I do not own Naruto. It's my birthday today so I decided to treat you all with a super early chapter :)

Chapter 7

The Bitter Clan

The duo sat at the small rickety table, staring at each other in complete silence. The white-haired man was almost positive that the assassin across from him could hear his pounding heart without straining. Tobirama prided himself in being a man who thought things through. He was a man with a plan and he utilised his strategizing to the fullest. This was where the problem lay. He often had difficulty adapting to difficult situations. So when Amaya Mae gave him her words, it was as if time itself stopped moving.

Her lip quivered some more as she turned away from his eyes at last and wrung her wrists tightly. He must have heard her wrong. If anything she must have been mistaken. It was impossible. Simply impossible. There was no way a child of eleven massacred her entire clan of assassins. He was frozen in place as she continued, her eyes shining with tears.

She began the rest of the story, by setting the scene in the forest at only ten years old. She spoke quickly, as if Tobirama was going to silence her at any point, as if she were running. He examined her quickly and found that if he indeed did attempt to take her life, she would put up no fight. She was staring at the ground and her hands shook and her muscles quivering. Instead he listened, waiting for her to correct herself - she never did.

Eight Years Ago

The daughter of the leader of the Mae Clan hid in the forest behind a particularly large tree trunk, her breath wild and uneven. She chewed on her lip, her grey eyes flickering through the forest. Even the small amount of training she was given was enough to clue her in to where her assailant was tracking her.

She made a quick decision as the being made another few steps towards her hiding spot and jumped out, throwing a handful of pine cones and dried leaves into the eyes of her older brother. Her let out a shout of surprise and stumbled backwards and in the few precious moments the young young girl had left, she disappeared into the forest, now silent.

From her perch on the branches of one of the tall trees, she watched Haruki curse his decision to teach her silent step. She had grasped the concept of the jutsu with a shocking amount of ease, mastering it in only few hours. Even the most talented hunter in the Mae Clan had trouble finding the little girl once she had disappeared.

Amaya grinned at her siblings from her perch, watching the scene unfold for a few moments. Haruki looked around blindly, searching for their other siblings. At fifteen years old and only a few days from sixteen, he would much rather be doing something - rather anything - else than playing hide and seek with his younger siblings but after some pleading on Kaiko, Tsubasa, Kiyoshi, and Amaya's part, he had relented.

Kaiko, at fourteen, stood in a tree opposite of hers, sending her a wink then giving her a motion to move on. Tsubasa, at thirteen years old and feigning hatred at the world, sat on a tree trunk boredly, already found and now sulking. Kiyoshi, only twelve and rapidly approaching thirteen, was hiding in plain sight, covered in leaves and motionless and Amaya could sense the massive grin that pulled at his cheeks.

The ten year-old girl moved on, flinging herself from tree to tree. With her small little hands, she grasped on to the many branches of the trees and swung herself forward, relishing in the freedom she rarely experienced. She continued to move on, losing herself in the wind and the sky.

It had been over an hour until the little girl slowed down and realized with a sinking feeling that not only was she lost, but her chakra was almost completely depleted. Dusk was quickly approaching and the moon was only just beginning to appear in the sky. This forest was dangerous at night for anyone. It was filled with rogue ninjas, renegades, convicts on the loose, wolves and chakra-infused animals.

It was not the appropriate climate for a child of ten years to say in the least.

She heard the village before she saw the lights. As she neared, she began to notice details. Happy civilians dancing under the stars, lanterns strung up and food all around. Women danced in long flowing skirts and tops that showed their navels. Jewelry glinted in the lights of the lanterns and as the men stared at the women, laughing and drinking.

Amaya had only heard of festivals from her mother and had never experienced one first hand. It was then, that Amaya noticed a young girl watching from a table who was watching her. The young grey-eyed assassin clambered onto the table and from there a hasty friendship was born.

Her name was Michi and she taught Amaya all about the life of a villager. Throughout the night Amaya followed the girl through the village as she explained who her friends were and which women kept candies in the pockets of their long skirts. Hours later when the moon was fully risen she had been found by Haruki and had been brought home, ignoring the villager's watchful stares.

