Haru walked through a forest to a location known only to her; her students, and those from the past who she'd called her own teammates. This place held a lot of nostalgia for Haru as she used to sneak off with Kasumi and Waka to train in private when their sensei wasn't looking. Although it was dangerous, they did it anyway as Kasumi would convince them both easily.

The sun would shine on the Uchiha as she passed through a certain area of the forest. A log stretching over a stream. Even after all these years, it was still standing. Looking around and blushing to herself at what she was about to do; she would step onto the log and balance herself upside down on one hand to boot at the center of the log. A training exercise she used to do with her old teammates.

She wondered where they were now; she would close her eyes and slip into a deep meditation. Even on one hand her balance was such that she would easily be able to maintain this position. It even became comfortable after awhile. With her other free hand, the one she wasn't holding herself upside down with; she put two fingers up to allow her chakra flow to take hold.

Memories would begin to flood her mind as she would slip back into the past.

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The Village Hidden in the Leaves (18 Years Ago)

At the Konoha training grounds, a group of four individuals stood around; three of which would be children as the camera would pan over a man with long silver hair standing in front of them. He wore an eyepatch and would be standing in front of the kids with a serious expression.

One of the kids was a young boy with blue hair and green eyes, he seemed to have a confident look on his face but a little carefree. He was wearing a blue and black jumpsuit unzipped in the front; his spiky hair short and blue wasn't obscured by a headband he wore that around his neck instead as it loosely hung. He had a ninja kit strapped to his leg; probably with various kunai inside. This was Waka. He was probably about ten years old. He was the tallest of the group.

Another of the kids was a girl, with orange-reddish hair. She had it in a bun with two chopsticks holding it into place. She wore a long gi yellow in color, with the "Uzumaki" symbol in black on it's back as she would be wearing practically nothing on her legs with slits in either side of her long gi. She would have her leaf headband on her head in practical form and she would be carrying a large shuriken on her back that seemed to big for a girl her size to be wielding. This was Kasumi, about 9 years old. She had a look on her face like she couldn't wait to get started. Height wise, she was the one in the middle.

The last of the kids was a dark haired young girl, with her hair in a high ponytail and her leaf headband strapped on her forehead properly. She wore a red gi with the "Uchiha" symbol on the back of it The gi stretched down to her waist where she wore a pair of tan short shorts; showing most of her legs as both legs had ninja kits wrapped around it. She wore a set of fingerless gloves to finish off the outfit and a pair of fighting shoes that were wrapped up tightly with ace bandages around half of the shoe. This was a young Haru Uchiha, only 8 years old. The youngest of the bunch. She had the most serious expression of the group, almost too serious for a girl her age. She was the youngest and shortest in stature of the group.

The three stood in front of the man only known as Zensho Hatake. A descendant of the line of the copy ninja. He would cross his arms, wearing a long black overcoat; which he kept open to show off his considerable abs and body frame; which was chiseled and scared from past battles.

"Welcome all three of you....to Team 1."

The flashback would end as Haru would open her eyes, still balancing on one hand with her other in jutsu formation. "Hmph.....I wonder what those two fools are up to now." as she said this, she would be greeted by a voice. One she hadn't heard in a very long time.

"One of those fools is watching you right now." as soon as she said this, Haru's eyes darted to the left as she heard something buzzing coming her direction. Within a split second she pushed up off the log; still in her one handed handstand as a kunai came underneath her very fast flip. Haru would land on one knee, but with her eyes forward. Although her expression didn't look to much more serious than usual. Almost unconcerned.

"You can come out Kasumi, that cheap trick won't work." although she was kneeling she looked over her shoulder at the kunai. The kunai would actually transform into a woman one that appeared to be about the same age Haru was. She had on a yellow and black full body gi; long red hair that was in pigtails that trailed down her back. The gi had the "Uzumaki" symbol on it's back as her eyes were a bright green. One of Haru's old squadmates, visiting their old spot on the exact same day she was? Couldn't be a coincidence.

