Sayuri stared blankly up at the clouds drifting over her and rolled over on her side in a black netted form

fitting shirt and a black skirt and black furry boots in the grass staring across the endless fields in longing.

When are you coming back Seifuri?
The wind breathed across her and ruffled her black

hair fanned out around her face. Seifuri had been gone a while, and even her favorite pastime of staring at the

clouds was useless.All she could see was his face.
Still...Always smiling like some stupid idiot...

she giggled to herself and layed back on her back smiling at his image in the clouds. it still surprised her

how much she thought of him. usually shed be focused on just sleeping. but like her hobbies, Seifuri was invading

those too.
I just cant get rid of you can I?

"Sayuri? You look stupid smiling at nothing."
she shot up from the grass as her eyes widened and

looked at Seifuri standing over her in confusion of her purpose.

"What are you doing Sayu-"
"Seifuri! You came back!"

She leapt from the grass and grabbed him around his chest in joy, ignoring his discomfort. Both of them

blushed for the same reason and Seifuri's ashen red eyes darted back and forth in suspicion of being seen with her.

"Uh...Sayuri..."
"Sorry...I missed you."

"Yeah, well, i was having too much fun to miss-never mind."

he stopped seeing her eyes darken and her fist raise.
"Thats what I thought."

Seifuri smirked and thought back to his fathers words.
"Seifuri, have you seen Sayuri lately?"

Seifuri blushed and looked up with stuffed tan cheeks, shaking his head slightly," No not yet, i

totally forgot."
"Well don't. Sasuke plans to take you out training

again later. You might want to hurry and go see her agian."

Seifuris eyes lowered in annoyance," But shes so weird...Do I have t-

"She's not weird! besides, I used to say that exact same thing about your mother and look at our

result."
"Seifuri!"
she let him go and grinned vainly like Temari, "I've got a team now you know. The chunin exams aren't very far off. You

better get one too if you wanna be a chunin."
"Whatever," he snapped, "I don't need to do that stuff...I'm at

sannin level already! Ha!"
"but," Sayuri put a finger to his forehead and frowned, " You

don't actually have the title. Your gonna have to take the test. And I look forward to facing off against you."

"You do?"
"Yeah, Your so troublesome with all your gloating. I want to

prove you wrong. I've also gotten stronger."
Seifuri didn't have a chance to assure her of her wrongness.

Sasuke called to him somewhere off in the distance.
"Hey! Sensei!

"Sasuke-Kun!"
The two ten year olds ran over the rolling fields of grass until

they reached a very impatient appearing Sasuke, glowering down at them.

"Your late, student."
"Sorry! I knew we had to leave again so I came to see Sayuri."

Sayuri's eyes instantly grew glassy as she shook her head in defiance, "No don't Leave!I thought you were going to stay..."

"I...Sensei?"
His ashen eyes looked up in pleading as Sasuke sighed,

reminded of his babysitting mission, "You really want to stay that bad?"

without hesitation Seifuri nodded his head.
"well then...Give me your reason. And it has to be honest. Why

do you want to stay?"
Seifuri blushed and glanced at Sayuri who quickly turned

away.
"um....I want to stay because...Sayuri is my best friend and I

don't want her to cry when I leave and I really want to stay with her...I l-"

"Thats good enough," Sasuke interrupted, "you can stay. But you'll need to get into the chunin exams."

"Seifuri Hyuuga Uzumaki..." Tsunade sighed and placed his paperwork in a pile on Naruto's desk lazily, She

would be replacing Naruto while he himself was on a secret mission. The reason Seifuri had actually decided
to go see Sayuri.

"Well, It would seem your a little late getting here,wouldn't you say kid?"

Seifuri looked up from beside Sayuri and Sasuke and tilted his head, lost to every word that had left

her mouth. He was too busy messing with his jacket zipper to hear her comment.

"What?"
"Pay attention, first off. Second, Your late to get a

team, but the graduation is taking place right now. If we head over to the school, we might actually

be able to get you a team."
The blonde sulked and frowned, "I don't need

to do that! cant i just join Sayuris team?"
"No, Sayuri already has two teammates."

Sayuris autumn hued eyes faded lightly. As much as she liked the suggestion the reality was she was

already paired with her cousin and another child she didn't particularly like.

"come with me, we'll head over to the school and see how things are going."

Along the walk Sasuke remained his usual indifferent self and Sayuri walked beside Seifuri

blushing. An awkward feeling had suddenly aroused in her chest. The more she was with him the more

she felt her face heat and the longer that pink tint stayed on her cheeks.

"Seifuri..."
"Hmmm?"

She lost her courage and shook her head, staring down at the ground in shame. She couldn't

muster the strength to tell him she liked him. The heat returned to her as Seifuri slipped his hand in

hers and gripped it. shocked she looked at him, a huge smile across his hazel face his eyes closed.

"Come on! I stayed so you wouldn't cry. Don't break down now."

"Who said I was breaking down? I was just wondering if you..."

Seifuri smiled slyly, "Can't even think of an excuse can you?"

"Shut up!"
He laughed at her anger as she crossed her

arms, snatching her hand from him.
"Okay,okay...I'm sorry."

"Whatever, walk by yourself." She stomped ahead of him so hard she almost tripped as Sasuke looked back,

"Don't pout like that you look like your father. Whats wrong?"

Seifuri crossed his arms and shrugged, "Nothing..."
Sasuke didn't push it any further, his student was

obviously in his own little world.
"They're already arguing?"

The three of them looked up to Tsunade as she opened the door to the academy, " You two aren't

even married yet."
Seifuri and Sayuri expressed false disgust and stuck
their tounges out at each other. despite their

immaturity Sasuke laughed and led Seifuri into the classroom, already deep into team making. The Sensei

had the expression that they had just planted a bomb in the back of his class, his eyes wide.

"Hokage-Sama...Young lord hokage-sama."
He bowed and Tsunade and Seifuri bowed back.

"Theres nothing bad happening, we're here to give the young hokage a team, got any left." A smile graced

Tsunades pink lips and the teacher looked around hastily, filtering through his paperwork, restlessly. He

scratched across it with his pencil quickly and after a few minutes began calling out the new teams. The

children already in teams were moved and while some were glad to be rid of their pending partners some

looked utterly heartbroken.
" Now then," The teacher focused back on Seifuri,

causing a slight round of discomfort because of his edginess.

"Yes?"
"Your group will be..."

