Hi! Thanks for all the favorites, guys! I'm really happy about It. So, I was thinking … I need a Beta… If anyone is willing, I can exchange for a few lessons in Portuguese (from Brazil, It's a bit different from Portugal).

"Paradise's vision!" – Katsuo declares with relief, feeling immensely grateful for the sight of the village gates. Kana snorts and rolls her eyes at the boy's drama; It's not like they were as slow as civilians, so getting into Rohan had taken a month, through Mirkwood Forest (where she had to dissuade Eiko and Katsuo from disturbing certain elves) and, after all, they'd reached the last of Rohan's villages, the borderline of Rohan and Isengard.

It was an interesting experience, to say the least. She had to pay twice as much attention to the children, who seemed absurdly curious about every village they pass. And It was a mutual curiosity, as she had to refuse many hospitable inhabitants who sympathized with children a bit too much for her comfort.

"This world is strange." She thinks for the God-Knows-What time, recalling the expressions of some natives upon realizing that she was a woman traveling with three kids and a peculiar choice of pet. Good heavens, It was fun to watch them nearly piss themselves at the appearance of Raijin, who now looked much more fierce, with scars and a piece of his ear missing.

The hybrid in question, as if sensing that she was thinking of him, approached and she studied him with affection. She's still a little impressed with him; the animal was already at the height of her rib. Eiko, mounted on Raijin, looks at Kana with a demanding expression.

"We'll eat apple pie… Right? You promised you'd give me something sweet if I could count the numbers."

Kana shook out Eiko's hair and nodded in agreement. The little girl squealed happily and the older Uchiha saw out of the corner of her eye the two boys with soft faces.

"I bet Katsuo is struggling not to hug the Petulant Little Thing."

"Keep walking. I have to scout the area as soon as possible and confirm that this village is safe for you to stay in."

Once the girl had explored the village and paid for a month's at the inn, they settled into their room.

"Today I'll stay here with you, but from tomorrow you'll have to be extra careful because I won't be back for a while. Whenever you go out, Katsuo must cast a genjutsu to make you look like the people of this world. I will send clones every two or four days to communicate with you. I don't know how long it will take to gather more information about this Saruman and Sauron, but I'll be back at the end of the month anyway."

"But... Kaachan... Do you really have to go?" – The youngest Uchiha questions, pouting and teary eyes.

"Yes. If I don't go, there will be more bad men who want to hurt us, like last month. Now, shoo, all of you, take a shower so we can get something to eat and then sleep."

Kana watched Eiko and Katsuo leave the room, holding hands, and Riki stood beside her, giving her a worried look.

"You shouldn't go alone. What if you get hurt? What if... what if you don't come back?"

There was fear in his eyes, a vulnerability that left her disconcerted but somehow happy. It was still so surreal that she had found people who cared about her, rather than simply seeing her as a weapon.

If she were a proper Uchiha, she would scold him for being so open with emotions, but as her friend Saori Yamanaka said "fuck rule 25, we're still human even though we're ninjas". She crouched down to the 8-year-old's level and gazed at him tenderly.

"I can't promise that I'll be safe, nor that nothing will happen to me."

He grimaced, his eyes – now honey-colored (she would never understand how his eyes seemed to be gradually clearing over the years) scolding her.

"Are you trying to console me? Because if you are, you're terrible at It, neechan."

She nods in agreement and continues:

"What I can promise you, however, is that I never had a strong reason to stay alive as I do now. I will do everythingto get back to you guys, Riki."

Unsure, she reaches out to give his shoulder a friendly squeeze, but the boy has other plans; he hugs her tightly, sniffling a little.

"You better do it, or I'll hunt you down and do a season of absolutely bizarre pranks on you."

"Oh?" – She says, amused.

"Wipe the smug smile off your face, I could totally prank you."

"Mn-hmm."

"I could!"

The next day comes too soon for Kana. She leaves at sunrise, bidding farewell to the sleepy children with a hint of nervousness.

It was the first time she would leave them alone for so long.

"They will be fine. If they just follow my orders they'll be fine."

She repeats for the third time that they shouldn't leave without genjutsu, says which techniques were best to use in a surprise attack, and where they should run if something happened.

"…and don't! Absolutely don't! Come after me. If, for all that is most sacred, you do such a stupid thing..."

"We get it, Kana-neechan! You can go now, we'll be fine..." - Katsuo grumbles, pushing her out of the room with a yawn and waving absently. The teenager rolls her eyes in exasperation and finally leaves the place, facing the already busy streets of Rohan.