"You still come to this place huh? Haru you sweetheart." she said this in a teasing manner as Haru would stand up her back still to Kasumi.

"Hardly. The last time we were here you almost drowned Waka." she said with a small grin, turning and facing Kasumi properly now. They would walk up to one another, on the log perfectly balanced as the stream rushed beneath them. For awhile, they would only blink at one another. Haru looking as monotone and bland as usual; Kasumi looking more serious but also as if she was more confused if anything.

"So I hear you've taken on some students now...a Jinchuriki no less?" she said this casually without breaking eye contact. "I hear that he's a handful." she spoke obviously about Tora; for a moment she got nervous that she'd managed to learn about Celestia. Kasumi's information gathering skills were second to only hers. Although sometimes she doubted even that. Her old teammate had gotten them out of many situations by knowing things she shouldn't. Haru had learned a thing or two from her even though she was only a year older. She at one point even looked up to her, although that changed over the years they spent together. They held fundamental differences as women and shinobi that Haru honestly couldn't get over sometimes. However, she was her sister through and through.

Her and Waka, the original Team 1. Those 3 and Master Zensho. Wherever he was now. He apparently had left the village, and started a new life somewhere in the Land of Fire. Leaving them after they'd become Chuunin. He stayed until all three of them got their green vests. The day he left had been an emotional one for all three of them; and it was when they truly had begun to go their separate ways.

"Have you heard from Waka?" she said as they still held eye contact. From an outside point of view it looked like they could start fighting at any moment. Which likely would happen soon.

"No." she said as she finally looked away crossing her arms. "He's likely knee deep in some scenario he didn't think through all the way." as she said this Kasumi would laugh, her yellow and black gi would hit the sunlight brightly as the sound of the stream and forest animals all around them complimented her laugh nicely as far as mood setting went.

"Before I get down to business.....oh yes, I'm here for a reason." she would say after she stopped her previous laugh. The Uzumaki would say the words Haru knew were coming. "What do you say we have a little match like we used to? Imagine we were fighting over Waka like when we were little girls?" Kasumi would say with a playful yet serious look about her.

"You think I'd entertain such bullshit....." Haru's expression actually changed for once as she furrowed her eyebrows annoyed. "What a childish attitude....I'd heard you'd become a ninja of some importance, I guess the rumors were wrong." she would turn and shake her head.

"Oh...afraid?" as she said this, she knew she'd pulled a trigger as Haru's energy changed.

"Kasumi...please don't make me hurt you." Haru said in a serious tone as Kasumi would raise an eyebrow.

"You say that as if you have a chance of actually doing that! Remember the order goes Waka, me, then you lil Uchiha brat." she always rubbed that ONE year older than her in. She just had to do it again; even though Haru was 26, the fact that she was 27 somehow in her mind made her the boss. She outranked her, she shouldn't let such childish games get to her....and yet. The nostalgia of it all, and Kasumi having irritated her for half of her life got to her.

"Fine....don't blame me if you actually get hurt."

With that, they would both disappear with a Body Flicker and then reappear on the same log they'd been face to face on. Only this time; they were standing on opposite ends of it with more serious expressions; although Kasumi still held a grin.

Haru vs. Kasumi

The sound of rushing water was beneath them as the camera would split with a line horizontally; and then diagonally. Showing both Haru on one side, and Kasumi on the other. The red of her Uzumaki hair clashed with Haru's own as her green eyes met Haru's dark ones. For awhile they stared at one another until a literal leaf would swing through the air from above and float slowly down.

The moment it touched the log; the log itself seemed to explode like dynamite with a loud shattering noise that sent birds and wildlife scampering off. This was them moving from opposite sides of the log at their top speeds. They met in the middle with a titanic clash of metal as Haru had drawn her sword which clashed right into two kunai held in an "X" by Kasumi.

