He's late... I thought for the millionth time that morning. I glanced up at the sky before releasing a huff. "It's already ten o'clock. What the hell is he doing?"

The birds chirped in reply, but I couldn't really understand bird. They probably didn't even know where he was, if one were thinking realistically at least.

I uncrossed my arms and put them on my hips, my eyes glancing around for the man that was supposed to have showed up by now. I couldn't even sense his damn chakra in the surrounding area. I looked up at the sky again despite knowing full-well that only thirty seconds passed since I had last done so.

Tenzō-taichō had stood me up.

I began to grind my teeth as my arms crossed themselves. I began to tap on my left bicep with my right index finger before annoyance had finally overflowed from my body. I locked onto a certain chakra seal and used the hiraishin jutsu to appear, my hands pressed firmly together in the tiger handsigns. I used Konoha's Most Secret and Powerful Technique on the man who I had an undistinguishable amount of hatred for in that moment.

The brunette released a shriek of pain before immediately collapsing. "Kakashi-senpai-"

I slammed my foot down onto his side while giving off chakra that'd make me appear to be a demon. "Wrong." I grinned sadistically down at the man as our eyes met. "Though, I can't help but wonder what Kakashi-sensei would say about you ditching me. You'd fall so far from grace, it'd be pitiful for you to continue breathing."

The man shot up with a nervous smile on his face. "L-let's go to the training grounds then." His black eyes shifted over to the people who just watched me manipulate the fuck out of him. "Uh, sorry guys. I promised Kakashi-senpai that I'd train his student."

"Let's get going already!" I barked. "You're an hour late!"

"R-right!" Tenzō-taichō replied as he stiffened up a bit. He quickly turned heel and began to walk with me right on his heels.

"He definitely has Tenzō wrapped around his finger," one guy commented softly to the others.

"Yeah... Kakashi taught him well..." Another muttered.

"And the kid even used that stupid kancho move..." The last added in.

I head snapped around as I glared daggers into the man's soul. Once I saw that he jolted, I gave a vicious smirk while raising a middle finger. I then put on an innocent facade and turned my attention to Tenzō-taichou. "Ne, ne, how about we get some dango later, and I won't mention your slip-up to Kakashi-sensei? Sound good?"

The brunette gave a massive sigh of relief and stopped being so stiff. "Of course. It'll be my treat."

Sucker, I internally commented before patting his back twice. I then teleported to the training grounds and waited for him to hurry up, my arms crossed as I did so.

The doll-eyed man showed up not too soon after and began where he left off the previous day. He made sure to tread carefully since his reputation with Kakashi-sensei was on the line.

Upon finishing up for the day, I lead the man to the best dango joint in town - the one Itachi-senpai had first introduced to me when I had kinda, maybe, but not really stalked him and Shisui-senpai a few years ago.

"Ah, man. I haven't been here in years," Tenzō-taichō commented softly as he looked around the place.

I sat down at a booth and motioned for the waitress who had gotten to know me as a familiar face over the years.

"Welcome back. It's been a little while since you've last shown up. You usually stop in here once a week," the woman joked while giving Tenzō a menu.

"I've had my plate full, so I haven't been able to stop in as often. Forgive me, Chikari-san," I requested with a small bow of my head.

The black-haired woman waved my apology off. "You're still a kid, and a shinobi no less. It was bound to happen at some point."

I released a small hum while accepting that as the truth.

"The usual?" Chikari-san questioned while looking down at me with her brown eyes.

I nodded in approval. "If you'd please."

"One jasmine tea and a number five." She then turned her attention towards Tenzō-taichō. "And for you, sir?"

"Hm... I'll take an oolong tea and a number three," the brunette replied before handing back the menu to her.

"Of course. I'll get your orders in right away," the experienced waitress promised us before departing to the back where the cook was surely waiting.

"So you come here often, huh?" My temporary sensei asked as he sat back slightly in his seat.

"It's a bad habit I picked up," I answered honestly before pausing. I looked around the place before leaning in close to Tenzō-taichō and whispering, "Oi, if you've been on the same team as Kakashi-sensei, have you been on the same team as Itachi?"

His black eyes widened as a look of surprise briefly flashed across his face. He looked around for himself before hissing softly, "How do you know about that?"

"Kakashi-sensei told me because I had started to seclude myself. He didn't want a repeat of last time. But that's not really your concern..." I narrowed my eyes sharply as I gave off the best aura of intimidation I could. "Do you know what Kakashi-sensei said to Itachi that snowballed into the Uchiha Clan Massacre?"

