Between the rocks a blur darted, spun, and leaped from boulder to boulder, a flash of metal sparking brilliantly in the sunlight as they went. Frightened by the sudden disruption of their normally peaceful day a few birds screeched in surprise, a set of branches breaking from the trees as they erratically took flight. Down below the figure to blame for this disturbance landed on their tiptoes as they spun around to stride backwards, their head flicking to the side to avoid an attack.
Once more they bounded up into the air and through the trees in a spiralling formation, their body tightly squeezing through the thicket before they fell onto lush green grass. Skidding down the small slope of the gentle hill the figure continued to run, their head turning sharply to look behind them.

With widened eyes they hopped sideways swiftly, the second thrown blade narrowly missing the top of their head when the first one missed altogether. Allowing their chakra to slice through the water the figures attacker came towards them, another blade grasped in their hand as they lifted it up to do a sweeping arch down towards their side. In swift retaliation the latter shinobi flicked their foot upwards and splashed water into the face of their attacker, taking the moment they shifted backwards to avoid the liquid as a chance to swing their leg out and bring them down.
Successfully bringing the hapless nin down the figure went for the kill and drew a sword out to flick it down towards their nose, an almost transparent glare set upon their face as the latter looked up from the surface of the lake. Silently, almost ominously, they stared down their prey, the light shining off their eyes causing their concocting expression to shimmer all the more.

Slowly but surely the sword recedes back towards their side, allowing the defeated nin to relax their shoulders.
"I think I might just be better than you now." Lenore spoke, a bubbly smile drifting up her features.
"I'm getting too old for this." Hagoromo responded coolly, getting to his feet to brush some dirt that had gotten stuck to him off of his robes. Over the course of her training period Lenore had drastically grown in strength, far superior to that of when she had first came here. Her most distinct feature, however, was her sharingan. With the sages help Lenore had managed to activate her mangekyou without having to witness the death of a loved one, though it was a brutal process that left her battered and bruised for several days on end.
Once she had achieved it, however, the sage forbid her from using it unless it was urgent, noting that it was in her best interest that she only used the first two levels of her sharingan when it was entirely necessary. Lenore was not unfamiliar to the reasons behind such a request either, she knew that the overexertion of her eyes would cause her to go blind if she did not choose to use her powers wisely.

Lolling her ebony eyes over the sage Lenore began to follow him quietly, as the days ticked by Lenore had began to dread the time when she would need to leave this world and carry on into the next, leaving behind yet another place she had finally began to call home. The sage, on the other hand, could not be more delighted in this fact, she had derived him off his peace and solitude for too long. Only the slightest part of him felt as though her final night with him would be a long and painful experience, not that he would admit this, of course.
Heading towards his home, that she had somehow squirmed her way into somewhere along the line, the sage examined the familiar building with his usual calm demeanour. For a long time now Lenore had been living in a small room upstairs that he did not use, much to his displeasure. While he was only slightly appreciative that she was as quiet as a mouse while she was up there she was also a nuisance any other time of the day, leading him to wonder why he had not thrown her out yet.

Hagoromo could at least be satisfied in the fact that she was a source of entertainment when he called for it, and would cook his meals whenever he was hungry. Lenore, despite being an impatient child, was a fairly well trained cook to her credit, and he could tell that she took come pride in her meals. Ever since she had moved in he had not necessarily had to lift a finger, as she did all the cleaning for him as well. It was nice to be allowed a break once in a while, even a great sage like himself enjoyed a vacation.
Picking up one of her homemade dangos the sage hummed, they were the perfect treat to have after training from nine the morning until seven in the evening. Glancing over at her the man stuck the end into his mouth in thought, he was proud of her, even if he would not admit it openly; she had proved him wrong time and time again, and now she was stronger than he had imagined was capable for a person like her.

Despite being a hot-headed pain in his ass Lenore was a dedicated and hardworking student, even getting up before he did sometimes to do warm up exercises just so they could begin that little bit sooner and hardly took a break unless told otherwise. Even after he had beaten her to a bloody pulp countless times before Lenore was rearing to go the next day, as though she had not been in a single fight in her life, her enthusiasm was emotionally draining for him from time to time.
"You will be returning to the realm of the living room." he murmured, the dreaded sentence which caused every muscle in Lenore's body to tense. "I need to explain the implications to go." he then informed her, watching her come over to him and hesitantly sit down.

She seemed interested in hearing about what it would involve to send her back, but he could also see she was hesitant about the whole thing nonetheless. He had come to expect this somewhere down the line however, as they had spent a long time in each others company and had bonded in some way or another.
"Right now you are twenty-six years old, the same age you were when you first came here. When you return to the realm of the living your aging process will begin to move naturally once more." he explained, while she simply nodded. "I'm not sure how much time you've lost. From what I can tell you will not enter the same time period as before, nothing will be the same as it was. How much has changed is something I cannot tell you, however." he went on to state, while she simply nibbled her bottom lip.

