Plugging her ears against the monster's roars, of which seemed drenched in pure hatred, Zuri trembled as she continued walking forward. The darkness caused her to stumble, although the strange light emitting from the battlefield served as a sort of beacon. Every once in a while, lights would flicker in her direction.

"I have... to… f-fight!" shouted a faint voice from somewhere over to her left. "Someone help me get up!" the male voice shouted again, somewhat more passionate than before.

Deciding she could not just leave the poor man to struggle on his own, Zuri climbed over the mountains of debris to his side, following the sounds of his whimpering in the pitch black night.

"I… I'm here to help," she said once she reached him, although not really knowing how she could be of any use. She was never been trained in medical ninjutsu.

"Well don't just stand there! 'Come here!"

She obliged. As she leaned forward, the man placed a bloodied arm around her neck, and pushed himself up, nearly knocking her over. Luckily, she was able to brace herself, and that's when she realized the man was missing a leg.

"W-where should I take you?" she asked hesitantly when she realized the man was trying to push himself forward, using her as a crutch. He merely grunted and pointed towards the battlefield. His leg appeared to stop bleeding, as he had a sort of makeshift tourniquet wrapped around it.

"Umm, I know you probably want to help your comrades, but shouldn't you get medical attention first?"

"You a medic?"

"No…"

"Then no. I'll fight."

Zuri sighed, accepting the fact that she would lose this battle.

"So who's side are you on?" she asked after a while of him aggressively pushing them forward as fast as they could go. She was trying to sort in her head what was going on.

"Less talking, more walking," was his only response. Seeing the girl's crestfallen expression however, he added, "The good guys of course."

Good guys? she thought. But who were the good guys? Surely her elder brother was a 'good guy', right? At that moment, she decided she would fight on Madara's side, no matter which side that might be.

"What village are you from?" the man asked, seeing that she did not have an allied shinobi headband.

"I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?"

"I mean I'm not really from any village."

"Not from a village? You're a shinobi aren't you?"

Zuri thought about this for a moment. She would like to think she was, but in all reality… "No, I'm not really a shinobi."

The man sweatdropped.

"Then what the hell are you doing here?!" He was frightened by the fact that some random girl had simply wandered into the battlefield.

"I'm here to help my elder brother," she said with a smile, clearly not understanding how absurd she sounded.

The man thought about this for a moment. He would have to report this later, but for now he decided that she wasn't any more crazy than he was, trying to reach the battlefield with just one leg. What more use could he be to his comrades than she could be to her brother?

"So what village is your brother from?" he asked as they both moved towards the raging monster. It seemed to be fighting something.

"I… I'm not sure about that either," Zuri said. She realized just how little she actually knew about Madara.

The man rolled his eyes and thought how stupid the girl must be, but decided not to press her further. In what seemed to be an instant, the beast-like monster that was occupying so much space just moments before disappeared. If the air around the battlefield was heavy, nothing could be compared the stringency felt now. The air was howling loudly in Zuri's ears, so much so that she could barely hear the one-legged man as he cursed and lurched forward, falling to the ground as the earth began to shake.

"What's happening?!" she screamed at him, covering both ears with her hands now that she no longer had to worry about carrying his weight. Dirt and roots came flying towards them at almost the speed of light, knocking Zuri to the ground beside her new comrade.

"This is bad!" he yelled back at her. Although they were only a few feet apart, if he hadn't yelled she would not have heard him.

"What do we do?"

As if answering her question, he army-crawled the rest of the way towards her, placing his arm back around her neck and trying to shove her to her feet with his other. The result was an awkward hold that made it look like they were wrestling.

"What's going on here?" shouted some voice coming towards them.

Zuri glanced from side to side and realized that shinobi were running about all around them now.

"This man needs help!" she shouted back to anyone who would listen, trying shove the one-legged man off of her back.

The shinobi who had approached whistled and two more came and stood by his side. Despite shouts of protests, the two men carried the injured man off to the nearest medical tent.

"What unit are you with soldier?" asked the man once he helped her up. The ground had stopped its violent quaking.

