Finalsss. Killing mee. Shit, my grades need work, and I'm still writing. Wtf am I doing with my life, goddammit. Anyways, new chapter, enjoy!

Hours later, Sakusen was forced to admit that he'd made a small miscalculation. Sensei had pushed him harder than he had originally planned on going, so by his estimate, they should have been at the base a little before nightfall.

Standing before the sign that marked the end of only the first of many roads they had to follow, he realized that the way to the outpost was much farther away than he had originally thought. That was embarrassing. He must have made a mistake somewhere in his planning.

After checking the map for the fifth time, he concluded that no, this was not a mistake, he really did mess up. And yes, Haori-sensei was going to be incapable of combat for the next five or so minutes if anything happened, judging by the way she was rolling around on the ground shrieking with laughter.

To be fair, if he was watching from the sidelines, the disbelieving shout he let out upon seeing the signpost would probably have been funny to him, too. But this was not funny at all.

"You," wheezed Haori, clutching the grass for dear life, "thought this was just gonna be some walk in the park? Did you think you'd be at the outpost in time to get tucked into bed before dark?" She unleashed another stream of hysterical giggles, and Sakusen could only look away with a mortified pout. Finally, with watery eyes, Haori sat up, still with that annoying smirk on her face.

"The way to the outpost takes, at the very least, which means Jounin level speed, two full days of traveling to reach. Just 'cause it's the 'inner' outpost doesn't mean that it's just a short walk away from the village." She chuckled, wiping the tears away from her eyes. "That is sooo cute. I keep forgetting you're a kid, sometimes, with how smart you act. You've never been outside of Konoha, have you?"

"No. So I wouldn't even know how long it would take, anyways," Sakusen answered, petulantly crossing his arms with a huff. So he messed up. It was only a little bit. It's not like it was a big factor that would completely change their journey.

Haori saw the irritated look on his face and starting laughing again. She couldn't help it. Seeing the little brat get mad was hilarious. Like an angry puppy.

"Why the hell are you mad? You haven't done shit like this before. It's literally your first time." She snorted. "And you're, like, what? Two? Stop whining about it."

"Don't swear. Swearing is bad," he muttered, ignoring his sensei's glare. "And I'm not two. I told you, I'm four. Besides, it's not like this matters too much. We can still go on."

Disappointing. Haori tsked. "That is a surprisingly careless attitude coming from you, brat." At his questioning look, she elaborated. "How much food did you pack? Enough for three whole days, or just one? Maybe one and a half? What about clothes? Stuff that runs out? Changing factors, no matter how small, can have big consequences." Though she didn't say it, her tone added a you idiot at the end. "You could die because of shit you didn't know about. Don't just brush it off."

Sakusen blushed, looking down to scuff the dirt. He didn't think of that. "I only packed for one. But I have extra food. And I brought overnight gear. Just in case, y'know, for emergencies."

At least he was well packed. "We'll see what you packed later. For now, let's have lunch! I'm starving. Didn't get to eat anything except an energy bar 'cause I was watching you the whole time this morning."

"Sensei, that's creepy."

By nightfall, they had gone over a third of the way. Haori-sensei seemed a little surprised with his stamina. Even if Sakusen was a kid, he was a tough kid. The fact that he was an Uzumaki also helped. Having lots and lots of chakra meant that you didn't tire as quickly.

The only exciting thing to happen was the freaking bear that had jumped him right after they had eaten lunch. Sakusen was absolutely stupid. He had actually brought good food to eat, and while good food was good to eat, it was also usually good-smelling as well. That attracted things like bugs, animals, and ninja that specialized in scent tracking. It was better to bring things like the ration bars Sensei had to eliminate preparation time and smells.

Sakusen had to hand it to Sensei though. He would have been bear kibble if Haori-sensei hadn't cleaved the beast's head off with one stroke of her katana. That was sick. It had ripped open his pack before dying, though, destroying his sleeping gear and some other clothes.

Which was why he was presently wrapped up in Haori-sensei's sleeping bag. With her in it as well. Sakusen squirmed a little, trapped in the arms of his sensei for the second time that day. He was a little nervous. Sensei had been a little too excited to have a new "teddy bear" to take with her to bed. And he knew how she treated her new "toys." Violently.