Seifuri swallowed as the teacher grew closer to his face than stopped and pointed a few feet away at a girl

with long auburn and brown hair pulled up into a bun. Her eyes were just as ashen as Seifuri's and rich

chocolate. although she was much paler than him. Her face was clouded with attitude and as far as she was

concerned he was the ground beneath her blue ninja sandals. Her aura radiated to Sayuri who looked at her

foul than back to Seifuri who was fixated on her.
"That's Nejani... She's really cocky and mean." She

whispered to him. Her words fell on def ears and Seifuri smiled.

"Nejani huh? She's pretty."
Sayuri refrained from gagging and frowned at him

with silent anger, settling on being alone. She moved out of the way of Seifuri's view to Nejani and stood

over to the side allowing the teacher to complete his job.

"That is Nejani Hyuuga. Your cousin Young Lord Hokage. You'll be with her... and him."

The strange mans finger jabbed accusingly at a boy who looked utterly bored his head resting in his palm.

he appeared to have been nodding off before the teacher pointed at him and waisted not time in

defrauding attentiveness. A loud yawn escaped him as he stretched towards the roof. His gray eyes traveled

over Seifuri, Sayuri, the teacher than froze on Sasuke. He quickly turned back away and cussed under his

breath before pretending to suddenly be awake and ready to learn.

"That," The teacher began. he didn't get a chance to finish, Sasuke completed his sentence with a voice full

of shame and disappointment," Is my son, Kiraisune Uchiha."

It didn't take long for Seifuri to become obsessed with Nejani and best friends with Kiraisune. The three were

given a deadline of Monday morning at three o' clock to meet Sasuke to train at his old training grounds. The event

bored Seifuri but the fact that Nejani would also be there made it even better, so much so he had it

written on every calender in the Hyuuga household despite Naruto's protesting. Neji didn't seem to mind

too much but he took it upon himself to remind his nephew of the fact that Nejani was his daughter and in

turn, Seifuri's cousin. this information did little to deter him. His ears were far too young to comprehend the

matter of incest. that Sunday he reminded him again, noticing him in the hallway, writing his favorite

message on another calendar he'd passed in his first Nejani stalker breakout.

"Seifuri why do you continue to fawn over your cousin? Ten-Ten is starting to think your crazy, nephew."

Seifuris curly blonde braid hung over his shoulder limply as he lowered from his tippy toes and held the

marker suspended in the air.
"I'm not fawning over her..."

" Grimey little boy." Neji smiled halfway as his pale eyes drifted across the innocence of his nephews lost

expression, "I thought you like Sayuri."
Seifuri blushed and frowned immediately afterwards,

denying to himself any relationship to his childhood friend, " No...Sayuri is mean to me and we're in

competition now. She thinks her team can beat mine and I wanna show her how wrong she is."

"Perhaps she's not wrong."
The shock that spread across Seifuri's face was

immeasurable by any standards. It was almost passable for pain, "Uncle Neji! You can't be serious!"

"Why not? Sayuri's a genius and shes strong."
"No, Sayuri is wrong and I'm gonna prove it, you'll see."

He stalked off the way his father would and pulled his red and black jacket over his dark shirt in anger. He

couldn't even fathom Sayuri beating him. A girl and a cocky girl at that. Although it had habitually

crossed his thoughts that she could very well beat him if she got as strong.

I mean...I have no idea how long shes been training with Auntie Sakura...And Auntie Sakura is crazy

strong.
"Getting Nervous?"

He froze and pivoted to the doorway to find Sayuri standing there boldly holding one of the calendars as if

it held some other significant topic besides the dates.
"Hmmm...look at this, it says on Monday your gonna be

with Nejani to train...You need to train?"
Seifuri smirked in discomfort and nervously filed

through his ideas for an excuse for his secret date.
"uh...y-y-you shouldn't have that! That's mine, Sayuri!"

"Uh...y-y-you shouldn't..." She jumbled the rest of his mock speech into an incomprehensible mess and smiled

slyly, " Your really that scared about our little competition?"

"No!" He lied, " No way! I'm at Sannin level, like I need to be scared."

"Your ten Seifuri, It's okay to be scared."
"Like your twenty? Your ten too!"

"Yeah but..."
"But what?"

"But I-I-I'm not scared Stutter-Boy."
Her laughter rang out the door after her as she

tossed him back his calendar, "See you when the chuunin exam starts."

He pouted after her and snatched his calendar from the floor noticing the red marker over his own writing.

"hey..."
He read it to himself as his tan face reddened, " The

day Sayuri beats the Arrogance out of Seifuri" He read in denial.

The mist barely ended the thirst of the forest when Nejani arrived, Kira after her and Seifuri last in his trademark

red and black, his onyx headband dangling around his neck. Nejani also wore black shorts but a black fishnet shirt with

a gray hoodie and gray sandals. Her hair was still in its mandatory bun while Kira had decided to go low key in his

attire. Shining with personality, even in a simple royal blue polo shirt and dark ninja pants. His blue sandals

tapped impatiently against the ground as he dropped in exhaustion at Seifuris feet.

"Sasuke Sensei is late."
"No we're early or did you forget? It was your

idea to be right on time." Nejani chastised.
Kira mocked her with his hand and groaned, making

it harder for Seifuri to suppress his laughter.
" Your crazy Kira."

"Always."
"ewww..." Nejani muttered.

She turned away in shame and focused on the whirlpool of leaves before them, " Sensei is here. Get

up."
As if sensitive to obey at her command, both boys

straightened themselves out and looked in Sasuke's direction. His face was decorated with a lifeless and

unreadable scowl emphasizing the darkness of his dark eyes. Somewhere within them however Compassion

dwindled like a barely lit flame, ignited by the presence of Seifuri.

His childishly determined smile lit the flame and Sasuke's smile slowly enhanced his face. He could see

Seifuri's infant face again, staring up at him in utter helplessness, desperation. He'd needed him once upon

a time...now he was perfectly able to carry his own. Even more so than before when Sasuke had been his

enemy.
" Uchiha, Kiraisune...Hyuuga, Nejani...and Uzumaki

Hyuuga Seifuri. Do the three of you really think your ready to do this task?"

The pending drama in Sasuke's voice knocked back a notch of pride in the spirit of all three of them and

Seifuri was the first to speak.
"Sensei, we don't know what the prompt is yet."

"Exactly. You don't need to know. I simply need your consent."

Wary glances invisibly passed on to one another but they kept their faces straight and ready.

"You've got my consent."
Nejani and Kira looked at Seifuri in surprise than back

to each other, coming to the same conclusion at the same time.

" Ready, fath- uh, Sensei."
"Ready."

"Well, than, here's your challenge. Both of you," He said pointing at Kira and Nejani, "Need to incapacitate

Seifuri."
Not even Nejani could hold in her gasp. Both she and

Kira looked at Seifuri uselessly to find his eyes stuck to Sasuke in disbelief.