Several chunks of wood flew all around them as they hung mid-air from sheer impact alone. The sound of wind cutting was heard as Haru whirled her blade back around in attempt to slice her in half only to have her blow parried by a whirling kunai from upward in Kasumi's right hand. Her eyes would flick left; as her Sharingan would activate; three tomoe whirling into place just as a left hand came flying at her face with a kunai in it. Leaning backward Haru would literally kick the kunai upward out of Kasumi's hand with a mid-air backflip kick and go for a flipping forward slash as she reversed her own momentum mid-air with a mindblowingly fast backflip into front flip.

As her sword came down on a surprised Kasumi; her old squadmate actually caught her sword with her feet! She then gave a sideways whirl and sent them both spinning before landing a kick on Haru's shoulder just as Haru landed a spinning backhand onto her stomach area; hitting one another just as the spinning motion had ended.

They both fell backward from one another, as wood pieces and chunks from their initial movement fell down all around them as both kunoichi had landed on the stream beneath them. Walking on water. That's right, that all had taken place within five seconds mid-air and the log they'd been standing on over the river was still falling.

Standing on top of a moving river had a cool effect to it as it seemed to add a small breeze to both of their clothing and hair. They both however would only stand for a moment as Haru would blast off to the left at the same time Kasumi would take off to her right as the two ran across from one another at inhuman speeds down the stream. Haru would perform the handeals for 'Fireball Jutsu' as they ran on the water at ridiculous speeds as her Sharingan would be leaving behind two red glowing trails from her eyes they were moving so fast.

Leaping forward ahead of Kasumi she would unleash three gigantic fireballs while upside down in the air in front of her. The first fireball soared loudly at her as she dodged it; a huge part of the stream erupted into steam in an explosion that reached about thirty feet back up the ravine into the forest above the large river they now were running on. The second one would be leaped over by Kasumi as it managed to burn through the leg of one side of her yellow and black gi; and the third one would score a direct hit...apparently.

From the literal walls of the canyon on either side of the river; six gold chains large enough to restrain a train would shoot through the rocky walls and wrap up the fireball just before it hit Kasumi. She would then appear with a Body Flicker, standing on top of the chains a little above the still burning fireball that was being held in place in an almost magical display.

"You almost got me there!" she taunted with her arms crossed. Her pigtailed smug face pissed Haru off by the second. Her Adamantine Sealing Chains would literally extinguish the giant fireball with their sealing properties as Kasumi would kneel down on the chains mid-air.

"Almost?" she said as Kasumi would look around at her saying this. The walls around her were lined with Barrier Tags as Kasumi would panic as she realized the tags were thrown against the walls while Haru flipped ahead of her to use fireball jutsu. She'd probably thrown several dozens within the time it took to one or two somersaults.

'Devouring Barrier Sphere Trap'

Swift handseals too fast to see went off as a gigantic black dome made of pure chakra would explode around Kasumi; blocking her from even Haru's site. The dome would literally within one second as Haru would do a 'clap' slam down from all sides in an attack that could likely kill Kasumi if she wasn't prepared. As it clapped inward the black barrier bubble that had been at least 100ft tall would leave nothing behind except for a huge splash of water.

Haru would know that this was too easy considering.....Kasumi would appear then, popping up behind Haru with a Water Clone in towe. Attacking from the river on both sides. Haru had been waiting for her to start using her precious Water Release. The clone came in with a punch and the real Kasumi came in with a kunai.

With a last second handsign, Haru managed to make two shadow clones of her own appear. Blocking both strikes for her; they would grab a hold of Kasumi and her clone and swing them into one another; causing the water clone to explode and leaving only the real Kasumi falling in shock back down towards the water.

All three of the Haru's above her would attempt to come crashing down on her with flying kicks and send her underwater. The kicks would land but it appeared Kasumi had planned on this as a small shockwave from a triple kick like that sent her underwater. Haru realized this mid-air and stepped on both of her clones hands for a boost.

They sent her flying as hard as they could up out of the rivers canyon just as a huge 'Water Dragon Jutsu' erupted beneath them and destroyed them both instantly.

