Amidst the Hate: Chapter 53

Akira and his best friend were broken and defeated in Team Kakashi's training ground, as their assailant stood over them, and the aforementioned team sat on the side lines, watching with wide eyes. "Ugh...that...hurt a lot more than I thought it was going to..." said the hoodie-wearing man, his axe out of his reach.

"Yeah...wasn't...expecting that...ow…Haruka...can you remember that we're still not able to fight you when you're using full power? 'Cause we do…"

The young Uchiha let her head hang. "Sorry...I got carried away. I...just wanted to show just how much I've learned under mom since the last time they saw me for more than a couple minutes. Are you two hurt badly?"

Noboru sat up. "No...but we're going to need a few minutes before we can continue sparring."

"Okay." She put away the two kunai she used during the 'fight' and joined the dumbstruck teens and their sensei at the wooden posts. "So...what do you think? Am I good fighter?"

Sasuke was the first to snap himself out of it. "Yes. You...are far more skilled than I thought you would be...but considering who taught you, and how much Fu improved under her in only a couple months, it should be a given, especially as you're an Uchiha. Noboru and Akira just couldn't keep up, especially when you disarmed them. That was you using everything you've got?"

"Yep! Most of the time, I put a limit on myself so that they can get a good fight out of me, and when they can drive me in a corner, I ramp up the difficulty a bit. It was mom's idea, and thanks to that, it's been helping them learn how to fight steadily harder opponents without fighting real enemies. An idea she learned from...one of her earlier teachers, she said, but I can't remember their name."

"I see...makes sense to reuse something that works." He switched his gaze to the two men, who were just getting up from the beating. "They're actually better than I thought. When I heard they were civilians, I didn't think that they would be able to coordinate their strikes so well together, nor use their weapons like they can."

"Well...we're old friends. We've known each other since...forever, and we've done quite a bit of things together, like me helping him in the forge while he was working with his dad, or us figuring out a difficult subject in school. Sometimes I feel as if I can read his mind, but I know that's because I know him so well. That's probably why we're good teammates despite being so inexperienced." answered Noboru in Haruka's stead, and he plopped back down onto the ground next to Mito.

"What he said. And concerning weapons...sensei does personal one-on-one training with us, using weapons similar to what we use: her katana for Noboru's tachi, and her scythe for my axe." filled in the reverse-colored sixteen year old.

"That thing still gives me the creeps when it forms...or really anytime I look at it. Must be from the fact that it's made out of blood, and that when I asked her to show us how she used it in battle...well...none of the bodies of our enemies could bleed. You know...as it sucked them all dry. That alone is freaky."

"Yes it is." agreed the jonin, who promptly turned his attention to the small girl. "As I was watching, I couldn't help but notice...you didn't use any jutsus, yet you said you were going all out. Does that mean you don't know any?"

"Oh, no. I know five, but one of them is the Blood Forming Seal, and one of the others I can't do at all, like how Noboru can't do the Wild Water Wave. It requires a lot of chakra, chakra that I don't have yet, and a lot better control than I currently have. I know, I tried, all I got was smoke. The only ones I can do are rather weak at the moment, and the strongest of those two sprays fire everywhere, so mom keeps telling me to use it only when necessary, or when there are no trees around."

"Well, it is fire, and fire and trees don't mix."

"No they don't. I learned that very well while we were attacking a camp…luckily, we weren't hired by anyone at the time."

"...you started a forest fire, didn't you?"

"Yeah...it was bad, if mom's constant reminders are anything to go by, but I don't quite recall how bad it was."

"At least you learned your lesson. Hm...say, what does your Blood Forming Seal do? The kanji are mostly different than the ones that Anza uses."

"It creates daggers for me. Mom wrote it that way because of my short stature, small arms, and my quick feet. I hoped she would have wrote the same things that give her Solitary Midnight, but I'm happy with Whisper, it feels...natural in my hands."

"And I bet you get the same feeling using kunai, as you showed great usage of them during your spar just now."

"Yep! Did I impress you?"

"Of course. There's not that many eight year olds these days that can say that their proficiency in bukijutsu is greater than most genin." Haruka couldn't stop a face-splitting grin from growing on her face, and he couldn't help himself from smiling at the sight, but he became serious. "Alright, that's enough conversing for the time being. Team Seven, we have our own training to commence. When Kushina get's here, we'll change up to the normal routine."