Should she be in a unit? Why was everyone asking her questions like this? Luckily the wind was beginning to die down, although the sounds of battle had not. Seeing her scared expression, the commander softened, showing off white teeth that matched his hair.

"I'm Darui. Find your squad leader soon, ok? We have new orders." And with that he took off towards the midst of the fighting.

Zuri sighed in defeat. With her one-legged friend by her side, she could at least pretend to be useful. Deciding to turn around to find more fallen victims, she froze as familiar chakra burst out from behind her.

"Susanoo!" she shouted, running towards the familiar face as a mass of chakra cut through the air, sending ripples of static electricity through it. "Susanoo! It's me! Come-"

She caught herself when her old friend seemed to change. It was no longer Susanoo standing just kilometres away, but it seemed to be mixed with some other chakra, and the appearance was no longer that of the god.

"Zuri? What the hell are you doing here?" shouted an angry Madara from above on a ledge.

Craning her neck to look up at him, she smiled, relieved to see her elder brother sitting so peacefully on a rock. Madara on the other hand, was furious that the girl had disobeyed him and snuck out of the compound. How was he supposed to take over the world while keeping her safe at the same time? She was too much trouble.

"I've come to help you!" she said, beginning to climb up the rock.

"I don't want your help. Take Sasuke and go home."

She smiled, panting as she reached the top of the cliff. "I don't know where Sasuke is. But I think he might be there," she said, pointing at the orange and purple Susanoo-like animal, fighting something off in the distance. Climbing onto solid ground, she fell into Madara's arms, content now that she no longer was in fear for her life.

"Let's go home together," she offered, nuzzling against his chest.

"I'm not done here yet," he said, not knowing what to do about the tiny teenager in his arms. A few feet away Hashirama's clone sniggered. He gave him a look that said 'shut up', and the clone pretended to look away. "Susanoo won't be happy if he sees you here. Go home and I'll meet you there."

"But I have so many questions," she trailed off, looking down at the battlefield below them. Dead bodies littered the dry earth. "Why would you do something like this?" She didn't understand many things about the world, but there was no denying that her elder brother was responsible for all of this before her.

"It's because this world is messed up," he said, not knowing why he felt the need to explain himself to her. "There is too much pain. Too much suffering. You want to see your dad again right? I told you I can make that happen. All of this is just a means to an ends. You'll see, in the end none of this will matter."

Zuri looked up at him sympathetically, nodding knowingly. Her elder brother was hurt. But did she have the right words to say to fix this wound? She had been thinking about what to say the entire time she and Sasuke had left the compound, and yet her mind was drawing a blank.

"This world does suck," she said quietly.

"So now you understand what I have to do." Madara was relieved she was coming to her senses.

"But," she continued, causing him to pause. "It doesn't mean that it's ok to do this," she pointed down at the shinobi fighting for their lives, "In order to achieve it. I'm here to tell you that it's possible to move on."

Madara shook his head and crossed his arms. "Pfft. Stupid girl, you don't know anything."

Zuri shook her head. "I do know something about the world. I know that when my dad died, I was all alone and had to to make due by myself. At that point, I might have agreed with you… but then I met Susanoo who became like family to me, and at that point I found a new meaning for my life. Later on I met you and Obito and Sasuke and Itachi and I felt like I was less alone when I was around you all. You all became like family to me as well! I know it might have been childish, but that is why I called you all by those names, as if to make pretend that we were actually a family."

"But I can make that dream into a reality!" he said, almost shouting at her.

"No," she responded calmly. "It already is a reality."

Madara was stunned.

"Sasuke already is my Sensei - he's taught me so many things! And you already are my elder brother! You always try to protect me and you also teach me things. Even now you're trying to protect me and convince me to see things your way to give me a better life! I couldn't ask for a better brother."

Madara stared at the girl and allowed what she just said to wash over him.

"It's not possible," he responded, shaking his head.

Zuri clenched her fists. Was he not listening to anything she was saying?

