The orange sunset cast a faint glow over the horizon as nighttime approached. Reina jumped over the rocks and rubble as she stealthily ran towards the basecamp where Nao was said to be. Before departing, Nao told Shinji and Kimi Ashikaga where he was leaving to. It was his clan's settlement, not too far up northwest. Reina followed the directions Shinji and Kimi gave her on the small piece of paper; now crumbled up in her pocket. Reina was eternally grateful, but knew she had to be careful as not to seem like an intruder during times of growing chaos.

Reina could see structures through the spattering of trees and completely silenced her footsteps. She hid behind rocks and trees and crept within the shadows as the sun lowered in the sky. Crouching in her hiding spot behind a small boulder, Reina closed her eyes and sensed for anyone's presence. She scrunched her nose and furrowed her brows for she wasn't picking up anything. No sounds, smells, or chakra signatures could be detected. Reina slowly opened her eyes and peeked around the boulder to see the entrance to Nao's clan compound.

Reina saw no one. She stood up and simply walked straight down the path in plain sight. Reina entered the settlement and saw broken down buildings, abandoned carts, collapsing stalls, muddied camp fires, swampy wells, but no people. The settlement was completely vacant. It seemed as if it was destroyed and abandoned a long time ago. Reina's heart skipped a beat at the thought of Nao's clan being attacked by the war hungry clan ravaging the northwest. Was he alive? Were they even attacked? This could've simply been where Nao was staying temporarily before leaving, but where were the rest of his people?

Reina approached a decently sized house and knocked on the door. No one answered so she invited herself in. Reina slowly pushed the door open, but as she stepped inside it collapsed from the hinges and fell to the floor creating a loud smack as the door collided with the ground. Reina stopped and looked around to make sure she didn't summon an angry villagers or squaters. When the coast was clear, she began checking the house for people. The only thing she could find was old furniture, tattered cloth, and the same clan crest that appeared in the destroyed village from before haphazardly painted on one of the walls.

Reina gritted her teeth as she glared at the symbol. She ran to another room and saw it painted on the floor. She ran upstairs and saw it burned into a bed. Reina left the house and began to notice tattered flags of the clan crest hanging from some of the buildings as if marking their territory. This confirmed it. The rebellious clan came here and attacked Nao's family. Reina sprinted throughout the village and saw their symbol engrained everywhere. It wasn't like the Uchiha clan where they had their crest in subtle places. These attackers wanted everyone to know they were here.

"No!" Reina growled. She couldn't bear the thought of Nao perishing or being captured by these brutes. "Not Nao! No!" The sun dipped below the horizon and a dark blue sky blanketed the earth. Reina collapsed onto her knees and held her face in her hands. She clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes shut as her breath became shaky. Tears pooled in her hands as she wept on the ground. "I've come s-so far." She whispered. "P-please, Nao. Please b-be alive." She took in a deep breath as she lifted her head up and strained her neck to confront the sky. "Why is th-this h-happening?" Reina looked down towards the ground as she wiped her eyes and stood back up. She sniffled as she dusted herself off. "I will find you so long as you are alive. I won't stop until I know you are dead."

Reina stormed out of the village with fury bubbling beneath her skin. Her quickened pace turned into a light jog as she made her way back to Kurama, discouraged and disappointed. Reina shook her head as she lowered her gaze to the ground. The discovery of Nao's wrecked clan compound was disheartening. Her head ached and her mind felt foggy as her thoughts spiraled. She gritted her teeth and grunted to snap out of her trance. Reina didn't know how to feel or what to do. She truly felt lost. Reina took in a deep breath as she came closer to the landslide; her jog slowing to a steady walking pace. As she made her way around the rubble she felt a strong presence emerge from the behind a boulder.

Reina stopped in her tracks and gasped as a man emerged from the shadows of night. "M-Madara?"

The Uchiha clan leader took a few steps forward and stopped a distance away from her. "Reina… I've come to take you home."

Reina's eyes widened as her emotions spiked and her blood boiled. "NO!" She roared. "I'm not going back! I can't go!"