"why Sensei?"
"Because, Your arrogant. I want to knock that out of you.

And although I cant, Your teammates can. Besides that, it'll be great practice for Kira and Nejani. Neither one

of them will have a chance to rest or breath."
Seifuri couldn't deny the fact; even Sayuri had said it.

"So...Whats my goal?"
"To kill both of them."

"What?!"
"Relax. I'm only playing. you incapacitate the two of them

before they do so to you."
Seifuri nodded although he was unsure of how to take

out his newfound enemies. He had no idea what jutsu or skills they possessed but he assumed he'd find out soon

enough.
"Are you all ready then?"

The three nodded in confidence as Sasuke raised his arm in the air, "then..."

"Go."
Silence filled the forest as Sasuke sat on top of the

pole Naruto was once strapped to, waiting to sense the presence of one of them. Their hiding skills proved to be

better than he'd thought. Even Kira's ability was surprising him. They're learning fast.

The ground where his students had once stood was vacant and Kira, Seifuri, and Nejani were scattered across

the area.
Sasuke sat up and stared into the forest blankly as

the sun beamed down on him, amusement riddled his features.

Let the games begin

Hinata found comfort in the breeze that particular morning and had abandoned her Hyuuga household duties to

enjoy the weather. Her feet dangled back and forth over the porch as she watched the different forms of the

clouds. Each to her, like to Sayuri, looked like either Naruto or Seifuri. She wondered how her hokage lover was

then focused on her sons progress. It was unlikely that Seifuri would find a team, being so late coming home. She

desperately wanted to check on him but knew her role was not to interfere with his life. He was a ninja after all,

he could take care of himself.
"Hinata!"

Hinatas head snapped to the side of the Hyuuga house as Sakura rushed up to her in panic. Her eyes were wide

and her breathing was unstable. Through her gasping she managed to utter," Sayuri...!"

"Sayuri what?" Hinata had come to think of the girl as her second child, allowing her in and out of the Hyuuga

household as much as she wanted. Her mind suddenly flashed to the day they'd told her they'd lost Seifuri and she

recalled her first reaction. Panic.
"Sakura calm down...relax...please..."

Little more coaxing relaxed Sakura's wild breath and she sat beside Hinata.

" All my students are in...They're all in the hospital, the ANBU found two of them on the ground and...they didn't

find Sayuri...There was blood everywhere and the only evidence they found of her was..."

"What? Sakura, please tell me.." Her raven hair fell from her shoulder and onto Sakura like silk water and she

pulled Sakuras pink head into her, caressing her back in comfort. It was an obvious blow to nearly lose all your

genin. something Hinata could only imagine was most likely as bad as losing a child. And although she couldn't

connect with losing a team, she knew about losing a child.
" Please tell me..."

"They found her..."
"Sakura?..."

" The blood covering the area didn't belong to either of my other two students...they only suffered fatal impact

injuries. All the blood...was Sayuri's, but her body was gone.

Nejani pressed her back to the sturdy oak she was against and placed her pale hands before her in a seal,

"Byakugan!"
"Byakugan!"

"Sharingan!"
Each student suddenly phased back in front of Sasuke

a few feet away from each other and glared in blunt suspicion of the other. Kira glanced at Nejani who looked

back at him, a silent plan traveling their minds.
" Well, Sensei you say I'm too cocky so..."

He held his hand out to his right as blue and silver chakra typhooned into his palm, crackling in mock

imitation of the sound of a thousand birds. Kira's sea green eyes narrowed in jealousy. Had his father truly

taught another man's son their jutsu? The wind caressed his waist length raven blue hair into the sky as

Nejani observed his eye movements.
He's jealous...Of Seifuri...Why?

" What jutsu is that?" She demanded, "Tell me, Seifuri."
She batted her eyelashes sweetly, playing off his

weakness of obsession.
despite her anticipation, however, Seifuri merely grinned

at her slyly, "You know what...now that I think about it...I don't really like you. I like Nara, Sayuri."

"Nara, Sayuri? Who is that?"
"The cutest and most irritating girl in the world. And

oddly enough...I love her for it."
the fact aside that she didn't even like

seifuri, She felt a tint of jealousy cross her. She stared into her cousins Byakugan with her own and frowned.

"Whoever she is...She cant compare to me."
"Fight her and see. You can always do that. But until then

I'm your opponent. Your gonna have to focus on me cousin"
"Fine, gentle fist!"

She reappeared behind him as he back flipped over her and thrust his newfound jutsu into her back, catching her

off guard.
"Rasendori!"

Rasendori? A combination of Chidori and another jutsu? What other jutsu?

Kira's Sharingan bore into him and analyzed the jutsu in seconds.

It must be the Rasengan I've heard so much about...He's mixed it with Chidori...interesting and

flawless as well. I'd call it sweet if it wasn't being used against me.

He turned to Nejani plowing across the ground and caught her before her impact with a tree, setting her down on her

feet. She stumbled and dropped to her knees.
"He's already winning..." She coughed, leaking blood like

a faucet from the whole in her chest and mouth.
"Not quiet."

Seifuri looked in bewilderment at Nejani on the ground and came to a terse realization. he threw his hands

together in a quick seal, "Release!"
His vision faded from a twisted inverted colored

image, to Nejani and Kira standing before him, smiling smugly.

"Genjutstu, very good Kira."
Sasuke rested his elbows on his knees and vigiled his

students in interest.
"That was sneaky. How long have I been in that genjutsu?"

Seifuri asked.
" Your still not out of it."

Kira's face turned completely red in Seifuri's eyes and Nejani became a figment of the background, not corrupted

black. The blackness slowly changed form into...
"Sayuri?"

She smiled at Seifuri with compassion in her autumn eyes and her pink lips slowly formed into a sweet smile.

She almost made Seifuri wonder how sweet, but he pushed his perverted thoughts aside and stepped forward to

her with his hand out, "Sayuri!"
He was beaming genuinely and joyfully with happiness.

He wanted to hold her and kiss her again like before. The odd new desire to be with her confused him but as long as

it remained his instinct, he concluded he was going to follow it.

"Sayuri I-"
Snap out of it Seifuri!

He shook his head vigorously and molded his hand to another sign, assuming this to be a genjutsu on top of

another genjutsu. However many there were, he was going to break them," Release! Release! Release!

Release!"
Kira flinched in amazement as Seifuri broke the entire

illusion and stared out ahead of them. Nejani was
all but flawless and Kira was swiftly putting his Sharingan

away to conserve much needed chakra. The genjutsu was broken but a fresh perspective appeared. He would

have to take them seriously.
"This time is for real! No more Illusions!" Seifuri

announced, vanishing into thin traces of metallic red smoke. Kira was the first to scatter his focus to find

him, then Nejani stared around.
"Anything?" she asked.

