Running through the cold had various health benefits. If Guy was observing, he'd no doubt cheer them on, completely forgetting the overall context. The outer chill contrasting a rising internal warmth helped give minds clarity in some cases, such as this one. Sasuke was chasing behind Sakura out of respect for her feelings despite his ability to easily catch up. Blood flowed to her face, making it even worse, and she only kept going.

They ran past and through crowds of others, across walls when the passerby numbered too many, jumped from roof to roof, and down. After a few minutes, one of the village lakes, frozen from the cold, lay ahead. Climate being what it was, no one was around. Sakura skidded to a halt on to the snowy pier before squatting down.

She took a moment to catch her breath before hanging her head. "I may have overreacted."

"Just a little." Sasuke joined her and looked over the ice. "You did witness a massacre."

"And I lashed out at someone who also did." Humming, she really thought about it. "Who probably heard their screaming and begging a lot clearer." She frowned. "But he is Dosu."

"He's been trying."

She sighed. "I know. It's just… We could've saved so many people."

"We didn't know what we were up against, and we still don't." His eyes narrowed at the parallel river bank. "It would've taken at least three times our number and specialized scouts, but chances are they would've been blown up by his suicide bombers alongside the civilians, just earlier."

"Maybe." She looked down into the snow. "I still don't feel good at all." The countless bodies surrounding the castle filled her mind. "Why were we even there?"

He wondered the same about then and more. Most of their missions were successful, but their major ones always seemed to end bitterly. At the very least, they managed to skirt by on the skin of their teeth the first time. Doing the best they could beyond most could do at their age meant nothing if the trend continued. Even with his new Mangekyo, he was lacking, and that was unacceptable after putting so much hope into its power.

They stayed there quietly for a time. Still a bit distant, each inched closer to the other, not liking the awkwardness. Nothing either could say would alleviate their feelings. Both were frustrated.

"...I don't know what to do," Sakura admitted with a whisper.

He heard it. "We do what we can."

A freezing breeze swept through them. They grimaced and got closer to the point one could lean on the other. It didn't let up, so they did. Whatever thoughts of embarrassment they had were drowned out by everything else on their minds. Both were warmer next to each other than they were from a distance, and that's all that really mattered at that moment. Neither ever thought they'd be in such a position, as much as one wanted it and the other dreaded.

Contrary to optimistic and enthusiastic beliefs, few could choose their opportunities. Shinobi born into clans had special gifts, those from independent lines had their parents to guide them, and a very lucky small number were born with abilities that could make them the founder of a clan. Even then, they could still fail, whether from poor performance or bad luck. Worst cases were often forgotten in favor of successful ones, as human behavior often demanded. Being too focused on failure held people back from success.

Dosu, pondering such things, walked through the hospital, making his way towards his sensei's distinct sounds. "A legendary century-old rogue ninja dropping in on your mission just happens." He closed his eye over rolling it. "And a jinchuriki will totally come save your ass if it happens again." Groaning, he held is head up, as if to stare at the ceiling. "That was so damn close; how the hell am I still breathing?"

"Yeah," a vaguely familiar voice some ways from him said. "How haven't you been executed yet?"

He opened his eye to a blonde-haired girl, barely noticing his headband. "Oh, you." He kept walking towards the stairs. "I defected and your village accepted me."

She followed after him, face scrunched. "...Why?"

"I get the feeling I'm going to hear that a lot."

"You're just some goon!"

"And you're…" He turned back to look at her different state of dress. "A nurse now?" Her looking away, downtrodden, alongside a raised heartbeat made him regret saying anything.

They went up the stairs to the floor where a certain someone was choking down lecherous snickering that hurt his stressed lung. Dosu was tempted to tell off the moping girl, but that would've only made things worse. Besides, she seemed way more depressed than his own massacre-witnessing teammates. Something worse may have happened to her, which would perpetuate and grow his bad image among his new comrades if he did.

"Put the smut away: we have a female guest," he said directly into his ears.

It was beneath his pillow when they walked in. "Dosu." Surgical mask in place of his ruined one, he turned his eye to the girl and blinked. "Ino? You joined the Medic Corps?"