Tenzō wasn't phased and instead sat back with his arms crossed. His eyes closed themselves as he did so. "This isn't the time or place for such things. Kakashi-senpai holds a lot of resentment towards himself for those words. If he doesn't want to tell you, I can understand. It's not my place to tell you either."

I grit my teeth as anger temporarily turned my vision red. I managed to get that under control and instead gave a closed-eye smile. "No, I understand. I wouldn't tell anyone else words that we've shared either if they caused great resentment. Though, Kakashi-sensei is really bad with words, isn't he? Hell, one time, Kakashi practically threatened to kill me." I chuckled darkly as I maintained eye-contact with the brunette.

"Well, whatever you did, you must have really angered Kakashi-senpai," the ANBU member stated, clearly done with that topic of conversation.

I released an annoyed grunt before sitting back myself. That didn't work at all. My plan is quickly crumbling into dust. I want as much of the truth as possible so I can manipulate Duckass in the right fashion. I gave a deep sigh before turning my gaze to the window we were sitting next to. Sakura is going to cry for weeks once Sasuke leaves. I can't keep her happy if he leaves, so he needs to stay. If I told him the truth, he's probably leave from Konoha anyway and try to find a way to get even. I need to tell him a portion of the truth to get him to stay. Without knowing the full truth, however, I can't choose the proper words for the situation. This is such a pain.

"That's a pretty intense expression. Does it bother you that much?" My taichou inquired, snapping me from my thoughts.

"No, no. I was thinking about something else," I denied while easing my expression into a blank one.

The man raised a brown brow.

"You see, I have this guy I look up to, my own senpai," I explained, connecting us in a way that would give us a better bond. "During the preliminaries for the third round of the chûnin exams, my senpai was injured so badly that medical nins said he would never be able to be a ninja again. It's likely he'll need casts and crutches for the rest of his life to add insult to injury." I looked away from the man and out of the window at the civilians that continued living without a care in the world. My eyes narrowed, not at anyone specific, but rather the mere thought of that arrogant little Suna ginger. "And I have a potential opportunity of fighting against that freak that injured him so badly."

"I see..." Tenzō-taichou sat up straight in his seat before questioning point-blank, "Why are you a ninja?"

"To protect my sister," I answered honestly.

"Anything else?" He pressed with slightly narrowed eyes.

I paused as I reflected upon my own reasons for actually making it this far into my journey that admittedly would last significantly longer that I had expected it to. "I suppose that... that there's another reason..." I put my hand to the scar Itachi had given me before leaving out of instinct. "I... I want the truth."

"The truth?" He repeated questioningly.

"Yeah..." I agreed softly as my eyes stared blankly ahead of me, not truly being able to see anything. "You see, I've searched for the truth for as long as I can remember. I've always wanted to know why..."

The waitress came back and gave us our orders with a smile. "Sorry for the wait."

I shook my head before smiling back at her. "It was no problem. Thank you for the food."

Chikari-san nodded before taking her leave to deal with the other customers.

I gave a small sigh before beginning to eat my dango, my eyes once again drifting out of the window.

Tenzō-taichou didn't have anything to say either, so we sat in a comfortable silence.

Once I had finished stuffing my face, I turned my focus to the brunette. "I want to know the truth regarding this entire world. I favor knowledge to an extreme. It's driven me to continue to where I stand today, but it'll probably land me in a boiling pot of fire sooner or later." I gave a deep sigh before finally remembering the last reason I had wanted to become a shinobi. I looked away while rubbing the back of my neck, an embarrassed flush covering my cheeks. "Uh, there's one more, but it's not something I'd typically talk about."

Needless to say, Tenzō-taichou made a noise of interest. "Oh?"

"Ever since I was kid, I've held this huge man-crush on Senju Tobirama-sama. I don't even know how I first even got to know about him, but when I did..." I gave a huge sigh at the fact my face heated up even more from embarrassment. "Ever since whenever that was, I've wanted to be as amazing as he was, ya know? I mean, he's created a multitude of jutsu, the strongest user of mizu ninjutsu in recorded history, and even created the Konoha police force specifically to give the Uchihas an important purpose in the village. Granted they got all pissy about it since they thought he was doing that to keep then under control, but it's the thought that counts."

The man smirked at me as amusement swirled around his black eyes. "A man crush on Nidaime Hokage-sama, eh? Why not Shodai Hokage-sama?"

"Well, Shodaime-sama came off as a bit of an airhead at times when he was first making Konohagakure, but Nidaime-sama was always level headed and good in battle," I explained before perking up a bit. "Hey, did you know that Nidaime-sama sacrificed his life so that the children he was leading on a mission could survive? Isn't that so cool? His Will of Fire was awesome."

