"Hashirama!" Tobirama called to his brother in the next room. "The Yamanakas and the Inuzakas are having another dispute." He stated, pinching the bridge of his nose.

The older Senju poked his head into the room.

"What's it over this time?" His voice was tired but determined.

"The Inuzaka ninken are roaming around the Yamanaka compound." Tobirama looked up from his paperwork in time to see his brother sigh.

"I'm on it." Hashirama nodded and disappeared from the room.

Five months have passed since the Hokage was named. Some clans took more kindly to their new neighbors than others. No matter how big or small the problem was, Hashirama insisted that he personally resolve it. From the physical conflict between Hyuuga and Akimichi clans to the Hoki and Nara clan disagreement over flower arrangements, everything was handled by the Hokage himself. It was quite a sight to see; an esteemed leader running around his village, frantically trying to keep the peace. Of course, Tobirama, Mito, and Nina along with the shinobi who worked with then have often offered to help, but he had denied every time, claiming it was his duty.

The academy was just beginning to enroll students. There were many children who were already enrolled, but the majority of adults in the village refused to let their kids attend a school where so many other clans would be as well. It was certainly going to be a problem if this kept up. For now, however, Tobirama was in charge of making sure that everything related to the academy was organized and ready to go. And they were. From the wooden desks to the large chalkboard, anything that could possibly be needed was prepared. The volunteer teachers were ready to spread knowledge on their subject. Years worth of curriculum had even been planned out.

There was one problem though...

"Nina! Come train with me!"

The said woman sighed upon hearing the enthusiastic voice.

"Izuna." She greeted.

The Uchiha beamed.

"I know you have nothing to do, I found an open training field." He latched onto her arm and began pulling her towards the training grounds on the west side of the village.

The white haired woman smiled gently at his persistent nature. She had grown fond of the young Uchiha over the past few months. He was easy to get along with and had a very laid back personality. They had long forgotten about their less than ideal first meeting. Nina looked back on the memory as an almost humorous incident.

She was brought into a building that seemed to be the office of an important individual. A man who had all the classic Uchiha features; raven hair that reached his shoulders, a blue, high collared shirt, and deep black eyes. The two men who brought her from the cell, bowed to him and backed out. The man looked at her with an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, it seems that my men have made a mistake..."

An hour later and Izuna lie on his back, trying to catch his breath. Nina sat on a rock next to him, bruises and cuts could be seen all over, though to a lesser degree than those on the raven haired man.

"Your fire jutsus are great!" He complimented, smiling despite his injured state. She had only used fire type attacks during the spar, revealing more of her abilities would prove threatening to her efforts in hiding her identity.

"Yours are impressive as well." Nina commented. "You've improved."

"Thanks!" The Uchiha grinned.

Sometimes Nina couldn't help but see him as a child.

"Izuna." A stern voice came from behind them. The two didn't need to look to know who it was.

"Nii-san." Izuna greeted. "What's wrong?" He frowned upon seeing his brothers displeased expression.

"The elders want to speak to you." Madara answered, his speech was guarded.

"Oh, I better go then. Bye Nina." Flashing a smile at the still seated woman, he disappeared.

She was left with the Uchiha leader.

He hasn't warmed up to her yet.

"What is it, Madara?" Nina asked the glaring man.

"I don't know what your motive is, but stay away from my brother." He spat before turning and leaving in a swift movement.

The Ōtsutsuki leaned back, elbows propped against the rock. She sighed, looking up at the dimming sky. It wasn't that she was upset at what he had said, she had heard much worse, but she still couldn't help but wonder why he was so cold. Of course, losing so many loved ones most had taken a toll on him, she herself had been like that once upon a time, but with all the time she's had, she's long made peace with the world. Madara would not have the benefit of such time. She hoped he, too, would learn to accept and let go.

"I didn't think you'd be here of all places." Came a voice from behind her. A familiar redhead stepped beside her.

"Mito." Nina greeted.