"We couldn't find a good substitute for Choji, Kakashi-sensei." She frowned. "...So we agreed to go our separate ways for a bit since we couldn't be a team anymore."

He glanced down. "Been some time since I've seen Asuma." Focusing back on her, he hummed. "And Shikamaru?"

"Anbu."

That made him shoot his upper body upright. "What?!"

"Uh?" Ino tilted her head.

"Being cleared for anbu duty so fast…." He relaxed. "I know he's brilliant beneath the laziness, but he should've been given more time."

Dosu raised a hand. "Sorry to interrupt your catching up, but I need training."

"You know several chakra control exercises you can do on your own," he said, giving him a look.

"I need a new Sound jutsu." He squinted. "'Basics and fundamentals will get you farther than knowing how to spite fire and shoot lightning,'" he mimicked in perfect unison with him.

Ino gaped. "Wait, you replaced Naruto on Team 7?"

"Aren't you sl–" Dosu bit his tongue and focused back on his sensei. "You know what we've ran into. I need more."

Kakashi sighed. "You won't be able to do more until you can precisely control your chakra, like Sasuke and Sakura can. If Sound is wind and lightning, it's controlled transformation between two different points." He began raising fingers. "Bursting ear drums from afar is only the forefront of what you can do with it. The rhythm of the heart, the security of the brain, and even the capillaries in the lung." Wriggling them, he eye-smiled. "With the ability to target these vital areas, you can disable or kill anyone."

His eye, on the other hand, widened alongside Ino's entire set. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I thought you were smart enough to figure it out yourself." It opened and he withheld the desire to look at him in disappointment, understanding why Orochimaru didn't put much thought into training him.

"Oh… Well, this is embarrassing." Shrugging it off, he approached the window by his bedside. "I'm going to go better my chakra control now."

"You best do that."

Ino watched him slide it open and hop out. "Can he actually do any of what you said he could?"

Falling limp, he let the hospital bed take him in. "Not right now, obviously." There was nothing else driving him but self-preservation, so he doubted him improving to that level anytime soon. "Why did you decide on the Medic Corps?"

"An administration job would've bored me out of my mind, and I'm not sure I could do anything the Anbu has people do." She smiled. "It took me a while to learn, but Healing Ninjutsu is practical, and I can really help people here."

He squinted at her. "Quick question: why aren't you helping people right now?"

She blinked innocently. "I'm on break." Tilting her head, she hummed at the confusion on his face.

"Oh yeah! You get those."

"I should've guessed you've been in the field through your entire career."

He shrugged. "Administration is boring, as you said; I don't have the knack for Healing Ninjutsu, and I never felt right just staying in the village." She didn't need to know about his empty home. "I deal with enough paperwork on some mission reports."

Ino giggled in understanding. "Didn't think I'd ever have nightmares about messing up on them."

"With luck, that's all you'll have to worry about." He briefly regretted his words at the curiosity on her face.

"Haven't had anyone die on me yet." She turned to the door. "I should probably head back before time's up, and they're wondering where I am."

He waved her goodbye and frowned beneath his mask when she left. It was the most mature casual conversation he had with someone from her generation. Usually, their immaturity grated on him, but the idea of them losing it so quickly wasn't pleasant either. All of them were growing up, regardless of pace. Some never would, like his eternal rival running around the village in his mummy state when he should've been resting, but their innocence was almost all gone.

A few more days passed for Kakashi to be discharged from the hospital. He pretended to no longer have breathing issues so he could get out before Guy, now bound to his bed and heavily medicated for his far more grievous wounds, could think of anything through his drug-addled haze. Two of his students were training at their usual spot, the third likely absent from not wanting to measure himself to them in terms of chakra control. Sasuke spotted his new mask first and took him aside.

"Alright, what is it?"

He looked away, closed his eyes, imagined he was back in his most helpless moments, and opened them. "Did you know?"

"...No." He squinted at the odd pattern. "Inverted colors and straight tomoe."

"I have no idea why it's different than yours or Itachi's; I can instantly move to another position with it though."

"Do you have to see it or only think about it?"