Sadly, there wasn't really another option. It was winter, and nights in the Land of Fire were bitterly cold. Plus, even though he would never admit it to her, there was something comforting about being wrapped up in a warm hug like this. If only it wasn't so tight.

"Stop moving," Sensei mumbled into his hair. "You move more than Hayate," she added a little nostalgically.

"That's your son, right?" He vaguely remembered seeing another Gekko on the roster. "Gekko Hayate? The other kenjutsu specialist?"

She nodded, bumping her chin on the top of his head. "That's him, yes. He's getting much better at kenjutsu now - nearly as good as I was at that age," she said, with a faint hint of pride in her voice. "He made Chuunin a couple of months ago! It's a damn shame he never comes home often. Always out on missions, too busy to visit his lonely mommy."

Wasn't she in ANBU though? That meant that she got even more missions than him, right? Why was she the one complaining? This was getting confusing. And sad, too. He didn't understand why someone wouldn't visit their own mother. It didn't sound like they had a bad relationship with each other, so he didn't get it.

"If you were my mother, I would visit you a lot."

Crap. He just blurted that out without thinking. Great.

Gekko Haori was admittedly one of the most strangest people he had ever come across, personality-wise. She was foul-mouthed, prone to violent outbursts, and had a sadistic side that he was absolutely terrified of when she let it loose during their sparring sessions. But she wasn't mean, really. Just a bit crazy and weird. There was nothing wrong with that. If anything, it made her a little more fun to be around.

Besides, Jiji said that every ninja had a weird side to them. This was probably normal. Kakashi was a little like that too, except he was just mean to everyone, not crazy.

Instead of the raucous, mocking laughter he was expecting, Sakusen was surprised when she let out an entirely different, almost fond-sounding chuckle.

"Aww, you would? How nice. You're a sweetheart, aren't you?"

Ignoring the burning red of his cheeks, she continued. "Hayate's also busy because of that girl he's seeing. Yugao? Can't blame him, I would be going after her too if I was their age. He's sort of like you, in fact, organizing your own mission just to chase after your crush," she finished with her trademark teasing smirk.

He tilted his head. "What's a crush?"

Oh my goddd he's so cute. "Never mind, you'll find out later. When you're older and more grown-up."

Sakusen would have to look that up later. Crush? Like, crush something? Maybe she meant the battlefield. That was probably it. But what did it have to do with going after girls?

Haori was reluctant to get up the next morning. It was cold and still pretty dark. Her new portable (sort of) heater was still fast asleep, snuggled in her chest. Some men would kill to be in his position right now, he was a lucky bastard. At least I know what he's gonna go after in the future, she thought as she grinned, catlike.

But there were responsibilities she had to take care of, and that involved feeding her brat. Properly. Stupid kid, bringing beef stew on a... whatever this was. Unofficial mission? Outing? Field trip, she decided. Field trips were educational experiences. This fit the bill perfectly. He'd already learned a lot. Like to not be stupid. Beef stew, though, was he serious? He was making her look bad as his sensei.

Unzipping her sleeping bag, she tried to roll out the side, but the kid had his arms around her thin waist. Sometime during the night, he'd maneuvered around so he was hugging her back. Slightly annoyed, Haori tried to pry his arms off, but Sakusen had an iron grip. And were those little howling croons he was making in his sleep? She might actually steal this kid from Kushina, he was so goddamn adorable. Damn, when did she grow so attached to him?

And that little comment from last night had slightly melted her heart. Secretly, she was a sucker for cute talk like that. Glaring down fondly at the blond head, she smiled.

"You would visit me every day, huh?"

It was quite obvious that the child was starved for attention. The Sandaime didn't know shit about raising a kid. Maybe his wife did, but both were busy as important figures in the village. The way he leaned into her when she opened up her arms to him in the sleeping bag, that little Kushina-like moment where he let his mouth run off without his brain, and the way he was clinging onto her right now spoke volumes of his neglect. No wonder he'd gotten attached to her, of all people.

