"Why is it that I always get stuck with you?" Madara asked aloud as they raced through the trees.
Nina was tempted to roll her eyes.
"Ask Hashirama."
The Uchiha's complaining was getting old. Ever since their first mission together, Hashirama had been pairing the two up more often. This time it was warding off a hostile group of bandits on the other side of a large forest. If there was a bright side to this increased workload, it would be that Madara had started to open up to her. With each mission, they learned a little more about each other.
Nina had an idea as to why Hashirama was putting the two on so many missions together. Just thinking of it made her head hurt.
"Hokage." A file dropped on the said man's desk. "The report."
Hashirama looked up from his paperwork, offering a tired smile.
"Thanks, Nina." He seemed ready to fall asleep.
"Doesn't Tobirama do all your paperwork?" She asked, glancing at the tall piles of documents on either side of him.
The Senju slumped in his chair.
"He says I need to start doing it myself." He sighed dramatically.
"Well, I'll be on my way."
The Senju nearly jumped out of his chair.
"Wait!"
She turned back to face him.
"How was the mission?"
She stared blankly at him for a moment before answering.
"It's all in the report." She gestured to the file on his desk.
He paused.
"I mean..." He struggled to find words, then sighed. "Never mind."
Nina turned to face the door, she knew what he was trying to ask.
"Madara was cooperative." She could almost feel him smile as she walked out the door.
"It's wooorking!" He sang to himself.
The days passed steadily, everything went as it should. Madara, however, had not been seen by Nina or any of the Senjus for nearly a week. Not having had a mission with him for the past week, she was curious about what was happening with him. Upon asking Izuna, she only got the answer of 'I'm not sure.'
The sun was high in the sky when Nina was walking home from a meeting, which the Uchiha leader had been absent from. The road she was taking was a less traveled one, precisely what she wanted. It went behind a few less important buildings had quite a number of twists and turns. The sudden sight of a figure walking towards her caught her attention, she hadn't come across another person on this path before.
"Uchiha-san." She greeted, nodding respectfully at the familiar elder.
He smiled at her.
"Nina, yes? How have you been?"
"Good, thank you." A question popped into her mind, she spoke carefully. "If you don't mind me asking, how has Madara been doing?"
The man sighed.
"Ah, yes. Lord Madara hasn't been to any conferences lately, has he?" Hideaki looked troubled. "He has been very preoccupied with his training. I've heard he's been doing that often ever since a meeting with the other elders a week ago, I was not able to attend because of personal matters. I was on my way to go gather them and ask about what happened."
Nina was surprised, he's been avoiding contact with them because of a disagreement with the elders?
"That's unfortunate. I hope you find your answers." She dipped her head in a polite bow. "Take care."
"Same to you, young lady." He nodded and they continued on their separate ways.
Upon entering her house, Nina sighed. It was odd having gone a week without hearing Madara's complaints about being paired with her for a mission or seeing his signature glare. Shaking the thought from her head, she decided that a walk would clear her head. Changing into a comfortable yukata, Nina headed back out the door, making her way towards the forest bordering Konoha.
The trees were blends of bright yellows and fiery reds this time of year, the dull grass was nearly invisible under the coat of fallen leaves. Even with the leaves covering the ground, Nina's steps made no sound, as expected of a shinobi. She had no particular destination in mind, letting her feet guide her through the colors. The surroundings were not of interest to her as she had seen the cycle of seasons hundreds of times, though the fresh, cool air was anyways nice to have.
She came across a narrow river, its water flowing steadily. Bending down and staring at the reflection on the surface, she frowned slightly; there were no mirrors in her home nor had she come across many lately. The look in this woman's eyes surprised Nina, it was something she hadn't witnessed in anyone in a while.
The villagers were always busy with their lives, the clans looking for ways to improve themselves, Hashirama and Tobirama constantly stressing over everything. People just didn't seem to have this look in their eyes anymore. This woman, however, the one on the water's surface, staring straight at Nina, seemed to be an exception.
Contentment.
Perhaps it shouldn't have been so odd, but it was startling to see such an emotion in herself.
'Perhaps this isn't such a curse after all...'
Continuing her walk through the autumn air, she walked past many brilliant colors, listening to the sound of the forest.
After a while of spacing out, she found herself in front of a familiar field. A smile slipped out.
"Why this one?" Nina inquired. The man next to her shrugged.
"It's well hidden and a good distance from the edge of the forest." Hagoromo stated blankly. He had aged significantly since their clan had departed from the Earth, while the woman beside him looked the same as she did thirty some years ago.
A silence settled between them as they gazed upon the beautiful field. Nina spoke up after a moment, her voice low.
