knew Akito-Taicho pretty well, and though he always insisted on me fighting with everyone else, he always genuinely cared about me too, making sure I trained well and keeping an eye on me on the battlefield," she explained, her grin shrinking until it was a soft smile, "you may not be exactly like Akito was, but I could always tell that you cared about all of us just like he did, you also want to protect us- but it's something more," she whispered. Bethany looked at the girl and raised an eyebrow, "oh, how so?" she asked curiously, wondering what the girl saw in her. Makoto grinned again and turned to look up at her, "you don't just want to protect everyone here, you want to protect all chakra users and our families-" she said happily, "instead of just focusing on the fighting, you truly believe that there will come a time when all people, whether we have chakra or not will be able to live and work together- to bring peace and harmony to the world," her eyes glowed, "I really admire that about you Taicho- and I was wondering-" she suddenly began to blush and poke her fingers together nervously like in the beginning of their conversation, "will you be my big sister?!" she finally blurted.
Bethany was shocked, before a wide grin stretched over her face, and she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly "thank you for your admiration, but I would also like you to see me as your equal as well as a leader if possible- I mean, we are all in this together here, and about your request-" she paused, "I'd be glad to be your big sister, though I already have a best friend who is like a younger sister and her older sister who is like a big sister, so I hope that you don't mind having more than one sibling?" she asked softly. Makoto smiled even wider than before, and she suddenly threw herself into the older girls arms, "of course I don't, I've never had any siblings before," she shed a few tears in happiness, "arigato, Nee-Sama" she said happily. Bethany giggled slightly and stroked the girls hair gently, "any time, Mako-Chan" she replied. The three Hokage, who had been watching the whole exchange smiled happily at this- well, all except Tobirama, who smirked instead of smiling.
ŚŅŸ
Bethany was currently standing on one of the many battlefields that had been used during the course of the war. She was in a very, VERY, VERY foul mood at the moment. She was standing and glaring at their enemies and exuding enough killing intent and hatred to make an Uchiha green with envy. The reason for her decidedly bad mood? Those bastards didn't just kill the children they'd managed to capture. No, the fate of the child warriors was, in reality much worse than any she could have imagined. Standing before them right now were several children, just about equal in number to their own forces. She could tell that each of them possessed chakra, and that it was very well developed for their ages. She could only guess as to what horrors those poor children had been put through at the hands of their twisted and sick-minded "teachers".
Each child had blank and emotionless eyes, not fazed in the least by their presence or the strength they possessed what with all their training. It made the girl seethe inside at the very thought of those bastards tormenting and torturing the innocent and gentle souls that the other children had been. One of the children under her command looked at her, "Bethany-Taicho, what should we do?" he asked worriedly. Bethany frowned, as their opponents took up fighting stances, ready to attack. The girl closed her eyes and slowly removed her sword from its sheath, while getting into the opening stance of her sword style, which she named the Mokuzai buredostyle, or wood blade. When she opened her eyes, they were filled with cold determination, "if we hesitate they'll kill us and I won't let that happen," she took one breath, "we have no choice- cut them down!" she called, and then shot into a blur of motion. Both sides clashed in a spray of sparks, children against children, brother against sister.
Bethany despised this type of fighting more than any other, but to protect everyone she wouldn't hold back- just because her opponents were children was no excuse. Several of them lunged at her, but she flew through them as easily as a hot knife through butter. The government agents who were their watching smirked as several more doll-like children attacked her. Bethany growled as she attacked relentlessly, while her opponents did the same. 'Those bastards,' she thought with disdain, 'how could they do something like this to these people- they were innocent god-damnit!' she stopped and formed several hand signs, "Mokuton: wooden spear jutsu!" several large spikes that looked like giant splinters shot from the ground, tearing through the enemy children and a few of their adult masters at the same time.
Madara attacked his own group of enemies, running through and taking them out with ease. 'Heh,' he thought, stopping and forming the horse hand sign, 'I may hate this war, but at least it gives me a chance to test out these new jutsu' "Katon: Great Fire Annihilation!" he called, blowing out a huge sheet of flames that obliterated a large number of their attackers in an instant. Bethany watched the range and power of the jutsu with awe, 'so that's the greatest Uchiha's signature fire style jutsu in action? It sure lives up to its name' the girl thought to herself, sheathing her blade and running through hand signs of her own, "Doton: Earth dragon bullet!" she cried, as a massive dragon head made out of earth or rather mud emerged out of the ground. It's mouth opened and it began shooting large balls of mud at the men around her, breaking up the ground that they were standing on due the force of the partly hardened rock hitting it.
The leader of the enemy men growled, "retreat!" he called. Bethany watched the enemy run off with a sigh of relief, 'at least we didn't lose too many people this time, but-' she stared at the emotionless children who were following their enemies, 'it feels like we've lost something much more important' she thought, narrowing her eyes in sadness. "Alright everyone, you know the drill, find any weapons that we can use and bring them back to base, go!" she ordered. Immediately all the children spread out to search the battle field. In Bethany's mind, this was even worse than the battles themselves. Looting the corpses of adults and children alike for equipment was a foul practice, while killing was, for the moment a necessity of survival. The young woman sighed again, how she loathed this war. "Nee-Sama" a familiar voice caught her attention.
Bethany looked up to see Makoto standing in front of her, dressed in her own armour. She smiled slightly, "Mako-Chan, are you alright?" she asked, worried about the young girls state of mind. Makoto shifted from foot to foot, "I- it was, different, when we were just fighting adults," she replied softly. Bethany looked down, "yes, it was- adults are one thing, but this is the first time I've ever- the first time I've ever fought and killed children" she said. Makoto looked down, "Bethany-Nee, how long is this going to go on for? I- I don't-" the girl shuddered. The older girl sighed and closed her eyes, "there are only two ways that the fighting will end, 1. We make a peace treaty with the enemy, making sure that they agree not to attack us and showing them that we really have no intention but to live peacefully with everyone else, or 2.-" Bethany's expression grew dark and she opened her eyes again, "we wipe our enemies off the face of the planet entirely, that includes the children that they have brainwashed as well" Makoto gasped, "but, but that's-" she shivered in horror.
The young woman sighed again and leaned back against the tree she was standing in front of, "it's not an option that I want to consider either, but if it's a choice between that and letting the fighting continue then-" Bethany clenched her fists, "I don't want, anymore of us to die needlessly, if this war had never started no one would have died in the first place," a single tear fell down her cheek, "I just want us to be free and to live in our place of peace" she all-but whispered. Makoto frowned, "Nee-Sama" she said sadly. The young woman stood up, "come on, let's get back" she said, then leapt off.