"You must. You could be in danger…" Madara took a few slow steps forward. "I know I've been cruel. I know I objectified you and treated you badly, but I want to atone for my wrongdoings and treat you how you should be treated. So, please, Reina… Come back home." Madara took a few more steps forward. "I'm not angry. I understand why you-"

"You don't understand anything! You had your own agenda and your plans fell through! I have my own plans and you WILL NOT get in my way." Reina's throat burned and eyes stung as she felt herself crumbling within. "You're just going to hurt me again. That or you're trying to make me into your little tool so you can manipulate me differently. Aren't you?"

"Now would be the perfect time for that, but I'm not." Madara confessed. "Reina, I want to see you grow and I want to love you… If you'd let me." Madara looked directly at her. "You do still love me, don't you?"

Reina shook her head. "I don't know! I DON'T KNOW ANYMORE!" She crossed her arms, clutching them with her hands as she hunched over and cried. "I don't know what I'm doing. Where I'm going." She shuttered. "Why am I still here? Why did anyone bring me to the village? Why didn't I fight more? Why didn't I just die?!"

"You're here because you have a purpose. Because you're strong and have the will to live. Because people love you, Reina. We all do." Madara began walking towards her. "I know you still care about me."

"It's my weakness, isn't it?" Reina chuckled.

"It's your strength… Love is strength, Reina." Madara stopped a few feet away from her. "Come home. There are many consequences for going rogue. Let's not suffer them when we don't have to."

"Madara… No." Reina shook her head. "Suffering the consequences of going rogue is nothing compared to what I've been through with you and my family and everyone else!"

"You don't mean that." Madara stated calmly. "You're upset."

"THAT is an understatement!" Reina looked up at him, face calm, but eyes blazing as if she wanted to tear him apart. "You won't stand in my way."

"I know about your past, Reina." Madara watched as her expression remained the same. "The man you're after… he'll only end up using you."

Reina chuckled. "Coming from you, that's rich… Don't slander Nao. Don't accuse him of being someone he's not. You've never even met him."

"Reina… you went to their clan compound. You saw it for yourself." Madara watched Reina closely.

"What do you mean?" Reina's face turned into a snarl.

"You saw the clan crests everywhere, didn't you?" Madara moved his right leg back, preparing to fight. "I examined the place while you were running about."

"They were ransacked and the settlement was abandoned." Reina stated strongly. "The enemy clan left their markings behind."

"You're in denial." Madara sighed and turned on his sharingan. "It can't be helped. I'm taking you back by force."

"Have fun with that." Reina made the rabbit hand sign and the remaining rabbits she summoned the night she fainted in their library appeared by her side in a puff of smoke.

"Hello hello hello…"

"Hello hello mother…" They said as they all pranced around her.

"Take Madara down." Reina commanded.

"Yes, mother." They whispered before swarming Madara.

Madara watched as they pranced around him. "This again? But there are four."

Reina nodded. "Yes. I won't leave until I know you're finished."

Madara smirked. "Do you have enough chakra reserves for this?"

"Don't underestimate me!" Reina jumped on top of a large boulder and watched as the rabbits began their work.

The rabbit controlling the element of fire began hurling fireballs at Madara in rapid succession. Madara simply ran in various directions as the fireballs chased him down. The rabbit inhaled and exhaled fire in a blast-cone shape. The wind rabbit accelerated the speed of the jutsu and span of it by adding wind to the fire. Madara watched as the fire spread and quickly made hand signs for a water wall. Madara spat water out of his mouth, smacking it against the fire. Steam covered the surrounding terrain masking the rabbits.

All was quiet when Madara heard a rush above him. He looked up to see a wave about to crash over him. Madara made signs before blowing enormous bullets of air, creating an opening through the wave. Madara shot himself into the air only to see the wind rabbit above him. The rabbit blew a gust of wind at him, smacking him down into the wave. Madara crashed into the water with a slam. He immediately started swimming out when the wave turned into a cyclone. The water and wind rabbit were working together to drown him in a tornado of their own creation. Madara activated his partial susano'o and clawed his way out of the cyclone. The speed in which the water moved created a strong gravitational pull, but Madara made it out. The water, wind, and lightning rabbits disappeared into the sky. The fire rabbit started wildly blowing fire into the sky.

