Fire.

That was all he saw around him in the familiar landscape that was once Konoha. The smell of burning wood, cinder, and ash filled the air around him. Heat radiated out from everywhere and it felt like he was being cooked alive. The crackling of wood and screams of everyone from the village filled the air but all the noises were more of a distant background noise rather than something he should have concerned himself with. But none of that mattered to him right now, he was searching for someone and something like a fire wouldn't slow him down.

"NEE-CHAN!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs. "WHERE ARE YOU?" He looked around him to see if he could spot any sign of his older sister. The sound of wood snapping above him instantly had him moving backwards before he even looked up. An archway had collapsed onto the ground and released a great wave of heat towards him, forcing the six year old to back up even further. That would've buried me if it wasn't for Nee-chan's training... I gotta tell her about it when I find her.

Deciding to avoid the route that the archway that had just collapsed on, Naruto went into alleyway that had yet to be fully consumed by the Flames. The Alley itself was a bit darker than the rest of the flame consumed village but it was better than having to be in the Flames right now and he needed to find his sister. And so, Naruto took a step towards the Darkness in the alley.

Step by step he went, hoping that an intersection would come up soon so he could loop around to make his way back to the path he was previously on. None were in sight for the alley just seemed to keep on going and getting darker and darker as he went further on, the Flames barely keeping the path that he was on illuminated. The sounds of the Flames and the screaming of the people slowly faded along with the Light, soon replaced only by the echoing of his sandals across the walls of the alleyway.

How long is this thing? Naruto thought in frustration. It's like it goes on forever.

"NEE-CHAN!" He decided to try his luck on whether or not his voice would carry down the alley and maybe to elsewhere. And so he waited, hoping that there would be a response from his beloved sibling.

"..."

Only silence was his answer.

"What's wrong boy?"

Naruto quickly turned around to see who it was that spoke to him. Or should it be said, what spoke to him. Sitting atop a trash can was a small fox that was no larger than a cat and was silhouetted by the flames that its back was to. He couldn't make out much of the details of it but he could faintly see an reddish-orange fur that was all over its body. Its gleaming blood red eyes that shined like ruby gemstones in the darkness. And a single tail slowly moved itself around the fox.

"I'm trying to find my Nee-chan," the young boy honestly replied. He didn't really think twice about it for there were legends about foxes being messengers of the gods.

"So you need to see if the - is okay? Hmmm..." The fox hummed in thought.

"Wait, what did you just- ARGH!" The fox leapt at his face and bounced off of his head to land behind the young blonde. "WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA!?" He shouted at the small creature.

"Follow me," was all it said as its tail made a 'come here' motion as it walked further into the Darkness. Thus the boy followed the fox into the Abyss that seemed to be almost all around him, save for the Flames that were slowly beginning to fade.

After some time, what felt like hours to the boy, the alleyway finally ended and they happened upon a clearing that was by the lake near the Uchiha compound. But what caught his attention was the blade that was sticking up from the ground right next to the small lake.

"Nee-chan!" Naruto rushed over to the area where he saw his sisters' blade at and left the sitting fox behind. As he got closer, he could see the form of his sister laying on the ground next to her sword and a sense of relief washed over him... but it was short lived.

"Nee...chan..?" His sister was laying in a pool of her own blood that was coming from a hole in her lower abdomen, just below her belly button and just above her genital region. "...no... way... He hesitantly took steps toward her. This was the first time he had ever seen his sister in such a critical looking condition, even when she fought against the old pervert she had never been beaten this badly.

"...this can't be real..." Naruto fell to his knees once he was right next to his sister and was in a complete case of shock and denial. "Wake up," he placed a hand on her shoulder and started to shake her, tears starting to form in his eyes and that started to fall onto Tier. "Please Nee-chan... don't leave me... please... wake up," the words were barely spoken above a whisper but in the silence that surrounded them, it was thundering in his ears.

"Naru... to..?" He heard the hoarse voice of his sister call out to him and he saw her eyes start to flutter open.

"NEE-CHAN!" The younger blonde quickly wrapped her into a tight hug.

"..why..?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry Nee-chan! If I had been faster I could have found you and helped you!"