"I saw Madara leaving. What happened?" She was worried for the young woman, she had grown to see her as a little sister. Though they weren't quite that close, Mito would often give her advice and they would talk for long periods of time if they had nothing to do. She heard a sigh.

"I expected he would be more trusting by now. The village can't function if he continues to be isolated." Nina watched the stars begin to show themselves.

"I know. Even his clan is more supportive than he is." Mito nodded. "Well, the village is still growing, maybe he'll open up soon enough." They both knew that was the best case scenario. "He's a stubborn man."

The sun shone brightly down on the already bustling village. Vendors stood by their carts of products, people preparing to go to their jobs, children getting ready to train with their parents or siblings.

Nina had been called in by Hashirama, saying it was important. Upon entering the Hokage Tower, she saw Madara was already speaking with the Senju.

"Ah, you're here. I need you and Madara to go check out some reports about a new village being formed in the land of Earth, they seem to be less than two hundred miles away from our boarders. These clans are notoriously hostile though, I doubt they have good intentions" There had been rumors floating around about less than agreeable clans forming mass alliances in neighboring lands. The theory was that they had heard about the formation of Konoha and it's success and decided to see if they could create an more powerful village. Tobirama, Hashirama, Nina, and Madara had already crushed some earlier formation efforts. They had gone in pairs, as Hashirama was worried about safety, but Nina had yet to be partnered with the stone cold Uchiha in front of her. "It would be best if you two leave at noon, how long do you think it will take?"

"The land of Earth is almost bordering us. Two days at most." Madara answered.

"Great, I'll be expecting you then. Good luck."

He bid them farewell and the two walked out of the tower, they headed home to pack, which happened to be in the same direction. The atmosphere was a little tense.

"Understand that I do not wish to be partnered with you." The comment was sour.

Nina blinked at his tone.

"I guess you're still stuck with me." She replied flatly.

He frowned, glaring at her from the corner of his eye.

"Stay out of my way." The demand held a tone of superiority.

The woman was unfazed, giving a small hum in response.

Not an hour later, with weapons packed, the two left the village when the sun was at its highest.

Speeding through the trees, there was no conversation between the pair, only the sound of leaves flying past.

By nightfall, after nine hours of continuous running, they had crossed the land of Earth's southeast boarder. The rising village was supposed to be directly west of their current position. They crossed a large, barren field with the occasional wilting plant. Then they came upon a sizable mountain. Next was a steep cliff with a rushing river at the bottom. Then another stretch of dead land. On the other side of that area was the side of a cliff. It was at this point that they decided to make camp, it must have been well past midnight by then. Madara sat down on his unrolled sleeping bag, silently volunteering to take first watch. Five feet away, Nina lay down on her sleeping bag that she had purchased especially for these types of missions. Her eyes were glued to the night sky. At first, Madara had thought she was looking at the stars, as he heard that was what many people do, but he soon realized the sky was cloudy that night. He briefly wondered what she as looking at, or maybe, looking for.

As the next day came, with it arrived the task of scaling the cliff. It was going to be tedious. With chakra infused soles, the two dashed up the vertical stone wall. It was the break of dawn and they had wasted no time in getting back to the mission. Ten minutes later, the two landed at the top of the cliff. The sight in front of them shook any remaining sleepiness from their eyes.

"What happened here?" Nina frowned as they landed at the bottom of the valley.

"I don't know. An enemy clan, most likely." Madara inspected one of the bloodied corpses, he was now moving with caution. The stench of blood would have been overwhelming had the two not been so accustomed to death.

"It looks more animalistic than what a shinobi would do." The shredded clothing and deep gashes on all the victims resembled that of a wolf or dog.

"Maybe a clan that uses ninken or canine summons." The faces of the people were contorted in agony, the limbs were twisted and pulled into unnatural angles.

"Someone certainly had a grudge against these clans..." The pair wandered around the young, now abandoned, village, searching houses for any clues as to who wiped out the hundreds of clansmen that were now rotting outside.

"Nothing. You?" Nina asked, stepping out of a house.

"Nothing." Madara agreed, glancing again at the piles of death.