Sasuke frowned. "I don't think I can afford to test that." He glanced at his surroundings with the Mangekyo. "I can see better than the normal Sharingan right now, but my vision with this eye without either is worse."

While worrisome, he couldn't deactivate his to better compare. "How many times did you teleport?"

"Twice within minutes." His brow furrowed.

It was obvious that extending their Mangekyos' longevity would take using them sparingly. After thinking about it for more than five seconds as intelligent men should, they immediately realized what a ridiculous notion that was for shinobi, especially ones that constantly got into ridiculous scenarios like them. They were better off improving their other abilities while only using their Mangekyo if it was the one way to survive. Otherwise, both would be half-blind in little time.

A bitter, ironic smile spread across his face with a scoff. "...It's a piece of shit." Yet he once hoped it'd be what he needed.

"Double-edged sword," Kakashi corrected.

"That's not h–" He stopped himself as he realized who he sounded like. "Well, it's not good."

His sensei nodded. "I'd say it could be worse, but that doesn't help us at all." Freezing, a vital thought came to mind. "And it doesn't help your brother."

Face scrunching, he shot him a look. "Of course it...doesn't." The realization made his eyes widen. "Oh." He laughed. "So his vision might be more damaged than either of ours."

"You did say he used one on you back then, and he used the same on me when he felt somewhat threatened." He hummed. "It's most likely he was wary of my Mangekyo and used his to neutralize me immediately."

"I don't see him abusing it either. "

Kakashi nodded and glanced away for a second. "...You know, I'll have to inform the Hokage about this: Itachi is an S-class criminal."

The last Uchiha inclined his head. "I understand." Little sense remained in guarding what would be a clan secret if half of it was hostile.

It was a mystery if they'd ever find out how much that applied.

Well over a week went by since Orochimaru's headquarters was annihilated and Mori Town was nearly bombed. Kabuto led the others to where he was expected to give his next report and left immediately after. Jugo, predictably, took being separated from his metaphorical cage the worst, forcing Suigetsu to drown him repeatedly when he lost control of himself. Somehow being the most inconspicuous one despite having red hair, Karin handled resupplying with all the trouble it entailed with the local rogue shinobi faction. It was a few hours after her most recent run and a drowning pacification when two familiar signatures entered her range.

She pursed her lips at the change in Naruto's. "Why are you the one taking our close call the worst when you knew it was set it up?" Shaking her head, she walked out of her room through the central chamber housing a mellow floor-laying Jugo on the way to the exit. "He's here."

He immediately jumped up. "He is?!" He froze, blinked, began following, and crossed his arms. "So he is?"

"I don't know whether that's sad or adorable."

Orochimaru, however well he hid it, had disgusting chakra in its relaxed state. It was stronger than most other chakras with a strange quality to it she only ever saw in Jugo, albeit far more stable. None of it was detectable when he wanted it to be so. While Naruto could do the same, he didn't particularly care to at that moment: his swirling maelstrom of death and frustration was even more so than usual. Such a horrible thing would make most sensor ninja physically ill, but long term exposure gave it an underlying feeling of comfort to her.

Hair longer and wilder, Naruto's eyes were downcast, staring at nothing in murderous contempt, until they caught sight of vaguely familiar leggings. "Shinobi or city girl." He looked up and blinked, killing impulses giving way to surprise. "...You're alive?"

She frowned at his confirmation of Suigetsu's allegation. "No thanks to you," she spat.

An odd laugh left him. "Would you believe me if I told you I thought you could handle it?" He looked to the other approaching survivor. "Of course you're still breathing: I mean, she made it." He raised an eyebrow at Jugo crossing his arms and turning his head away with a huff.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Karin twitched.

"Your chains are strong, but you're shit at adapting, so one opening is all any anyone competent needs." He stepped back as Jugo got closer to repeat his gesture, further emphasizing the huff. "And self-control has always been your issue in everything." Laughing again, he smiled briefly before his lips returned to a thin line. "Suigetsu's one weakness is still lightning; I think you can only really kill him through chakra exhaustion or by making him want to die though."

Shaking her head, she turned and started walking. "Come on. I'm going to cut your hair."