"nothing..."
It almost hurt Kira to admit it but Seifuri was gone

without a slither of evidence.
"Hello, boys and girls."

His teammates turned in shock as he smiled at them.

"Rotation!"
The Sharingan and Byakugan couldn't detect his

movements and both took the full brunt of the attack, falling to the ground with a loud thump. Sasuke's rare

smile returned and he could see the mirror image of Seifuri, his reflection a collage of his training.

"Good job Seifuri."
"I know," he startled both Kira and Nejani with the

sudden grasp of his clones. two clones appeared beside each one of them and lifted them from the ground,

holding them tightly.
"Kuso!" Kira grumbled.

Nejani scowled at her easy defeat and struggled despite the predicted outcome. Her ashen eyes

reverted back to their normal chocolate and she let her body limp, listening to the gentle approach of Seifuris

sandals.
" Now," another clone of himself stood in from of Kira

and held out the opposite hand as the one afore Nejani.

"Ra..."
"Sen..." The clone conjured up the Chidori and

Rasengan chakra into his palm simultaneously with Seifuri.

"Dori!!" Both clone and original shoved the attacks towards Kira and Nejanis chest, destroying the other

clones in the process. They disperse into a huge white clod and Seifuri struggled to see through it. recognizing

the silhouette of his sensei.
"Sasuke-Sensei!"

" Seifuri, thats enough," Sasuke informed him. The smoke lifted its veil and revealed Sasuke holding Nejani

and Kira under each arm. Both of them looked annoyed and angry.

" Seifuri wins the training round, therefore...when I"m not around you take orders from him, got it?"

There was an odd pause as Sasuke placed them back on the ground and they finally muttered their own

versions of yes.
"Oh, and Seifuri?"

The blond looked up in inquiry and smiled, awaiting a much needed shower of compliments to cleanse his

doubt, " That jutsu is forbidden unless an emergency arises. You could've killed them just now."

Sasuke ignored the disappointment in Seifuris ashen red eyes and continued, " Like the Rasenshuriken is to

your father, this jutsu is forbidden."

Seifuri's body ached with the strain of his now completed task of fighting his teammates as he

continued his quiet walk home. Nejani had left hours ago and Kira had gone with him for a short ramen

break, filled with questions about Seifuri's training methods. The conversation had led him nowhere and

he'd bored Seifuri, resulting in an early departure from the restaurant. The sky's onyx blanket was already

warming the village of Konoha. The Dreams and wishes of the determined littered the dark as gleaming stars

that surrounded the thin clouds drifting across the path of the neon pale moon, radiating soft white light across

the objects lucky enough to grace its presence. Seifuri was just as enthralled in it as his mother appeared to be

when he approached the Hyuuga household. She looked down slowly from the moon to Seifuri. Seeing

her clearly, revealed she wasn't as peaceful as he had thought. She was lavished in a silk black kimono and

tears were streaming down her face, her full lips trembling with sorrow.

"what's wrong ma!" He ran the rest of the short journey and dropped his shoes and jacket on the porch

stairs, falling to his knees next to her. His forte was far
from comforting a grown up, but it seemed he had to

to get her to say anything through her uneven breaths.
"Mom whats the matter..."

Hinata buried her face in her hands and hunched
over as Hiashi helped her into the house. A small stream

of dim light from inside the compound spilled onto lost
Seifuri on the porch and Neji made his way out past

Hinata and his uncle. Seifuri could clearly hear other
people talking in low whisperes and murmuring about,"

That unfortunate girl..."
What is going on? Did something happen to

dad?...
His uncle was also in black, as was Hiashi. He noted

that immediately and gasped, "Who died? Why is mom crying, Uncle?" Neji heroically saved Seifuri's ignorance

and set his nephew down beside him on the porch, eliminating the stream of light from the door by

shutting it. Night reinforced its control and the hum of tired crickets and laughter of busy brooks drained the

silence from the surroundings. Such a peaceful night,
yet filled with so much internal calamity flying right over

Seifuri's head. No one had told him there was a funeral happening.

"Nephew, I have some very bad news from the village officials and the ANBU."

"What is it? Is it dad?!"
"No, your father is fine." Neji's dark brown hair blew

loosely on the breeze with every shake of his head to deny Seifuri's fears, " Listen to me, Your father is

perfectly okay. The ANBU took note of an awkward incident regarding your aunt Sakura's team today. They

were all found unconscious near the outskirts of the village. Blood was covering the area and they thought it

was from the three together but with analysis..."
"Sayur, S-Sayuri's hurt? Where is she! we need to-"

"Listen!"
Neji waited until he thought he had Seifuri's

complete attention and continued, "The analysis showed all the blood belonged to Sayuri...And her body

wasn't found at the scene. She's gone missing and the ANBU have assumed based off the amount of blood

found at the crime scene. She should be considered dead. I'm sorry Seifuri..."

Seifuris eyes had suddenly turned as deep and vivid cerulean as his fathers and he stared up into his uncles

eyes in denial and agony. He believed him...but he didn't want to. He wanted Sayuri to run in at any given

moment and brag about her abilities over his, or hug him from nowhere. Neji, at the moment, seemed more

focused on the random change of his eyes color but Seifuri was in his own trance.


("Are you okay?," The little girl asked him leisurely,"Why

are you looking around like that?"
Seifuri turned back and smiled at her like his father

would before poking her forehead," You and i are the only ones alive in here...and, uh, how do you know what i was thinking?"

The little girl blushed and smiled with him putting

her finger on his forehead," I'm physchic. and what do you say we get out of here?" she asked.

Seifuri looked up to their sleeping baby sitter.
"Chouji-sensei...he wont notice, alright lets go!"

The girl slapped her hands cautiously over Seifuris mouth as the other children looked up quickly at him.

"Shh, come on, lets go." She whispered slipping from the room holding Seifuri by his collar. The other children

said nothing and Chouji remained asleep. Seifuri had no idea who this new girl was but he thought she was awesome.

Anyone who can break out like that must be cool,he thought grinning as she let him go and smiled.

"Thanks new girl...whats your name anyway?" he asked her.
She smiled back and put her hands behind her back.

"I'm Sayuri Nara, of the Nara family. What about you Blondie?"

"Seifuri Uzumaki, of the Uzumaki Hyuuga family." he informed her, pride in his voice.

She smiled at his confidence and Pushed her black hair from her face.