Nina saw a flash of light from behind him, and in an instant, she jolted forwards and her kunai locked with the sword of a masked shinobi. She heard the sound of metal on metal behind her, also noticing Madara had moved. Blocking the knee coming at her stomach, she pulled another kunai and swiped up at lightning speed, managing to cut open her attacker's cloak and crack the mask. The person flipped backwards and landed a good distance away. They stared each other down, black eyes meeting painted ones. They leapt forward, dodging the kunai and shuriken flying at them, throwing and blocking powerful punches. Nina had caught her enemy's ankle when he attempted a kick, she flipped the man towards the ground with great force, it was then that she realized two chakra sources had appeared behind her.

Four chakra infused fists hit the air where the woman stood a moment ago. She had disappeared.

"Wher- !?" He was cut short by a kunai through his chest. Nina swiftly pulled the blood covered weapon out of the man's body, instantly turning and launching it at the shuriken that was flying towards her head. The two weapons collided and fell to the ground with a clang. The first masked man weaved a chain of hand signs, slamming his hands onto the ground. Three spears of earth tore themselves from the dirt and flew towards her, only to be consumed in a fireball. Somewhere during the battle, three more shinobi had appeared and were also launching earth jutsus at her. While twisting to dodge a mud bullet, Nina caught a glimpse of Madara. He, too, was engaged in battle with more of the masked shinobi, six of them. Turning back to her own enemies with a flaming, chakra enhanced palm, she caught the fist of one of the men. He let out a scream as the flames quickly spread to his clothes and skin.

The smell was not pleasant.

One by one, the masked men fell. Despite this, their numbers kept growing. So much so that Nina began to suspect that their entire clan was there, attacking the two Konoha shinobi. Had the two been any less skilled, they might have never returned to their village.

Hours and countless deaths later, Nina pulled a kunai out of the corpse's neck, wiping it on his shirt and putting it away. This was her last attacker. She stood, catching her breath. Around her lie a clan of fallen shinobi. Her entire body was covered in blood, so much so that even her hair was tinted red.

A distance away, Madara had a single man slumped in front of him, breathing heavy and sitting among his dead clansmen. Nina could hear their conversation through the otherwise silent air.

"Why did your clan attack this village?" The cold, deep voice of her partner demanded.

"One of the clans owed us." Just by looking at the mask, it was obvious he was smirking. "We have no regrets." Even in the face of death, he had no fear.

"Is that so? Then I'll allow you to join your regretless clan." The man's head hit the ground with a thud.

The rest of the day was spent burying the clansmen and villagers. The buildings were burnt as well. The two bloodied shinobi were silent as they worked. They only spoke to each other after they were done bathing in the river on the other side of the cliff.

Madara had finished first, Nina was still in the water a couple meters away. Her hair was taking a while. It was only when she was finished that she realized the change of clothes she brought had accidentally gotten bloodied and torn during the conflict. She thought for a moment, the only choice she had was to wash her yukata as best as possible. She kept herself in the water while washing the garment, working on a large blood stain when she heard a rustle of cloth. She looked up, seeing a dark purple pile of clothing on the grass in front of her and the retreating form of Madara. Moving closer to the purple mass, she saw it was a shirt. Smiling softly at the gesture, she quickly climbed out of the stream, putting on the shirt as well as her acceptably-blood-free pants. Wringing out her hair, she put it up in a bun to keep it out of the way, a skill she had learned from Mito.

She walked over to the camp they set up, finding the stoic Uchiha sitting on his sleeping bag. She sat on hers, and the usual silence settled between them. After a minute, Nina felt compelled to speak.

"Thanks." Was the simple word she chose.

"Izuna packs my clothing." He said dismissively.

She raised an eyebrow at this.

"He does?" She smirked. "That's adorable."

Madara glared at her teasing.

"Woman. Do not test me."

Her smirk only widened at this.

"Anyways, I'll take watch. Go ahead and sleep."

For the rest of the night, Nina stared up at the dark sky.

'Another cloudy night...'