Haori managed to slip out of her bedroll, grabbing the tanto from underneath her pillowcase. She ruffled her sleeping protege's hair. They had slept on the ground with no overhead cover, since tents were for sissies and those that wanted to die in the case of an ambush. Stifling a yawn, she managed to stir the embers of the fire from last night into a warm blaze, setting her coffee pot on top of it. Making sure she looked sufficiently awake enough, she glanced at Sakusen. Time to play the good role model.

Taking the nearest object (Sakusen's sandal), she flung it at the kid's head, screaming bloody murder.

"The fuck you doing staying asleep this long? It's been more than an hour since I got up, and you're still snoozing! Get your lazy ass up and out before I make you run laps!"

She was a lying liar. But good soldiers were not made by letting them get their beauty sleep. Sakusen didn't even need it anyways, if he inherited any of his looks at all from his parents. They were both way too pretty to be shinobi.

Sakusen was leaping over logs, bounding through snowfalls and over frozen lakes with the wolves. Then one of them did the strangest thing. The wolf launched itself straight at a tree, slamming into with such force that the trunk cracked, and the snow dotting the branches was shaken off. It slowly fell towards him, and he could do nothing but watch as it painfully collided with his head. The other wolves had mysteriously vanished. Then it started shouting in a familiar voice. Something about sleeping. And laps.

Laps?

He sat bolt upright, turning his head so fast he heard something crack in his neck. Sensei was grinning at him cheerfully, and for a moment, his heart stopped. Flashbacks of moments like this ran through his head, of days where he'd passed out from all the kata that he had to perform, then woken up to that exact same evil Cheshire grin. Then he remembered. They weren't in training, they were out on their own in the middle of the wilderness.

Groaning, he got up out of the warm sleeping bag, shivering in the cold.

"Good morning. Was I really sleeping that long?"

"Yep," Haori answered, sipping coffee from a stupidly large mug. It was literally the size of his head. Not even Baa-chan drank that much, even on bad days. No wonder she was always so high-strung during morning practices.

He pulled a wry face. "Coffee is disgusting. How do you drink that?"

Haori was still trying to figure out how the kid wasn't complaining about his head. The impact wasn't even what woke him up, and she threw that sandal pretty fucking hard. He was probably like Kushina - nice and thick-skulled. She hid a smile by bringing her mug to her lips again.

"Coffee is good shit. Better than those soldier pills you have in that pack, trust me. Want some?"

Sakusen pulled a wry face."I'm okay, thanks. Coffee is nasty. When do we leave?"

She shrugged. "Whenever you want to leave. It's your trip. Your decisions."

Sakusen's eye twitched. If it was up to him, why did she have to wake him up? It was barely even dawn yet. This was literally the earliest he had ever woken up before. But this was probably another test, if the expectant gleam in Haori-sensei's eyes was of any indication.

"I think... we should get moving soon? To get a head start? And not fall behind?" He trailed off weakly as the glint intensified.

"You asking me, or you telling me? Pick one and stick with it," Haori said bluntly.

He coughed. "Yes. We should get going as soon as possible, to catch up. After breakfast."

Haori-sensei smiled, and he almost let out a sigh of relief. Ever since she had found out that he was "pretty damn smart," she had periodically been testing him on battle situations and emergencies. Answering wrongly would usually result in painful consequences and sore eardrums.

She tossed him a ration bar, and he caught it with one hand. It was slightly smushed, but it was from the Akimichi stores, which meant that it tasted better than the normal variety. The knowledge of food that the Akimichi clan had was a blessing to the whole village, and they somehow made bars jam-packed with essential nutrients and vitamins taste pretty good. He'd once tried the standard issue ones, and nearly barfed it back up.

Thank goodness for the good relations and trade between the Sarutobi and the Akimichi clans.

Packing up took exactly one minute. It was essential for ninja to be efficient in what they did, and Haori-sensei had drilled him over and over again on this concept. Kenjutsu used the same concept; wasted movements were openings for attack. Sakusen thought it was ironic at first, since she tended to say the names of the techniques she used, but she assured him that it was a "ninja thing," and that he would understand later.

