Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto series, or any of the characters from it.


Back ache, muscle stiffness, a sore neck, growling stomach, a throbbing headache and water being poured down her neck, where all factors that Inare woke up to the following morning. Opening her eyes as she jolted her head up, she saw that it was Masao who was holding to water canister. Inare had slept through the whole night in exactly the same position as when she fell asleep, her body clearly having been too tired to move. Looking up at Masao she saw he was smiling at her, smiling, no he is laughing! A little disappointed that she waking up from a nice dream, where none of this had happened to her, into reality. Masao, seeing that she was awake, turned away and returned to the others.

With a groan, Inare slowly pulled herself up to a standing position. Hear head was throbbing with pain, and all her joints popped as she moved. Putting her hands on her back, she arched backwards and stretched her aching back. Satisfied once she heard a pop, she then hunched over to relax. Moving her hands away from their place at her back, she put one to her forehead, pushing some chakra into her hand she dulled out the pain from her head, stopping the slight spinning sensation she was getting from it. Moving her neck, she flinched at the extreme stiffness she had there, putting both of her hand to her neck, Inare proceeded to massage her neck using chakra enhanced fingers to smooth and relax the stiff muscles.

Removing her hands away from her neck once she felt better, Inare looked to the sky to get an idea as to what time it was, it was still dark, but the beginnings of morning made the sky dark blue instead of black. Looking away from the camp, she saw that Masao, Isshin and Madara where all awake and discussing something away from her. The two shinobi that had been drunk the day before, where still sleeping it off. Feeling the tickling of water slowly falling down her back, she reached back and put her hand down the back of her shirt to wipe the water away.

Looking down at herself, she saw that her clothes where all covered in a fine layer of dirt and dust. Gabbing the collar of her shirt she smelled the piece of clothing, instantly regretting it, the was a repulsive smell of stale sweat on it. Deciding to ignore that fact that she neither looked nor smelled too great at that moment, Inare turned her attention back to the three shinobi. She really didn't want to go with them, but five against one was a very bad gamble. What Isshin had told her last night before she fell asleep really did want to make her risk everything and just run.

Though she knew that she would be worse off is she had run last night, carrying a burden of guilt and running away from elite ninja. Inare wouldn't have been able to return to Kirno, especially with the risk of her mentor getting harmed.

None of the men were paying attention to her, and ideas on her previous thoughts where beginning to form in her mind. If I just slipped out now... they might not notice...no... that's just stupid. They are ninjas of course they'll notice! Ignoring her ideas, Inare realised heaviness in her lower body. Despite not having drank much yesterday, Inare really needed to use the bathroom. Clamping her thighs together, Inare tried to ignore the need. Still in the same position, Inare felt a little odd for just standing in the middle of the clearing. Hopping from one foot to another, she was gradually becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with the need to urinate.

Looking back to the shinobi, she realised that their important discussion wasn't going to end any time soon. Feeling that she had no reason to ask for permission to go and pee, she was an adult after all, Inare turned around and walked off into the forest. She hurried as the need was almost too desperate. Once she stepped out of the camp a kunai was suddenly embedded in the tree next to her. The shock at how fast the kunai suddenly appeared nearly made her pee right then. Turning around with her legs still clamped shut and her hands cupped in front of her to cover the possibility of a little wet patch, she faced the three shinobi looking at her.

The way in which she was standing gave the three shinobi the impression she was trying to pull off an innocent act in front of them. Though her smile was more of a grimace, and she appeared to look a bit strained. "Where are you going?" Madara was the one to ask the question they all wanted to know. They had all been aware of her the moment she had been awoken by Masao. Out of the corners of their eyes, they all curiously watched as she stretched herself after waking.

Feeling a little confronted, Inare unconsciously tightened her legs together. They were really going to make her say it, Inare was very uncomfortable saying that she needed to piss in front of three elite shinobi, and it just wasn't a very good conversation started. Trying to avoid the topic, Inare replied in what she thought was quite smart. "I can tell you where I'm not going" she said while trying to fight a smile.

