Inochi was out late. She liked to walk around the forest late at night. She had permission to be in this area because of the alliance, but most of it was restricted heavily by the Nara clan. No other humans came in this area. Inochi liked to go here and watch the deer in the distance. She liked it more when she saw a rebellious one come up closer to her. Those deer reminded her of Shikai.

Yet tonight the deer were unusual. They usually observed from a distance. Tonight, their ears twitched as she took a step and they ran off. How odd. They never did this to her; they were very used to her smell and knew she wasn't a threat.

Unless there was another threat around.

Her body stiffened like the deers' and she became much more alert. There was someone else. Most likely alone. It would be near impossible for a group to enter here without setting off more visible alarms.

A pair of hands jerked out and grabbed her sides. "Boo!"

She screamed, spun herself around and slapped the attacker.

"Ow...now what was that for?"

Inochi panted and squinted in the dark, looking for signs of an identity, a clan. Dark, black hair that ran down to his shoulders and spiked back. Just as dark eyes. Lines under eyes. Eyes flashing red.

"You're an Uchiha..."

"Yeah." The man cracked a smile, "I am." Inochi examined him more and realized he was about her own age.

"What did you do that for!" she demanded. "You're not even allowed to be in here. This is Nara territory!"

"You're not a Nara."

The moment he said it, she reached into her kimono and pulled out a paper. Three seals were stamped onto it. "I'm next in line for the Yanamaka head and member of the Ino-Shika-Cho Alliance. The Nara clan has granted me access to this area of their forest. There's no Uchiha with permission to get anywhere in here."

"Well aren't you a little smart ass."

"Excuse me?"

"You think a piece of paper proves anything. All this land belongs to the Uchiha Clan."

"Says who?"

"Says Madara Uchiha." The boy said with an evergrowing grin.

"..." Madara Uchiha was a name of a person someone like Inochi had only heard of but never actually met. His power was supposed to be supernatural. Stories of entire clans captured singlehandedly. Stories of burning down villages with blazing infernos. Stories that included demons.

"Alright, lets see your paper, signed and sealed by Madara Uchiha and then I won't bother reporting you for illegal trespassing. I'll only mention the sexual harassment."

"Sexu- what?"

"Sneaking up on me and grabbing me in the middle of the night."

"Oh that. That was no where close to sexual harassment."

"Then what the hell is your idea of it?"

"This!"

"He's attacking her."

"He'll make a nice sacrifice." One smirked. She jumped down and ran into the cleared area.

"Hey! Wait up!" The other yelled in a slightly higher voice. She jumped in next to her partner as she threw out a pair of spinning shurikin.

Inochi squirmed against the man's horrible girp on her. His arms were around her, hands on her stomach as if deciding whether to move up or down. She saw the flash of metal in the corner of her eye and twisted her body, bending it to her advantage. She spun so the man's back was directly in the shurikin's path.

The weapons sliced into the man's flesh causing him to scream and let go. Inochi kicked out her leg in response and hit him in the jaw. His head went flying back and she was freed completely.

The second partner flung out a strong coil made of a material Inochi didn't recognize. The rope twisted around the man's neck. The girl wrapped it in her fist and yanked, choking him. She yanked harder, pulling him off his feet and sending him through the air.

Inochi didn't waste time. She pulled out a tahno blade from her sleeve and threw it at the Uchiha. It shot straight forward and hit his chest with amazing accuracy. His dark eyes grew colder and all color drained from his skin.

When he hit the ground, she ran up and kicked him hard. "BASTARD!" She kicked repeatedly sending her foot crushing against his skull.

The two mysterious girls watched silently until her anger calmed.

"Um...sweetie? He's dead."

"I know that!" Inochi snapped back, ripping the blade from below his neck. "That just felt good." She held the knife up, looking upset. "Don't know how to put this away without getting my kimono bloody..." She slipped it in the inside after a moment, after deciding the blood won't be seen there. "So who are you?"

"I'm Tenshi." The girl with the coil spoke up. "This is my partner, Arei. She's great with projectiles."

Arei held out her hands in example. Four shurikin were spinning on her fingers.

Inochi still was confused. They were in Nara Territory, but clearly not Naras. Also they were fully cloaked and covered at night, making it impossible to make out any features.

"Who do you work for? What clan are you?"

"We're not part of a clan." Arei pulled up her sleeve and revealed a bracelet with a circle attached. The circle had an equilateral triangle inside it. "We're Jashinists."

Inochi looked at the pendant strangely. "You're not a clan. You're a cult!"

"Excuse us. We're just the cult that saved your life." Tenshi said, arms crossed.

"...I didn't say cult was a bad thing."

"Sure sounded like you did."

"I guess your God is looking after me though..."

Tenshi tilted her head back. "Yeah...I guess he is. We were looking for someone to convert." She looked back. "And look. We found you."

"Yeah...Jashin-sama's looking after me." She laughed a little. "Alright, I'll take a look at your religion. Give me 24 hours to straighten things out with the clans."

"Twenty four hours."

"Oh and if you don't join, we'll have to kill you~"

"Inochi!"

Inochi didn't listen. Her head was resting on her knees.

I you don't join, we'll have to kill you~

Wasn't much of a choice, was it? Then again, it had felt so good, killing that Uchiha. She knew how to kill as a ninja, but last night had been the most joy she had ever gotten from it. The most satisfaction she had gotten from it in a long time.

She felt almost high on killing sometimes. The pride she felt with Shikai when they defeated a murderer or abductor was amazing. They were sending horrible people to hell!

"Inochi!"

"Hmm?" Her head popped up.

Shikai was kneeled down next to her. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I-I am. I umm just had a rough night."

"SHIKANO IS GOING TO BE OUR SENSEI!"