Kicking dirt over the remains of the campfire, Sakusen shouldered the remains of his shredded pack - stupid bear - and clipped his wakizashi to the right side of his waist. Unsheathing it halfway, he briefly examined his reflection in the shiny surface. His hair was getting long enough to shadow his eyes now, and reached his upper back. Could he could grow it long enough to make it into a ponytail? Everyone knew that all the good ninjas had long hair. Senju Hashirama had long hair in his pictures, and so did Jiraiya. Maybe Jiji once had long hair? He sheathed his blade with a click, and turned to his sensei.

"Ready! Let's go."

"We're here," Haori announced in a grim voice.

Sakusen shivered. Two days had passed quickly, and they had reached their destination. The outpost was nothing special; just a couple of buildings surrounded by the trees. He could see a guard tower rising above the settlement. But something was wrong. It felt too... quiet. Extending his senses, he found nothing at all. No chakra signatures, no nothing.

Haori-sensei swore, low and vicious.

"It must be pretty bad if they're gone. No one left to even defend. That's not a smart move at all," she muttered.

Sakusen stole a glance at his sensei.

"Where's the fighting? Does that mean they're out defending? Or did they lose?"

She shook her head.

"The real fighting should be out farther, maybe a couple of miles away." Haori-sensei adjusted her katana on her back. "This is where we split. You wanted to find your friend and see the fighting? Up north is where it's gonna be. I'll be busy keeping my alibi, so I can't be seen with you. You'll have to go alone."

He almost protested, but drew back when Haori-sensei glared at him. She was right. Being seen together wouldn't fit in with the "I was busy tracking the idiot and didn't find him until the battle" story. He did agree to her idea, after all, so sticking to her plan was the least he could do to thank her for helping him out.

Helping him out of the village was probably some sort of capital offense anyways. He wouldn't wish that on Haori.

"Alright." He bit his lip. "I'll be off now."

"Stay safe and out of trouble," she warned. Her expression was stern, but he could see a bit of concern in there as well. "You aren't prepared to deal with some of the people you'll find out there. Promise you'll stay away?"

"I promise."

"Good. See ya, kid. I'll probably be somewhere else, chopping some heads off."

And just like that, Haori-sensei and her sadistic smile was gone with the wind, and he was alone.

Nowhere to go but forward.

Sakusen smelled the battle long before he heard or saw it.

He actually didn't know what it was that he was detecting in the air, but he knew it was disgusting. The wind carried the scent to him, and it wasn't hard to pick up. Kakashi had reluctantly taught him the basics of scent tracking after being pestered for a whole afternoon, and while he would never be as good as him, he knew how to slightly enhance his sense of smell by channeling chakra to his nose.

He regretted having been taught this small skill now. The heavy, irony haze permeated the air, making it hard to breathe without gagging.

Then, as he ran closer to the source, he heard the sounds. Metal clashing with metal reached his ears first, the sharp clanging already familiar to him due to his sparring sessions against Haori-sensei. Closer still, and he heard the screams, the shouts, of people yelling out jutsu names and war cries.

Sakusen's knees shook. He was scared. Why did he decide to come to this, again? Now that he thought again, this was a bad idea. Like, a really bad idea. There was just one last desolate hill to summit, and something deep within Sakusen told him that he would not like what he saw beyond there, that he should run run run.

But he had come this far, if only to show the others that he wasn't incompetent. That he could handle himself, and be trusted like other people could be trusted. Like Itachi could be trusted.

Truthfully speaking, he was a little jealous of his friend. Itachi wasn't sheltered like he was, Itachi had parents who cared for him, Itachi didn't have guards assigned to him, Itachi was allowed to see the war. Well, he was better in kenjutsu than Itachi, he didn't need parents to take care of him, he didn't need guards, and he certainly didn't need sheltering from the war. He had to prove himself.

Steeling his resolve, he scrambled up the rocky surface, not noticing the sad brown eyes of the camouflaged Haori hidden in the trees. They vanished in another direction once he left.

He will be strong.

The crest of the hill fell away abruptly on the other side, forming a cliff that led into a flat, expansive desert. There, Sakusen discovered the origin of the smells.

It was blood. It was unloaded bowels, leaking bladders, inner organs seeing the light of the sun which they were never meant to see. It was the corpses of the shinobi, of all different nations, Konoha, Iwa, Suna, Kumo, Kiri, everyone, strewn indiscriminately on the reddened desert sand as far as he could see.