Madara watched perplexed, but then heard thunder crack from above. Storm clouds rolled in and rain started pouring from the sky. Water pooled around him from both the waves and the rain. Reina watched as the fire rabbit ended its jutsu. She was feeling faint from the amount of chakra that was being used. Reina's limit was lower than usual, but she didn't know why. She made the tiger seal and dispelled the fire rabbit. Madara noticed this, but was quickly brought back to his current predicament. Lightning started screaming through the sky as if charging within the clouds.

Madara smirked. "Well, shit." Madara activated his full susano'o as lightning struck down from the sky. It came in powerful streams and waves, constantly attacking him. All Madara could do was brace himself as the lightning struck his susano'o. He gritted his teeth as his Susano'o began cracking. "What to do?" He thought before making hand signs, summing earth to cover his Susano'o. The earth provided a buffer between him and the lightning, but barely.

Reina held her head as the sky was nearly drained of lightning. "I can't hold on much longer. Why do I feel so sick?"

Madara gritted his teeth as he felt the lightning surge. "Without susano'o someone would surely die from this, even on a smaller scale… I pity those who meet their demise this way." Madara collapsed onto the ground, absolutely drained from the attack.

Reina panted and watched as the lightning in the sky lessened until it was diminished. "Did they do it?" She looked down and saw Madara lying on the ground with his partial Susano'o. "No?" Reina jumped down from the boulder and slowly made her way closer towards Madara as his Susano'o disappeared. "Madara? Are you alive?" She crept closer. "Please tell me you're just unconscious." Reina crouched down next to his body and felt his pulse. She could feel his blood rushing through his artery and sighed with relief. "Oh, thank God!" Reina sat down next to him and watched his steady breathing. "I'm sorry… but you can't stop me." Reina stood up and wiped the mud off of her body. Just as she was about to walk away, she felt something grab her ankle. Reina looked down and saw a hand sticking out of the ground. She quickly looked back at Madara's body which was now surrounded by a cloud of smoke. It cleared up to reveal a boulder. Reina gasped as she was immediately pulled into the ground, her head barely above the muddy earth.

Madara stepped out from behind a boulder and walked up to Reina's head. "Well well well, look at what my clone dragged in." He smirked as rain fell from the sky.

"I hate you." Reina said plainly.

"I know." Madara smiled. "You don't seem like yourself. Usually you're sharper than this. You must really be in pain."

Reina pushed herself out from beneath the rocks and mud as if reversing gravity. "I'm not finished yet!"

"Oh my. How exciting." Madara grinned.

Reina came at him with a roundhouse kick, but Madara blocked it and stepped in with a punch to her stomach. Reina jumped back before getting hit. She quickly lunged forward and went in with a palm strike. A bone protruded from her palm, ready to stab Madara, but he was too swift. Madara evaded her attack and hit Reina with a powerful sidekick, sending her flying into a boulder. The rock crumbled and part of it collapsed with Reina.

Kurama stirred from the commotion. He heard the fight happening, but wanted to obey Reina. He sniffed the air and realized she was only fighting one person. "It's not a clan… I can help her. She needs it."

Reina coughed up blood and made hand signs for a wind style jutsu. "Wind style: slicing sickles!" Though it was a low level jutsu for Reina, it was all she could muster. "This is frustrating. Why is this happening?" Reina hurled various wind sickles at Madara to slice him. Some made contact, but barely. It took a daunting amount of energy to even scratch him. She was out of her league.

Madara chuckled. "My turn."

Kurama appeared from behind Madara with a loud roar. "I'm sorry, Reina." He raised a claw, ready to strike.

"Kurama no! Run!" Reina screamed.

Madara turned around and froze at the sight before him. "I can't believe it." He quickly dodged the claws that nearly swiped him. "Reina… do my eyes deceive me…? You've been chummy with the legendary nine-tailed fox spirit this entire time?"

"Yes! Leave him be!" Reina cried out. "He's just trying to protect me!"

"He is a threat regardless! That and he's going along with your little adventure. That's criminal enough." Madara watched as Kurama raised his head to the sky and opened his mouth wide. "What's this?"

"Kurama don't!" Reina yelled, but he wouldn't listen. "I have to do something." Reina called over to Madara. "He's going to blast you with a tailed-beast bomb."

