A/N: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Slow-burn romance.


He is covered in sweat, dirt and small speckles of blood. But so is every other ninja passing through hokage tower. Even though he's back in Konoha and done with the mission, his senses hardly relax.

He is quick to notice the heavy presence of ninja - New recruits? Not surprising. The number of new recruits promoted to the higher ranks was constantly growing as the demands of war increased. Send them sooner and send them younger. It was an obvious path toward mistakes, but as long as all sides of the conflict were forced to make the same ones, it didn't matter.

A group huddled in the corner are young and though whispering, hardly discreet.

"The brat came again." Their voices carry over to him.

"She shouldn't even be allowed inside the compound." Ah, Uchiha. The trademark jet black hair and exclusivity. He thinks briefly of the vibrant orange goggles and smiling face of his fallen comrade. A pang of guilt hits him.

In a haughty voice that suggests his father is a high-ranking official - "My father says she's after our clan secrets. Seen her watching our training exercises."

The other one laughs. "What good are techniques she can't even wield? Isn't she just a little kid?"

"More like a freak. I heard she drove her mother insane from inside the womb. Then became an orphan when she killed her own -"

"KAKASHI!" His eavesdropping ends with the cheerful voice of Rin. She waves to him from the end of the hall.

"Rin-chan, why are you here? Go get some rest."

She looks sheepishly up at him, a soft pink painting her cheeks. "I thought we could grab lunch."

"I have to submit the mission report. Go without me." He makes to pass her, but she grabs his hand.

"We haven't had a good meal in weeks. Please?" Rin tilts her head to the side with a smile. He sighs. Where is this going?

He acquiesces anyway. " I can meet in an hour."

"Yatta! Yumi-chan will -" She realizes her mistake when Kakashi freezes.

Silence.

"You're just hurting her in the end."

"But...but she's our friend!"

As if a cosmic reminder, the hokage's door suddenly swings open. A ninja staggers out covered in blood, but without any open wounds. His eyes are empty, devoid of feeling as he exits in a broken trance. People look on - not in sympathy, but in disapproval. Their glares hoping to imbue in him the hardened mentality of a ninja.

Kakashi's eyes follow his figure with his own mask of emotion up. That's why... I have to protect her this way.

"Don't bring her up again." His voice sounds harsh even to himself.

Kakashi gently disentangles his hand from Rin's.

She barely hears his whisper as he closes the hokage's door behind him - "Please..."

Of course, he wouldn't show for lunch. And Yumi would be none the wiser.


"Again."

"Are you sure this is working?" Shisui says, holding up his hands in the ready position once more.

"Not at all." Yumi admits without hesitation. She is positioned behind Shisui, her palms flat against his back.

"Haaa?" He strains his neck around and sees Yumi with eyes closed. A look of complete concentration. He smiles, easily reinvigorated by her unspoken determination.

"This time 50% power."

"Hai!" His hands quickly shift through the seals - "FIREBALL JUTSU!" Flames quickly envelop the top of the lake, glittering over the surface in dangerous proximity.

And once again she concentrates on feeling the chakra move within him. Such power. So much potential.

They'd been training together periodically for a few month. Everything before was her simply reading his chakra flow. He is prodigious and therefore each move he makes is so precise it's hard to pinpoint any cracks. But she can tell that for how much chakra he is inputting into the jutsu, he isn't outputting as much as he could be. Like walking around a lake instead of crossing straight over via a bridge. A waste of resources. But where?

His breath let's up. He pants lightly, but hardly warn out. "Did you do anything?"

She shakes her head. Close. Like a word just on the edge of one's memory - an outline searching for clarity. And once you grasp it, it's yours.

"No. Again." I'll get it this time.

"How about lunch first?"

Her hands instantly fall from his back, eyes flying open.

"Mm!"

He chuckles, having learned some of her quirks already.

He walks back along a path they have never used yet. "C'mon!"

She patters after him.