Walking, she blends in easily, an illusion giving her the appearance of a random man she's seen in the last citadel. Once out of the village and out of sight, she undoes the genjutsu and adjusts the mask to her face.

The next moment, she was just an indistinct figure, moving with speed, feeling the wind touch her skin, savoring the rush. The start of a mission was always strangely exciting, and after two years of just training and basically killing orcs, she was more than ready for some real challenge.

Geographically speaking, Isengard had many defensive advantages. The canyon that surrounded the territory obstructed the enemy's view while providing countless advantages to those inside the wall that formed a belt around the tower. In an attack, with provisions and weaponry, Saruman would have exceptional military advantages, but if an enemy army were careful and cut off supplies or planned an attack from within then it would be the mage's doom.

Kana discreetly studies the features of the place as she approaches the gates, amidst a group of orcs she had encountered a few days earlier. They served as guides, unknowingly, and after recording the features and behavior of one of them, it was easy to pull him away from the others for a few minutes, murder stealthily, and take his place. She gets a little confused when, instead of entering the gates, they take another route, a half-hidden cave, which she would have missed if she hadn't been with the orcs. It was already a worthwhile piece of information, many would mistake that the gates were the only possible entrance.

"Why the discretion?" – She wonders, noticing that the closer they got the quieter and more subtle the creatures became, and the path they were using was far from the main trail.

They end up in an underground base, with orcs walking around minding their own business. Casting a genjutsu on herself to disappear into the crowd, Kana explores the paths, until she finds a ladder that takes her to the first floor. It is only then that she realizes that she is inside the tower, made of stone, marble, and copper, with a vertical style that made her feel small in an absolutely uncomfortable way. It was distinctly austere.

She walked out of the tower, seeing the gates a mile or two away, from within the terrain. Deciding to explore the terrain later, she sneaks around the tower. There are a surprisingly large number of unlocked doors, and she becomes increasingly concerned about the amount of weaponry, treasure, and provisions in the tower. That had to be enough for an army.

It's almost enough for her to decide to turn around, grab her kids, and keep running.

"Forget the implications, Kana. I don't need to face an army; I just need to kill a man."

Of the rooms that were locked, the one she instinctively knew to be the most important was on the top floor – It was so typical, years of missions telling her so. She was pretty sure it was the man's workplace, where most of his plans were. With a sigh, Kana decides it's time for her to return underground and discover information living among the inhabitants.

Time to be an orc.

WARNING!

The following scenes may contain mature themes and depictions of graphic violence. If you feel uncomfortable, skip it, it will not affect your understanding of the story.

For those who choose to not read, Kana lives like an orc, explores the tower, and learns some surface information about Saruman's plans.

She remembers now why she has conflicting emotions with infiltration missions. Kana suppresses a shudder, the guttural voices of the orcs mocking, as she has to pretend she doesn't care about the stench or the sheer savagery that surrounds her. There were fewer orcs than she'd expected, considering the number of supplies and weapons she'd found, and she was seriously confused by that.

She strides, watching every corner of the tower, studying weaknesses, the carefully calculated expression in malice (Kana quickly discovered that a frown or malice were the regular expressions of these creatures and neutrality was a strange thing for them).

- Grerk! - An orc screams and she looks up, now somewhat toxic green eyes, gray skin, and, for all intents and purposes, a disfigured creature like the rest of them.

"Uh. My sense of aesthetics will get distorted if I spend too much time between them. I'm already starting to find Hiruzen Sarutobi pleasing to the eye at this point. Dang. I miss the elves of Mirkwood, bliss to my poor eyes."

She modulates her voice, making an animalistic growl in response and the other gives her orders, sending her into the woods with a group of other orcs, who jostle and seize every chance to insult or fight they can.

"Uh. No wonder they seem to reproduce so fast, otherwise, they would have killed themselves to extinction."

The first day was the most shocking.

A few orcs mindlessly killing each other over any little arguments, slave labor cutting down trees and hauling them tirelessly, a few whips from the superior for "being too slow" (she wasn't; she made sure she was one of the quick ones, the creature that supervised them was just a sadist). So far, she could tell she was ready for that. What she wasn't so prepared for was the mealtime, when one of the orcs was torn apart simply because some had enough horse meat. Cannibalism is a frightening thing, even for a ninja like her who had seen it all. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, one of the fights that broke out among the group turned into a form of show of power, where anything was allowed and there were orcs raping other orcs. The violence was such that she was sure that one orc that was attacked was dead and yet the other orcs continued to penetrate him.