Landing back up in the forest; a huge sea dragon literally rocketed upward from the river below; likely scaring the living daylights out of anyone or anything nearby as the dragon actually had a loud roar too it that knocked several FULL grown trees away from the raw shockwave of Kasumi's chakra being unleashed. Truth be told although she didn't have as MUCH chakra as Haru, hers was a little bit more potent.

Kasumi eventually leaped up out of the canyon from below; landing on the other side and facing down Haru who looked back at her with her Sharingan on. Enjoying the moment to much; Haru felt her make eye contact from across the gorge. Big mistake as from Kasumi's point of view the environment began to shift and change as wood blocks appeared to stack and fall from nowhere in all directions and Haru began to appear out of these wood blocks falling like some kind of maddening Tetris threatening to squish and squash Kasumi.

'Demonic Illusion: False Surrounding Technique' began just with looking at the Sharingan and no handseals. Kasumi struggled to figure out what was going on, but did her best to remain calm as Haru flicked out a bunch of shurikens and sent them flying at her. They came through illusions of her own self standing around Kasumi; and the falling wooden blocks.

"That won't work on me!!!" she said as she dodged and parried impressively considering her current situation.

"We'll see about that won't we. You'll never escape this genjutsu." all of the Haru's in the illusion said at the same time in a creepy effect. Haru would then activate yet another genjutsu.

'Double False Surrounding Technique' would go off as Haru's sharingan would glow red briefly; adding another layer of genjutsu on top of the one that already existed. This one would activate the moment Kasumi thought she was out of the woods and broke the first one. A backup plan to a backup plan.

"It's useless, give up." a chorus of what appeared to be now several shadows shaped like Haru surrounding Kasumi would say. All of them had their Sharingans focused on her attempting to creep her out as much as she could.

As the wooden blocks continued to fall from the sky, Haru would watch from across the river and canyon at her opponent; her old squadmate. The genjutsu she'd put her under was causing the environment to split into cubes and blocks randomly, with no idea where the real Haru was she would be in real trouble. The second genjutsu made it seem as if there were a lot of her in all different areas.

Kasumi however seemed to stop moving and calm down. Closing her eyes; she would seem to focus. Raising an eyebrow; Haru would try to figure out what she was doing when all of a sudden the ground beneath her began to rumble. Instinctively; Haru performed a back handspring and barely dodged a bright golden chain that erupted right beneath her.

Then another, as she was forced to hop to the side. Then another as she hopped backward with a sideways like flip. These chains, could it be?! Kasumi had never lost track of her chakra, not this whole time. Her Sensory truly was on another level just as Haru specialized in Barrier Ninjutsu. She was literally combining the use of her Sealing Chains with the use of her sensory. Regardless of the fact that she'd been caught within a Genjutsu.

Since she realized Haru was dodging; she'd found the real her and with a "Kai" release hand symbol. She managed to break out of the genjutsu with her raw chakra potency alone. She would then come running and with one mighty leap; cleared the gorge with the river down below and dashed right at Haru. With only a moment to react, Haru would perform the 'Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu' and split into one hundred of herself easily as smoke popped up in a huge circle around them as Kasumi charged.

She took note of this just as she reached Haru who would take advantage of the split second distraction and deliver a flaming punch right to Kasumi's face, then with a flaming spin kick would send her upwards in a lifting fashion; and then with a leaping superman punch; a huge explosion of flames erupted from her fist on impact. Kasumi would be sent tumbling backward for a moment before righting herself and sliding to a halt. Noting she was now surrounded by Shadow Clones.

"Developed your own fighting style I see?" Kasumi noted, whiping her cheek a little and stretching; seemingly unphased by everything. Damn Uzumaki stamina at it again.

Without saying anything in response; all one hundred of the Shadow Clones would pull out Shurikens. They would then without warning began to pepper Kasumi with shuriken throws that was more like a shuriken storm falling upon her now. Amazingly enough; before the shuriken were even drawn from all the clones; Kasumi at ridiculous speeds had unraveled a large scroll; one bigger than her that she'd been wearing on her back this whole time.