"Well Uzumaki Seifuri, lets go for a walk.")( He was glaring dully at the house when he felt something soft and warm slip into his hand. He looked

down at Sayuris hand in his and then looked at her smiling face as she waved to whoever was on the porch of

the Hyuuga neighborhood. Seifuri forgot their hands for a moment and looked down to see His mother waving

furiously.
"Seifuri!" She cried as he ran down the path to her only to

be swept up into her worried arms and pulled away from Sayuris' warmth.

"Where were you?" She questioned him.
"I was...I was in..

"We were taking a walk miss Hyuuga, thats all. Sorry it took so long." )( The forest grew silent as he realized Aysori wasn't on his side.

"Surprised? don't worry I'll make it quick."
He slid a kunai down his arm and prepared to stab

Seifuri, raising it high above his head and brought it down onto another kunai.

He turned quickly surprised and stared into Sayuris Auburn eyes as she pushed his kunai back and grabbed

Seifuris hand, paralyzed in shock.
"Seifuri lets go!"

He followed after her as they dashed through the forest looking for the nearest exit, Aysori not far behind them.

"I told you Seifuri!"
"Whatever I didn't need your help!," He called back to her

jumping into the trees together and jumping across them on all fours leaving her behind," Byakugan!"

He seen ahead to a strange person approaching them and leapt over to Sayuris tree knocking her into the trunk,

holding her there while Kabuto went right past them.
Sayuri blushed at herself oddly positioned, pinned against

him and the tree.
"He's a sound Ninja..." she whispered. Seifuri nodded

wanting to get her out of harms way)
Seifuri couldn't cope with the information they had

fed him. He had just seen her this morning...she
couldn't be gone...

("Gama Kichi, go and get Naruto, Take this girl with you." Gama ordered his son.

"Gotcha Pop," He looked at pretty little Sayuri and then Seifuri," You pimp." he laughed as Sayuri and Seifuri

blushed.
"How troublesome." She muttered.)

(Sayuri watched sadly thinking of Seifuri and being a child, hopeing even more that he was alright. Her

father looked at her then back up to the clouds.
Great...he thought, my daughter just had to like a

troublesome boy..)

"Your lying...right? Please tell me your lying."
"No Seifuri, this is the life of the shinobi. Sayuri is gone." Neji clarified.

(Sayuri tackled him in

a barrage of gruesome hugs and kisses all over his face, resulting in him turning blood red and trying to push her

off. "I told you I would be okay." he muttered. Sayuri
smirked," Yeah right. I was worried." she admitted

blushing herself and looking down at her toes in her pink sandals while Naruto and the others looked on in interest

at the young "couple". "It's okay." Seifuri grinned, leaning over slightly to give her a kiss on her lips

before Neji pulled him away and lifted him by his jacket," Thats enough from you hentai child.")
(Hinata giggled,"well, who's that?" she asked naively. Seifuri smiled," Shes cute," He blurted out before

realizing what her question was," I mean, She-she's Sayuri.")("What are you doing Sayu-"
"Seifuri! You came back!"

She leapt from the grass and grabbed him around his chest in joy, ignoring his discomfort. Both of them

blushed for the same reason and Seifuri's ashen red eyes darted back and forth in suspicion of being seen with her.

"Uh...Sayuri..."
"Sorry...I missed you."

"Yeah, well, i was having too much fun to miss-never mind."

he stopped seeing her eyes darken and her fist raise.
"Thats what I thought.")
("well then...Give me your reason. And it has to be honest. Why

do you want to stay?"
Seifuri blushed and glanced at Sayuri who quickly turned

away.
"um....I want to stay because...Sayuri is my best friend and I

don't want her to cry when I leave and I really want to stay with her...I l-"

"Thats good enough," Sasuke interrupted)
(Sayuri walked beside Seifuri

blushing. An awkward feeling had suddenly aroused in her chest. The more she was with him the more

she felt her face heat and the longer that pink tint stayed on her cheeks.

"Seifuri..."
"Hmmm?"

She lost her courage and shook her head, staring down at the ground in shame. She couldn't

muster the strength to tell him she liked him. The heat returned to her as Seifuri slipped his hand in

hers and gripped it. shocked she looked at him, a huge smile across his hazel face his eyes closed.

"Come on! I stayed so you wouldn't cry. Don't break down now."

"Who said I was breaking down? I was just wondering if you..."

Seifuri smiled slyly, "Can't even think of an excuse can you?"

"Shut up!"
He laughed at her anger as she crossed her

arms, snatching her hand from him.
"Okay,okay...I'm sorry."

"Whatever, walk by yourself." She stomped ahead of him so hard she almost tripped as Sasuke looked back,

"Don't pout like that you look like your father. Whats wrong?"

Seifuri crossed his arms and shrugged, "Nothing...")
("Hmmm...look at this, it says on Monday your gonna be

with Nejani to train...You need to train?"
Seifuri smirked in discomfort and nervously filed

through his ideas for an excuse for his secret date.
"uh...y-y-you shouldn't have that! That's mine, Sayuri!"

"Uh...y-y-you shouldn't..." She jumbled the rest of his mock speech into an incomprehensible mess and smiled

slyly, " Your really that scared about our little competition?"

"No!" He lied, " No way! I'm at Sannin level, like I need to be scared."

"Your ten Seifuri, It's okay to be scared."
"Like your twenty? Your ten too!"

"Yeah but..."
"But what?"

"But I-I-I'm not scared Stutter-Boy."
Her laughter rang out the door after her as she

tossed him back his calendar, "See you when the chuunin exam starts.")
(despite her anticipation, however, Seifuri merely grinned

at her slyly, "You know what...now that I think about it...I don't really like you. I like Nara, Sayuri."

"Nara, Sayuri? Who is that?"
"The cutest and most irritating girl in the world. And

oddly enough...I love her for it."
the fact aside that she didn't even like

seifuri, She felt a tint of jealousy cross her. She stared into her cousins Byakugan with her own and frowned.

"Whoever she is...She cant compare to me."
"Fight her and see. You can always do that. But until then

I'm your opponent. Your gonna have to focus on me cousin")
(The blackness slowly changed form into...
"Sayuri?"

She smiled at Seifuri with compassion in her autumn eyes and her pink lips slowly formed into a sweet smile.

She almost made Seifuri wonder how sweet, but he pushed his perverted thoughts aside and stepped forward to

her with his hand out, "Sayuri!"
He was beaming genuinely and joyfully with happiness.

He wanted to hold her and kiss her again like before. The odd new desire to be with her confused him but as long as

it remained his instinct, he concluded he was going to follow it.

"Sayuri I-"
Snap out of it Seifuri!)

Hell seemed to be playing a cruel game of fate with Seifuri and tables had turned in Hell's favor. It was

winning. Sayuri was gone and all he had left of her was a fading memory.