She wanted to vomit and lowered her head for a moment before one of the orcs tried to make her the victim. At that moment, she was grateful that they didn't seem to have any sense of comradeship and she could freely kill anyone in self-defense without blowing her disguise.

"The way they are, probably not killing anyone would be suspicious."

Three weeks at this rate, and each day felt like the front lines of war all over again. Kana wasn't the only one with her guard up—survival instincts had to be honed to the hilt to be an orc, it seems. She kind of understands how they manage to be so twisted. Kana lives in the skin of an orc and it's certainly one of the most disgusting things she's ever had to do. She was prepared for orders, slave labor, savagery, and violence, but this level of brutality was the lowest she'd ever seen.

And then there was Saruman.

WARNING.

Uncomfortable scenes ended, well, there's still a murder ahead, but it won't be too detailed.

She saw him from afar, a point of contrast against all the dirt, a figure in white clothes with a ridiculous beard, a staff, and a distinct aura of superiority and indifference. Following him, later, she discovered where his room was, and when he left for the study, she surveyed his room, familiarizing herself with the surroundings as she waited for him, hidden in the shadows, for a stealthy assassination.

The loose ends had already been taken care of. She spread rumors about what a waste of time it was to look for children, that the reward was a lie, and that Saruman really didn't care about "the Red Eyes" because they were just a myth. With a particularly stupid mindset, it didn't take long for the word to spread among the orcs, who commented to the other races who traded with the mage.

Of course, there would be consequences. Kana doubted that Saruman was the only one interested in war, from what she understood of the culture and from her own experience, there would always be someone interested in wars. But really, she didn't care which war started or how much chaos Saruman's death would bring. She only cared about eliminating threats to her and the kids, which consisted of Saruman in Sauron at the moment.

"Sauron. Tsk, complicated man. How is it that none of those who supposedly serve him don't know more about his identity than that ridiculous genjutsu? An big eye, frankly. What comes next? Immortality?"

Kana didn't even think conversations about Sauron being a spirit, without physical form, were true.

The door opens. All her attention turns to the figure of the old man, who enters slowly and with a certain grace. She braces herself, hands gripping the katana's sheath.

"One quick death and I'm out of here. I already miss the cubs..."

Kana stabs him in the back, not giving him a chance for retaliation. The girl's eyes widen at the sheer wave of energy that throws her against the wall, and the flash of light that follows. She prepares for an attack, thinking that he has somehow sensed her and protected himself, but is quite confused when the scene before her is the mage lying on the ground. Kana cautiously approaches, watching for any suspicious movement, concluding that yes, he was dead.

"But what was that energy?" Kana ponders, annoyed, but before she can speculate further, there's a knock on the door and a euphoric scream outside.

"My Lord! Intruders! Two of them have red eyes!"

It takes a moment for Kana to realize what this means and she promptly lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Well, that's It. I will kill these disobedient stinking brats myself."

She opens the door, just enough to get through, her henge making her look like Saruman. She follows the orc in silence, which seems to unnerve him, and soon they reach the "throne room". Eiko, Riki and Katsuo were there, though no sign of Raijin. Two orcs held them and both tried desperately to push Eiko away from the orcs. Counting on the orc who had warned, three enemies. Kana raises her hand, expression stony, and orders the orcs to leave and not disturb under any circumstances.

When they are alone, she turns to the children and raises an eyebrow. Kana could only hope they listened to some damn thing she'd taught and didn't give out information with a slip of the tongue.

"Hey! What do you want with us, huh, old man? We've been hunted by these damn orcs and mercenaries for two years!"

The silence stretches for a few seconds before the calm facade dissolves into an irritated frown.

"What I want is that when I tell you to stay in a village while I do a mission, you stay in the damn village! What the hell is wrong with your head!? Coming here, just to do what? Demanding an explanation for someone who tried to murder us for two years? Damn, that was pathetic." – Kana scolds, approaching the children and releasing the henge. She takes a little pleasure at the way the three of them turn pale, Katsuo stammers apologies, and Riki seems to realize that their life is going to be a little hellish from now on.

"We were worried and I had a feeling something was going to go wrong…" Riki tries to explain and Kana takes a deep breath.

"We'll talk about It later."

She says, silencing them and she puts the henge back on.

"We have to leave now, do a henge and turn into orcs." – Kana orders, casting a genjutsu on Eiko.

"But what about Saruman?" – Katsuo asks and she gives him a scathing look.

"Dead."