Her eyes widen slightly as they quickly approach a traditional, two-story house. Shisui is from a powerful family. Powerful even by Uchiha standards. She hadn't realized until now, but the training ground was private property located right in Shisui's backyard. They had initially practiced on the grounds just outside of the compound, but had soon changed areas on his suggestion and consideration for the charred trees.

"Why should we have to do that?" The sound of a cup slamming hard against a table echoes to them outside.

Yumi grabs Shisui's hand, stopping him from entering.

The same masculine voice yells - "Isn't that just what they want?! To keep our clan under their control?"

He grins assuredly and leans down to whisper in her ear. "Oto-san has a temper, but he's all talk. He's just showing off in front of Kaa-san."

She doubts that heavily.

But sure enough, when Shisui slides open the door, the yelling instantly stops. Shisui's Oto-san coughs, glancing away with a blush on his cheek. Shisui's Kaa-san giggles fondly.

"Kaa-san we're hungry!"

"Oi is that the first thing you say to your mom when you come home?!" Shisui's Oto-san barks out.

His Kaa-san laughs, obviously not upset by his greeting t all. "Thank you dear."

"Gomen, gomen. This is my friend Yumi-chan." Yumi bows respectfully and takes a seat at the table.

"Hi. Thank you for all the snacks."

"Anytime, sweetie. I've heard so much about you! How does onigiri sound?"

Yumi perks up instantly and nods enthusiastically.

His family is peculiar. His father is overwhelmingly in love. His mother is beautiful in the ways that matter. And even this can't protect him from war. Because he is too talented to be left alone. Because although she hasn't seen it yet, she knows when he doesn't hold back, his eyes are the most captivating crimson.

So when she swallows her last bite of onigiri she demands Shisui stay and help his mom clean up. And she walks herself out. Because maybe it's best not to get attached. Stay an outsider. Part of her knew even then, how ridiculous those thoughts were...especially considering this was Shisui. But she was facing, for the first time in her life, distancing from the most important person in her life and didn't know why. Am I not meant for lasting bonds?

And when she walks out the main entrance without her companion, she is once again subject to the scornful gazes of older Uchiha. They talk of her inferiority, her plans of subterfuge, her manipulation.

"She needs to be put in her place." They mumble as she leaves.


A pained scream emerges from deep within the underground lab. It echoes closer, lingering apprehensively in the air.

It is dark and cold - not just in temperature, but also in its harsh edges and sterile, metallic textures. The only light comes from the soft, fluorescent glow of the human-sized glass chambers lining the walls. Children float inside only a few of them - most are newly empty save for the liquid.

Danzo walks the long hallway, not paying any mind to the tubes. He stops at the end of the hall.

"Orochimaru."

The pale, snake-like man doesn't turn to greet him. He deems his work far more important. The insolence.

"Yesssss?" His tongue slithers out of his mouth, licking at his lips as he examines an eye on his lab table. Below it is a scroll with intricate kanji patterns extending to the edges of the paper.

"Are they ready?"

"They're dead." He says without remorse.

His voice takes on an edge - "All of them?"

Orochimaru's hands form a hand seal to activate the fuinjutsu on the scroll. For a moment, nothing happens. Until the eye suddenly starts to decompose. It squirms chaotically, then shrivels into dust.

"They were weak." He says obviously, while dusting off the scroll in disgust. "All so weak."

Danzo's hand clenches tighter around the grip of his cane.

"Then find the strong."

Orochimaru finally turns around. "I want the eyes."

"And you'll get them. Our paths desire the same ends, do not forget that."

Orochimaru turns away again, reaching for a jar on the shelf - the one with Yumi's hair. He delicately places the strands at the center of the scroll.

Forming the same hand seal, he activates it. And again, for a moment, nothing happens. Until the tendrils weave together in perfect circle on the paper.

Orochimaru watches with pleased fascination.


A/N: The next chapter should come soon...I split this one in two cause it was so long!