"Hagoromo. How long do you have?" Her words came out slowly. The man sighed.
"Not long." He knew of her concerns. "Don't worry, you'll be fine." But this was of no comfort to her.
"Eternity is a long time..." Her eyes never left the vibrant colors of the field.
He let out a rare chuckle.
"Yes, but I know you will do well." His eyes trailed up to the sky. "I'll be sure to reincarnate a few times and come find you." His voice was uncharacteristically lighthearted.
She scoffed at this, closing her eyes.
"Yea, sure."
Not long after, Nina set back towards the village, taking the same scenic route. The towers of Konoha had just become visible over the horizon when she spotted someone on the cliff overlooking the village.
She reached the top of the stone ledge quickly, taking a seat next to the figure.
"How are you?" She asked, turning slightly to look at the ever-stoic face.
"Fine." The reply was less than genuine.
She knew it was best not to ask about what had happened with the elders.
"Will you be going on missions again?"
A smirk spread across his face.
"Miss me already?" Madara teased, receiving an indignant scoff.
"I could survive without your attitude." She turned her eyes to the lively village below.
He let out a low chuckle.
"Missions should already be waiting for me." He followed her gaze, staring down at the village and its residents.
The sun was halfway down the horizon, casting a pink and orange glow over the land. The whole village seemed to be shimmering in the light.
"Good to have you back."
"Anbu..." The word came slow. Nina then looked up at Tobirama, paper in hand. "What's that supposed to be?"
"A core group of the most skilled shinobi in the village to carry out the most difficult missions." The Senju answered, handing her a few more papers.
"To do the village's dirty work." She stated bluntly, skimming over the documents, describing in detail the requirements and tasks of an anbu member.
"In a sense." He nodded. "I need your help with founding this group." He had called her here early that morning.
She thought for a moment, this would be mildly troublesome, exposing her to more people on a one to one basis.
"Many qualified shinobi should be interested in this. Since you don't need my help in finding recruits, what do you need me for?" She questioned, hoping to find a way out of this situation.
"Yes, I expect there to be many applicants, so I'd like your help in evaluating each of them and keeping tabs on those who make it in." He eyed her carefully, seeing the contemplation on her face.
"Alright." She agreed. This shouldn't be too much of a hindrance, plus, denying to help again might raise some suspicion.
"A public announcement will be made today, we will test them at noon tomorrow." He stated, sitting down.
"Tomorrow? Isn't that a little short notice?" She saw his expression darken.
"It is, however we have some trouble in our hands that needs to be taken care of." Tobirama glared at nothing in particular, likely thinking of the best way to utilize the anbu forces to resolve the problem.
"And what might that be?" She asked, eyebrow raised.
He sighed audibly.
"There has been a direct threat delivered to the village." Nina's eyes sharpened upon hearing this. "Four days ago, an Uchiha guard was killed and mutilated while on night patrol. It was clearly done by someone outside of the village. It was passed off as a one-time tragedy until yesterday when two more men from the village were killed and their bodies mangled. One was a civilian." They both grimaced. "Along with the body of the most recent victim was a note." He pulled out a small, bloodied piece of paper from his desk, handing in to Nina. There was only one sentence on it:
'The number will double every three days.'
She paused, praying that it didn't mean what she thought it did.
"Four more people..." She mumbled slowly, receiving a nod from the Senju.
"That's what we expect. The anbu needs to be assembled before then. It'll be a strong force to counter whoever is behind this." He said, seemingly trying to convince himself of it.
"How is this person getting into the village?" Nina frowned, the boarders are not easy to get through without passing through the gate "And why did they not simply kill the guards on the outer security check?"
"That's what I've been considering. If they only wanted random targets, the guards on the outermost layer would have been the obvious choice. They're most likely targeting more influential clans and individuals."
"Why not just go for the Senju then?"
"Probably because they couldn't get to us. We're in the center of the village, making it more risky to reach our compound. What I'm concerned about is the note; should we be trusting that they will wait two more days before attacking?"
"Based on what you've told me, they could very well attack at any time. They also seem to have easy access to a majority of the village. I'd recommend we set up extra security throughout the village for the next few nights."
That day, dozens of Senju and Uchiha shinobi were told to guard certain areas of Konoha without being told why, Hashirama had decided to keep the situation from the village for now. Accusations would surely be thrown around if the clans were to find out.
The next day came, no deaths or suspicious activity was reported.
Despite this, tensions did not drop.
The sun blazed down onto the dozens of shinobi standing in the village's largest training field. Two white haired individuals stood facing them.
