A/N: Starting to get tired. A break might be in order.

Life's just been slapping me upside the head lately, and I'm burning the candle at both ends.

Just found out my cousin died in a car crash because he didn't wear his seat-belt. WHICH HE WAS TOLD TO DO! Why didn't he listen?!

Paramedics said his car took the turn too fast and rolled, he was ejected partway, and summarily crushed beneath.

To top things off, bills are piling up these days, had to get a new car battery, I DEFINITELY need that Root Canal now -tooth is basically dead-among other things. The most annoying part is that if all this had happened a month or so ago? I would've been able to eat those costs easily. Now, with my higher rent and all these extra expenses, coupled with less hours...I

Doesn't help that most aren't keen on this particular story for some reason.

Went back and checked; its the least reviewed among the bunch...

I'm rambling, I suppose. *sigh*

So! Lets answer a few questions and get on with it, eh?

Q: Did you honestly replace Sasuke?

A: Yes and no. He'll still be around...

Q: Its going to happen, isn't it?

A: *zips lips*

Q: So wait, is Cinder the big gad here? Because I'm feeling conflicted.

A: Not really. She sees this as her chance to have the life she wants. But all that character development is in peril...

Q: Naruto, don't do it!

A: Naruto is very much a good influence on everyone, heroes and villains alike.

And there we go! That's all I have to say this time around.

As ever, I own no references, themes or memes. Ha! If I did, I'd be a rich man.

Now then, I'll let you guys and gals be. Grab some popcorn, and I'll see you at the end of the chapter.

Damnit, I absolutely hate writing sad stuff; because this chapter really fought me, kicking and screaming every step of the way.

"Girl? No, no, no. Where you see a child, I see a monster.

Best kill her now. Before she becomes dangerous."

~?

The Girl Who Found Fear

Cinder trusted her clan.

Well, in as much as she trusted anyone these days. She believed in the Uchiha and their purpose. She understood that they were elite and likewise, just how much weight their name carried here in the village. In another life she would have preened over such status; gloried in the knowledge that her blood stood head and shoulders above all else. Now? She knew better. Death may not be the end for her -the last time certainly wasn't!- but she wasn't so foolish as to believe she would be granted a third reprieve from the void.

As such, she was determined to make the most of this strange second life; if not in the eyes of her clan, then for herself. And she did.

With each day she grew in strength and power; as did those allied with her. All the while she kept her true abilities secret. It would not do to attract unwanted attention after all. That tiny ember of Maiden power that had somehow followed her into this new life? It became a raging flame; one that longed to be used, unleashed upon her enemies like the great storm it was.

But she dare not.

It wasn't fear that held her back, but caution.

She'd seen what happened to those who excelled overmuch.

The prodigies, the lucky ones, were fast-tracked into the lonely life of an Anbu...or they became something worse. Much worse.

An old bandaged man had asked after her once. She remembered him well. He'd remarked on the unusual color of her eyes and her exceptional skill; worse, he'd noticed that she was restraining the lion's share of her strength. He'd promised her power alongside a quick rise through his organization. What had he called it again? Root? Fool. Power never came without cause. He didn't want her skills. He wanted her eyes. She would not give them up and so rebuffed him harshly.

Perhaps it was petty of her, but she wanted to take her time with this new life.

She wanted to enjoy every facet of it; her time with those she trusted, and one day soon, with her baby brother to be. Part of her balked at the idea of being a big sister. The rest basked in it. This was something different, something new, something she'd not experienced in her first life. Family. Sasuke sounded like a good name.

In that respect, Itachi was one of the few she trusted; because he was family; because she believed in her elder brother with all her black heart.

After all, he was like Naruto. He would never do anything to frighten her.

How wrong she was.

(.0.0.0.)

The streets were silent and cold.

Cinder might even call them lifeless...were it not for the bodies.

Corpses.

Everywhere she looked, she found bodies. Men, women, and children. Some had died well. Others...had not. Blood spattered the walls, the streets...everywhere she looked. Not even the buildings had been spared this fell storm of death. Red everywhere. Rivers of it. She hadn't thought to come home to this; spirits, she hadn't even expected this. All the world was silent

A child would have broke upon seeing such things. They would weep and wail and look for an escape. Cinder did not.

She was many things, but she was no child. Her body might be younger, her mind might have softened, but there were some things she simply couldn't change. Once upon a time, she was still Cinder Fall. The woman who singlehandedly brought Beacon low; the fire witch who stood by and smiled as countless innocents were slaughtered by Grimm and White Fang alike. Death meant little to her. Suffering, only slightly more. There were only three lives in the clan she cared for -with a fourth on the way!- and their bodies were not here.

Perhaps that was callous of her. She knew of no other way to be.