Seifuri stared around at the forest before him like an adult would stare at their own baby picture. A look of

remembering, longing, and hope. He could recall his last time here. The Akatsuki, Sasuke, Orochimaru, Kabuto,

Master Jaraiya, Naruto, Gama Bunta, and Gama Kichi had been with him then. Sayuri as well, but he had learned to

block her from his conscious, it spared his heart from breaking any further. His team stood beside him bravely,

looking possible death in its dark hungry eyes with the other thirteen teams who had made it. As far as Seifuri

could see the exam looked simple, protecting his teammates seemed to be the hard part of goal. Their proctor this

year was, low and behold, Neji. He had long ago instructed all of them what would be happening and the dangers they

had to face. Team Sasuke had read over their consent forms, signed them and were now waiting in line for their

fated scroll, every bored and impatient moment glancing up at a snake or bird. Occasionally they were granted the

vigil of an unknown beast of unheard sizes for their petty effort.

"Here."
The staff handed Nejani their scroll which Kira

observed to be a heaven scroll and sent the team on their way, assigning the next scroll. Each team looked fearful

and lost including Seifuri's own team, save for him.
" Seifuri, you've been in there before so you know how to

get to the towers already right?"
Seifuri looked at Kira in thought and finally nodded

his head somewhat. This was his response to every question uttered to him since he learned of Sayuri's predicament.

he hadn't spoken except to say I'm sorry at her bodiless funeral. Nejani and Kira had grown accustomed to it and

tolerated it in understanding of his pain.
"Then it would appear we're in the gray."

"Just the gray?" Kira asked.
"Well, without Seifuri to orally instruct us it'll be

difficult to follow him without flaw. We'll have to pay more attention to his hand signals. we wont be as

effective watching our backs."
"No," Seifuri muttered, "I'll lead us to the end of this

exam. I won't be a hindrance to you guys."
"Hey, your talking." Kira smiled.

Seifuri smiled back at him and scratched his head," yeah...I wan to help and if i have to talk to

help...then I will."
"Great, we appreciate it Furi."

"It's cool. After all, I have to put my all into the team effort right? Sayuri would want me to."

"Your right...so...are you okay then?"
Seifuri beamed widely, to the point where he had to

close his eyes and laughed," Yeah, Yeah!" He lied," I'm fine! I haven't said anything in like a month, it feels

good to talk!"
Kira was obviously now convinced. He and Nejani

smiled though anyway for his sake and placed their hands on his shoulders," So where are we now, Nejani?"

"Not in the gray...I'd say...We're in the clear."
Kira finally seemed satisfied with Nejani and rocked

himself back and fourth on his heels in excitement.
"Man, I cant wait till we start."

"Me neither." Seifuri stared up at the clouds and almost gasped when one of them took on the appearance of Sayuri

reaching out to him," S-Sayuri..."
"Come on Seifuri, its time to pick a gate." He turned

slowly from the cloud to Nejani and followed his teammates to their gate. One last glance back proved the image was

in his head, the clouds were normal again.
Since you cant be my competition Sayuri...I'll have to

pass this for both of us.

The proctor in uniform before team Sasuke unlocked the gate and stared at his watch until the go signal was

dictated to him.
"Begin!"

The three of them phased into the forest and reappeared beneath a large tree. Nejani walked a little

ways ahead of them and stopped, turning back to the boys.
"You guys ready?"

both agreed as she placed a hand sign in front of her face," Byakugan!"

"Sharingan!"
"Byakugan!"

The three searched around through advanced vision and saw a target at the same time. A careless team had decided

early to take a break along a creak. A foolish mistake to make under the critical circumstances.

" Seifuri...you ..." They grouped together and whispered their plan across from ear to ear until each seemed to get

it flawlessly.
The other team however was lazily breaking. Their

assumed leader was a boy with short dark hair and gray eyes. He was bossing his team around which had to be

habitual since they made no attempts to argue. Kira watched them from high atop a tree and frowned at the

leaders attitude. Nejani and Seifuri sitting in the same tree simply observed. He was stupid enough to disregard

his teams scroll beside the lake. None of the members of the team were paying attention, busied with arguing with

one another.
"This is easy." Seifuri smiled.

"Not really, Another team is here too. look over there."
Seifuri looked over in the direction she was pointing

to find three more masses of chakra. New threats disappointed him and he frowned. Now their goal was to get

the scroll before the other team.
"Well then lets g-"

Before he could finish talking the members of the other team leapt down and landed before the team. the

leader was a male, Seifuri's height with a low dark blue ponytail. His sharingan was vivid and possessed the

appearance of...
"Mangekyo!" Kira exclaimed.

In the tree beside them, Nejani and Seifuri looked on in shock. Seifuri's shock was a familiar shock however. He

couldn't remember where but he knew this child...
"Seifuri look!"

Upon Nejani's word Seifuri looked down from their tree to find all of the team suddenly collapsing as if

they'd been through days and days of endless battle.
"That's the power of Mangekyo." Kira informed his team in

an almost admiring tone.

Seifuri's blond head turned from Kira to the team, then the child.

"I know that kid...I think."
Nejani and Kira said nothing and continued to watch

the boy stroll over and take the scroll from the ground. A silent feeling of fear crept across their spines and

settled into their racing hearts. If this boy had sharingan...no doubt he could see them as well. The

urgency to flee filled all of them but their bravery made them stay. As if aware of this the boy looked up to their

tree but they all stared back down in blatant disregard of his power. Like his team, he wore a high color black short

and black jounin pants. His face wore the expression of a lion about to maul a gazelle and a smile formed his lips,

much to Kira and Seifuri's irritation.
"Well, why don't you all come down here," he asked,"

you've been caught."
Before the others could think Kira spoke," Why don't

you come up here? Are you scared?"
"Kira!"

Seifuri didn't mind his boasting but he didn't stop Nejani from trying to shut him up.

"I'd rather not. If you want our scroll, nows the chance."
"Thats an invitation to me."

Nejani turned late to grab Seifuri as he dropped from the tree. Kira used the opportunity of her looking away to

jump down with him, giving her the only choice to jump down as well.

Upon close range inspection of the boy, Seifuris body filled with rage and his canine eyes turned to soulless

red slits, growing with hatred. He finally knew where he knew him from. He didn't even notice his team still wading

in the dark for an answer.
"whats wrong Seifuri?" Nejani asked.

He said nothing and clenched his fist. His angry growl turned to a scoff and he smiled at the boy," I

finally remember you."
"And it took you long enough Seifuri..."

Kiras sharingan eyes widened and his raven hair whipped to the side with the speed that he turned to look

at Seifuri.
He knows him?