But for each of the fallen that he picked out, there were five more living, fighting, killing shinobi still locked in the throes of battle. And he could see them fall over like dominoes, from beautiful, terrible jutsu of every nature, from kunai, shuriken, exploding tags, and swords like his own.

For a long time, Sakusen just stood and watched. Watched the carnage unfold, as more and more fell, died, ceased to live again. They wouldn't be going home alive, to see their mothers and fathers, their friends. Their children. Everything they had, gone in that single moment.

Why? What was the point? What the hell was the point of this? Couldn't they just get along? What made them so different from each other that they would murder another human being like this?

He fell to his knees, sitting back with a harsh thump. No one ever told him that war was... was like this. He had never thought about it this way. Had never been told about it this way. When Obito grinned, thumbs up, and said, "I got three Iwa-nin on our last mission!" And when Kakashi dismissed him with a wave of his hand, and said, "Big deal, loser. I got eleven." He had thought that that was so cool. But, they were killing them? Like this?

How stupid was he?

He was told that war was glorious, that it was good to serve your village. To fight, gain honor, and to carry out missions for the Hokage.

This. This couldn't be glorious. This wasn't honorable. There was nothing good about this. All he saw was death and despair, and sadness. The villages benefited from this?

Sakusen's dazed musing was cut short. It was inevitable that he would be discovered, either from his noticeable hair or his chakra signature. An Iwa Chuunin, who had just finished denting in the skull of a Konoha genin kunoichi (Did he know the woman? Did she have family? Maybe a mother or father back home?), scanned around for more victims and saw the bright, spikey blond visage of the small child sitting at the top of the hill. The large man grinned, hefting his bloodied war hammer over his shoulder. It was just a boy, but boys served in wars too. And this one looked like the Flash. Never mind the fact that it didn't have a forehead protector anywhere.

Setting down his hammer, the Chuunin clumsily sped through hand seals and slammed his palm on the ground.

"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"

Still in his trance, Sakusen just watched as a bright flash of chakra ripped towards him from the ground, running through the veins of the earth. It formed a small square directly underneath him, and launched him up into the sky like a piston and towards the battlefield.

What a useful jutsu. Sakusen mindlessly droned in his head, as time seemed to slow down while he was airborn.

A jutsu using earth chakra to raise a section of the earth, with sufficient force. Useful for supplementary purposes, but he bet he could think of some creative uses for that jutsu.

The wind whistled in his ears.

Probably a precursor to the Earth-Style Wall, since they were quite similar, but this jutsu didn't seem to be reinforced with the dense chakra fortifications that was characterized with the Earth-Style Wall.

He had reached the climax of his flight, and was beginning to fall.

Maybe that was why the Iwa-nin could use it at such a great distance away? Less chakra needed to be sent through the earth compared to the larger amount of the Earth Wall, which meant that less fine chakra control was needed, giving greater range and utility...

The Iwa-nin sneered at the falling child. The boy wasn't even doing anything. What was he, retarded? It didn't matter. He would be dead in less than five seconds of free fall. Checking his back, and only finding his comrade there, he hefted his war hammer. How far could he send this boy, he wondered? It would be like batting a ball.

Sakusen looked down. There was the Iwa-nin, getting ready to swing. He looked strong.

Four seconds left until impact.

What was the point? He could try, but did he really want anything to do with this shitty war?

Three seconds left until impact.

No, there was no point. Haori-sensei was right, he was just a stupid little kid. He thought he was so smart. He knew jack. No wonder Jiji kept coddling him. He wasn't prepared to deal with this. He didn't want to deal with this. This was a stupid world he lived in. Sakusen closed his eyes.

Two seconds left.

In another dimension, gleaming ice-blue eyes narrowed. Something stirred inside Sakusen, then roared. A primal fear, of being hunted, of being chased, of death. Howling filled his ears, and above all, one voice rang clearly, distinctly female with growling undertones.

Do you want to die?

His eyes snapped open, and the world sharpened with alarming clarity. His shock was broken.

One second left until impact. Until he died. The hammer was already in motion, an upward swing, just a couple of feet away. He made his decision.

No. I don't want to die.