"Just answer the question" Madara growled out.

Someone is clearly not a morning person. Since her plan had backfired, Inare really didn't have any other choice but to answer, as she was running out of time. "To... answer the call of nature?" she said it more like a question than anything else, but it was the most subtle way she could put it. Despite her subtlety, Inare face still heated into a light red colour. Looking at the faces of the shinobi, she had to ask herself why she tended to make things more complicated than necessary. Masao rolled his eyes, Isshin's face was indifferent, and Madara had a brow raised.

Seeing that she had got some form of a silent confirmation from the men, Inare turned around started to walk back into the forest, one she was out of sight from the camp, she jogged until she felt she was far enough to safely do her business without being disturbed. Walking behind a tree, Inare was now thankful that she had changed into a skirt the day before.

A few minutes later, Inare had done what she needed to and placed her clothes back in their appropriate position, and Inare was feeling a lot better. Kicking up some dirt to cover up her mess, Inare turned to face the direction of the camp, she was about to start heading over there, when she heard the flow of water. Turning back around to face the direction of the noise, Inare walked a bit further until she came across a river. Feeling a little relieved that she had found the river, Inare walked up to the bank and knelt down beside it. Reaching over, she cupped a handful of water and washed her face with it, gasping slightly at the temperature of the water. After drinking down a few mouthfuls of water, Inare felt a refreshed and relieved.

Standing up, she turned to face the camp.

It suddenly hit her that this could be one of her opportunities to escape. No one would be blamed for it, and she already had at least a few minutes head start. It was perfect. Looking at the river, she had a good idea. If she ran over the river, there would be no track to follow, her footprints would lead to the river, but from there they wouldn't know which way she went, they would have to slip up. The only problem was that if she started now, they would sense her using chakra, presume she was escaping and quickly come and get her. If she did go, they would only have to follow her chakra.

Suddenly losing all the excitement that came with her idea, made Inare look to the river with her head bowed, focusing on the flowing river. It wasn't a strong river, but it was quite wide, at least over twenty meters, by Inares estimate. If anything, it was calming and peaceful. Inare accepted the realisation that like all her previous plans, this one wouldn't work ether. She would never be able to fool the shinobi, they where smarter and stronger than her, plus, with her lack of knowledge on shinobi, she didn't know what to expect from them if they ever engaged in a battle.

Everything just made Inare more depressed, it was so unlike her. Inare was constantly cheerful and smiling as she talked all day long. With these men though, showing her true nature would make her venerable. Thoughts of smiling and laughter made her think back to Kirno, and how she was going to miss her teacher. She had already decided that she was going to leave eventually, but she wanted it to be on her own terms, not on the terms of other. Especially on the terms of people who didn't even know her. Inare dint want to be trapped, she wanted to explore, and be free to make her own decisions and do everything she wanted. With the Uchiha's she would never get than though.

All this gave the encouragement she needed. Don't think, just go, she thought to herself. Inare knew the stakes where low for her, but what would worrying about 'what if's' and the chances do for her? Nothing! She had to take the risks as it really was the only way to live. With those thoughts in her head, Inare pushed off with chakra enhanced feet onto the river. Steadying herself, she started running down-stream, following the flow of the river.


Excitement was fuelling her speed, making her go as fast as she could as she ran on the surface of the water. The wind was hitting her face as she travelled downwards making her un-brushed hair fly about behind her, but she didn't care, the thrill of taking this huge risk was making her laugh out loud and ignore everything else other than following the path of the river. When she came across a meander in the river she would run even faster so that she could jump over the piece of land to save herself from going all around the curve. It was all so amazing for her. The backs of her legs where completely soaked with all the water that had splashed up on them.