A week later, Amaya had returned to the village and had seeked out the young girl who had been her first friend. She made her way back home before anyone noticed she was missing. It went on like this for several months. She would go to the village some mornings and stay until the afternoon before evening training. No one would notice her absence and if they did, she almost always had a ready excuse. Maybe she had been training with a secret new technique to best her brothers with. She may had gone to the river to fish with her hands. She might even venture that she was tracking down some deer.

In those few months, she had given away secrets to Michi that her father told her to never say aloud. She had explained the way of her clan and all the people she had killed, despite her young age. She gave away the secrets to her clan's jutsu and had sealed their fate.

It was a week after her eleventh birthday when she returned to the village for the last time. Spring was just breaking through, the snow having melted leaving puddles of cold mud and slushy water. She had been invited in by Michi's parents and given some tea for the cold weather. Amaya thought it unnecessary to tell them that she spent survival exercises in the cold for days on end with nothing but a knife at her and did not find this weather troublesome.

Amaya later ventured that they slipped a sedative in her hot drink, causing her to fall unconscious. When she became to regain consciousness, she found herself being shoved in a metal cage. Michi and her family watched, her father counting a wad of bills in his hand. It was the first time the young girl was betrayed, but certainly not the last.

Present Day

Tobirama was silent during her recount of this tale, his hands clasped together tightly and watching her every move, drinking up her rare expressions like it was the elixir of life. When she finally paused, her jaw locking into place, he did not know if it was for a breath or to recollect herself and he finally asked for a cup of tea. It seemed she was thankful for the distraction because she stood immediately, banging the table in the process and made her way into the kitchen. She scanned through the cabinets, as if she had forgotten where she kept the tea pot. When she finally found her head and the teapot, she filled it with water from her indoor plumping unit. She moved to the stove, her hands unmistakably shaking and water sloshing over the thin hole in the top. The woman set it on the edge of the stove and moved to shuffle through the drawers to find the flint and steel.

He realized his request was a bad decision after her seventh attempt and gratuitous curse when she failed to light it due to the shaking in her hands. He stood slowly, watching her carefully as she growled at her hands and made his way towards her, one small step at a time. She barely noticed him as he came up behind her and could not tear his eyes away from her many scars, so beautiful and so very tragic.

He took the flint from her hands quite suddenly, causing her to startle. His fingers brushed against her bruised knuckles and his arms grazed against hers while his chest skimmed against her back. It seemed as if she held her breath. He had no idea what he was doing but when she leaned back for only have a second and pressed herself against him, it felt...right. She breathed out her thanks, closing her eyes and Tobirama brushed against her fingers as he flicked the flint against the stone and the flame flickered to life.

They stayed there for another few moments, both of their hearts beating erratically until Amaya suddenly ducked from underneath his arms and moved to the corner of the kitchen, crossing her arms across her chest, her cheeks flushed with color.

For fucks sake, she was finally blushing because of me...My god what am I doing?

God dammit, she was telling him the story of how her entire fucking family died and he was making a fucking move. He was the one who was supposed to think things through. He knew his place in the leaf - he was a strategizer. The man who brought reason to the Hokage. But for whatever reason, he could not find reason within the assassin. That beautiful, tragic, porcelain, fucking assassin.

He blushed as well, flushing up from his neck to his entire face, almost matching the shade to his eyes. He covered his face with his hand, peeking out from the slits of his fingers to stare at the teapot full of water. He dared a glance at the grey-eyed woman but she was filing through her drawers once more, her back facing towards him.

She had come up with some tea leaves and had poured the scalding hot water into a shaking teacup, burning her hand terribly in the process. He had snatched the teapot as her skin turned bright red and it began to peel, cursing at her stupidity. She had done nothing as he examined the wound except retract her hand from his and sat down at the table, hiding her wound. Amaya had trouble beginning, and when she finally found the correct vowels, she spoke quietly, finally slowing down.

She tilted her head and stared at the ground, swallowing nervously and playing with her fingers as she spoke, "You see I loved my family dearly," she murmured, her eyes drifting along the wall, "but I was different from them all. My jutsu was cruel. The Mae Clan technique differs on the person casting the jutsu. Mine had always been darker, more powerful. It was the reason I was treated with incredible care by others."

She paused once more to wet her lips and to fiddle with the handle of her mug of tea while chewing on her lip. Her teeth were white, Tobirama realized, almost blindingly so and he was unprepared for the tear fell onto the wooden table, staining the wood dark. She wiped her face roughly and took a deep breath and composed herself.