He clapped his hands. Potent chakra streamed through his small body, unleashing itself like a dammed river breaking free, and Sakusen pulsed and shone with a deep, purple aura. His focus heightened, and the world slowed down. He could see the movement of the hammer rushing towards him in slow motion, could see the blood staining it, could see the intricate patterns of mountain ranges and the Iwa symbol carved into it.

Then he bent his legs, counting on his small size to make this possible, and the moment before his feet made contact with the silver surface, did the very same thing that had toppled a great Hashirama tree in the Third Training Ground.

He.

Pushed.

The hammer exploded into countless shards, some impaling the Iwa-nin, and sent the Chuunin flying back a fair distance. Sakusen, still curled up, was blasted like a cannonball in a mirror image of his first time doing this, spiraling in a dizzying pattern.

But this time, he was prepared. Sand wasn't a solid surface that he could cling to yet, but that wasn't his only option. Unsheathing his wakizashi mid-roll, he streamed chakra through it before stabbing downwards through the sand to slow himself down to a stop in front of the hill. His eyes, shadowed by his hair thrown forward from the force of the blast, glared with a violent, violet light. His blood sang with the song of wolves, and his mind was crystal clear.

The Iwa-nin wasn't done, not by a long shot. He was a very durable man, and Sakusen was already scanning him to get a scope of his abilities.

Large build and weapon of choice indicate a preference to taijutsu. Weapon holster on right leg shows proficiency in tools as well. Known affinity for Earth Release. Can use Moving Core. Genjutsu capabilities unknown.

The Iwa-nin sat up heavily, and grimaced. To say the least, he was confused. This kid looked like he was ready to die or something. Now he had fight. Feeling his left arm become numb and unresponive, he looked at it and saw a silver shard embedded in his shoulder. His beautiful hammer was destroyed. By this fucking kid.

Roaring in anger, the man got up and charged like a bull straight towards Sakusen.

Low intelligence, easily angered. Attacks without thinking when provoked. Prefers unarmed combat to using weapons. Prolonged fight is inadvisable.

His first strike had to count for everything, then. Before the man realized that using a weapon was probably the smarter way to face an opponent also armed with a weapon.

Crouching low to the ground, Sakusen gripped his sword tightly with both hands. His mind was clear and focused on the rapidly approaching ninja. Gritting his teeth and drawing his arms back, he yelled.

"Leaf-Style: Sweeping Blade!"

Now he knew why shinobi shouted their attacks. It wasn't to announce what you were doing. It served as a medium to focus all your intent into completing that one attack successfully. Also, because saying it sounded a heck of a lot cooler than shrieking and shouting.

Sakusen dashed forward in a rudimentary Shunshin, blade poised to slash through the man's side. The Chuunin, realizing his mistake, managed to bring out a hidden kunai from his sleeve that bit into Sakusen's shoulder. But it was too late, and the wakizashi cut through flesh for the first time.

Sakusen finished his technique the same way to started out, crouching low to the ground. Behind him, the heavy thump told him of the fate of his opponent. He had won. He had actually won.

Breathing heavily, Sakusen dropped to his knees, still holding on to his sword. His knuckles were turning white from the strain. That was exhilarating. The adrenaline rush hadn't worn off yet, and he was high on the moment. He wouldn't die. Not today. But... He killed his first man. He took another life.

Grief overtook his mind, and he clutched his head in fury and sorrow for a moment. He just did the thing that had made him despise the world for being what it was. He wasn't any better than anyone else out here. But it was to protect himself. He didn't want to die. Was it right? To kill other people if it meant protecting yourself? Sakusen's mind was confused. He had to see the man again, remember his face and the moment.

Chancing a brief glimpse back at the fallen ninja, he barely had time to react before a monstrously huge paw slammed into him, knocking him head over heels into someone else's previously constructed Earth Wall. Blinking the stars out of his vision, he let himself have a moment to lament. He let down his guard. He was the one who'd lost.

Crap.

Said monstrous paw belonged to the Iwa-nin, now bleeding from a deep gash in his side. Somehow he was still standing while clamping his other hand over the wound. Credit had to be given where it was due, this man was a tough cookie. And an even angrier one now.