Waiting for this to register with her the sage carried on.
"Your loved ones will either be far older than you, or long gone." he spoke firmly, watching her ebony iris' quiver. "Lastly, what we are about to do has not been done before. It took me many months to concoct a way of sending you back, and you will be the first person to try it. Once we use it there is no going back, and I cannot guarantee its success." he informed her, her head slowly bobbing to nod stiffly. Hearing the kettle hiss Lenore stood up, taking this as a convenient moment to pour herself something to drink whilst she took in everything he has told her. Hoping she fully comprehended what he had told her the sage watched her intently, the unfamiliar world he was sending her to would no doubt have a huge impact on her and she had to be prepared for the worst.

Laying on her back the night before her departure Lenore had found the house to be trapped in an eerie silence, her ears straining to hear something, anything, that was not the sound of her own breathing. Staring off into the ominous shadows the Uchiha turned onto her side to curl her knees up towards her chest, a vacant expression drifting over her features. Quietly she mulled over nonsensical thoughts, not quite sure what to do with herself.
Getting to her feet the woman took the discarded broom from beside the wall and began to sweep the ground in an attempt to preoccupy her mind.
"What did you do, what did you say? Did you walk… or did you run away? Where are you now, where have you been? Did you go alone… or did you bring a friend?" Lenore hummed, twisting on her foot as she slowly traipsed around the living room. "I need to know this cause I notice when you're smiling out in the sun, having fun, and you're feeling free; and I can tell you know how hard this life can be, but you keep on smiling for me." she chimed, pushing the dust out side.

Turning to go the opposite way Lenore began to bounce on her foot, glad to feel her blues beginning to subside.
"What went right, what went wrong? Was it the story, or was it the song? Was it overnight, or did it take you long? Was knowing your weakness what made you strong?" the Uchiha enquired, scuffling her feet off the ground. Glancing around Lenore placed the brush back against the wall and went back to sitting on the mat on the floor, a soft sigh parting her lips as she slid her arms out to either side of herself and fell backwards.
"I'm so nervous about tomorrow." Lenore murmured to herself, her head tilting to the side when the sage spoke.
"As am I, but only because I'm uncertain if it will work or not." he uttered, shutting the sliding door behind himself.
"You're a good sensei, I have faith in you." the Uchiha spoke, smiling up at him gently.
"Damn right I am." the red-haired sage responded after a short, bristled pause.

Peering up at the ceiling once more the Uchiha slowly drifted her eyes shut halfway and then paused, her lips opening partially.
"Hey, sensei?" Lenore asked, gaining his attention. "Thanks for training me, it really boosted my confidence. It took my mind off the world around me." she thanked him, while he merely grunted softly. Remaining quiet for a little while the sage raised his head to examine her when her breathing dissipated to a slow and silent movement, his knees bending as he got up to come over to her.
Kneeling he carefully picked her up, her body surprisingly light as he moved her into the next room. Turning to see how the priest was doing the sage soon gave the man a placid and awkward stare, while the white haired man in question simply glowered as he persistently squirmed around in the paper he had become bound in. Rubbing his forehead once Lenore was placed down on the ritual circle he went to the aid of the bumbling buffoon, untying him carefully so as not to tear any of the paper.

Setting up the summoning circle properly Hagoromo observed her sleeping form underneath the candle light, the burning flames casting their shadows over her body.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" the priest whispered, examining his friend for a moment as he simply leaned forward and placed his fingers over one of her shut eyelids. Confused the priest observed him, a faint glow passing through one of his closed eyelids and through his fingers which hovered over her right eye. Upon opening his eye once more the priest became shocked to find the rings of his rinnegan were gone, but the sage simply silenced him so as not to wake Lenore up.
"I can live without one of my eyes. It will only activate when her life is in danger." the sage uttered, moving his finger-knuckle across her cheek to wipe a tear away from it. His expression did not change however, but it was clear he cared for her in some manner of speaking.

Beginning the ritual the symbols around Lenore began to glow, while the paper began to rise in a circular formation around the resting woman's body. Underneath her the ground had began to ripple and shift, the wooden planks warping as she seeped into the floor slowly.
"Good luck, Lenore." the sage murmured, watching the last of her face disappear so that the floor could settle once more, the glow subsiding soon after. Once the ritual was complete a foreboding wind shuddered through the room, blowing out all of the candles which kept the room alight. Now they could only hope she would get to the other side in once piece.