"Haha. That sounds like a bit more than a man-crush," the temporary sensei teased.

"What about your man-crush on Kakashi-sensei, huh?" I shot back with my own teasing smirk.

"H-hey, it's not a man-crush. He's just my senpai," the brunette objected.

"Mhm..." I replied with a sassily raised brow. I then perked up and questioned, "Ne, ne, did Kakashi-sensei also use his ninken in the ANBU?"

Tenzō-taichō nodded eagerly in reply. "He only used them for the more difficult missions, but whenever he felt the need to bring them out, the mission was sure to be a success. Combining that with his sharingan and sharp senses, he was practically unbeatable in combat."

"Did you ever see him use his chidori? Was it cool?" I pressed eagerly.

"Of course it was!" He exclaimed as admiration practically took him over. "That move is so powerful, he could take out twenty rouges at once!"

"That's amazing! No wonder he was a taichō," I marvelled, my eyes probably sparkling in admiration.

"Right? It's too bad he was forced to go back down to jônin rank. He was a really good ANBU taichō," Tenzō praised even though he was clearly saddened by the fact he couldn't be on team with Kakashi-sensei anymore.

"Hey, hey. Did Kakashi-sensei tell your team the thing?" I asked upon remembering what he said after the bell test.

"The thing?" The brunette repeated questioningly.

"With the bells," I clarified.

"Oh! The thing!" He exclaimed before nodding eagerly. "Yes, yes. It was so cool! I couldn't believe it when I first heard him say that. It was super inspirational too!"

"Right?!" I agreed before wilting back a bit and scratching my cheek. "To be honest, when we were first told about the bell test, he said that only three people could pass. I threw myself under the bus for that one, but ended up being the first person to pass."

"Yeah, Kakashi-sensei really likes people that hold others above themselves, but..." Tenzō-taichou trailed off with a nervous grin. "If you do it too much, he'll start to get upset with you."

"Yeah, I understand that. He seems to have some very personal baggage regarding people that totally mess themselves up for the sake of others." I then released an annoyed 'tch'. "But when he does it, everything is okay."

"I know. I did that once, and he wouldn't allow me on a mission for the next week," the doll-eyed man complained.

"Ugh, so I ended up getting this big slash to my chest from a certain asshole, but then he acts like I was in the wrong since I got it by protecting my team," I told him, causing him to nod.

"He's so hypocritical sometimes, but..." Tenzō looked away as he had a tiny blush on his cheeks. "He is really cool."

"Oh! Hey, have you ever seen what he looks like underneath his mask?" I questioned, causing him to tense up.

His head swivelled around so that he could stare me directly in the eyes. "No. Have you?"

My shoulders sagged down. "No..."

The two of us allowed a temporary depression to come over us.

I straightened myself out and questioned, "What do you think he's hiding under that mask?"

The man rubbed his chin and gave a hum. "Well, it doesn't appear that any abnormality is underneath it. I think Ayame-san, Teuchi-san's daughter, has seen his face and instantly fell in love. He's probably really attractive, but doesn't want people to fawn over him."

I gave my own hum, truly considering his words. "If you were to trick Kakashi-sensei into showing his face, how would you do it?"

"Well, he can eat food down in less than five seconds, so you'd need to be very careful concerning that way. If he gets suspicious of your actions, he's likely to use his connections to others to protect what he's hiding." The man closed his eyes and put on a serious expression.

I stole one of his dangos and quickly scarfed it down while he was busy thinking up a good plan.

Suddenly, his black eyes shot open as he released a gasp. "Of course! His ninken have seen his face!"

"They have?!" I exclaimed in surprise, nearly shooting out of my seat.

"He'd be suspicious if you just ask for them to be summoned though," Tenzō-taichō said, making me nod.

"As true as that may be, I have a way around that." I chuckled as I held my chin, my eyes sparking dangerously. "You see, if I pull out the depression card, Kakashi-sensei is likely to summoned his ninken to make me feel better." I stared him down as my grin widened. "And perhaps you could sneak up on him in the meantime and force his mask down."

He made a face of discontent. "Why me? He's going to hold it against me if I were to do that."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, I'll make a kage bunshin and do it that way."

"You know, Kakashi-senpai is bound to find a way out of the situation if you get too close to his mask," Tenzō-taichō pointed out.

"That's true," I agreed with a small huff. I then brightened up as another devious plan came to mind. "If I trick him into giving us the bell test again, I could get close to his face without him thinking too suspiciously of me."

"That's true! Ah, but how will you accomplish that?" The ANBU member asked with slight distrust for my plan that honestly wasn't thought out.