The scroll would shine with jutsu lettering and kanji symbols as it wrapped through the air before several dozen weapons of different shapes and sizes appeared. Haru would look impressed and surprised as Kasumi literally picked up a gigantic curved sword and began whirling it around parrying shurikens, even deflecting some as one went whizzing past Haru; who saw it coming and didn't have to dodge or move at all. But still. The sight of her weaving the giant sword through the air as metal sparks ignited from impact of all of her Shadow Clones throwing shuriken after shuriken at her was a sight to behold.

Haru herself would do a few handseals and in all the chaos and shurikens bouncing away from Kasumi, would perform 'Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Technique' with a leaping twirl through the air she would melt into the ground itself when she landed; slipping underground as the combat continued up above.

The clones would barrage and barrage her; as Kasumi actually managed to perform a fancy leaping throw with a sideways flare type move; throwing the gigantic sword right at several clones who were cut in half and popped out of existence in smoke. In the same motion when she landed; she picked up an actual bo-staff and whirled it with such skill that she actually was managing to deflect shuriken with it. Putting even a certain ninja turtle to shame; she would actually begin deflecting the shuriken back at their throwers; Shadow Clones began being destroyed as they threw shuriken at her as white puffs of smoke went off while Kasumi deflected the stared weapons.

This continued for awhile as only one clone remained. Kasumi would then spin the bo staff behind her back and with a single two fingers pointed upward cause a huge gold chain to appear and wrap around the clone; causing it to explode in smoke which confused the hell out of her since she thought the last one would be the real Haru.

The ground beneath her would shake and before she would be able to react; Haru would appear and slap a Sealing Tag right on her back. With a kick; sticky side facing her target as she stepped on Kasumi's back and backflipped off.

Kasumi would turn and reach for a Kunai; but her body would stop moving as lettering crept all around it. All over it in fact. Haru with a simple handseal had activated her Barrier Ninjutsu. 'Sealing Binding Formation'. Kasumi looked completely shocked as her body was covered with lettering and she struggled visibly attempting to move her feet at all. Eventually she would sigh and admit defeat.

"Fine...you win this round; but remember I won the last one. We're even." with that, Haru would give her a small grin and 'Release' handsign as the sealing jutsu disappeared.

"What do you say we return to the village and you tell me what this visit is really about."

With that, the two of them would head off back to Konoha properly. Hopping alongside one another from tree to tree as they used to when they were kids. This caused Haru to close her eyes with a brief moment of actual fun as she would clear the final trees in front of them; with a huge vision of the entire village appearing before them as they finally reached Konoha with a leap out of the woods. The two would clear the main gate as several Jonin shouted in alert at two shinobi coming flying through the sky over the gates; but upon inspection mid-air one of them signaled everyone to stand down as he recognized both Haru and Kasumi mid-leap.

The two would land inside the village on top of a rooftop before making their way down through several quick hops onto the normal street levels.

Back in Konoha, Kasumi and Haru were walking through the streets as normal; but they were headed up to the Elder's Council Building where according to Kasumi an emergency meeting had been called. Elders from all across the country she herself as the head information gathering ninja had been recalled to give her report on what she'd discovered. Haru processed this information as she walked along. Next to her old squadmate. She wondered what could have caused such a recall of top brass back to the village.

Kasumi herself had no knowledge of it; or at least she was acting as if she didn't. This worried Haru a little as Kasumi usually had the drop on everything. However, the worry faded since now Haru herself was on the case. Whatever their problems she was bound to try and do her best to solve them.

As they neared the Council Building, Haru would be greeted by several Jonin who also would salute and bow to Kasumi as well.