Who is this boy?, Nejani thought stancing into her gentle fist," Who are you?"

"Ask Seifuri, I'm sure he knows."
As told she turned to seifuri in beseeching answer of

her question, but the silence she gained from him allowed it to drift even further into the air.

" Uchiha, Aysori..."
An Uchiha? Like me? No way...That must be Itachi's

son!
Kira s eyes returned to their iridescent gray and he

vacantly shook his head in understanding of the new information and quickly directed his conversation to

Nejani," What do we do?"
"You fight of course," Aysori answered for her.

Seifuri recognized his technique and formed Rasenagn in both hands instantly.

"Sorry you guys, theres not enough time to save all of us."

Instead of turning on Aysori he turned to Kira and Nejani who were frozen in perplexity.

"Rasengan!" He thrust his hands into both their chests sending them flying twenty feet across the field. Both

crashed into different trees beside each other and sat up. Nejani rubbed her aching skull and groaned looking up in

anger. It dwindled once she realized Seifuri had just saved them. At the same time she heared Seifuri's voice

say," Good bye," She heared Aysori.
"Shadow Clone Explosion."

She stared through her Byakugan into a fiery explosion of wild flames. The trees around her lost their lives and

grew to silhouettes of charred rods through the mouth of the flames. Her eyes found no sign of Seifuri's chakra

signal and the regret of this knowledge crashed into her with the force of a car crash. With Seifuri believed to be

dead she turned instantly to Kira staring in awe at the explosion.

"Kira!"
He didn't hear her over the aggravated roar of the

vengeful flames and the shadows of the red danced off his face, giving it an orange glow. His gray eyes were wide

with terror. Poor Furi...if we're the only ones left and he's dead. we're already out of the competition...But

I'm not going out without a fight!
She slip her kunai into her hand and clenched it

between her teeth. Forming an exoskeleton of chakra around her body, she dashed into the massive flame ball and

vanished into the red, orange and yellow abyss.
"Neja! Come back!" Kira stood but fell back against his

tree, pinned with two kunai in his shoulder and legs.
He winced and groaned reopening his eyes to find Aysori

before him.

Nejani was blindly unaware of Kira's situation. She couldn't worry about him while he was in such a daze, she

had to find Seifuri. her Byakugan struggled through the flames until they finally decimated and she made it

through, skidding to a halt on the other side.the kunai slipped from her teeth into her hand as she noticed

Seifuri in a puddle of blood on the ground. The skin on the front of his body was completely singed and burned

away to the red flesh and mucles of the human anatomy. Without a word she raced over to him and dropped beside

his still body, feeling the trace presence of his heartbeat. There was still a chance to save him.

Shamefully she thought of the simple fact that if she and Kira hadn't been there, Seifuri could've easily deflected

the attack and countered it. After pushing them out of the way, he didn't have enough time to react.

"I'm sorry Seifuri..."
A deep voice materialized eerily close to her ear

causing her to flinch in alarm.
" You will be very sorry...very soon."

"Aysori..."
But he's...!

She looked from the corner of her eyes to Kira pinned against a tree by the other Aysori and blinked back to him

in anger. This boy was making a mockery of her team and all she could do was watch.

No! you have a weapon Nejani!
She suddenly felt the presence of the kunai in her

hand strongly pulsing through her arm.
"I'm not some weakling!"

She slashed the kunai at him as he dodged it and back flipped a few inches away from her. Nejani refused to let

him breath. She was on his back in minutes trying to cut him again still covering her self in her chakra

exoskeleton. Aysori halfway admired her skill but at the same time grew suddenly annoyed.

" You remind me of that other girl that constantly foils my plans..."

These words as well as Nejani's grunts of frustration with every missed strike reached Seifuri's ears like a

negative rumor. He forced himself to sit up and wiped the blood from his mouth, feeling the raw flesh that remained

of his face. He fought the urge to simply die and stood. Blended hazel skin began to spread rapidly over his

exposed flesh as the crimson chakra from within him began to take affect. His skin reformed over his eyes as his

features properly realigned themselves. Aysori was blind;y unaware of it, busy with toying with Nejani.

Her eyes lowered slightly as she felt Seifuris life strengthen. With him in the clear she now had one focus:

Kira. She couldn't count how many times he'd probably been stabbed while she was avenging Seifuri but it didn't

matter to her at the moment. She thrust her palm at Aysori uselessly. he had predicted the movement with his

Mangekyo.
"Your waisting your time." He yawned.

Nejani shook her head and took another gentle fist barrage to chance, each hit failing to land. Her endurance

bugged Aysori and the boredom of playing with her took affect.With her next attempt to land a blow he stabbed his

hand through her chest, lightening crackled across his arm and along the edges of Nejani's wounds as she doubled over

his arm and coughed up a mouthful of rustic blood. the hair tie in her chocolate hair slipped down and her hair

tumbled around her shoulders and waist like rolling waves. Had Seifuri have seen her he may have reclaimed his

crush. Her feminine features were suddenly broad and deep and her Bkyakugan deactivated.

"I'm not done."
Aysori smirked and laughed in her face beginning to

pull his arm from her. He stopped when he realized she was holding it with one of her arms.

"I told you I'm not done..." She snapped horsely, driving her kunai deep into his throat. He hacked and swung her

body from his arm to the air. Seifrui stopped her impact and caught her, his healing energy seeping onto and over

her wounds.

Seifuri placed fully healed Nejani to the side of the battle field against a piece of tree dibree and took a

small step towards Aysori. The ground around his foot compacted and leveled with the degree of the foxes

chakra as he walked. Aysori took well noted heed and took a step back, giving a small signal to his team

hidden in the rubble. Upon his signal they reappeared out of the tree waste and kneeled on either side of

him, staring at Seifuri in wonder.

"Seifuri in case your wondering..."

Aysoris voice made Seifuris blonde curls phase to spikes and grow even longer. His hair began to reach his

ankles and his eyes were completely influenced with the verticle pupil of the fox. They glowed with madness

and malice of such evil Aysori couldn't look him in the eye. Genjutsu was useless.

"Lets go."
His team vanished but Aysori stayed, smiling at

Seifuris anger, " You heard the news didn't you?"
Seifuris fangs hung over his mouth as he growled,"

What news?"
"The news of that horrific scene. I didn't want to hurt

those three genin shinobi, you know. I had to. They had heard too much. Although I didn't have time for

the other two...your ANBU team got there too quickly. I only had time for one."

Seifuri caught the insinuation in his words and dropped to all fours in pain of the fox gaining control.

He could no longer hang on to himself. He clutched his shirt as if to pull back the chains that rendered the fox

helpless as Aysori walked over slowly to him. Each footstep seemed to be an isolated noise within silence.