"...why... were you born?" The world seemed to freeze for him when he heard those words. He coudn't hear anything but her words as they rang in his ears and vibrated into his soul. He was so focused on what she said that he didn't notice the lake was starting to ripple nor the growing shadow from behind him. "If it wasn't for you... I could have lived a normal life and not be dying here... Tou-san and Kaa-san would still be here... why were you born a monster?"

Naruto was just too shocked from his sister's words to properly talk, let alone think.

"WHY DID YOU BRING THAT MONSTER WITH YOU!?"

It was at that point that the shadow had finally engulfed where the siblings were currently at and it caused him to look up and behind him. The once small fox was now large, larger than house and seemed to be as big as a mountain. The tail had multiplied into nine and he could see it's gleaming white fangs and blood red eyes shining through the shadows that covered its face. And all Naruto could do was just was just stare at it in horror.

"What's wrong boy? You look as if you've seen a Monster? Hehehe... it's funny... For that's what you are."

The water behind him exploded into the air as a large body jumped out of it and went straight for the monstrous fox. For a brief instant he could see a shark, that was the same size as the fox, sinking it's teeth around the neck of the fox before the water consumed him and pulled him under the depths of the water.

He struggled to breath, as if he was drowning but when he shot up, he found that he was still in his darkness filled room. He had started to breathe heavily from the nightmare he just had and his eyes had to take in everything around him to make sure that he was no longer dreaming. The frog clock next to him told him that it was only 0155 in the morning but Naruto knew that he probably wasn't going to get anymore sleep tonight... not unless he went there.

Tier laid in her bed just staring at the ceiling, just like she had been for the past several hours. Her hands rested behind her head, and underneath her pillows, as she just thought about the what Hiashi had asked her earlier that day, or should it be said yesterday. She closed her eyes as she thought back.

"Uzumaki-dono," The Hyuuga head had stated after he was sure that the younger one was out of hearing distance. "If I may ask, why would you refuse?"

"As I have told everyone else whose asked me this..." she started in a tired tone, as if she had done this hundreds of times before. "You're only inviting me to join, not both myself and my brother. And the only two who has offered to take the both of us, I don't trust as far as I could throw them. Plus, we're already under the care of Jiya-jiji."

She turned around so that her back was facing him and was just about to start walking when she thought that she should say just one more thing. "Hyuuga-dono, I do respect you and am thankful of the invitation, but I swore to my parents that I would raise Naruto to the best that I can and nothing will change that."

"..." Once he heard mention of her parents, Hiashi couldn't say anything to her at all. He wanted what was best for the girl, just like everyone else in the Village, thus the reason as for why he had asked her. But she was just as stubborn as her mother was, if not more so than she ever was.

Tier had started to walk away after she had said what she wanted to, not caring for leaving him in the middle of the street. She had somewhere to be and a promise to keep. And if there was anything that she learned from a certain Orange headed substitute, it was that you always keep your word... Even if she did learn about most of him from a conversation she had with one of his teachers. An annoyingly smart one at that.

He wasn't the first one to offer me joining their clan, Tier thought with an audible sigh. But he certainly won't be the last. She opened her eyes and moved one hand from behind her head to reach toward the ceiling with an open palm. Then there's also the matter with the Spiritual energy of Chakra I've been using... I'm able to use it and make it seem like there's a pressure around me, but it isn't Reiatsu. It's something within me but it doens't work by itself, like trying to grab water with a strainer. And it needs the Physical energy of chakra in order to be able to 'hold' it. I'm only able to use Sonído and Pesquisa is because those were instinctual when I was a Hollow and I was able to adapt them to use with chakra because I knew how it felt.

Tier grasped her hand into a tight fist. But what was that voice I heard earlier... it sounded so familiar.

The creaking of her door snapped Tier out of her thoughts and look towards the mop of blonde hair that was slowly peeking its way into her room. "I'm still awake Naru-chan."

She saw her younger brother freeze for a second before he fully entered her room while scratching the back of his head with sheepish laughter and carrying his frog plushie that Jiraiya had bought for him on his second birthday. "H-hey Nee-chan..." He was looking everywhere except for her direction. "D-do you mind... If I... slept with you?"

