AN: Have another chapter. Warning! Negative-self talk toward the end.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any affiliated media.

Chapter 7 - At the Top of the Spiral

Recap: Shiro underwent Session 1 of Madara's Training from Hell, Part 2 the day before.

OC (Shiro) POV:

Early morning meant the air was cool, crisp, and calm. If I let myself relax enough, I could imagine a sparkling, shimmering dust floating everywhere, not only reflecting the sun's light, but also emitting their own glow to illuminate the world. Meditation was much easier in the early morning, even with the amount of pain my body was in. I enjoyed stretching, circulating chakra to my aching muscles, and then climbing a tall tree nearby until I was up on the thinner branches that only children could safely perch upon to look up at the sky.

Fact: I had fallen unconscious on a sunny day while in the middle of training with Madara, and the last memory I had before I had woken to wind and rain was of an ominous crunching noise and extreme pain behind my eyes.

The air was extremely fresh, untainted by the burning of large amounts of fuel. Every inhale was free of the rancid scents emanating from the roads, from the sewers, from the fumes of vehicles crowding the cities of Earth.

Fact: Madara, who used to be only just taller than me, now towered over me. His hair, which used to look average, though soft and fluffy, was now long and shaggy. And his face definitely had less baby fat than before, not that there had been much to begin with.

The sound of chirping birds could have been annoying, but the birds nearby were actual songbirds so their chirps and trills were less grating on the ears. I could hear the swishing of the stream down below, and the rustling of the leaves in the faster-moving air up amongst the higher branches. The sounds were good background noise, white noise.

Fact: Madara's Training From Hell, Part 2 was much harsher and much more demanding than Part 1 had been. Madara himself had regarded me an enemy to eliminate before my identity was confirmed. He had not explained his actions afterward.

Fact: I had woken up perfectly intact, and while I had been felt the usually tiredness associated with waking, I had not been exhausted.

Fact: I was still in pain from Madara's Training From Hell, Part 2, though not enough to hinder attempts to build better shelter or to gather food.

Fact: I was still alive.

Postulation: I traveled through time.

Maybe it was because I had had a near-death experience, but I was worrying about the state of health of everyone I knew. Madara seemed fine. Taller, more mature, probably more stressed, but fine overall. I had long since avoided attempting to figure out what age he was. Because seriously, Madara at age 20 would probably look the same at age 60.

But what about Hashirama and Tobirama?

They were still alive, right? My existence hadn't killed them off early, had it?

I repressed the urge to go hunt the brothers down at that moment. I wouldn't know the exact direction to being searching for the Senju Clan, and even if I did find them, I doubted that I would be welcomed. On the offchance that I did happen to be welcomed, I would be stuck being affiliated with the Clan for the rest of my days, and I wouldn't be able to see Madara again. And then Madara would hear about me being with the Senju Clan, he would brand me a traitor, and then he would kill me off the moment he saw me.

Yeaaaaaahhhhh, how about no.

I didn't see the current Madara as the psychopath that he had eventually become in the manga and anime, tainted by Kaguya's Will, twisted by the anger and hate that he had let fester for years.

That reminded me; the next time I saw said Uchiha, I would have to tell him not to follow any strange manifestations of primordial beings. He could not lose his good looks through some creepy hybridization with twisted sentient plant creatures. He was worth more than having to be turned into a pawn due to some power-blinded ancient mother held a grudge.

And why did the creepy Rabbit Goddess crazy even look non-human? Her sons, too. It took a few generations before everyone actually looked like the humans nowadays. Did that mean that chakra made the human population more Earth-humanlike?

That was certainly something to think about.

The rest of the day had nothing noteworthy happening. Madara didn't show up, but that was probably due to him being busy with his clan. I spent the time trying to stretch and massage my sore body.

Over the next couple weeks, Madara showed up only twice more, bringing me some food, clothes, and more training sessions. And each time, I wasn't even given a chance to ask about Hashirama.

Two days after Madara's last training session, I woke with a start to find two figures standing above me which had me reflexively throwing kunai before I realized just who I'd thrown them at.

"Holy crap, you two! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

I had to bend my neck back in order to look up at the two.

"Sheesh, everyone's growing up like weeds. You two should sit before I break my neck trying to look at you."

They didn't move.

I sighed, but didn't relax. "Okay, if this is some ridiculous genjutsu the Trainer from Hell has cooked up, I'm going to protest the fact that it disturbed my sleep."

And with that, I picked up a kunai to cut my arm with.

I slashed down, but was stopped by a hand grabbing the kunai and my wrist.

"No need for that. We're not entirely sure that we're the ones who have been put in a genjutsu, midget."

I looked up and made eye contact with red eyes. He didn't look all that surprised.

"Your hair's still looking fluffy, there, Hashi-chan's little bro."

"You're still a midget."

I shrugged. "I woke up here a few weeks ago. Met the Trainer from Hell the next day. Did he tell you I was back?"

"He told Aniki."

We both turned to look at said man, who was still standing there, frozen.

"What's up with him?"

But before the younger Senju could respond, the elder turned and fled, catching me off-guard with just how fast he moved.

Okay, maybe I didn't really have my priorities straight, but at that moment, I was beyond jealous. There was a bitter voice in my head pointing out that these people had a place and a purpose in this world, a fact that was made obvious by their superior abilities.

You're just an outlier, a nobody. Just a pebble in the stream, helpless to the workings of Fate. Fate wants strong and interesting pieces to play with, but you're not one of them, are you?. You're never going amount to anything special. Why should the "important" and "plot-relevant" people pay attention to you? You should never have involved yourself.

I jerked my hand out of the white-haired boy's grip, small fingers clenching around the unforgiving metal of the kunai in my hand as I strode in the direction opposite to the one Senju Hashirama had taken.

"Where are you going?" His voice was probably the softest I had ever heard which only made the voice in my head seem louder.

He doesn't see you as a threat. Of course you're not a threat. He could kill you before you even blink.

Putting on the most confident smirk I could, I turned to answer. "To train, of course. I'll see you around."

Shiro, you're such a liar.

Until next time! ~VM