Nevertheless, a flash of color among the corpses caught her eye. She knelt and touched two fingers to a girl's neck. A steady pulse greeted her. This one would live. Her attacker had been sloppy. Golden eyes narrowed as she recognized her. Izumi. An older girl, a genin with a crush on Itachi, but not a bad hand with shuriken and kunai. She had unlocked her Sharingan some time ago, and had a promising future among the clan. Still...who would do such a thing to her? Izumi wouldn't hurt a fly.

It all happened so fast.

A shadow fell over hers, shrouding her in darkness.

"Well, well, well." a low voice intoned. "You're early. That won't do."

Cinder whirled on the voice and froze as gloved hand seized her by the arm.

If she was fire then this man was ice; frigid and cold to the core. Clad in a dark robe with wild hair, his body was all but spattered in blood. She couldn't see his face, locked as it was by that strange spiraling mask. Yet the eye within was cold all the same. It drilled into her, compelling obedience; a compulsion she resisted with her very soul. That lone Sharingan orb wrapped around her mind, but her spirit resisted, refusing to bow.

"So, this is the girl?"

Quick as a flash, he had her by the arm.

She glowered up at him. "Release me, or you'll lose that hand."

"You were right, Itachi." his voice was low and deep, like a bemused beast. "Such a fierce little sister you have. Look at her." he wrenched her wrist, drawing an angry cry from her. "Not afraid, even now." His head tilted a bit, considering her as one might a fine jewel. "Such a shame we have to kill her."

Cinder grit her teeth against the pain. "What?"

"No." a new voice declared. "That wasn't part of our agreement-

She pivoted in his grasp, alarmed to find her brother standing there behind him. There was blood on his face...and his blade. A terrible sinking sensation opened in the pit of her stomach. This...this couldn't be happening, it couldn't be real. It just couldn't be.

"I am altering the deal." the masked man declared. "Pray I do not alter it any further."

She looked to him. "Brother?"

Itachi wouldn't meet her gaze. Instead, he looked away. Golden eyes widened with horror. So. This was what betrayal felt like. She'd all but forgotten the feeling. It burned. Like hunger. She didn't like it. Her gaze flitted between the two of them, struggling to make sense of what was happening. For once, her keen mind failed her. No. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She felt her Power stir in response to her stress and shoved it back down, fighting the Surge even as it came on.

Her brother finally spoke. "She's just a girl...

"Is she, now?" The Masked Man sighed softly. "No, no, no. Where you see a child, I see a monster. Better to kill her now." his hand cocked back, fingers clenched into a claw. "Before she becomes something far more dangerous."

Now that stung.

In her heart of hearts, Cinder wanted to assume the best, rather than the worst. That too, was childish of her. She'd clung to the naive belief that this "man" had done all of this; that he had controlled Itachi, forced him to do his biddin. somehow. That he was responsible for all the killing, all the death, everything. But his silence spoke more than words.

"You...killed them?"

"..." He wouldn't answer.

"Everyone." The masked man tittered. "Even the women and children. Like animals. Your parents will be next."

Cinder twitched.

She prayed he was lying. Surely he'd spared Mother. He wouldn't kill Mikoto. No. She was pregnant with little Sasuke. Surely not...!

The Masked Man leaned forward, filling her vision with orange porcelain. "Well, aren't you a little spitfire?"

Cinder stood her ground. "I don't fear you."

"You should, dear girl."

A lone tear ran out of her right eye.

"Madara." Itachi bit the word out and reached for his blade. That name...!

Her mind whirled, already making the calculations. His guard was down. He didn't suspect a thing; no doubt he thought her a harmless child-a prodigy perhaps-but weak nonetheless. She had one chance. One opportunity to strike. She would not waste it.

"Oh, very well. I'll spare her. But not as she is." The man's free hand moved, closing around her face. "Now...forget. Everything."

"Forget...?"

It was a simple command. Her mind longed to obey. It would be so easy to just let go of it all. To start anew...at the cost of all the progress she'd made as a person. Perhaps it would be easier to regress to who she'd been before this. Her eyes began to fog over. Surely it would hurt less than this?

...wouldn't it?

In her mind's eye, she saw him. A sunny smile framed by whiskered cheeks and bright blue eyes. He turned and pivoted, waving at her.

"Cinder!"

And in that brief moment.

That solitary sliver of a second.

Her eyes, once vacant and cloudy began to burn.

Breathe.

Cinder felt someone or something touch her mind and something came loose. A mental block came free. Gold bled into red. She couldn't see the change, but she felt it all the same; as if she'd discovered a missing piece of herself, a fragment she'd lost for so long now and only just uncovered again.

Here head snapped up.

"No." her eyes shone. "I won't. I'm going to kill you."