Lost somewhere in the realms of her mind Lenore struggled to pull herself away from the gripping darkness below her, her hand grasping for the light filtering down just out with her reach as she swam through an endless expanse of, what she could only describe was, water. At first she missed, but on her second attempt she grabbed onto it and became blinded in its veil, her eyes weakly opening moments later as she found herself laying in a heap on an icy floor.
Groaning in dismay at her thumping headache Lenore rubbed her face, her body creaking as she sat up to peer through the darkness. Trust Hagoromo to leave her in a pitch-black room with no light source, she could only assume he was attempting to get her to break her neck by tripping over on something. Getting to her feet the Uchiha began to stretch, her fingers ruffling the back of her shoulder-length ebony tresses softly.

Raising her eyebrow Lenore rubbed her stomach, a soft yawn parting her lips. This place did not seem familiar, it did not smell like the sage's house, nor did it feel as unnaturally warm as his home either.
"Where am I?" she enquired, feeling her way along until she kicked something and leaned down to pick it up. Rolling it between her fingers Lenore blinked softly, a match stick? Seeing if she could light it Lenore squinted her eyes as the confined room brightened up mildly, her head turning to examine the walls.
There was nothing but cold hard earth all around her, with a panel nearby that resembled a doorway which had caved in.
"Hello, sensei? This isn't funny, where am I?" the Uchiha called, tilting her head up to look at the familiar etchings on the wall. "Wait…" she spoke, turning to look about a little more before she turned her attention to the match.

Staring at the flickering flame Lenore's eyes widened slightly, this was the very same shrine that she entered back then to get into the realm of the dead.
"That's nice, you kicked me out while I was asleep." Lenore dryly grumbled, looking up at the dirt ceiling. It was better sooner than never, she supposed. "It's time to make you proud, Hagoromo. Just you wait, I'm going to change this world!" she chirped, balling up her fist as she grinned.
Beginning to dig the Uchiha tunnelled her way through one of the side walls, slowly curving the tunnel until she was going upwards. Hitting softer soil the brown dirt fell around her and into her hair, making her shake her head to get some of it off.
"I feel like a mole." she grumbled, dirtying her nails and caking her hands in the mud as she pressed onwards. Striking something hard Lenore stilled for a moment, her knuckle knocking against the wood and plastic as it made a resonating sound, she was almost out now, she could feel it.

Little did Lenore know that her efforts had been leading her up towards an occupied classroom, where the students were listening to someone rant on about something they had seen last night during an academy recess.
"And that's when the zombie came out and dragged the guy away. That movie really unnerved me." Lee explained, absolutely astonished by his own story, while the others just seemed sceptical about the whole thing.
"Can't have been that scary, I mean zombies don't exist." Kiba responded, leaning his chin on the table with a bored expression.
"Of course not, we'd have noticed." Naruto interjected, trying to get in on the conversation. "What do they do again?" he asked coyly, hoping to take notes and use them to scare a few people around the village.

Taking a moment to catch himself the teen in his green jumpsuit began to recall what he had seen during the film.
"Well, they come out of the ground, hands first, and stagger slowly around, they're pretty slow." Lee explained, watching Naruto come down to try imitate a zombie for zombie sly tips on how to be real convincing.
"Like this?" he asked, while the nin nodded. Seeing the floorboards move one of their fellow classmates looked towards Naruto's feet, their dull iris' coming to life when they realised they really were seeing the ground moving.
Gulping the began to sit up straight, the wood cracking until there was a large hole, the strays bits of wood falling down the dark hole.
"Uh, Naruto…" he spoke up, but the blond seemed to be too busy laughing and pretending to eat the side of Lee's head, much to his dismay.
"What else, what else?" the excited teen asked, examining him in an excited fashion.
"Well, sometimes they wait until you're near to where they are buried, so they can burst out of the ground and grab your ankle." he answered, while Naruto seemed to suddenly stiffen and stand bolt straight.

Feeling an array of bead-shaped sweat drops trickle down his face the blond slowly tilted his head down, gulping heavily when he found a hand gripping onto his ankle.
"Oh hey, just like that!" Lee exclaimed, looking rather impressed with the hand latched onto Naruto's ankle. "How did you do that?" he asked curiously.
"That's not me." he answered in an unintentionally shrill and high voice, causing the teen to blink and turn to look at everyone else questioningly, however they just glanced between one another and then back at the mysterious hand.
Slowly the hand let go and slithered back down the hole, allowing Naruto to scramble on his arm backwards with his eyes firmly placed on where the hand had been. Seeing the rest of the floor begin to warp and crack everything went still for a moment when it gave way, the entire group of students leaning forward in anticipation. Who on earth was pulling such a realistic prank on that nuisance Naruto?