"Uh..." I tapped my chin a few times. "Well... If I say that I want to see how well our teamwork is after the chûnin exams, he should buy it. If one of us gets promoted to chûnin status, I could use that to twist his arm in one way or another."

"I see. You're going to lie to his face," the brunette concluded.

"It'll be a bended truth. I really do want to see how well we can work together after all that's happened with us," I explained as I sat back in my seat. "First the bridge, and now with all the bullshit that's happened during the chûnin exams." I gave a deep sigh as I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Who would have thought that damn snake snuck in and targeted my teammate?"

"What?" The doll-eyed man blurted out with a furrowed brow.

I looked at him in surprise before looking around. I saw that no one was eavesdropping, so I quickly moved over to his side of the table and whispered into his ear, "Orochimaru snuck into the chûnin exams and targeted Uchiha Sasuke for the sharingan. During the second part inside of the Forest of Death, he marked Sasuke with some kind of curse seal. I tried protecting my teammates, but got that slash to the chest that I mentioned earlier, so I couldn't protect them that much from the Otogakure ninja that were under Orochimaru's orders to kill Sasuke. Anyway, the curse seal Sasuke was given now has a really pathetic seal around it. Kakashi-sensei is probably training Sasuke to keep Orochimaru's seal under control in case it should start acting up."

"I see. You know, the jutsu you're working on now is good for restraining people. If that curse seal does get out of control, you can use that on him," he explained.

I nodded in thanks before returning to my side of the table. "In any case, I never asked how your mission went."

"My mission?" My taichō repeated questioningly while pointing at himself.

I nodded. "The one you were on for an entire week. Was it an infiltration mission or something similar?"

"Ah, that one. No, it was simply a mission that took place in the upper parts of Kaminari no Kuni. The longest part of the mission was travelling. It wasn't anything hard at all," the man denied modestly.

I gave a small hum before smiling. "I get it. We went on a three-week mission that was mainly spent sitting around and waiting for any enemies to show up. I got so bored, I helped finishing the bridge construction."

"Bridge construction?" He repeated questioningly.

I nodded. "The Great Naruto Bridge that was build between Nami no Kuni and Hi no Kuni."

"Ah, I see. Missions like that can get boring, but it's always best to be aware of your surroundings just in case," Tenzō-taichou advised.

"I know. If you let your guard down for even a minute, an enemy could strike," I stated as I shifted in my seat, an impish grin forming on my lips. "Like, for example, how I totally caught you off-guard this morning."

He frowned with an embarrassed flush. "I can't believe Kakashi-senpai taught that move to you."

I gave a shrug. "It's good to use when your enemy's guard is down."

"You know, Kakashi-senpai's father, Hatake Sakumo, taught Kakashi-senpai that move," Tenzō-taichō stated offhandedly.

I nearly choked on my own spit as that news smacked my face. "Kakashi-sensei is the Hatake Sakumo-sama's son?! That's fucking amazing! Do you know how strong that man was?! And yet he was so kind and humble! His brain was so smart, and his strength so legendary, his powers practice overshadowed the sannin! That's not to mention how goddamn amazing his Will of Fire was!" I gushed loudly, gaining the attention of practically everyone in the restaurant.

"Keep it down!" The man whispered loudly at me with an embarrassed expression, his finger in front of his lips. "And what have I said about cursing?"

"I can't help myself," I whined in reply, "He's another person I idolize."

"So you like people who are powerful?" The man assumed, earning an offended look from me.

"No, I like people who have a strong Will of Fire," I corrected sassily, my hands on my hips. "It's through that will that they find the strength to get so powerful. I admire them for that."

"Ah, I see, I see. So you must like Yondaime Hokage-sama," the brunette concluded.

"He was definitely strong, but..." I made an annoyed expression. "He totally took credit for some of Nidaime Hokage-sama's jutsus and gave them ridiculously long names. Though his speed was incredible, he was a bit of an airhead sometimes from what I've heard."

"Oi, oi. He was a good Hokage," the ANBU member objected while waving his hand at me scoldingly.

"I like Nidaime Hokage-sama the best," I stated without holding anything back. "He was clearly superior to the rest. If he were brought back with the edo tensei jutsu, he could practically destroy the village himself."

"All the Hokages could probably do that," Tenzō-taichou pointed out.

"Yeah, but he would be the coolest," I said while waving his arguments away.

"Either way, you're more like a combination of Shodai-sama and Nidaime-sama at this point. You have Shodai-sama's abilities, but Nidaime-sama's brains and hair. Though, your eyes remind me more of Tsunade-hime more than anything," the black-eyed man admitted.