Inare must have been running for over two hours when her lungs and legs began to give out on her. Not wanting to exhaust herself, she slowed down into a walk, breathing deeply so as not to get any lactic acid build up. The environment had change considerably, when she started running downstream she was surrounded by tonnes of tree that where all close together, now there where fewer trees that where spaced apart. The biggest noticeable change was that the river had gotten wider.

She eventually stopped walking, taking the opportunity to rest. Since she was in the middle of the river, she walked over to the bank on her left so that she could sit down. Once she was down, Inare reassessed her situation. She had a group of five Uchiha shinobi after her, there was also still another shinobi after her, and she didn't know where the hell she was. Things are looking a lot better for me right now, she though soberly, though she did appreciate that fact that she was no longer with the shinobi, and she was on her own again. An unexpected and unwanted sense of nostalgia suddenly came over her. The last time that Inare had been alone was when she was ten, desperate for food. Kirnos kindness had been what Inare lived off for the last seven years, and she didn't want to remember the lonely years before Kirno, it had been tough and harsh enough for Inare to want to forget.

Looking up the river in the direction she had just come, Inare figured that it wouldn't be safe for her to continue to follow the river downwards. She needed to get off the river and back into the forest, she was too exposed where she was. With that thought, she could be wandering around the forest for day not knowing where she was going, not to mention that fact she still hadn't eaten. Looking down the river, Inare knew that she should come across a town eventually, most towns and villages base themselves around rivers, she thought to herself. But with the river being as wide as it was right now, the town itself must be pretty big, big town means a larger possibility of bumping into more shinobi. Now she was just getting paranoid.

Crawling over to the river bank, Inare drank some more water before standing back up to restart her journey. She decided that she would steer away from the river, head inland. Since she was on the other side of the river to when she started, Inare walked over the water onto the other side of the bank. Looking down, Inare was entranced by the rippled of water that formed at each of her steps. She must have almost reached the bank when it happened all too quickly for her to comprehend.

"Well Inare-chan, I hope that you have finished you bathroom break as we are running late". Shocked at Madara Uchihas voice, Inare stopped as her head snapped up to see where it had come from. She was surprised to see that there was no one on the bank where to voice had come from, Kami, I'm hearing his voice in my head. Now I'm paranoid. Still looking at the bank, she tried to calm her racing heart.

Releasing a few deep breaths, Inare took another step towards the bank. It was after her second step that Madara himself appeared right in front of her. Shocked by his sudden appearance, Inare jumped back and accidentally lost control over her chakra for a fraction of a second, but that was all it required before she went crashing down into the cold water.

The air in her lungs was pulling her towards the surface. Not feeling entirety ready to face the Uchiha, Inare screamed all her frustration and let out all the air that was left in her lung, letting her body sink to the bottom of the lake. Maybe if I stay here he'll think I've drowned. She had to smile at the thought. Opening her eyes underwater and looking upwards she could see that he was still standing in the same place, and appeared to be looking down towards her. Despite the tightness in her lungs, Inare refused to surface, she couldn't deal with this, so she continued to sit on the bottom of the river.

Shortly after the strain in her body became too much for her to handle, she had to surface. Swimming desperately to the surface Inare took in a good lungful of air once she broke through. With her body replenished of oxygen, Inare let her body float where it was, contempt with ignoring Madara Uchiha, even though she was facing the man. What Inare didn't expect was for him to suddenly pick her up by holding her by her shoulders. As Inares body left the river, there was a mini waterfall of excess water that had gathered in Inares clothing and am hair.

Inare, who was being held at eye level with Madara Uchiha, was angry to see that that he bore a delighted smirk on his face. "Look what I found, a wet puppy!" he exclaimed with childish joy. Gritting her teeth in anger at his comment, Inare proceeded to attempt to kick him in his crotch with her right leg. Before she could succeed in her goal, she was dropped back into the cold water with a 'umph'. This time when she surfaced, Madara had already moved back onto the river bank, having done so to avoid getting wet.