She spoke of the drug she was given upon the arrival at the mercenaries' camp. Her voice was taut as she told him that she later became addicted to the chakra-infused injection. She spoke of how she became more compliant when she was given the drug. She spoke rather quickly on how she was easier to manipulate, and especially much easier to cast genjutsu on.

When she spoke of what went down in the mercenary camp, she stopped suddenly and she glared at the table with her hands balled up into fists. Tobirama reached into his pocket and wordlessly took her hand and began treating the burn with his med pack.

She stayed in her quiet fury without moving for almost an entire minute, staring at his kind actions. When she began to speak again, it was of the drug.

His surprise came from when she said in passing that she had only gotten clean in the few months prior to coming to leaf. He soon found himself annoyed by her vagueness, how she could mention something that seemed to be life-altering but she gave the explanation no more than a sentence or two. He found that he was enraptured by her tale, and completely captivated.

She continued on with her story, staring at her scared and bruised knuckles and finally in control of her voice. The tears no longer fell from her cheeks and she kept herself formal and assertive.

"With my compliance, they brought me into the forest...and had me lead them to my clan."

Her voice cracked once more, out of her control and tears gathered in her silver eyes. He was wrong with the notion that she was finally in control. She was crumbling right before his eyes. She laughed bitterly at the ceiling at a sudden thought while digging her nails into her skin, her hand gripping his tightly. Tears fell to the table and she ground her teeth together.

She met Tobirama's gaze and he was shocked to find the bloodlust there, just waiting to be let out and reign over it all. He found that he was not worried. He did not make the signs for his jutsu to contain her, or ready his chakra to flee. He simply sat there and stared into the eyes of the crying kunoichi.

Her tone became weary as she continued to speak, and she sounded so very old and so very tired. "I was told to kill them all. And they didn't even have to put me under a genjutsu. I had no will to fight them. I was already broken."

Her words made his blood turn to ice, simply at the thought of what they did to her in their camp, and the massive and deep scars along her back. He did not fail to notice the faint silvery trace of a scar just underneath her jaw, a perfect place to threaten someone. The image of a child being tortured by fully grown men flashed through his mind.

Tobirama closed his eyes.

Her words were quick, that her aunt and uncle were first. She did not speak of how easy it would be for her to go after them first, as they lived away from the rest of the clan and no one would hear their screams. She also did not speak of the fact that their jutsus were underdeveloped and they were easy to murder. She did not say a word of the look on their faces as they died. She said nothing of the shock and fear morphing their once kind features into an ugly memory.

The white-haired man took a breath.

She quickly mentioned the deaths of her cousins and only gave a vague estimate of their numbers. She said nothing of how she remembered each and every one of their faces and their names and their ages. She told him nothing of how she remembered each of their favorite dishes, or if they preferred sweet or sour. She gave him no memories of how they trained together so she knew each of their weaknesses and preyed off of that, as if they were animals. She did not speak of the memory of their deaths, the way they had all smiled and welcomed her into the cottage at one minute and then the next when they realized that blood speckled her cheeks. She told the brother of the Hokage nothing of their screams.

The red-eyed man gripped the edge of the table.

She stumbled over information of how she murdered her friends but said nothing of the fact that they were just children with no grasp of their jutsu. She did not tell him that their blood drenched her, and that it took years to wipe clean. So tiny, such small little bodies that were simply wiped from the earth, only a bloodstain or ribbon left. She said nothing of their young screams and the sudden stop to their hearts.

Tobirama's chakra rose.

She quickly gave him the knowledge that their parents were next, as they ran out of their homes at the absence of their children's chakras. She did not say that she fought against them with more effort, or that their blood stained the grass, too. She did not say that their deaths caused a ripple effect, and more of her aunts and uncles and cousins and friends continued to pour of the village. She did not speak of the horror on all of their faces, or how she ripped them apart so easily. The pounding footsteps of the adults that raced out, so scared that their young, tiny, children were dead. The anger, their so very reasonable anger at the tiny girl who had laughed in their homes and played with their children.

The brother of the Hokage forced himself to stay sitting.