Hammering at the restraints on Seifuri's already unstable temper. He finally reached him, and in the center of the

canyon of debree he leaned down to his ear," Sayuri always was saving you...foiling my plans and ruining

everything. I could've killed you in the forest of death but thanks to her..."

"Liar!"
Seifuri slammed his fist into Aysoris face, using one of

the newly sprouted fox tails to catch him and pull him back.

"What did you do to her!"
Aysori cringed in surprise and struggled to free

himself to no gain except being pounded face first from a considerable height above the trees to the ground.

The earth showered around them when Aysori hit the ground and the clone torturing Kira vanished, allowing

him to free himself of the kunai and grab Nejani prior to taking her to safety.

"What did you do to her?"
"If I could look into your eyes I'd show you."

Seifuri calmed himself enough until his eyes were a less nuclear glowing color. He blinked then looked up

directly into Aysoris eyes," Show me."
Sayuri smiled sweetly to her two

teammates and then looked back up at the field of flowers sprawled out before her. the sunrise and mist of

the morning were barely kissing the earth and already she had the energy and joy of herself and her

teammates combined. Sadly she'd be drained and cloud watching by noon. That was her schedule; Temari by

day, Shikamaru by night. Regardless of the uninterest her team displayed, she openly rushed through the tall

flowers like a rat in a maze and stopped whenever she found one that could even possibly be used as a healing

herb. Her team followed suite in different but close areas. Arara, her cousin, was the first to finish gathering

his herbs. He sat off to the side without a word to his teammates and waited for them to finish as well; silent

as his father, Gaara. It didn't take Sayuri long, but she finally looked up to find him looking extremely bored.

Dark rings were present around his baby blue eyes. He blinked in annoyance of her staring at him then smiled.

"Hurry up. I really want to go home."
"Be patient," Sayuris dark hair slipped from her shoulders

and hung in from if her face as she leaned over to get another flower. Its leaves shined like the sun and

sooner than they had expected the sunset was upon them. Sayuri stared at it with identical colored eyes and

sipped some tea with her team. They had been gathering for hours and a break had risen when they'd

assumed they found every herb.
"Arara, what do you think about Uzumaki, Seifuri?"

Arara cocked one eye brow and shrugged scratching his shoulder length brown hair, styled like his

mother, Matsuris.
"I don't know him that well. We only played together

once in the sand village."
"Maybe so but...What do you think of him

and...me?"
Now Arara had the situation and nodded in dimness,

"I don't think of you and him."
"Never mind...Hey!"

She turned to her pale blond haired teammate and waited until she was done sipping her tea to ask her

the same question, gaining almost the same results. "How am I supposed to know?"

Sayuri sighed and smirked staring at a sudden rustle of the grass ahead of her. She and her team froze and

dropped to the ground in instinct. Arara was the first to look back up. His eyes remained focused while a hush

whisper went to his team," It's a...another ninja and a man in a red and black cloak..."

"Red clouds are printed on it?"
The young Shinobi of Konoha had been warned to

avoid these men. They were to flee on sight, say and do nothing.

"Yeah red clouds...one is a child but the other is a man."

"A man with Sharingan." Angel muttered after his observation.

Sayuri watched both her teammates then fearfully turned to Arara," You have part of the Jinchuuriki...If

that man is truly from Akatsuki he'll kill you."
Arara nodded in notice and slowly began to crawl

backwards, his team following suite. The dry scratch of the jade grass seemed louder than a gunshot as they

silently crept away.
"And just where are you going?"

Sayuri snapped her head back with her team to Aysori standing behind her. Her scream sent the birds

hiding in the grass into a black mass cloud of flock.
"You..You're the boy who tried to kill Seifuri!"

"Yes...and you're the girl who ruined everything. It's time "I got you back for your interfering."




Seifuris eyes grew redder and redder as he watched the rest of it play out in the Tsukuyomi. He witnessed

Arara's arm get all but severed off and Angels throat slit. Then the cruelest image played, and all he could do

was stand there and watch. Sayuri stood in front of both of her teammates, weaponless, due to the

inecessity of such because of the mission they were given. She was covered in the blood of her team and it

was thanks to her that the two were still breathing. Her healing energy had been the life support of the

two. Aysori took another step closer to her and invisible Seifuri beside her, staring at the exhaustion and fatigue

in her eyes. He could tell she wanted to cry and give in. Scream out that she was scared and didn't want to die.

Beg for her life.

Aysori stopped Tsukuyomi there, and closed his eyes tightly as if the memory hurt him more than Seifuri. His

eyes stayed shut that way, the memory would always be with him and no matter what happened, he knew the

outcome, whether it played all the way through...or not. He had been corrupted in the first place to kill Seifruri.

Behind his careless and cold exterior the guilt was piling up higher than he could stand. Seifuri could care less.

His only concern was Sayuri. He released Aysori from his tail and reverted back to normal.

"So...What happened to her?"
Aysori looked just as lost as Seifuri had when he'd

learned of her demise in the first place.
" I slit her throat and all but cut her open and left her

there to bleed to death. I left and went back to my original mission. I thought...I thought your village had

collected her."
Nejani looked up from her place against the mossy


tree that had substituted a bed for her," We couldn't find her body...What happened to her then."

"If you don't know," Aysori admitted," Than neither do I."

Seifuri's voice was suddenly filled with the kindness and hope it had held when he'd met Aysori and he

smiled holding his hand out to him. He wasn't sure how but he understood and compromised the guilt Aysori

was feeling. He obviously didn't want to do what he did. Someone else was pulling his strings. Who that

person was would have to wait until later.
"Aysori...I can put all this behind us...if you help me find

my friend...please."
Aysoris sharingan vanished back to his normal dark

eyes and he looked from Nejani, to Kira, Seifuri in contemplation.

"Put this...behind you?"
He closed his eyes and stood up tall holding his hand

back out to Seifuri," You can never put this behind you Seifuri...I've done too much to put your life in jeopardy.

But I can help you. When I'm done though..."
"I don't care what you do when your done. I just want

you to help me save her. If you do that, Your forgiven forever."

Aysoris dark eyebrow cocked suspiciously as he took his hand and he and Seifuri shook.

"Deal...Does she really mean that much to you?"
"More." Seifuri admitted.

"Your a fool to trust me, don't you even remotely believe I'll deceive you?"


"If you do," Seifuri muttered merrily," I'll kill you, its as simple as that. And if Sayuri is put in harms way I'll

kill you as well."
The ambivalent look on Seifuris face, left Aysori

pondering not only whether he was serious or not, but whether he could do it.

"Fine, do as you wish."