Fuming with anger, Inare swam to the bank and climbed out. Sitting on the grass, pulled her hair over her shoulder and squeezed all the water out of it and onto the ground. Standing up on her legs, she turned to face Madara. She was still so angry, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Inare had been caught once again, but at least she could say she had tried. Looking up at the tall man, she became extremely conscious of her height again, the top of her head barely reached his chin. She was also aware of their proximity. Turning away for him, she looked down at the clothes. They where heavy with water, and would keep her wet for a long time is she didn't get the water out of them soon.

"You should get the water out of your clothes" Madara said, as if reading her mind.

Nodding her head in understanding and agreement she walked away to get out of Madara line of sight. What she didn't expect was for Madara to follow her. Turning around she looked at him and asked what he thought he was doing.

"Making sure you don't run away gain, of course" he replied with a smirk.

"Im wet, cold, hungry and lost. I really don't think I'm going to get far if I do run"

"We can't take any more chances with you"

"Im not going to take off my clothes with you watching" she said back as her face became a dark shade of crimson.

"Don't worry, I've seen plenty of naked women" he replied flippantly.

Thoughts of what he had been doing while seeing women naked infiltrated her mind, and none of them exactly pure. Her face went even darker than before. "Y... you... you're not going... to see me..." she stammered, unable to day the word "... like that".

Laughing at her modesty, Madara walked over to where she was standing and with his thumb and fore finger, he took her chin in his grip and tilted her head up towards his. Leaning in, he saw her brown and innocent eyes widen with fear. She took a step back to get away from him, but he followed her still with her chin in his grip. "What's the matter Inare-chan?" he asked seductively leaning in to speak into her ear. She was about to move backwards again, but his other hand curved around to her back, holding her in place.

Inare's mind was blank as to what she should do, one minute he was laughing, the next he is being seductive with her. The mood and character swings where what scare her most about him, he was so unpredictable. Now that she was locked in place by his arm, her heart was beat rapidly. She had never in her life been this close to a man, and looking at his face she grudgingly realised that he was stunning. His strong jaw line and high cheek bones where overlooked by Inare as she focused on his eyes. Lines under his eyes made him look as if he was tired, but the strength in his eyes completely contradicted that feature. His eyes, which she had never seen up close for more than a second, where even darker than she remembered, and one feature she hadn't noticed before was the three little black dots that surrounded his pupil.

His face seemed to be travelling towards to hers, tensing up in his hold, Inare leaned away to put some distance between them. Inare then tried to use her feet to get her way, but Madara just pulled her in closer. His hot breath was now fanning her neck, so she instinctively raised her shoulders to block it. The sound of his chuckle in her ear causing shivers, "No need to be shy Inare-chan" he whispered. She could take it anymore, it was becoming too much for her. She was on the verge of whimpering when she suddenly felt something wet move along her neck. His tongue!

This shocked Inare out of her state, putting her hand onto his chest she gave him a quick push while she pulled away from his grip. Letting go of her, Inare fell backwards to the ground and landed on her rear. Feeling disgusted at what he had done to her, but mostly how she had been unable to stop him, Inare quickly stood up and jogged away from the man. This time thankfully he didn't follow her. She couldn't believe that she had let herself become so vulnerable to him. Not being able to control her mind really scared Inare. That he could do that to her, scared her much more.

Finding a secluded area out of Madaras sight, Inare unbuckled her belt and hung it over a tree branch. She then pulled of her shirt off and squeezed out all the water she could, after shaking out some of the wrinkles she hung it up on the tree branch with the belt. Untying the bandages, Inare unravelled the wet material off her equally wet body. Not wanting to put the wet bandages back on, she reached over to her belt that had her pouches in. Thanks to the good quality of her belt pouches, all of the contents of her bags had stayed dry, except for one that hadn't been closed properly. Shoving the binding in her hand into one of the available pouches, Inare looked through all the pouches for the item she needed. Using her hands she wiped off any excess water on her upper body before pulling out a wide and extra long roll of bandages. Carefully wrapping it around her chest and stomach, Inare then secured both ends of the bandage just under her armpit.