"All of you wish to join the anbu division, but few of you will. You will be put through a series of tests to determine which of you are the most qualified." Nina scanned the lines of people, determination was evident on every face. "First is to answer a simple question: how many people are hiding in these surrounding trees?"
Realization dawned on the recruits as they began to notice numerous sources of chakra coming from the ring of trees around the field, some were strong, others barely noticeable. Pens and papers suddenly appeared in each person's hands.
"The first sixty to answer correctly will move on."
And just like that, half of the applicants were eliminated.
The next test was to find and bring back one of the forty-five scrolls hidden around the village. These scrolls, which had been personally hidden by Nina, were concealed anywhere from the guard tower to a random civilian home.
In the end, only forty-one of the scrolls were found, so forty-one people passed.
After the two sensory type tests, the last one was inevitably going to be combat related.
"You will be fighting one of us."
And so the group was split right down the middle with Tobirama getting one more opponent than Nina.
"Five minute spars, we will choose the ones we believe to be most qualified. There are no limits to what abilities you may use."
The first battle began: a Senju shinobi against Nina. The man was holding back as he had come to respect her as a leader, though his reluctance was quickly destroyed by a fireball whizzing past his face.
Five minutes later and the next man stepped up.
Just under two hours had passed and Nina had gone against all twenty of her opponents. Everyone but Tobirama was shocked to see that there had been little change in her speed and accuracy the entire time. One by one, the rest of the shinobi battled Tobirama, and, to no one's surprise, he too showed little evidence of wear.
"Thank you for your eagerness to join the anbu division. By noon tomorrow, you will all know whether or not you have made it in. You may return home."
The next day, thirty-two shinobi were given the new anbu uniform along with a distinct tattoo. Exercises and spars had taken place afterwards, supervised by Nina as Tobirama had been preparing a plan for the expected attack that night. He had arrived just as the sun began to set. After mumbling something to Nina, he spoke to the anbu members.
"I've divided you into eight squads based on your skills. Tonight, you begin your first mission; guard your assigned area of the village and look out for suspicious activity. If there is anything or anyone out of place, you have orders to capture them and bring them to the Hokage Tower immediately. Understood?"
"Yes sir!" They replied in unison.
That night, the anbu had each been placed in a sector of the village, they stood on guard and silently patrolled the area, Nina and Tobirama were guarding their own sectors as well.
"Anything?" Tobirama asked upon meeting up with Nina at dawn.
"Nothing of note. You?"
"Nothing." The night had been uneventful, as they had received the same answer from the anbu members upon regrouping.
The two sat in Tobirama's office and were going over the records of each anbu member when a the door flew open.
"Commander!" A Senju boarder guard burst into the room, out of breath and panting. "The son of Elder Risu has been killed!"
They both tensed.
"When?" Tobirama asked sharply.
"We believe it happened last night, he was returning from a mission and was killed just outside our compound."
There was a long silence, Tobirama and Nina glanced at each other. They both knew what that meant.
"Go alert Hashirama, tell him to go to the east wing of the first conference hall." The guard nodded and left quickly. He turned to Nina. "I will inform the anbu squads about the situation, go tell Madara about this, he knows about the others."
And with that she was speeding towards the Uchiha compound.
A guard stepped in front of her immediately after she reached the gate.
"State y-"
"I need to speak with Madara, a message from the Hokage."
The guard seemed mildly insulted at her casual reference to his leader, but quickly went to alert him upon noting her urgency.
Moments later, the guard reemerged from a building, Madara following close behind. He had his usual blank expression on, though there was a bit of apprehension underneath. He waved the guards away so they could speak in private.
"There's been another one." Nina stated quietly.
"I thought the brat put together a group of people to guard the village last night." He frowned.
"Yes, and both of us were with them. Somehow the enemy slipped through. We'll fill you in later, come on." She sped off towards the conference hall, Madara on her heels.
"Good, we're all here." Hashirama stated, then turned to his brother. "Tell us what happened." The younger Senju held a grim expression.
"The same group who had killed three of our villagers has killed another last night. General Senju Hiromichi had returned from his mission when he was attacked right outside the Senju compound." He said.
"But the note by the last victim said four people would die, there was only one kill." Hashirama frowned.
"So far. I believe the perpetrators were not able to make another kill without being noticed."
"Then they should be back before another three days are up." Madara commented, seeming calmer than the rest.
"Security in and around the village will be increased and we will encourage villagers to report anything suspicious." Hashirama stated. "This situation will be kept between the four of us for the time being."
"If they can reach the Senju compound, you know what this means, right?" Madara said grimly.
A silence fell in the room.
"They have access to the Hokage Tower as well."