"Are we late?" Haru would ask plainly as she would raise an eyebrow at their sudden greeting. With a look at one another they would both take on a rather serious tone as they moved through the mysteriously quiet hallways of the Elder Council Building. It was more quiet in the hallways today than she had expected; something was definitely amiss. Then it happened all in slow motion, a group of shinobi of unknown origin bursted through the windows to the right of Haru and just as quickly as she engaged them, they had stabbed Kasumi right through the back with several katana.

"Die traitor." one of them said through his fully covered face, only h is eyes were shown. Haru would be shown with eyes wide at the sight of half a dozen unmarked ninja stabbing Kasumi through the back with various weapons as she would reach out toward Haru before going limp.

Several jonin would burst into the hallway with them as Haru merely stood there and twitched at the site. Flashbacks of Kasumi playing through her mind, her emotions going out of control on the inside but unable to move. As they removed their weapons from Kasumi, the ninja would fall limp over onto the floor as blood would move throughout the hallways, touching Haru's feet as she screamed in rage and lost her mind at the sight before her.

The jonin who had engaged the ninja in the village would look back at the screaming along with the targets  as her eyes would begin to glow red; so much so infact that a red light would explode from those same eyes as her Sharingan activated on it's own. The entire building began to rumble with a massive amount of chakra as Haru's eyes would shift from the 3 Tomoe into a new look one unheard of or unseen thus far.


She would look up at the assailants in the hallway as she would literally cry blood tears with a cold; rage filled look.

All of the assailants would combust into black fire instantly as they would scream and go tumbling around the hallway, one of the jonin was unlucky and was grabbed onto by a panicked assassin as the hallway was a gruesome site. Their clothing and even their skin began to melt down to the bone in what looked like a scene from mortal kombat. Haru focused on burning them to shreds as several of them tumbled from the windows they'd broken into in a panic as Haru continued to burn everything in sight by looking at it.

The Elder Council Building from the outside went up in black flames as Haru would begin to loose control of herself; a bright blue chakra would begin to form around her as she let out another yell and then charged at them. A bone like visage appeared around her as she would let out one final howl and would then pass out; the black flames flickering out throughout the hallway as Haru would reach out for Kasumi, also laying in a pool of her now gone friends blood on the ground. She would reach out to her just as she would faint completely. The bustle and hustle of feet splattering against blood running all around her was the last thing she heard before passing out completely. When she finally did wake up; she was in a hospital bed with her eyes covered with some kind of bandage.

Sitting up in a fury, she would untie the bandage and look in the mirror. Next to her bed. She looked fine. Everything however appeared to be a blur in her own mind as she wondered what had just happend. If Kasumi was really gone or if it was all just some kind of bad dream she'd imagined in her own mind. No. It was all very really. She wondered if she would ever be able to sleep again. Who were those assailants. Why. Why Kasumi. What had she done to deserve that kind of death. It hadn't been honorable; it had been an assassination. She'd been nothing but the bait she thought to herself as she clenched a fist and looked extremely upset as she closed her eyes; tears flowing down her face as she silently sobbed to herself except for a short breath every now and then.

The pain she felt on the inside, she hadn't ever felt anything like it since her brother had died. Vowing to exact revenge on those responsible; she began to think to herself how such a thing was possible that deep into the village. That far past security. How, how was it possible. It wasn't. It was some kind of inside job; she just knew it. She would find out who did this and why. Someone in the village was to blame. She would tear it down and rebuild it from the ground up personally if she had too until she found out who the culprit was. The doubted the ninja who were now nothing but ash were the original proprietors of said plan. She knew what she had to do, and even though she regretted the path she was about to go down; she would not falter until Kasumi's spirit had achieved justice. Waka. When he found out about their old squadmate he likely would go insane or go into some kind of rage. She would need to be there for him in probably more ways than one; and she was fine with that.

For now, she would merely stare at the ceiling of her hospital bed and try her best not to flip out and hop up in a rage; wallowing in her own tears was good enough for her right now. Kasumi wouldn't have wanted her to do anything stupid at this moment on her behalf. She likely would want Haru to carefully plot her vengeance and not get ahead of herself.