Pulling off her underwear while still wearing her skirt, as she didn't want to be completely exposed. Inare rinsed the water of them as well before placing them on the branch to dry a bit. Looking at the items of clothing that where drying, Inare contemplated how she would dress so as that she was as comfortable as possible, while still being modes. As much as Inare didn't like to use bandages to make up a shirt, she really had no option here until her real shirt dried, and she doubted that shinobi would wait long enough to allow for her shirt to dry. Since it was still in the early hours of the morning, the intense summer heat of the day had not started yet.

Deciding there was nothing she could do for her lower body, Inare put her underwear back on and took her skirt off to squeeze the water out of that piece of clothing before putting it back on after a few shakes. Feeling slightly better as her clothes where no longer heavy, but still uncomfortable with being wet. Inare then threw her hair over her head and shook it, and using her hands she squeezed some left over water out from the tips. Throwing her hair back, she shook her hair again so that it all fell in its appropriate places. Inare didn't even have to look to know that her hair was a mass of waves and knots. Grabbing her belt from the tree and putting it back around her waist she then tucked her shirt into the belt. Turning around, Inare walked back to Madara. She didn't want to go back, but she was being honest when she said that she was hungry and lost. There was no way that she could get away now, and she was beginning to give up again.

Walking back, Inare found Madara leaning against a tree. He only briefly looked over to acknowledge her return before he stood straight and started walking away. Not wanting to be left behind, yet still keep her distance from the man, Inare walked at the same pace. They were heading upriver, much to Inares annoyance, I just came this way, she would have spoken her complain out if she wasn't so terrified of the shinobi just ahead of her.

Half an hour passed with Madara and Inare walking in silence, none of them seemed to mind the silence, but Inare did want to know where exactly they were going. When Madara finally stopped, Inare was reluctant to go any neared to him than she already was. In the time that they had been walking, the trees one again had become closer together, they still weren't in the forest but they could see the thick tree coverage of the forest just up ahead. Inare presumed that's where Madara was going to lead her too. Though as they just stood there, Inare was beginning to wonder what on earth was going through this man's mind.

Inare was about to ask what they were doing, when four dark haired shinobi appeared in front of Madara. Inare instantly recognised Masao and Isshin, the later who looked extremely agitated. The other two men who Inare wasn't familiar with where there, they seemed to be quite tired from the groggy expressions they wore. From where she was she couldn't hear the silent conversation going on between the five men, though she could see that Isshin wasn't exactly happy. She silently hoped that it wasn't because of her.

None of the men seemed to notice her, To which Inare was grateful for, since what she had covering her upper body wasn't exactly much. Reminded of her shirt, Inare pulled it out from her belt and checked to see how dry it was. Sadly, as because it had been against her wet skirt, there was very little improvement. Tucking the shirt back where it was, Inare looked down at herself. Inare had always been conscious of her breast size, they weren't exactly huge, but along with her small figure they did make her body look a little disproportionate. Crossing her arms over her stomach as a form of comfort, Inare looked back at the shinobi who seemed to have broken up into two smaller groups. One had the two shinobi whose names she didn't know and Isshin. The other had the remaining two.

Isshin briefly turned to her and softened his feature to give her a small smile, she would have returned it but the vanished before she could. Inare was shocked at their sudden disappearance, but was becoming accustomed to these shinobi coming and going at quick speeds. Looking over to Masao and Madara, she realised what was going on. The group had become too large to travel together, so they broke up into two smaller groups, and she was left being with him. Inare was slightly disappointed that she couldn't be with Isshin, out of all of them, she like him the most, even if she didn't know him. Isshin had at least attempted to comfort her, his form was a little cold, but he tried, and even gave her an opening to escape. Though thankfully her journey wasn't going to be completely hell as Masao, who wasn't as nice as Isshin but was still a lot nicer than Madara, was going to be there as well.