The Uchiha barely finishes those words when all her survival instincts compel her to move, she grabs Eiko and Riki with one hand and pushes Katsuo, and a moment later the wall is hit by some force she can't see.

"Oh, finally. I was starting to wonder if you kids were real. Of course, my plan didn't involve one of you killing me. Glad I prepared myself for moments like this."

The old man's voice was little more than a breeze, eloquent and mellifluous cadence that gave off power. She looks at him, he's stopped a few feet away, and he's so drastically different from what she'd seen a few minutes ago that she doesn't know how she recognizes him. His skin is pale, almost translucent and there are prominent veins of a gray hue covering his skin. Where once there had been white hair and beard, it was now black, as dark as Kana's own hair and even his nails were black and elongated. The only thing that even vaguely looked like him were his eyes.

"How is he alive?" She finds herself thinking, perplexed, as she moves at ninja speed and tries to land a blow, which is blocked by his staff. They face each other, a battle of wills, and she is undaunted by the contempt and anger she sees there.

"Run!" - She yells, hoping the kids will be quick while she distracts the mage. Unfortunately, the only time they are actually listening and trying to escape, Saruman stops them by locking the tower entrance. The kids scream for her, Katsuo and Riki making a move to join in the fight, but she retorts telling them to stay out.

It's an odd fight, Kana thinks, as she uses all her agility to dodge his "invisible" attacks, and she would be truly dead if it weren't for her ability to sense chakra (or, in this case, as close to chakra as there seemed to be in this world). Despite different styles, it was curiously one of the most balanced fights she has ever had. With her using the katana, he would block or defend himself with the staff, which was surprisingly stronger than a normal staff should be, and when he used some magic with elements - such as lightning or the slashing winds he created - she was able to reciprocate with her own ninjutsu.

To her surprise, it was more a question of who would have more stamina than anything else, which was making her immensely worried because what if he came back from the dead again, dammit?

"I wondered what was so special about Sauron wanting them so much for himself, but now I can see why. You are valuable weapons. With four of you, and the army we have, no one would be able to oppose him."

Something snaps in Kana, and she growls, all her teeth bared and furious. Her Sharingan is activated, three tomoe spinning. She sees his attacks now, a mass of pure energy with each release. That calculating glow of his sent out all the warning signals, and she renewed her attacks with even greater speed. She supposed whatever barrier he was putting up at one time would break if she was faster, fiercer, stronger than him.

He keeps talking, and she wonders if it's just provoking or if he's starting to get tired.

"There's no need for brutality. These children are welcome here. Even you, my stealthy assassin. I'm sure we'll end up working out our differences. I can already imagine, the five of us could do such great things together." He says, a smile that, she supposed, should have been magnanimous and kind. She looks at the children and the doors, watching for any sign of orcs.

"Think, Kana, think! How to get out of this?"

She swallows hard. Perhaps it would be better for the orcs to show up. If Riki and Katsuo were quick, they could grab Eiko and leave amid the fuss among the orcs using henge.

As for her... she would earn as much time as she could.

"You're not going anywhere near my kids, you sick motherfucker. They are not weapons."

"Language, young one. I see that I will have to teach more than I expected." – He says reproachfully and condescendingly.

The mage launches an attack, which resembled a black cloud. She realizes with horror that it wasn't for her and her feet barely touch the ground before stepping between the Uchihas and the onslaught.

Kana sighs, eyes wide, acute pain in her back, then her wrists and ankles, and the sudden sensation of her chakra being drained at an alarming speed.

She sees her family's shocked looks, and sees their lips moving, vaguely making out the cries of despair calling her. Disoriented, Kana tries to get up, only to fall flat on her face and hear what sounded like the sound of chains dragging on the floor.

"The first lesson is that emotions like love make you weak."- He says and approaches, a tall and menacing figure with a slightly satisfied expression on his face, as he extended his staff and pointed it at her face.

Over the centuries, there were many mysteries and surprises he experienced. The vision that he and many of his brothers were enchanted and loved before they even understood what it was, that clear feeling of fullness, happiness, and union, was what gave him the strength to continue with his mission in this world, the mission given to him and to the others like him, their companions, their friends, their brothers. Of course, some were a little harder to deal and he wasn't going to deny that he had a particular affinity for some more than others.

His mentor, Saruman, the Istari he came to know and admire, wise and possessed of impressive mental acuity, was a perfect example of how Gandalf got along better with some of his fellow mages than others.

So it was he who Gandalf seek for advice when his suspicions about the Ring became too strong to ignore when one of his little friends might be in danger in possession of such an object.