He scoffed. "No you're not." He stopped when her face appeared inches away from his, very much displeased.

"I almost got blown up because of you, so I get to cut your stupid hair!" She stepped forward, making him step back. "Got it!?"

The sheer shock kept any reprisals from entering his mind. He just followed behind her, unsure of what to think. It wasn't as if he didn't give her just cause. She'd put up with him up until that moment, and he thought her breaking point would be long ago. Really, he was thankful someone still had the character to yell at him in his face than resent him behind his back.

Her chosen room was sparsely decorated. In contrast, her original cell back in the Wave outpost and part of the Mori Town head's residence were a typical young woman's space. Leaving her things behind was a small sacrifice for her freedom the first time while a heavy blow to her comfort the second. She at least was able to find scissors and combs for sale in the neighboring village she swiped.

"Do you even know how to cut hair? Back in the village, we had experts for that." He watched her snatch her tools with her chains through the mirror he sat in front of.

"I've been cutting my hair for most of my life." She scoffed, dragging the comb through his blonde. "Great, you have mats."

"What?" Being tugged by his roots made him twitch. "Hey." The audible snap came with their release. "Oh."

They stayed in that position in silence for minutes. Only the clipping of scissors and raking of combs could be heard. Both knew the other had something on their mind, though only one was in the mood to voice it. As odd as they found it, they were kinsmen. Intentionally having them ambushed before leading another ambushing party to them was more than enough to cross lines with a complete stranger.

"...Are you okay?" Karin finally asked.

He glanced back at her, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah."

She frowned. "You do realize I can sense your chakra, right?" Cutting more excess locks, she sighed. "You're lying."

"Oh right." He hummed as he remember the brief explanation Orochimaru gave him. "And?"

"Do… Do you expect me or anyone else to beg you to think about yourself?" Anger and frustration built in her voice. "What? Do you just want to lounge around in self-pity?!" She glared at his confused reflection. "Are you just drowning in your own catharsis instead of fixing your problems!?"

He kept the confused look for a few seconds, returned her angry one, looked down, frowned, and shifted his eyes off to the side. "I tried," he said, voice soft and weary. "Hoped maybe I could just forget about all of it, but that's impossible even if I wanted to. Nothing can replace what I've lost...and what I never had to begin with." Sighing he stared up at the ceiling. "I had the one thing I really wanted, but I didn't think I was strong enough to keep it… So I let it go." His eyes widened in realization. "I betrayed myself trying to protect myself…again."

All the anger and frustration Karin felt in herself faded alongside those in his chakra, giving her the clearest picture of his true self. "You… I… I didn't think you were the kind of person who'd set us up for an ambush like that."

"I just didn't tell you about the first, and I have no idea what the hell was going on with those stalkers," he informed. "...But neither did I." There was neither regret nor guilt in his mind: he did what he had to, and he would need to do far worse.

She finished cutting his hair. It was shorter than he would've liked while maintaining its feral look, but he wasn't in the mood to complain. Before he could move out of his chair, she wrapped her arms around him. The warmth and pain springing from his chakra made tears flow down her cheeks.

"What's the big idea?" He scoffed at her sobs. "You're the one hurting me," he whispered.

From what she could grasp, he rarely, if ever, knew the compassion of others to the point it felt wrong to him even when he wanted them. "Put up with it, you stupid asshole." Losing whoever Rika reminded him of made it worse.

Just outside the door, Suigetsu and Jugo leaned on opposite sides of the wall. The latter contemplated walking in to join in the moment while former stared out into nothing. Something Naruto said couldn't stop ringing in his head. He couldn't care less about him, but that one sentiment was buried deep inside him long ago. Unlike him, he forgot, something he never thought he could.

Karin opened her eyes. She knew they were outside, as much as she preferred not to know. If she weren't so overcome with sadness, she'd be enraged. What alarmed her was neither. For a moment, cold determination replaced the disgusting sleaze in a signature she'd grown too accustomed to.

They were together again, though important lines were crossed. One of them would never leave regardless, another needed a reason, and the last only thought he couldn't. Really, things were good for him until recently. Unfortunately, the past would exist regardless if others wanted it to or not, and it needed resolution, whether from their hands or another.

