The next morning, both the king and queen found themselves looking over document after document, tirelessly searching for a girl.

Fugaku sighed harshly as he set another one down, rubbing his temples. "It cannot be this difficult to find a worthy girl for Sasuke to marry," he commented irritably.

"It seems we'll be coming up short," Mikoto added with a grim look. "Not even our own clan's girls are good enough for him. Although I agree on the notion that incest is not generally what one should consider when it comes to raising stable children, he won't even look at his most distant cousins."

"I fear all of his time around Naruto has turned him off from anyone entirely," the exhausted father sighed. He picked up another paper and squinted at the photo of the girl on it, her bright orange hair hurting his eyes. "Ugh. I already can tell that he wouldn't like this one."

"What can we do?" His wife asked, slumping over to rest against his arm. "He won't give any of the noblewomen in Fire a try, no matter how many we find! They're just not perfect enough!"

"If his standards are that high, we'll have to pick one and make her stick." His eyes narrowed. "... at least, I hope he's interested in women. Are we sure he's not gay? Or asexual?"

"Naruto has reported that no, he doesn't identify with either." She shook her head. "Really though, I just want my son to find someone he likes. Is it so hard?"

Fugaku agreed on that sentiment, closing his eyes as he rested the side of his head against hers. "We'll have to try harder. Where haven't we looked yet?"

She hesitated, but murmured quietly, "... Morino, I believe."

The pain hit his heart again, crashing in waves on his mind, and he sighed. "I suppose it's worth a look."


Naruto glanced over at his best friend, who was nose-deep in a book once more. At the faded lettering on the cover, his frown deepened - yet he said nothing.

How could he? Sasuke had been determined to perfect that technique ever since that man had come forward during the mourning when they were twelve and mentioned it; the only way to get him to drop it would be if Sakura herself had miraculously appeared before him and convinced him herself.

"He would've listened to her," he thought morosely. "He always listened to her."

It was surprising to look back and see just how whipped the prince had been in their youth, whether he knew it or not. The strawberry-blonde had always had a way of getting him to agree with her. It was frustrating at the time when arguments would just end because she got him to drop it, but now it was funny. Even without a girlfriend he was too whipped, not that he'd ever have admitted it.

"Sakura, please," he thought desperately. "I don't know how much you can do from the next life, but... please stop him."


"I'm sorry," one of the women consoled as she gripped Sumire's shoulder. "We did all we could, but their injuries… were just too grave."

Sumire stared blankly at the sheeted body in the center of the group. She could still see wisps of baby-pink hair spilling out from where the frail girl lay on the mat, and a lump had filled out her throat so much that breathing hurt. Tears gathered in her eyes.

"Most unfortunate," Tsunade sighed, taking her other shoulder and squeezing comfortingly. "Chiasa was a very good friend of mine. I was so sure she would make it, of all people."

"Well, none of us expected an attack," the woman laughed mirthlessly. "I'll give you both a few moments alone to say your final goodbyes."

With that, she left the room, leaving the two standing among five more dead.

"Sumire," Tsunade began.

"She was so full of light," the girl murmured, her voice cracking. "So hopeful. She never saw the bad in anyone, no matter who they were."

The blonde could say nothing, her honey-brown irises softening at the crestfallen look on her student's face.

"Of all people, why her?" She whispered, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It's… it's Eiko all over again, Auntie. Why did her life expire? She never deserved this fate."

"If she had lived, she would have been in pain," the older woman gently pointed out. "Her injuries, albeit not fatal, would have crippled her for life. You and I both know that she never would have wanted to live with that."

"Still better a cripple than a corpse," the girl spat with vitriol.

Tsunade sighed quietly, squeezing her shoulder again.

Mentally, she counted off the people dead. "One, two, three, four, five… all but two just children, and then there is the matter of Hayashi-san and her adopted daughter…"

Hayashi Chiasa had been a friend for as long as Morino had been a sanctuary village for Mimei. The blonde woman was jolly and chipper as she was influential; the children regularly called her Grandma Chi and went to her for treats or just to see her. She'd been a no-nonsense woman from a sizable clan along the borders of Fire and Wind, but she liked to travel to Morino for summer vacations.

Her adopted daughter, Shien, had been an orphan originally from a faraway island. Her entire family had perished in a storm and she washed ashore with the wreckage of the ship they'd been on, and Chiasa had taken her in. A lovely girl with a gentle spirit, afflicted with an unfortunately weak constitution and even weaker grasp on her chakra. She was always smiling, despite her weakness, and although regularly bedridden and ill, she was a comforting face in the village, as well as a quiet pillar among the children. Although it left her drained and exhausted, she liked to show the children various tricks with her Water affinity.

The children that the girl died with had all been ones she regularly attended to, as morbid as it was to think of.

"At least she didn't die alone," she sighed to herself. "Her final hours would have been infinitely more painful had she not had Chiasa-san and the children with her."

"More lives lost to a needless war," Sumire responded, quietly sniffling. "When will this madness end? When not a soul remains standing?"

All she could do was hug her tight as the tears continued to spill over, her chin resting atop Sumire's rosy tresses. Her own heart was hurting just as much as hers, and the question echoed in her mind.

"When will the madness end...? Perhaps not until the world has blown over and the gods descend to restart it once more." Tsunade closed her eyes. "Perhaps not until we finish it ourselves."


A/N: Please tell me what you thought.