To her knowledge there were only two or three reasons as for why he would ask to sleep in the same bed with her; because he was lonely, because someone bullied him (one which she quickly took care of, so there hasn't been a need for that), or because he had a nightmare. "..." She didn't say anything to him for she just motioned for him to into her bed, which he smiled brightly at and got into her bed... right next to her. HIs favorite place to be at.

A small smirk appeared on her face as she watched him happily snuggle next to her but quickly disappeared as when she thought of how her parents in this life would have loved to been here instead of her. Hoping to hide the fact of what she had just thought about, she embraced her younger brother into a gentle hug and he felt the warmth of a sunny beach wash over. He knew that right there, next to his sister, nothing could harm him. But the dream he had stayed in the back of his mind and was currently haunting him.

Thus the two siblings stayed like that for several minutes, neither of them speaking for one of them didn't need to speak to say most of what she wanted to and the was having difficulty getting his words outs.

"Hey, Nee-chan," but when he did.

"Hmm."

"Can you tell me about Tou-san and Kaa-san yet?" He wasn't able to stop himself.

"I already told you Naru-chan. Once you become a Genin, since being a ninja is what you set your sights on, then I'll tell you about them."

"Mhmm," she could feel him nod his head against her chest and chin. She also felt him turn himself over so that way his back was now against her stomach. "Then... do you think that... I'm a m-"

"No," she cut him off before he could finish his sentence. A conversation that they've had a hundred times and will probably have a hundred more. He may be young but he wasn't stupid, slow maybe, but not stupid. She knew that Naruto had heard the Villagers talking about him in hushed whispers. She knew that he had seen the way in how they treat him differently from everyone else, especially her. She knew that this was something that was always going to haunt him until he knew why they treated him like they did. And she knew that she would have to be wordy with her response to comfort him.

"I've already told you this a hundred times now. You are my little brother, nothing will ever change that. Not the circumstances of your birth or even if the whole world stood against you. I'll never regret the fact that you were born as my brother and will always be on at your side," she could feel that he was shaking, from how much he was crying now, and she could feel him tighten his tiny hand around hers. It must've been a nightmare then... and one of his doubts must've popped up. She let out a mental sigh and made a decision.

"Do you want to hear a story?"

"Eh?" This had caught Naruto off guard. Not once has his sister offered him to tell a story that wasn't one he pestered her about. And especially so since it was nighttime. It was usually Jiraiya who told him bedtime stories. So he just nodded his head and wiped his eyes before he turned back around to face his sister and properly listen to her tale. "Okay."

"Once upon a time, a woman died."

"..." Naruto just gave her a flat stare that couldn't believe the way she started her story. "Don't stories start with someone being born?"

"Not all stories begin at birth Naru-chan. Sometimes they begin after death and hopefully you don't have a story like that anytime soon."

"...okay."

"...Once upon a time, a woman died. Her name was.." yes, what was a good name for her to use. Guess I'll use that since it hasn't been used in twelve years. "Her name was... Harribel."

I was planning on having this up earlier but Life happened and I had to get my rear windshield replaced this week. I had to Adult.

So in this chapter I more or less wanted to show a bonding moment between siblings that didn't involve shouting at each other... or fighting each other... or all the other weird things siblings do to bond... god the things me and my sisters are weird...

Then there was Naruto's nightmare and Tier explaining things... what could the future hold for these siblings? Amd to all you perverts... shame on you. SHAME I SAY! You know what you did when I wrote that scene and you just took it out of context... incest is not wincest.

I honestly do love it when you guys review because I do my best to respond to each and every reviewer, even if we don't see eye-to-eye on how I do things. But I hate when people respond to reviews in the AN, so for all you guest reviewers I do wish to also respond to you guys but I won't do so in the AN. Please make an account so we can converse. Reviews also empower me to do more. But I won't hold this fic hostage just for reviews, that's stupid.

So anyway...

Have any of you read Burn the Witch yet? I know I'm late on posting that but I've been forgetting to add it in since it was translated and I read it.

Please Read, Review, and Enjoy,

Stay Frosty,

SP4R