"Right!" said the three members, who stood up and followed their leader to a spot away from the others.

"Well...should we sit here and watch them? We came here to train while they did their own things, but maybe we can pick up some things from them?" asked the sword wielder, but his 'superior' shook her head.

"Nah. Most of what they'll do mom has already shown us...but I don't feel like sparring anymore. How about we just try to walk on trees?"

"Sure, why not? We need to figure it out at some point, anyway." With that, the second group set themselves up at different trees, and charged forward. They all took one step on the bark, then two...three…

*Crack*

"GODDAMMIT!"

-later, Namikaze Residence-

Every member of both teams were strewed about the living room, tired and plagued by aches and pains due to their training. Dull ones that change into annoying pinpricks whenever they move in the cases of Anza's apprentices, but Team Kakashi minus the blonde had sores, cuts, and ice packs on their bodies. "Okay, I have come to the conclusion...that we can not keep both Kakashi and Kushina from joining up no matter what we do. They are just too strong…" groaned the amber-eyed girl.

"Gonna have to agree...at least we were able to keep them separated for an average of one minute and twenty-seven seconds...that beats our previous average, so that has to count for something." said Sasuke.

"A whopping ten seconds!"

"Ten seconds could mean life or death, so that's enough for me."

"...it was suppose to be a joke, duck-butt."

His eye subconsciously twitched at the nick-name. "...I hate you."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

He gave a light laugh, and brought himself to his feet. "I'm going to take a quick shower so I can get rid of the blood, sweat, and tears that those two got me to spill. Don't worry, it won't be a long one." The eldest Uchiha left his friends with that, his footsteps echoing through the house without the TV to drown it out.

"And we're just sitting here...wallowing in sorrow at the fact that we can't freely go up and down the trees like you three can." muttered Noboru, his face squashed against the floor.

"You'll get it eventually, it just takes some practice. I couldn't do it until I got to the Academy, but now it's like breathing to me. I know it will be the same for you." reassured Kurama's jinchuuriki.

"Yeah, eventually...but that doesn't help me feel any better. Especially my tailbone. I can't even sit up without it hurting, so I apologize in advance for spreading the dirt on my clothes onto your nice hardwood floor."

"It's fine, you don't have to apologize. You could take a seat in the recliner, though."

"I'm good, this is surprisingly comfortable. Besides...I don't particularly feel like getting up at the moment."

"You and me both." The rest silently resolved to do the same as their comrades, and one by one they took turns going upstairs and cleaning themselves, and the last one to go was Haruka, leaving all the teens in one room.

"...hey, Mito? Could you humor me for a moment?" suddenly asked the blacksmith's son, getting the girl to to turn to the man sitting on an air mattress.

"Um...sure? What do you want to ask me?"

"Say, by some miracle, you get sensei to come back...what then? If I'm correct, isn't she considered a criminal?"

"Yeah...so? Dad will do everything in his power to keep her from jail, or executed, or killed outside of the law. Yes, she will have to have some kind of punishment, but it won't be any of those things, he would never let those things happen, especially not when we've lost her twice already. Then...I don't know, I guess we would try to repair our relationships with her."

"But what about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. If Anza came back, things got cleared up, and you had the chance to speak to her again without anger between the two of you...which relationship would you repair?"

"...oh. You mean…" He nodded. "W-well...I've been thinking about that myself, but no matter how many times I run everything through my head, I can never come up with a definite answer because, to me, I had two separate experiences with her. One was when we were growing up, and the other was when we were in the Academy, and subsequently, in the same team. One was the girl I grew up with, talked with at breakfast and dinner almost every day, and never considered her anything less than my best friend, and the other was the girl I wanted to know more about, drawn to her because of the mystery surrounding her, and eventually fell for...and then I learned that the two of them are one and the same. I just...can't figure out who I think of when I see her...but before I can determine where she stands on my mind, I have to first worry about getting her to just speak to me...to have her see me as a friend again."

"That sounds about right. Sorry if those were some strange questions, I was just curious about what would happen if she were to return...because me and Noboru, we're going to try to get her to come back."

This got all three of the teammates to go wide-eyed. "Wh...what?" stammered the mint haired genin.