Bursting up from the floor Lenore roared loudly, simply over exaggerating how much strained effort she was putting into getting out of the hole.
"I'm going to kill you, sensei!" she then snarled, her entire body covered in mud as everyone ran screaming from the room.
"It's a real zombie, don't let it bite you!" Lee all but squealed, gaining the attention of passers-by. When all went quiet Lenore groaned and pulled herself out of the hole to stand up and wipe her clothes down, her face crinkling up one side as she rubbed her fist.
"Now what where they screaming about?" she asked herself, looking around the empty room for a moment to see if anyone was left.
Outside the group were chattering amongst each other, daring one another to go in and draw the zombie outside so they could beat it up. Not that anyone was prepared to go in, however, begging a teacher to ask why they were all outside even though the bell had gone.
"What's going on?" Kakashi asked, raising his eyebrow.
"There's a zombie in our classroom." one of the boys stated firmly, while he gave them his usual calm stare. Glancing up at the academy windows in a placid manner he slowly wandered towards the doors
"Be careful!" someone called, while he simply smiled and waved. These kids would think up anything to get out of school work these days.

Wandering slowly down the corridor the white haired man examined the hole in the classroom, his eye lolling across the ground to follow the crumbled bits of mud back out the door and down the corridor. Curious as to what was going on the man followed them, his feet coming to a halt when he spotted a shadow further up the hallway. Observing it the man's face begin to grow pale as it lifted something vaguely head shaped and began drinking the goo out the top.
Suffice to say, he turned slowly and calmly walked back out of the academy to stand with the other pupils. Having heard someone coming Lenore lowered the large jug of water from her lips, her eyelids blinking as she came to the end of the corridor and poked her head out to find no one was there. Odd, she thought.

Glancing between one another the students were not quite sure what to make of the situation, but Kakashi, their 'fearless' superior, had called for the Hokage to come investigate instead at this point. Who only came because he had nothing better to do on his lunch break, besides, oh maybe, having a much needed lunch break and not have to deal with ridiculous things like this.
"What's going on?" he asked plainly, his eyes boring into Kakashi expectantly.
"There's a zombie in the classroom." he responded, causing the old man to question whether Kakashi was being sarcastic or entirely serious.
"And what do you want me to do about it?" he asked, narrowing his gaze lightly.
"Well, you're like a zombie, so we thought she might mistake you for-" Naruto went to say, clutching his noggin when the Hokage bopped him over the head to cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

Stilling everyone caught sight of the mysterious girl walking past the window, her head turning to look at them for a moment before she continued towards the front door.
"It's seen us." one of the students gasps, all eyes boring into the exit as she finally rounded the corner and pushed the doors open to come outside. Stiffening a few of them shuffled backwards behind the Hokage and Kakashi, as if they were going to safe them from the cannibalistic zombie.
"Please, spare our vital organs, we need them!" someone called, causing Lenore to stop in her tracks and give them a confused stare.
"As hungry as I am, I'm not that desperate." she replied with surprise, the fact that she could talk causing everyone to settle. It was not a zombie after all, it was just some girl that had somehow came out of the ground. This very fact causing them all to question what she was doing under there in the first place, or who she was for that matter.

Examining the students, who could not have been more than fourteen Lenore blinked, they were about the same height as her, which was strange as she was normally a rather tall person. Taking that into account Lenore looked up at the much older pair of men, who were a lot taller than everyone else. No, something was not right here. Lifting her hands to look at them the Uchiha examined her fingers, they looked a little chubbier than usual, almost as though…
"Senpai!" she shouted, elongating the word as she glared up towards the sky angrily.
"Who are you?" one of them dared to ask, causing her to still and tilt her head back down slowly.
"Oh, ohm, my name's Lenore." she answered, wiping her hands on her uniform that was much too big for her. "Where am I?" she enquired, deciding to shoot a question their way instead. "A hidden leaf village?" the woman went on to question, looking around herself at all the trees.

From what she could tell she was basically where she started, but instead of ending up coming out from a large tree she had dug her way out of the basement to a school, which hinted to the fact that perhaps the tree had been knocked down so they could build over it.
"It's a lot bigger." she murmured, scratching her scalp to knock more dust and dried mud out of it. Turning her head about a little more Lenore stopped to turn and look at the nearby mountain, her eyebrow twitching as she slowly raised her hand. "What is that?" she dared question, while the Hokage simply turned to look at it.
"It's our memorial to all Hokage's of the village." he responded, watching her expression shift.
"I see, then that's Hashirama." Lenore murmured, examined the first head on the far right of the mountain. "Don't you think it kind of gives away the village though?" she asked, slowly turning to give the Hokage, who's face was also up there, a sceptical look. Seeing the students were giving her strange looks Lenore frowned softly, perhaps she should have laid low until she knew more about her situation.
"Where's the nearest hospital?" the Uchiha asked, while the old man motioned for her to follow. Well, at least they had not killed her just yet.