Konoha was on the eve of marching off to war. Troops had been prepared. The Kazekage had sent support in the form of shinobi squads from the Sand. Gaara-sama had promised to come to the battleground in a few days. Konoha ninjas had made their camp about fifty kilometers from the borders of the Snow Country. Everyone knew that there would be battle tomorrow. Sentries were posted and the Fifth was wandering around shouting orders and every once in awhile casting a look over at a forlorn figure on the hilltop who had taken the front-guard watch.

Aya sat at the hill's crest. She had not spoken to anyone except her parents for the last two weeks since she had come back. She had told Tsunade that she was had purposely left the ninja alive because he was Itachi's son. Tsunade had grown angry with Aya, but couldn't find it in herself to blame her. They would just have to deal with the resident genius on their own.

"Aya?"

The girl turned to see a good family friend, Uzumaki Naruto, standing next to her.

"Can I sit here with you?"

Aya nodded. Naruto sat on the grass and gazed over the hillside with her.

"You did the right thing, Aya."

Aya shook her head. Naruto was one of the few people who knew that Aya had run away from her mission and had left her cousin alive on purpose. The one thing that nobody knew, except for Naruto and her parents, was that Hiromi was indeed her cousin, Itachi's son. "I betrayed Knooha. It's a wonder Tsunade did not banish me or kill me."

Naruto looked at her with sad eyes. "Surely your father has told you this. Life is not about fulfilling missions or killing those we are told need to be killed. Life is about living your life the way you would live it, sans regrets."

"But I would have regrets either way. I would either regret failing my village or regret killing Hiromi. I couldn't do it, Naruto. I couldn't kill that boy. Especially not after...," her voice trailed off and she fell silent.

The man lounged on his back and looked at the gathering dusk. "Anyone would have done what you did, Aya. No one who knows about your reasons blames you. Not even Tsunade-sama is angry with you. She's really worried..."

Aya's black eyes were moist. "I don't want to fight tomorrow. But if I don't...everyone will really think I'm the traitor I'm rumored to be. I didn't want to betray Konoha. I also didn't want to have to live with knowing that I killed my own family..."

Naruto nodded. "Feels like you can't do anything right, huh?"

"Yeah."

"I know what that feels like...like absolute crap." Naruto shook his head. "Don't live for people who really don't matter, Aya. Live for those who will be important to you 25 years from now. You have not failed anyone. I want you to remember that." That being said, Naruto stood up and walked away, leaving Aya to her thoughts.

Aya rested her forehead on her knees. I have failed everyone...I did everything wrong...if only I had just killed him and not let him talk to me...but...I don't even think I could have done that.

"Aya, I cannot believe you failed this mission on purpose." said a bristling Tsunade.

The girl was in tears before her Hokage. "Could you have killed your cousin? After being visited by the ghost of your aunt? I just couldn't find it within myself to kill Hiromi! Would you have been able to do that?"

Tsunade shook her head. "I did not realize he was your cousin, Aya. But it was your mission. I warned you against your emotions."

"What if I need my emotions? What if...what if I'm nothing without them? Why can't I...?"

"Aya, do you forget? There is a village that depends on our ability to protect it. You have just betrayed everyone in it with your selfish act."

Aya bowed her head. "Then kill me, Tsunade-sama. That is the punishment for treason."

"I don't want to kill you, Aya!" cried Tsunade. "You're only seventeen. You're bright and young and I don't agree with such punishments anyway." The Fifth sighed. "Aya, we will never speak of this again."

The girl was silent. "You are coming to battle with us. And if you meet your cousin again, I expect him to be killed immediately. Without hesitation. Do you understand, Aya?"

Aya said nothing, but turned and walked away.

"Aya!"

"Good-bye, Hokage-sama."

The door slammed and Aya was gone.

Now Aya sat on a cold hillside, forsaken and alone. Her inner demons were torturing her to no end. She wanted to hate Hiromi. She wanted to rip her heart out or at least pretend that she didn't care.