"You heard me. We've been staying here for a awhile, and based on everything we've seen...Mito, you and your parents are not as bad as sensei thinks. She's been hurt by things you've all done, yes, but honestly...I can't see any of you as 'bad'. So when we rejoin her, we're going to see if there's any way we can convince her to at least try to see the good in you. Don't know when that will be, but I guess...next month, as she did give us enough money to buy food for a month..."

"Th...thank you...it would mean a lot to us if that could happen."

"No problem. Might be risking our apprenticeships, but an outsider's perspective combined with seeing both sides could very well be the thing that could start the reconnecting process. Now could you please turn on the damn TV? I'm sick of solely stewing in my own thoughts."

The Uzumaki chuckled. "Yeah...I can do that."

-sometime later, elsewhere-

"R...re...retreat! RETREAT!"

"RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! RUUUUN!"

"EVERY MAN FOR THEMSELVES!" The cries of desperate men resounded throughout the forest they were stationed in, fear deeply etched into their voices, but no amount of gods heard their pleas of terror. Every which way they went, they would met one of their ghostly killers, who would proceed to decimate them with a flick of their wrists. A shower of metal, fire so hot it melted flesh from bone, bodies ripped apart from marks placed on them by a grazing of the hand...there was no hope, no light at the end of the tunnel...they could only see the deaths of their former comrades...all until there was only one left.

"W-w-w-what the hell are you people?! Demons?!"

"Matter of fact, you might be right about that...superficially, of course. We're just humans like you. Except, actually worth a damn." responded his pale haired attacker.

"Ma'am, should I immobilize him for you?" said the other one draped in green.

"No, I like it when they squirm as if they think they have a chance of surviving! It's hilarious!"

The man clenched his fists. "You...you son of a BITCH!" He brought up his hatchet and charged at the woman, but she coolly and calmly dodged every swing.

"You're only half right. I am a girl, not a guy. My chest isn't just for show, you know. You are completely correct about my mother though."

He took a step back, out of breath. 'T-this isn't possible! No one should be this fast!' Out of options, he hefted his weapon, and threw it at her. "G-go to hell!"

In response, she caught it mid-flight. "Yep...that's probably going to be where I end up when I die. Tell you what...when I finally manage to kick the bucket, I'll meet you and the rest of your bandit friends down there, and we'll have a rematch." The masked warrior tossed the one-handed axe back at it's thrower, embedding itself into his knee, causing him to scream and fall to the ground in agony. "Sound okay to you?"

"Y-you're a MONSTER! A MONSTER!" he sobbed, getting her to snarl beneath her mask.

"You call me a monster, but to see the face of true evil...all you have to do is look in the mirror. Your kind feed off of the despair of others, and I feed off of the despair of people like you. But I digress...seeing as you can't move now, let me end your suffering." Before he could even blink, she crossed the distance between them and impaled her hand into his body, wrapped her hand around his stomach, and crushed it in her metallic grasp. "There we go. You won't last long now, so breathe your last." The haori-wearing assassin pulled her hand out, and turned to her friend. "Thanks for saying that I should get out of the cave, Glacius. I needed to kill some bandits to get rid of the frustration of my training."

"Your welcome, miss. When I saw the 'angry face', I knew you needed a distraction from it for a bit. Should we go to the town nearby and tell them about how close these guys were to them, or collect payment if they already knew?"

"Not this time. I'm feeling particularly good after this raid, and I don't feel the need to coach them out of their money. The next bandit camp, though...we're getting paid for that one, whether or not I'm feeling nice. Let's get going, the smell of death is getting stronger by the minute." Haku nodded, and the duo started their aimless trek…until Anza felt a strong chakra register in her sensory field, and held out her arm to stop her friend. 'How...could I have missed that? There weren't any shinobi in that base...so who…?' "Stop hiding, I can sense you." At her call, a man in a black, hooded robe stepped out from behind a tree, and faced her, showing his spiral-patterned, one-eyed mask. "Who...are you?"

"I'm no one in particular...but to you, you can call me...Madara."

That name sent a chill down her spine. "M-Madara? The very same one who founded Konoha?"

"You would be correct."

"Then...what do you want with me?" As if something was waiting for that question to be asked, a plant-like...thing...started to emerge from the ground, and when fully revealed, it parted it's jaws, showing the dual-colored man inside...but what the whiskered Namikaze focused on the most was it's attire: a black cloak, with blood red clouds adorning its front, and upon seeing that, she summoned her katana.

"We simply would like to take a moment of your time."