Shortly after Isshin and his group left, Madara and Masao talked among themselves a little longer. Madara eventually looked in Inares direction, and then nodded to Masao. After turning to face her, Masao quickly walked over to where she was.

"Inare-san, we are going to be running for the rest of the day at a fast pace. Will you be able to keep up?" Inare hadn't expected him to ask her that, she figured they would just presume she was weak and deal with it. Inare knew that she wouldn't be able to keep up with them, she could do high speed running with chakra for only a short amount of time. "Probably not" she replied honestly.

"Very well then" he said before the turned around and crouched down. Inare was a little confused at what he was doing, so took a step back. Masao, noticing her movement, looked around to her. "Inare-san, get on my back", he said seeming a little rushed.

"What?" Inare asked, still not understanding but not feeling very comfortable with what he was telling her.

"You've never rode on someone's back, when you were a kid?" he said turning to face her completely and standing up straight.

"I... don't... think so" she said hesitantly, she really didn't know if she had ever done such a thing.

"It's really simple; just climb onto my back, wrapt your legs around my waist and your arms around my neck" he said impatiently before returning to the same position. When she didn't do what he said, he turned around again, with a exasperated sigh, and took a step closer to her. With his right arm he grabbed hold of Inares left forearm. Spinning around while pulling her arm over his shoulder he took hold of her right leg and hoisted her up onto his back. Now that she was on his back, he needed her to get secure. To do that, Masao pushed chakra into his feet and sprinted off in the right direction. Her reaction was instant, she let loose a small shrieked at the speed they were going and flung her free arm over his neck tightly and securely wrapped her legs around his waist.

Madara, who had been watching the entire time, laughed a bit at the girls' insecurities and modesty. Looking in the direction Masao had just gone, he too pushed off the ground to chase after them. When he did catch up with them, he saw Inares head buried into Masao's neck and her arms almost chocking the man. Chuckling again at her, Madara looked ahead and focused on the terrain they were travelling over. Due to some unavoidable occurrence, they had to take a longer way around to the stronghold, which would extend the duration of their journey. What should have been a day and a half journey would turn into three days because of the detour. They would now have to head away from the town and enter a different forest where they would continue over the mountain and onto another town to restock on supplies. Then, travelling parallel to mountain they could go across the country till they got close to the stronghold, when they would once again travel over the mountain to get back.

They wouldn't have had to done this if it wasn't for the Senju that where occupying the entire province up ahead. As much as Madara did enjoy fighting his clans' rivals, they were not prepared for such a confrontation. Isshin's group would travel the same route, but ahead of them by a few minutes. If they happened to come across any Senju or other shinobi, Madara would be informed by the other group, and they would avoid a fight that could result in any harm coming to their new medic. For today, the two groups would travel until they reached to town on the other side of the mountain, restock and travel some more until they camped for the night. It wouldn't be a difficult journey, but it was time consuming.

If it wasn't for Isshin accidentally coming across upon the third shinobi of that group sent to capture Inare, they would have never found out about the Senju occupation. The three shinobi where in fact from the Senju clan, and although the final man refused to speak, Isshin's sharingan got out all the information they required. It was their mission to capture the girl and bring her back to the town up ahead, where they would then have handed her over to some higher up shinobi to be taken back to the Senju's territory.

Knowing that the Senju wanted this girl made Madara all the happier that he had happened to stumble upon her. That the Senju where going through so much trouble to get her did make him curious about who exactly she was and what was so special about her. Looking over to Inare he saw that she was still in the same position as before with her face buried into Masao's neck, although she had loosened her hold on his neck. Returning his gaze ahead of him, a sinister smile creped onto Madara's face as e thought about the future, this is going to be interesting.


AN: and there you have it.

I hope you enjoyed it!