She paused after that, her breath shuddering and her head still lifted high, despite the weight of her words. She played with the thin chain at her neck, taking it out of her shirt and playing with the rings that were looped onto it. Her voice was so incredibly strained, so sad and so vacant. "My mother," she uttered quietly, "my mother was killed next by my hands."

She did not tell him that her mother had been in the deeper parts of the forest alone to gather herbs for medical treatment and had seen her only daughter decimate her friends. She did not say that her mother's scream still rang in her ears, years later. Amaya said nothing of how she was lashing out at her mother before she knew what was happening. The grey-eyed woman only mentioned that she retrieved her mother's wedding ring, not that all that was left of the woman who raised her was a silver ring. Her hands shook as she pictured the face of the woman who had giggled at her jokes and who told her that she was a princess and that she was special.

Tobirama wondered where the other two rings came from.

She paused and he thought for one heart-racing moment she was going to stop there. He believed her to suddenly tell him to leave and threaten him to forget she ever said a word. He thought she would detangle her hand from his and demand him to leave. He thought that she would release her jutsu in one massive blast and completely destroy the leaf village, and he definitely believed her capable. Instead, she buried her face into her hand and took a deep, shuddering, and raw breath.

Her words were so quiet that the white-haired man had to strain to listen to her voice. It was her siblings who were next and she spoke of them with her throat constricted. She did not say much of her encounter with them, but her tears were enough. They fell through the cracks between her fingers and stained the wooden table. Her tears were so quiet, silent almost and so very lonely.

She said nothing of how Tsubasa and Kaiko attempted to fight her while Kiyoishi was frozen in place. She did not mention that Haruki had just stared at her and pleaded for their lives. She did not say that her oldest brother had begged for his brother's lives and how she slaughtered them without a word.

She only stared at Tobirama as tears streamed down her face and dripped onto the wooden table. She lifted her head and spoke, her words toneless, "I killed my brothers as they begged for their lives."

He shuddered.

She did not mention her father at all. She did not tell him that he had not moved one inch from his chair. She did not say that he had been waiting for her during the entire massacre, or that he had smiled at her when her jutsu began. She said nothing of how when he told her that it would all be okay one day and that he loved her, his skin had already begun ripping to shreds.

She did not speak of the next silver ring on her necklace, and she certainly did not speak of the golden one.

Amaya stared at her hands, flexing them then relaxing the muscles, if just to pass the time. She spoke suddenly, without any warning and Tobirama looked up in surprise, examining her blank expressions. She met his gaze once more and he was frozen in time and space by the fear and intensity.

"I don't know why Mito wanted me to tell you of my past, Senju, but for whatever stupid reason that vixen has, I hope you understand that I am at fault and that I am repenting. I am here for personal reasons to protect the citizens of Konoha. I want to save what little part of my soul I have left. This village is special, Tobirama."

Tobirama stayed quiet at the end of her tale as his eyes watered beyond his control. He did not know if he was breathing or dreaming. All he had was more questions from her tale. When he finally broke through the feeling of drowning, he spoke once more, his voice thick.

"That doesn't explain the scars."

Amaya paused and looked at him with widened eyes. She then turned away and laughed too loudly, removing her hand from his. "You want to know more about me? I just gave you all my secrets."

The man paused, suddenly cold from the lack of contact. "You've only spoken of the fate of your family, not yourself and certainly not the scars on your back."

The woman turned to him suddenly, and began to snarl, her top lip pulling back only showing a glimpse of her white teeth. She controlled her face before she fully threatened him, turning away to stare at the curtained window.

"After they had me kill my family, the men took me and enslaved me. They owned me for two years until I found my escape."

Her words were too sudden for Tobirama to understand fully. They were too forceful to be real and too terrifying to be believable. Despite all this, Tobirama did not doubt her, and with that realization he knew had sunk too deep into her eyes, especially because he wanted more.

A/N

Here is the history of Amaya's clan! This was another long chapter, but I hoped you enjoyed it despite the length.

Tell me what you think of it all:

Is this all to Amaya's story or is there more? What do you think of Amaya's betrayal to her clan, despite that she was only a child? Is Amaya finally beginning to trust Tobirama and will he ever trust her back?

Please review, it means so much to me and it gives me fuel to keep on writing.

starrat - you always know the right thing to say, thanks so much