After a few hours of rest, the two had fully replenished their chakra and were ready to get back to their village. Oddly, the trip back saw a few words exchanged between the shinobi.

"Who taught you your fire jutsus?" Madara asked as they crossed the boarder into the Land of Fire.

"I picked them up myself." Nina responded halfheartedly.

"Some of them are impressive." He commented.

She almost tripped at hearing this. He gave her a questioning look.

"Is that the first complement you've ever given?" She got a glare for her words.

"This woman..."

"Nina, your hair... it's... pink." Hashirama blinked. "And why are you wearing..." He gave her shirt a suspicious glance. Suddenly, his face brightened and his eyes sparkled, a wide smile spread across his face. "Don't tell me- ow!"

Mito smacked his head, looking disapprovingly at her husband.

"Stop thinking like that." She frowned. "Let them give their report."

"Fine, fine." Hashirama rubbed the back of his head. "How did the mission go?"

After relaying all the events of the mission, Hashirama had a puzzled look on his face.

"So the villagers were already dead, and the clan that killed them had attacked you two." They both nodded. "Did you manage to find out the name of the clan?"

"The ones I interrogated refused to speak, but they used powerful earth element jutsus and wore white and green masks." Madara recalled the masked face of the fearless shinobi, an inch from his death.

Hashirama nodded, deep in thought.

"I'll have someone look for any records on a clan in the Land of Earth that fits that description. You both did well, you can go now."

The two headed in the direction of their homes. The comfortable silence was broken by a cheerful voice.

"Nii-san! How was the-" Izuna stopped mid-sentence, staring at Nina's clothes. "Is that your shirt?" He asked his brother, tilting his head. "Did... did you two...?"

"Izuna." Madara warned. The younger Uchiha raised his hands in mock defeat. "Ok, ok. I was just joking." He smiled. "Did your spare clothing get ruined?" He inquired, turning to Nina. Receiving a nod, he chuckled quietly. "It's a good thing I packed him an extra set then!" Izuna gave a thumbs up, his smile beaming.

"I owe you one." She smiled, his enthusiasm was amusing. "Anyways, I'll be on my way."

"Tobirama." Nina greeted the younger Senju who stared intensely at his paperwork.

"There you are, I need your help with the academy opening." He looked up at her. "One of the professors was pulled out by his clan. I need someone to replace him. Hashirama told me you're pretty knowledgeable in history."

Nina held back a sigh, she was afraid something like this would happen. She knew she couldn't be a teacher even if she wanted to, it would expose her to too many people. People that would remember her. She had made sure to limit her interactions with people as much as possible; finding excuses to not be at public events, trying to not pass through heavily populated areas. Having helped with Konoha's founding had already let too many people know of her existence.

"I'm sorry, I won't be able to do that." She could tell he wasn't expecting that answer.

"And why is that?"

"I don't have the knowledge you think I do, and I'd prefer to not interact with children." The lie came easy. Though he evidently didn't fully believe her, he let the topic slip.

"Alright. That's all." He turned back to his paperwork and she slipped out of the room.

The house was small and scarcely decorated, a desk and bed were the only furniture items in the main room. Some clothes were folded neatly next to a small stack of old books. Her sleeping bag was tucked under the desk, her shakujō leaning against the far wall. Around the house was a small barrier. Mito insisted that it be there as the house was very close to the edge of a large forest that could more than likely contain some undesirable visitors. When Nina was not on a mission or in a meeting, she chose to stay here. She often read the large, ancient books from her clan that detailed their history, though she had practically memorized it all.

Admittedly, as peaceful as it was, her life was rather boring.

She pressed her palms to the wooden floor, a trail of her chakra flowed into the Earth. The ground recognized the energy and welcomed it. Along with her staff, the Earth was one of the main places where she stored portions of her chakra, making it accessible to her in the case of any life threatening situation.

In all the centuries she's seen, there had only been one instance where she drew from the energy reserves. That was three hundred years ago, during a six way battle between the Senju, Uchiha, and four other prominent clans.