"You," the man snarled, limping closer, "are dead. I'm gonna enjoy bashing your skull in with my bare hands."

Sakusen started to panic. He was going to die. His head was hurting from the impact, and his ribs ached from where he was struck. Every time he took a breath, a sharp pain in his chest took it away. Something was probably broken, judging from the crack he'd heard when the hit had connected. He was actually going to die here.

A black blur appeared in his peripherals, and the Iwa-nin was caught by surprise for the second and last time that day as his throat was slashed out. Uchiha Itachi was standing over the corpse with a shocked expression, bloody kunai in hand. Their eyes met briefly before Sakusen broke the contact.

He was the only one who saw it coming. Itachi's back was turned, so he couldn't have noticed. The Iwa-nin's smaller partner, forgotten from before (stupid, stupid), was brandishing a kunai at the frozen Itachi's head.

Oh no you don't.

Reaching deep within himself, Sakusen's chakra pulsed again, and hefound himself moving without thinking. He pushed himself off the ground, ignoring the pain in his ribs and head. All he saw was someone trying to hurt his friend.

No one would hurt his friend.

Springboarding off the ground, he hurtled over Itachi's surprised expression and slashed downwards, deep into the man's skull. The blade dug into the brain, and he dropped like a sack of rocks. This one was most definitely dead.

The pain registered in his senses once more, snapping him back to focus. He just did it again. Except, this time, he actually did it. He killed a man. The man was dead dead dead, and wouldn't be coming home.

He felt sick. What kind of world was this? Where so much sadness occurred daily because of conflict. Had he done the right thing? It didn't feel right, not at all. Jiji told him once that if a situation feels wrong, it probably is wrong.

But did he regret it? He regretted having to kill the man, but he would do it again if he had to. To protect his friend. To protect his precious ones.

How selfish, he thought to himself. He was allowed to kill others that harmed his precious ones, but at the same time was allowed to feel disgusted at others for doing the same? They were all fighting for their village, to avenge fallen comrades. Why was he any different?

Sakusen tried to turn around, but the world swayed, and he found himself on the ground, facing up at Itachi. He was past his limit.

"... watch... your back," he mumbled, and Itachi's face turned even paler than it was before.

"Holy... I did, but he used-"

"No," Sakusen wheezed. Speaking was painful - he could only let out words in short intervals. Itachi's head cocked to the side ever so slightly.

"I'm... watching... your back."

For reasons that he didn't know, tears sprang to Itachi's eyes, and he quickly wiped them away, narrowing them in a severe glare.

"You could have died. What are you doing out here?"

"Couldn't... let you... have all... the fun." Sakusen was starting to slur. Or was he? It was getting hard to see now. Itachi propped his head up on a knee, inspecting his chest.

"I think you broke them. Your ribs. You might have a concussion, too. Can you see well? Are you coherent? Geez, I hate this. What are we-" He cut off his panicked rambling (Itachi could panic? Since when?) and looked around the area sharply.

This was an open battlefield, after all. None of them were safe. Entering Sensing State, Sakusen perceived six signatures approaching them from all around. He could only hope they were friendly.

"Well, look here, fellas. An Uchiha clan member. Those are nice to get, with their pretty eyes."

Of course they weren't friendlies. Sakusen hated his luck sometimes. Itachi was already trying to plan a way out of this, he knew it. But it wouldn't work. Sakusen had screwed up. Just one mistake was all it took. He was most certainly done for. He couldn't breathe right, his vision had black spots, and his thoughts were getting foggier and foggier. But that didn't mean Itachi had to share the same fate.

"Listen," he whispered blindly, taking smaller breaths. "You need to leave me. I have some smoke pellets. I'll throw them down. You get out." Sakusen let out a raspy cough, and Itachi shook his head frantically.

"Not an option. I'm not leaving my first friend here."

He nearly cursed, if it wouldn't have taken so much effort. Itachi wasn't going to leave him, and he knew it. Of all the times to be stubborn.

They were going to die. He had this same feeling before, but this time it felt so much more real. Sakusen was no match for any of these. Hell, he'd gone up against a Chuunin, and it only counted as a victory because the man had let his guard down too many times. They would have died in a real fight.