But she did care. She was turning more into a niece of Kari as the days went by. She simply couldn't do it...She couldn't...

A loud crash startled the Uchiha girl and sent her sprawling across the grass. The ground was shaking.

Exploding tags! she thought. The Snow! They were attacking!

Aya sprang to her feet and rushed for the camp. Fire, there was fire everywhere. Red flames illuminated the ice making it look like frozen blood. It was chaos and pandemonium. There were several more explosions that sent Aya to her knees. There was shouting and screaming and cries of dying shinobi. The clanking of kunai and shuriken, the smell of smoke and everything burning, burning, burning. This was war...bloody war. Aya stood up. Where were her parents? Naruto-san? The Fifth?

A more horrifying thought crossed her mind. Where was Hiromi? Surely he was in the attack...somewhere...

Aya rushed through the crowds screaming, crying...and killing. Killing everything that she saw with a headband of the Snow. There was blood...so much blood in her wake as tears streamed down her face. "NARUTO-SAN! MOM! DAD! TSUNADE-SAMA!" she screamed. Her voice was lost in the commotion of explosions and fighting and death. She sliced the neck of an approaching Snow shinobi. As he fell, she saw an orange jumpsuit and mass of blonde hair lying on the ground. "Naruto-san!" she yelled. Aya rushed over to him, turning him over to reveal a huge gash across his chest. His blood was everywhere and his eyes were dull and blank. "Aya..." he choked and blood spurted from his mouth.

"Shut up, Naruto-san." hissed Aya. She knew that if he talked too much, he would bleed all the more. Gathering as much chakra to her fingertips as possible, she began to work at his gash, trying to stabilize him.

"Stay with me...stay with me...stay with me!" she chanted as she gathered more and more chakra trying to seal the cells together...trying to repair the damaged lungs...trying to stop the endless bleeding.

"Aya...you need to..."

"Shut up!" she screamed. Panic filled her heart but Aya was determined and she continued to try healing him.

"Stop Aya!" Naruto used the last of his strength to push her away. "I'll be fine. The Hokage...you need to protect the Hokage."

Tears came in an angry torrent down Aya's cheeks. "I can save you!" she cried. "I can!"

"I'll be ok, Aya...and there is someone else...Hiromi...your cousin. He's trying to stop the Snow...they won't listen to him. He's going to get killed...I'll be fine. Go find the Hokage and Hiromi!"

Aya stared at him. Caught between Naruto-san and Hiromi...she hated this decision. She hated herself.

"I'll be back for you, ok? You stay alive...you hear me, Naruto-san? Stay alive!" Aya turned and ran towards the center of the fighting.

Looking frantically around, Aya spotted two snow shinobi ganging up on the Hokage. She broke into a sprint trying to get to Tsunade. Suddenly, Aya saw one of the shinobi about to catch the Fifth in the back. "Tsunade!" she screamed. "Tsunade-sama! Behind you!" Her screams were caught by a fury of activity. Tsunade hadn't heard her.

"NOOO!" she cried. Aya stumbled and fell on her hands and knees. Looking up she gaped in astonishment at what she saw.

There was Hiromi standing between Tsunade and the two other shinboi, kunai out, threatening to kill them if they got closer. The other two Snow obviously knew his power and hesitated for a moment. They never had time to react.

Two expertly aimed shuriken hit them square in the neck, breaking the main arteries. Hiromi looked up to see Aya in a fighting stance with two more shuriken at the ready just in case. So she was here...

Suddenly, Aya spotted two Snow throwing a large shuriken at Hiromi. Her eyes grew wide and she began sprinting to him. "Hiromi!" she cried. "Look out!"

Hiromi turned just as the shuriken was about to make contact with his head. He felt a slash across his face and something large knocking him over. With a crash, he fell to the ground. Hiromi felt pressure all over his body. Instantly, it occured to him. He was not bleeding much, except for a scratch across his cheek. There was almost no pain. Why...? And then he knew.

Covering Hiromi's body was Uchiha Aya. The large, black shuriken, covered in her blood, was embedded deep into her back.