On his accelerated journey, galloping with an urgency that only dark times demanded, Gandalf organized his worries in his mind, overwhelmed with anguish at the uncertain future, when he was seized with a sudden shudder, almost falling off his horse at the sensation.

His heart grew heavy, and he put his hand into his chest, letting out an aching sigh, his throat tightening and his eyes filling with tears.

"No. It can't be." He thinks, afflicted.

Saruman is dead.

Gandalf sobs and commands the horse to run faster, not believing it until his eyes see it.

A few days later, when Gandalf approaches, hears his friend's voice, and sees him alive and healthy, he is almost relieved, but something prevents him from complete joy.

Something is... wrong with Saruman. Like a layer of the veil, preventing him from fully feeling his friend, preventing him from seeing his true nature, as all of his kind were capable of doing to one another.

And even when he talks about his fears, that feeling remains, and it only increases when Saruman starts saying things that Gandalf would never have imagined his friend would say.

He doesn't want to believe it.

Not even when he accidentally touches the Palantir and sees The Eye, not when Saruman starts closing the doors one after the other. Because he's been his friend for hundreds of millennia, they've just spent hours talking and drinking wine, they've discovered and invented a lot with each other's help, they've fought the Enemy's forces together, they've bled together to protect Arda, because Saruman has always been someone that Gandalf admired and Gandalf doesn't want to believe.

Until he speaks with all the words that they should join Sauron, when his appearance wavers and any illusions that had been sustained by magic change. Gandalf sees what Saruman has become, and how he has become corrupted.

He looks through his friend's eyes but realizes with sadness that he has lost him.

Saruman the White is dead indeed.

He fights because he thinks about Frodo, he thinks about the Children of Eru, he thinks about his mission, he fights even when he doesn't really want to hurt Saruman, even though he knows he was never as powerful as Saruman, which is evident when the other manages to take his staff and hurls it up to the top of his tower.

Gandalf shrinks, bruised, not only physically, but completely emotionally shattered.

Saruman... betrayed him. He betrayed them.

The istari doesn't know how long he sits still, unwilling to move, just feeling defeated, remembering the impure way the other had been stained, its own essence tainted.

After a long time, that's when he finally looks around. And he promptly exclaims in horrified surprise. Before him, a human sat and was chained by what appeared to be a chain of shadows, which pierced her wrists, ankles, and back, blood still oozing from these wounds. He could only see her eyes—which were disturbingly empty of any emotion—and a bit of her nose, she wore a piece of cloth that served as a mask. She also looked worryingly thin and there were sunburns where he could see her skin.

Gandalf blinks, tears building up again, for the girl in front of him and for Saruman.

Because despite what had just happened, he didn't think Saruman could do…this.

Gandalf does not look away, finding a new resolution in himself to not give up. He would get out of this place, get the poor girl out of there, and pray that he would find a way to help Frodo, even if everything seemed impossible.

He would never accept Saruman's offer, now, because he saw clearly what it would do to him. The girl was proof that Gandalf could never willingly agree to join Sauron: he would not become a monster.

"Ah, Saruman. What did your power cost you? What have you done, my friend?"

Author's Notes

I'm a bit in doubt if I should rate this fic into M, for the violent scenes, because to me It's really mild, but Idk, heard some friends telling me that Brazil is not for the weak of the heart. I don't really agree, I think it's just "normal" violence. I mean, when I was like 8 years old I saw a dead body in front of my house and there were like three or five people in my neighborhood that get killed or hard injured… Okay. Now that I wrote it down, I'm starting to think maybe It's not so normal. Still not sure about the rate and If It's as mild as I think, tough. I mean, some of you definitely know one or two violent stuff happened in your neighborhood, right?

Moving into another topic, we are finally at the point I can use the movies scenes! Man, I'm excited. I think, by now, you guys realize that I'm okay with not following exactly the plot so be ready for a lot of changes. Oh, and I'll explain how Saruman is still alive and other little things. Actually, if you have any doubts, It'll be good to tell me because I'll make a chapter or some author notes clarifying a lot of things that I could not write in the story Itself, like the Uchiha's motivations and personality (MBTI stuff), and childhood, past traumas, friendships, etc.

I think I'll update next week. I'm having so many ideas for fanfiction but I made a promise to myself that I'll only write one fic at time. But just to know… for hypothetical statistics… between a Harry Potter fanfic about Draco, Hermione, and Harry time traveling, and a Naruto fanfic about Kakashi Hatake being a badass teacher for team 7, what would be more interesting?