The masked man tittered softly. "You may be skilled but that doesn't mean-

Her fist slammed into the man's mask, snapping his head back. Orange porcelain shattered, exposing the ruined side of his face.

"What?!" He recoiled, clutching at his exposed visage. "How can you touch me?!"

Cinder didn't know his face. Didn't care. He flailed his chain at her and she seized it, wrenching the metal out of the dark. Her fingers tightened, rendering it useless slag in her grasp. A vicious tug of her wrist took up what little remained and reeled him back in like a fish on a line, right into her grasp.

"Get over here!"

His counter was merciless but her eyes saw through it somehow; knew precisely which movements to make, and swayed aside from a strike that would've surely taken her head clean off. Belatedly, she realized what was happening. She winced but a little as a terrible cut opened against her cheek...and then she made an end of it. A bolt of light burst from her hand to strike her powerful foe in the chest. He crashed backward with a startled cry, smashed into a bloodied home, and did not emerge. She didn't wait for him to rise.

Her hands rose to the skies above and the clouds answered.

Darkness rushed in, devouring the full moon. Light arced through them, ready to be unleashed at her call.

She made a fist and and the heavens opened up.

"Raaargh!"

(.0.0.0.)

Lightning crackled through grief stricken skies.

Emerald looked up at it and frowned in quiet dread.

"Have you seen Cinder? Its getting late...we were supposed to meet up..."

"Not since she went home...?" Naruto froze. Horror dawned on his face. "No! He wouldn't!"

Without a word he turned and bolted toward the Uchiha compound. Emerald and Mercury raced after him.

(.0.0.0.)

Lightning crashed down upon the ruined building.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

Each attack seared through the earth, splitting the earth in twine. Still, Cinder didn't relent. Eyes alight with burning flames she brought the wrath of the heavens down again and again, refusing to give her opponent even the slightest chance to react. To stop was to die. To yield was to die. She didn't know where Itachi was, and she didn't care; because if she took her eyes off this "man" for even a moment, she knew it would be the end of her. And so she screamed. All the seasons howled with her.

"You don't know a thing about me! About Aura! About anything!" she howled over the storm. "And you will die, knowing nothing!"

Flames burned in her open hand. "NOW DIE-

And then that hand was gone.

...what?"

Cinder blinked, frowned, stumbled, not quite comprehend what had just transpired. Her left arm was simply...missing, severed at the elbow. She looked down and saw it lying in the street in a puddle of blood. Her control faltered and her Power bucked in her grasp as she gaped at it, eyes wide. No. This was a trick. An illusion. If she could just recover it, maybe one of the surgeons at the hospital would be able to reattach it.

She was still reaching for it when a blade pierced her stomach. She looked down at that, too, recognizing the slender blade protruding from her body.

"Itachi...?"

Her brother tore his blade free, leaving her to tumble down to one knee.

"Foolish little sister." A hand closed around the back of her head. "You'll understand someday-

Cinder reached around and grabbed at it, clinging tenuously to his wrist. Her mouth worked wordlessly. She tried to speak. To find the words to rebuke him, to ask him why. Why do this? Why go so far? She was winning! She was going to fix everything! But she didn't. Her eyes burned. In that moment, she found fear at last.

She raised her gaze, only to find the masked man sprawled out in the rubble. No. He was still alive. She had to kill him. He had to die. No matter the cost. She wasn't sure why she had to, only that must, that he needed to perish here and now. Even as her life slipped away from her, she struggled to cling on, to no avail. And in that moment, all her Power, so tightly leashed, burst free. Spite rose to the fore.

'Not...like...this...!'

If they were going to betray here, then everything should burn. Burn it. Burn them.

BURN THEM ALL.

Cinder Fall screamed.

All her world became flame.

A/N: Not done yet.

Well, that broke my heart.

I didn't want to write it, but there was no feasible way to avoid it. Cinder's brought about changes in some ways, but worsened things in others. Aura's a tricky thing; and the power of a Maiden wouldn't be something taken into account. Did I just kill Obito? No, surely not. I wouldn't be that cruel...would I?

Time will tell if Mikoto -and her unborn child- or anyone else survived this horror.

As ever, reviews keep me going in this crazy time. Without them, I just can't seem to write.

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review...Would You Kindly?

And as ever:

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

PLOT DETAILS AHOY!

(Previews)

The entire Uchiha district was in flames.

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Once, I might have let you kill me...enough of this madness!"

Fugaku stood slowly.

"You can never escape me." he stalked after him. "Nothing harms me. But I know pain. I know pain. Sometimes I share it...with someone like you...

"Cinder? C'mon. Hey, hey, hey! Keep your eyes open! I can't loose you, too!

C'mon!" he shook her. "Please! I need you to stay with me!

PLEASE! We gotta stick together...right? Cinder?"

She was still and cold in his arms.

R&R~!