"A tailed beast bomb?" Madara inquired. "I'm assuming it's deadly."

Reina sighed at his nonchalant attitude. "Yes, it is."

Kurama looked down at Madara activating his susano'o. "Good luck, you abusive bastard." Once the bomb was ready, he shot it directly at Madara.

Reina flashed in front of Madara and clapped her hands together. Wood came up from the ground and surrounded them in a dome. Madara watched as Reina covered them with wood, blocking all light from coming in. The bomb shot directly at them and started ripping through the wood. Madara protected Reina with his partial susano'o as she strengthened the wood and produced more as it was obliterated. She started chanting a mantra as she focused all of her remaining strength on their barrier. The wood began to cave in before pushing upward, deflecting the bomb.

Madara looked at Reina with amazement. "Did you just protect us from that attack?"

"Yes." Reina nodded as her wood began to splinter and crack. "It's over, but he can always make another bomb. I just don't think I can protect you again." Reina collapsed onto the ground and watched as her dome fell apart.

"As I said… it's my turn." Madara stared up at the nine-tailed fox spirit and smirked. "Oi! Nine-tails!"

Kurama looked down at Madara as he activated his sharingan. He started losing consciousness as Madara gained control of him. "Damn Uchiha… this is… Reina… I'm sorry." Kurama then calmed down and lay on the ground with ease. Madara took out a scroll and made a summoning contract with Kurama.

Reina watched it all happen, but with much dismay. "Kurama… why?" She asked gritted her teeth. "Madara! Let him be!"

"I can't do that, Reina, and you know it." Madara closed up his scroll. He walked over to her hunched over on the ground. "You're not well. Shall we go home?"

Reina looked up at him with eyes of despair. "You've won… I have no choice."

Madara held out a hand for her. "Come now."

Reina stood up on her own, even in her weakened state. "Let's go."

Madara grabbed her arm and placed it over his shoulder. "Let me help you at least."

Reina nodded. "Yes, that's fine."

The two began heading south away from the destruction they'd caused. The forest became denser and the grass was more lush. The terrain was less rocky and more green. The clouds cleared up in the sky revealing stars that twinkled in the night. Reina admired the scenery. It was relaxing and almost made her forget about her sickly feeling. She continued traversing with Madara until a searing pain ripped through her abdomen.

"AAAH!" Reina cried out and clutched her abdomen. "It hurts!"

"Reina!" Madara stopped walking and set her up against a tree. "What's wrong? Can you stand?"

Reina leaned forward and held onto his shirt, pressing her head against his chest. "I don't know what's wrong with me." Reina took in a deep breath. "Let's keep walking."

"Are you certain?" Madara inquired with genuine worry.

"Yes. I'll be fine." Reina nodded. "Give me your arm." Reina clutched Madara's arm for support and began walking again. "See, this is fine. I'm fine."

Madara looked down at her with worry. "Tell me if you need to stop."

The two continued walking for about an hour when Reina began shaking her head furiously. "Stop! Stop!"

Madara stopped walking and gently crouched down as she kneeled on the forest floor. "Reina, what are you feeling?"

"M-my back hurts so badly." Tears streamed down her face as she placed her hands on the ground for support. "There's this ripping sensation in my abdomen. It's like cramps, but worse." She took in a sharp breath as her eyes widened with shock.

Madara noticed her strange behavior. "What is it?"

Reina felt something warm and fluid between her legs. "What is going on? Is this what I think it is?" Reina turned her head to the side with shame. "Madara, c-can you pull my pants down a bit?"

"How far down?" He asked while grabbing her hem.

"P-past my underwear." Reina turned her head away as he began to pull her pants down slowly. Once her pants were down her thighs she dipped her head down and saw dark red blood running down her legs.

Madara looked at her with shock. "Reina, your underwear is saturated with blood."

"Pull them back up!" Reina said uneasily.

"What happened?" Madara asked as he pulled her pants back up.

"I don't know. Take me home. I need to go to a clinic." Reina hastily stood up only to be hit by another wave of pain.

Before she could collapse again, Madara scooped her up and carried her in his arms. "Just relax. I'll get us home quickly and safely."

Reina looked up at him and held onto his shirt. "Thank you." She said weakly before they took off towards the Hidden Leaf Village.