Time, as much as it passed, seemed at a stand still in Onsen City. Shinobi from the Hidden Steam Village came when they heard the news to assist in its rebuilding. Its leader, however unrecognizable, came with them. Compared to the Leaf ninja they hired, the Yukage himself, some odd old man, was unimpressive. Guards carrying the lady dowager's word of warning regarding possible cultists were ignored, their true leader far beyond caring and incapable of halting their actions regardless.

Minoru lazily sat on his throne, head propped up by the hand itself supported by an armrest. Their usual softness was replaced by a rough patch of skin. He assisted with much of the rebuilding effort after the Leaf ninja went and before the Steam shinobi came. Despite his aloof presence in his subjects' lives, they came to view him with respect once they saw the bloodstains on his kimono from wiping off his labor-skinned fingers. None of it mattered much anymore.

A man dressed in his guards' uniforms walked in, breaking the order he gave to be left alone in his hall since the incident. "Seen the light?" He took off the balaclava to reveal his familiar undamaged face with a full head of gray hair. "I'd come sooner but Ryoichi had some anbu who knew the way I work skulking around."

"Did you have to kill so many people to get to me?" He asked, voice calm.

"You weren't really the goal." Hidan kept walking and casually rested the well-forged glaive over his own shoulder. "No offense."

He tilted his head in interest. "Then what was it?" The bodies and crying children filled his mind. "What could be worth all of that death and misery?"

"That's exactly it!" He smiled before frowning. "The death part, I mean; misery's just the curse of life."

"...What?"

"Maybe I'm asking too much from a blue blood like you, but what you saw wasn't some great calamity or a once in a lifetime tragedy: that's just a Tuesday to us shinobi and the poor bastards who live near the nation borders," he began. "Ever since the great village coalitions of clans started, there's been one great war every generation. Before that, it was just constant war, not that it would ever reach your kind though." A bloodthirsty grin spread across his face. "But we went from openly butchering each other to killing unfortunate children instead of sleazy homewreckers and general wastes of space in the name of stability. Kunoichi became more prominent so rapes went up, clanless orphans are almost the majority of the active shinobi in every village now, sophisticated military structure means torture is a given and not a risk during capture, war crimes are an oxymoron, we put immeasurably powerful abominations into children to turn them into weapons, and worst of all we think most of this shit isn't just necessary." His glee died. "It's good."

Minoru's face scrunched. "You...killed all those people for a return to the Warring States Period?"

"I wish that was possible, but I did this to stop something even worse from happening: this land deciding that being everyone's bitch will somehow be better." He sighed at his still-confused company. "Living in a peace determined by others isn't prosperity. It's just prolonged suffering. That's everything in general, really, but at least when you died in the old days there was less of it. Get what I mean?"

His expression turned neutral out of sheer disbelief. "This was you 'saving' us." The man before him complete delusional yet somehow lucid couldn't be real.

"Save is a strong word, more like helping, but you're on the right track."

The strength in his hand left him, making his head smack against the armrest. "...You can kill me now."

Shrugging, Hidan lifted the glaive, swung, and stopped the blade right at his unmoving neck. "Huh…" He brought his borrowed weapon back to his shoulder. "I don't think I will."

He straightened up, staring the man legendary in anbu circles dead in the eye where almost everyone would falter. "You…" He scoffed. "You're going to just walk away after all of this?" A nod alongside a hum nearly made him twitch.

"Before all this, you were just some pussy who'd live and die like the rest of the pathetic puppets." He smiled almost proudly. "Look at you; you get it."

A groan of disbelief and frustration left him. "Get what?" He glared. "Just kill me."

"But you still think misery needs to have some type of meaning with what you're asking." He frowned at the look on his face. "Sorry, kid." Turning around, he began walking. "Doesn't work like that. Shit just happens, whether you're a shinobi or a powerless civilian. But if anyone causes things to happen, it's shinobi." He raised a hand in farewell. "So long and may you carry out Jashin's will."