"WHAT!" She jumped up to her feet. "You're kidding right! The Sloth is going to be our sensei!" This was a joke to get her attention. It had to be.

"He fucking is!"

"What happened to the Sarutobi Clan!"

"They're having family issues right now and didn't want to give the alliance a leader. So my dumbass relatives decided he is the smartest so he should lead us!"

"That's bullshit!"

"I know!"

"You ladies are very encouraging." Shikano made himself noticed. He walked his way up the steps to the wooden house. His eyes were dark and his ponytail was badly made. Half of his hair fell, making him look even more like his sister than before- something Inochi had personally believed impossible.

"Who said we need you! You received just as much shinobi we training as us. Less even, because we work harder!" Inochi snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"I'm the one trying to protect you!" Shikano snapped back even more violently. "Do you think I want to be around three girls!? To spend each and every day bitched at while I try to teach you in a job I can't really do in the first place!? I don't have any experience and frankly, I really don't care! It's a waste of time."

Inochi was struck silent. Shikai cocked her head at him. "Then why did Father tell me you would be our sensei now? And why did you even volunteer for it in the first place?"

"You saw how father was at the meeting." Shikano sat down on the porch with them. Their feet dangled next to eachother off the edge. "He never gave ether of us a chance to speak. He kicked you out of the room for trying to speak your mind, then did exactly what you didn't want. I predicted that if someone didn't step in, you two would eventually get a new sensei who would be controling, taking orders completely like that. The clan is corrupt."

Inochi looked at him, eyes wide. "Corrupt...?"

"Our leaders are old men upset by the newest generation. They are closed minded and refuse to listen to any ideas that they don't agree with. They don't agree with anything different or new ether. They try to cover it up with words like 'conservative' and 'traditional' but really they just don't want to be proven wrong."

"W-won't you get in trouble for saying that. I mean, these old men are still your family."

"Tch," A smile cracked on Shikano's face. "If I get in trouble for it, that just proves my point."

"Yeah...It would." Shikai looked at her brother and smiled back at him. This made Inochi smile as well.

Shikai's smile grew and she stretched her hand out in front of them. "Let's make a promise! Right now!"

"A promise?"

"Promise to what?"

"We are the next generation of the main branches of our families. We are the future rulers. We have to remember the way they treat us. We have to promise we will not be like this.

"We' are not going to force our decisions on others. We are not going to be closed minded. We are going to listen and give everything a chance. We are not going to ignore ideas or make decisions until we understand them fully."

Shikano put his hand on top of hers. "I'm in."

Inochi put her hand on the top. "Me too. I promise."

And in her mind, Shikai's words echoed. She thought of Jashinism.

Jashin saved me. I should give him a chance. I should fully understand this religion before I abandon it.

The twenty four hours pasted more quickly than she expected. Inochi quickly found an excuse to leave her village: a search and rescue mission. There was no real success rate with them, and if there was it was very low. All she had to do was go late in the evening and claim she was searching in such and such part of the world for the person. When she didn't come back with the person, no one would give it a second thought.

Her missing person was a father who had went to the cloud country for farming supplies, but hadn't returned. It was two weeks past his expected return date and his family was worried. He would probably show up soon anyway. She didn't feel guilty.

She headed to the Nara forest late into the evening, around the same time she had been there the previous night. In the trees above her, two girls stood on the branches. All the deer were gone.

Inochi walked on. She didn't notice the stag's body ripped open, hidden well in the tangle of trees.

Brom never left his senpai's side. He felt comfortable with her, like a child did with his parents. He felt mentally like a child, but physically he towered over the adults. He was eighteen now and still growing!

"Senpai...?"

"Yes?" She tilted her head back to look up at him. She was dark skinned with braided hair held back with a red bandana. She dressed colorfully whenever she could and had dark eyes that sparked with life and joy.

"What if I don't fit in...with the Jashinists I mean. Where would I go?" It wasn't just just height that bothered him. It was his whole heritage. He was the son of a dark Cloud man and a pale Mist woman. His skin was mixed in an odd color that wasn't really white or black. He was raised up in the Land of Cloud, but he could always feel like he didn't belong.

His senpai had found him fighting. He was always fighting, always getting into trouble. What else could you do? He was twice the size of the bratty kids who made fun of him for simply being born. What kind of fool won't fight back?

That is when he heard of Jashinism. Senpai had shown him the potential. His violent nature would allow him to fit right in for once. They were killers, merciless and full of bloodlust. They didn't care about your body as long as you could use it to fight.

"Brom-san." Senpai stood on her toes and reached her hands up. She could only reach his shoulders, she was so small. She gave him a very motherlike smile. "I honestly couldn't think of a reason you won't fit in. Jashin-sama is willing to accept anyone loyal to him. As long as you follow his rules, you will never be outcast here.

"Now come closer. I have to tell you something."

Brom squatted down to her hight. The moment he did, she flicked her hand up in the air, knocked his hat straight of his head. "Gah!" Brom grabbed the edges and pulled it tightly back on so it reached his ears. "Senpai!" The woman just laughed as he tried hide his face.

"People returning!"

"Who is it!

"They brought a new girl!"

Brom looked over at the crowd of followers. "Who is it?" His senpai asked. Brom looked over the many heads crowding around the gate.

In the middle of the crowd were two scouts and a new girl he had never seen before. She was fair skinned with a kimono-like outfit. Rich maybe. Her blonde hair shined in the sunlight and was pulled back into a large ponytail. She seemed awfully tired from traveling at night and flustered from all the attention the Jashinsts gave her. He barely heard her say, "I didn't think there were so many of you.". She laughed a little, her voice high and ringing.

Broms face gained more color than it had when his senpai had pulled his hat off.

"Well who is it?"

"No one...just a new girl." A smile twitched on his face. It looked like she was smiling his way.