Sakusen shut his eyes tightly, squeezing them closed until he could see little pinpricks of light form in his dark vision. He didn't want to die. No one wanted to die. And for the first time, he could empathize with everyone in their last moments on the battlefield. This was a horrible feeling. Even more so that his perfectly healthy friend was about to die as well because of him. If only he hadn't gone out of the village.

But then, he supposed, there were a lot of "if only" moments in life. If only he hadn't been so stupid. If only he could have lived. What would he do? He would probably try to find a way to help everyone. Because no one deserved this situation.

Yes, he mused, feeling the circle of signatures come closer and closer. If he had a second chance, he would probably try to find peace. Peace was a dream, that even Jiji had given up on. He'd like to succeed where his grandfather hadn't, and make the world a better place.

Something pinged on the edge of his senses, moving towards them at a speed that was even faster than Haori-sensei. And it was familiar. Very familiar.

His eyes opened wide, and Sakusen started grinning like a maniac.

The leader of the squad, an ugly Kumo-nin (of course they would be here trying to pick up bloodlines), looked down at him. Two kids, one trying to defend the other, a cripple. And the cripple was smiling. A sneer formed on his face.

"The fuck you laughing about? Happy that we came along? We'll take good care of you and your friends, we promise."

A sonic boom exploded through the area, and a small figure with shining red eyes and a tanto materialized on top of the cliff.

"Actually," it said, in a voice that brought tears of joy to Sakusen's eyes, "They're with me."

And with a perfect Shunshin, Uchiha Freaking Shisui slashed through the leader and two other members of the squad at once like a demon. A wonderful demon. Whipping his hands through seals faster than Sakusen could see, he inhaled deeply, red eyes glowing.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

The remnants of the squad scattered, and Shisui turned to face the kids. He was older, and taller than when Sakusen had last seen him. And, he looked like... well, like he'd just been in a war. But on the losing side. Among other injuries, the most notable ones were bloody streaks that ran down from his eyes, which were bloodshot, like he'd been crying.

But they were alive! They would live. Sakusen nearly sobbed, but pushed it all back down. They made it. They survived.

"Geez, you look... like crap. What happened... to your face?" Sakusen gasped out.

"I look like crap?" Shisui sounded positively enraged. That was never a good thing. "What about you? What are you even doing here? You too, Itachi. This is a war zone! Fugaku actually let you come?"

Sakusen's vision was slowly going dark, and he let it. All the pain in his body dulled away. He needed rest. Was Itachi supposed to have dog ears?

"Gonna slee' no'," he mumbled incoherently, eyes closing. "'M tired."

"Fugaku didn't let this one come." That was Haori-sensei's voice, no doubt about it. She was hiding and watching this whole time, wasn't she? She really was a nice person.

"He ran off like the idiot he is. Hey! Don't fall asleep! And your form was terrible! The fuck was that last slash?"

Never mind.

"Fuck you sensei," he managed to force out, and caught a glimpse of his sensei's beaming proud smile, along with rather outraged flashes of red tails before his vision went dark.

A/N

Sakusen has picked up some nice habits from his sensei now XD.

So I found out that A/N is Author's Note, which I will be using from now on. Ha, I am LEARNING.

Anyways, thoughts on this chapter are... it's a meh. I was supposed to cover more, but I went over my 6000 word count. Not bad, but not really that good either. Part of the issue is the fact that 3rd person is surprisingly irritating to write properly. Plus, my sentence structure needs work.

Originally, I wanted to do a style that was sort of like ElectraSev7n's story, Vapors. That woman is a master of 3rd person, I swear. Like, it's in third, but she makes it sound like first person thoughts, while also including other character's POV's. It's a beautiful masterpiece. Obviously, I am not that good.

So. This was already an idea that I had, but would you guys like me to switch to first person later on? By later on, I mean like 2 or 3 chapters ahead, when Sakusen can think stuff that's not weird for a 4 year old to think. Then it can be a little like Dreaming of Sunshine, with occasional other character's POV inserted in.

Was leaning toward the idea already, but I want to know what you guys think. Please review and tell me! Also, please say if it is confusing to follow or not. I am really insecure about this for some reason. Love your feedback! Thank you to those who have reviewed and favorited.