I hummed as my hand reflexively headed for my eyes. I forced it down at the last second before questioning, "You mean because they're amber?"

He nodded in approval. "They're more of a brighter hue, but it's still amber. If I would have had to guess, I really would pin you as a Senju."

"Yeah, but I've got a few Haruno quirks that no other people really have," I stated, making the man looked at me in confusion.

"Both my twin and I have two minds, which we got from Otou-san's side of the family," I explained, earning a soft noise of interest. "Ah, well the Haruno family is weird in the aspect that they have two minds. There's the one people see most often, the one that controls them most of their life, and then there is Inner. That Inner part gives them the strength to pull through rather dangerous attacks." I raised a finger. "For example, my sister was hit with the Yamanaka shintenshin jutsu, but her Inner mind was able to overpower the Yamanaka, causing that person to retreat from her mind."

"Amazing!" Tenzō-taichou exclaimed, clearly impressed.

"Right? My twin is so amazing," I gushed while holding my cheeks. "She's so smart for her age, and she now holds the determination to win no matter what. She's so motivated and amazing."

"Does she also have...?" The ANBU member trailed off as I shook my head.

"Not that I've been able to tell, but I do know she seems to have the same affinities that I do - earth and water," I answered honestly, my arms crossing themselves. "That's not mentioning her natural talent of chakra control. I think she could be a good medical ninja if she ever gets interested in it."

"Medical nin, huh?" The man mused softly.

"Yeah. She's definitely smart enough to be able to pull such a thing off," I replied.

"Well, Konoha doesn't really have as many medical ninjas as preferred. If she does decide to take that path, then that's good for her," the brunette approved with a nod.

I smiled before looking away, my smile becoming rather forced. "When I was still little, I wanted to be a medical nin. I thought it'd be nice to be able to take care of my sister, but I found out that their main rules were... unfavorable."

"What do you mean?" The temporary sensei inquired with a furrowed brow.

"Tsunade-hime created the official system of the medical ninja along with which she created laws that her students and other medical-nin alike, should abide by. The four rules that govern medical-nin are: Daiikkō: "No medic ninja shall ever stop medical treatment until the lives of their party members have come to an end." Dainikō: "No medic ninja shall ever stand on the front lines." Daisankō: "No medic ninja shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon." I wanted to protect my sister, both with healing and battle. So naturally, I was upset. However... The last clause goes like this: Daiyonkō: "Only those medic ninja who have mastered the Ninpō Sōzō Saisei - Byakugō no Jutsu are permitted to discard the above-mentioned laws." But you see, it's actually a forbidden technique that only Tsunade-hime knows. And she doesn't want anyone else to know it unless they become her pupil." I released an annoyed huff at that. "And because I was so pissed off, I drove her out of the village via gambling debts and lost my chance to ever really learn it."

"Gambling debts?" Tenzō-taichō repeated questioningly.

"Oh, yeah. So you know how Tsunade-hime is the Legendary Sucker? I'm like the opposite," I explained with a blank expression. "You see, I had made a bet with her one day on whether or not rain would come the following day. She lost, needless to say, and now owes me an arm, a leg, her firstborn child, the necklace she refuses to parts with, and exactly 112,685¥. Though considering how long it's been since that bet, she definitely owes me some interest." I gave a hum as I rubbed my chin before an idea struck me down as if from the gods themselves.

"That's a pretty intense facial expression. What're you thinking about?" The mokuton user asked, albiet very hesitantly.

I gave a rather demonic smirk as I folded my hands together. "I've created the perfect plan to achieve my desires, and no one will be able to stop me." I gave a dark chuckle before pulling out my wallet.

"Whoa! I said that I'm paying!" Tenzō-taichō exclaimed as he pulled out his own wallet.

"Oh, right," I agreed before smiling brightly, no longer surrounded by an evil aura. "Thank you for treating me. It's been nice to get to know you more, Tenzō-taichō. Let's do this again sometime, my treat."

"Ah-"

I used the hiraishin jutsu to depart, not giving him a chance to object. I shoved my wallet into my back pouch once again before pulling out my tantō. I was going to train until I passed out, no questions about it. I needed to gain the power to deal with whatever totally fucked up plan Orochimaru had. That, and I desperately needed to paralyse Gaara to show him the pain that Lee-senpai was feeling. Ugh, just thinking about that Sunagakure bastard got my blood boiling, filling my body with some newfound energy and determination.

And so, I continued until late into the night, my body forcibly shutting down at about three in the morning.

Unexpectedly, when I woke up the next morning, I had found myself in a foreign place. I had been kidnapped.