"I'm telling you that you're my brother! This is escapism! And you're… you're being a stubborn-ass!"

Madara cocked his head to the side and Hashirama's clone smirked. He shot his arch-rival a death glare in return.

"You're the one who's stubborn!" he retorted. They were bickering as if they were actual siblings. "How many times have I told you to stay at the compound? How many times have I told you that I can make this world a better place? If you stand in my way any more, I'll… I'll…" Madara cursed himself silently. He couldn't hurt Zuri because Susanoo who was now attached to his chakra would kill him.

"Madara," Zuri said, almost whispering. "I-It's ok for you to feel hurt by the world and to want to fix it, but this is not the way to do it."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need a lecture from you."

"Good, because I don't want to lecture you," she stated in a very motherly tone. "I j-just want t-to say that I… love you." Zuri said these last two words very quietly, although he could understand every part. "I look up to you as a brother, and I care about you, ok?"

Love? he thought as he wondered what this girl might mean. He had heard that word countless times, but only once was it ever directed at him - when he was five and his mother was on her death bed. Love? No. The word was foreign to him. The last person he allowed himself to love was dead…his little brother.

"Sasuke," continued Zuri, as if reading his mind. That brat looked a lot, like him. "Sasuke is here, and I think he agrees with me. All this fighting is just too much."

"Sasuke is easily swayed, don't pay him any mind."

Zuri frowned at him.

"We can still turn back," she said to him. "You can stop all this at any time you want. You and me and Sasuke and Obito can go out and live together as a family."

He smirked at the girl's naivety. "Do you really think they all will just let us walk out of here and say 'oh, hey, sorry for killing your loved ones, but we don't want to fight any more'? They'll kill us as soon as we turn our backs! And that's the way the world works." He scanned her face for a moment after saying his scornful words. "It's a nice idea, I'll admit." At least, the part about him and her together. Maybe Sasuke if he submitted himself to his authority. Definitely not Obito. "I'll make it happen when this world is mine."

"No!" she shouted at him, startling even the clone, since she had been relatively quiet before.

And then the idea came to her. Seriously, why had she not thought of this before?

"If… If you don't do as I say, I'll tell Susanoo you hurt me!"

Madara was dumbfounded. Was the pipsqueak really going to try to threaten him? Him? The legendary Madara Uchiha?

For a second, Zuri thought that her hastily thrown together plan wasn't going to work on him. Did her plot have any holes?

But the man sighed in defeat. If there was one thing Madara disliked more than this world, it was being manipulated, although, he could understand lies and deceit better than love. It was much more predicable. There was no way out on this ultimatum, for example. Even if the girl showed up without a scratch on her, he had a feeling Susanoo would still end him. That god was just waiting to get rid of him at any moment. Especially considering all the crap he put Zuri through already. Madara wasn't the best protector, and hardly any better at matchmaking.

"Alright, so what do you want me to do?"

Zuri blinked. She wasn't expecting such complacency. "Umm, well…" She hadn't thought this far ahead at all. Her brow ruffled as she contemplated their next step. "Let's help Sasuke," she decided. That would be a good starting point.

"You realize he's fighting Obito?"

"Then we'll have to go convince him to join our side too!" she said confidently.

Madara rolled his eyes. He wasn't so much convinced as coerced. She didn't have that same edge on Obito as she did with him. He would most likely have to step in to prevent him from killing her.

Madara quickly killed off the Hashirama clone that was vigilantly guarding him, and then took off down the slope with the girl, thinking about how to outsmart her. Perhaps he could just kill Obito and take his eyes when she wasn't looking.

All he knew was, he hated being under that god's thumb. Mostly because he wanted to surpass god himself. For some reason however, he didn't absolutely hate it with every fiber of his being when she was doing it. Maybe just half.

A/N

Hey everyone! Here it is, barely on time!

When I was thinking about how to do this, I originally had Zuri actually convince Madara, but as I was writing it, I realized it didn't seem to fit his character. Maybe later.

Anyway, hope you liked it! This has been one of my longest chapters so far.