He stared at his retreating back and then at nothing for minutes before returning to his lazy position, contemplating what he'd been told. Without a doubt, the man was absolutely out of his mind, likely driven insane by the uncertainty of life and having found comfort in the one certainty. Although the worst thing was he could see a point in his madness: the current centralization of power ironically let atrocities like his happen in the first place. It was impossible for anyone without any power to change anything. Like everyone kept reminding him as of late, he was merely a puppet to placate the rabble.

"Shinobi… The villages…" He scowled. "This entire system…" A rogue pillar of it was under his roof eating his food a short while ago, and such a golden opportunity slipped from his grasp.

Passion he never had burned within his chest. Something needed to change, and he couldn't go back to living the way he was. If the best he could be was a politician, he needed someone who could play the soldier, preferably someone who shared the same beliefs as him. He needed to find rogue shinobi who weren't completely mad to partner with and then work from there. From his view, it was near impossible.

Outside the reach of the Five Great Nations were a number of squabbling minor lands. They were home to independent shinobi and the most desperate of rogues who couldn't reach the Land of Rice or those looking to give up the life entirely. Every so often, independent ninja left them in attempts to make names for themselves, which rarely turned out well. Rarer still were shinobi from the great nations that kept their patriotism.

In an isolate hut within the Land of Demons, a woman with long hair scribbled ink into a scroll with precision before her door opened. "Oh please." She turned to a gray-haired man trapped between spears of earth. "Did y–" She frowned. "Kazuma."

"Fuen," he greeted, unbothered by his conditions.

"By the priestess, learn to knock." Freeing him, she returned to her work. "I'd have to scrub your blood out of my walls if I killed you."

He smiled. "I'm afraid I was too excited."

"What happened?"

"The capital of the Land of Steam was attacked with the daimyo being the target, and the Land of Rice is in chaos from its own being a gibbering oaf." His smile widened.

She raised an eyebrow at her scroll. "And?" She furrowed her brow when he leaned his head into her view.

"Change is in the air, can't you feel it?" He backed out of her space and raised his arms. "Chaos has come again to the Great Nations and there will soon be war."

"That's of little concern to me."

Kazuma nodded. "Oh yes." A glint in his eye would've told her more than needed. "And what if I told you I know of a way to destroy one, several really?"

She stopped and turned to him. "This is…" She blinked. "You're serious?" She gave a small laugh. "How then?"

"I'd give specifics, but you wouldn't believe me unless you saw it with your own eyes." He sighed, already full of nostalgia. "First, there are a few others we need to gather: getting what we need will be the only hard part."

"Don't tell me you're thinking of taking over a village with ragtag shinobi."

"My only interest is in their destruction." He turned and walked towards the door. "You'll see." He stopped right by her door. "That is, if you are coming along."

Fuen pursed her lips at the thought. She cared little for the politics of the Greater Nations that occasionally bled into the countryside, but it was a chance to really make a name for herself. Money was considerably less valuable to an independent shinobi compared to status, which was good and bad. Her entire life was spent in the countryside, and it would be good to see the sights before they all went away.

"...I'll do it."

"Splendid!" He opened it, walked out, and sighed. "...It is well about time I saw my son."

She wrapped her scroll and followed. "What?"

There was much for them to do in so little time.

AN: I was laid off from my old job and had to get a new one that has me appear in person, so you can guess how little time I have now. Been feeling rather bitter about it, but that's how things go sometime. Also, fuck banks. Just fuck 'em.

I'm ashamed to say I thought about monetizing this before realizing that would just kill my own interest beyond being a rather scummy thing to do. Writing this is fun. Work isn't fun. Plus, what's going to happen when it inevitably ends? I'm amazed this got as popular as is.

As you can probably guess, a lot of things are going to happen. Naruto's probably not going to be as much of a focus at all in the next arc or two though he'll still be around. The butterfly effect of all the small changes will coalesce. This is an end to A Tale of Two Daimyos, originally Attack on the Sound and The Land of Steam Debacle in my head. That sounds more appropriate for this. Next up is Echoes of the Past.

We're now over 800 favorites! Holy fuck, we're near a thousand. That's insane. Love you all.

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the form of a review or PM.