Chapter Three

Word Count: 4200 Exactly not including AN.

Standing over the casket of the late Hokage. Tears drop from my eyes, Third Hokage I have wished for your death so many times, but never have I wanted Hirzuen Sarutobi to die. May you find peace away from the demons that haunted your heart. I put the flower on the casket, turned, and headed for the spot next to Kakashi. I respect Hiruzen Sarutobi, but I cannot say the same for the Third Hokage. Taking a spot in line I stand next to Kakashi waiting for the rest of the shinobi. I turn my head and ask. "Where's Rin?"

— Fifteen Years Before —

"PACK UP WE'RE GOING TO THE KIRI BORDER!" A hyper voice yells. Haru gives a ryo to the genin corps member as a tip and closes the door. She skips back and sits on the couch.

"Fuck!" Katsu destroys his latest creation. He comes out of his room a pissy look is displayed on his face.

"How long until we leave?" Mayu asks, an oatmeal cookie in her hand. Then it vanishes with a large gulp accompanying it.

Haru gives them the rundown. "Tomorrow morning, we meet up with one team of three to replace some of ours. Then we will come back in a month. They gave us an eight-hundred thousand ryo budget plus merits." Katsu's face has a smile now his eyes replaced with a ryo. "Food first, then personal use." They all nod their head to that. Getting up they head out of the house, Haru first, then Katsu, and Mayu last. They walk down the outskirts of Konoha to the grocery store.

"You've been seeing Asuma lately?" Mayu asks, looking at Haru. Haru clicks her tongue and frowns at that comment.

"Na, he only has eyes for Kurenai alone."

"Sucks, I would imagine the benefits of dating the Third Hokage's son is quite a lot. You wouldn't have to go out of Konoha constantly."

Haru shoots her comment down almost instantly. "Na, life would be boring without you guys. Plus nothing gets my blood pumping like fighting others."

"Think people our age find joy in other stuff than our line of the field." Katsu proposes not looking up from the creation he is molding. Two clones of him next to him molding something too.

"We never have been like the others, have we?" Haru asks. Mayu thinks for a moment then adds her two cents.

"Na, no need. I mean I became a ninja to get money to open a bakery, and you got that guy in front of me who just molds sculpture all day and hordes money, then well you. Most become ninjas to protect something either the village, someone else, or themselves."

"Maybe I will get to see what life is like outside the battlefield since I'm retiring after the war anyways," Katsu announces finishing his current clay structure depicting all of them, Haru still as a shinobi, Mayu with an oversized baker's hat, him with a chibi on his shoulders, and Himakai standing behind them and looking down on them smiling.

Haru looks back at him and inspects the sculpture. "I like this one! Starting a family though? Got anyone in mind?" Haru says smiling, turning back around.

"Nah, most likely going to adopt. Civilians and shinobi don't mix well, and most shinobi our age stray from us." He says thoughtfully. Since Haru is leading nobody can notice the small frown on her face.

"You don't know that, try sometime and play the field. We are fourteen and we ought to live life outside our current mission." Mayu says happily.

"Like Guy says YOUTH!" Haru exclaims, punching the air. An echoing youth can be heard kilometers away.

"True but taking someone in Mayu and I's situation away from throwing themselves into this system because they can't perform well in school because of the toxic environment of the orphanage, or because their disability goes unrecognized. Maybe they just needed one on one time that the teachers generally don't give out to people like us."

"Talkative today, eh?" Mayu teases.

"Stop it Mayu. Been thinking about this, honestly, I always hated doing this. The process of snuffing out one's life just because we wear different symbols. They have a family at home, friends like us, or maybe they have nobody to remember them." The mood is somber as they walk in silence.

— Mayu —

We knew he didn't like this, Haru and I talked as we noticed he creates figures of every shinobi he kills. He takes the backlines most of the time supporting Haru and me using immobilization techniques when he could have just shoved an earth spear through the shinobi. I can't give him shit anyways. We cope in different ways as nobody who kills daily can almost be ok. It's why they send shinobi to a Yamanaka once a month. Still, he creates structures, Haru shifts her personality when doing anything related to Shinobi becoming more animalistic like she does when she goes to her summons world, I see a therapist more often, and on bad days I take a childlike persona. Some coping mechanisms are healthier than others, but we make it through. Nearing the grocery store I break the silence.

"The basics?" They nod, I grab a basket, and Haru grabs her. Stocking them with eggs, potatoes, bread, and cheese. We check out three-thousand five hundred ryo later I stuff it in sealing scrolls. I ask them a question as we leave the store. "You ever regret being a ninja? Maybe we should have retired after we failed our team assignments. Growing up on the battlefield wasn't something any of us wanted at the time. Imagine what we would have been if Sensei didn't scout us after the one time in Kumo! I doubt we are alive in a timeline that he didn't pick us up or we are even more fractured than we are now."

"No, I don't regret it. If we retired then, we wouldn't be as close as we are now. Hell, we might not even be friends." Haru denies it with every fiber of her being. Katsu shakes his head and then says.

"I wish we weren't canon fodder in the eyes of Hokage," Katsu says sadly. Arriving at the butcher we get a couple of pounds of meat, we need some different meat in between the fish. Stuffing it in a storage scroll we set off for the house.

"Oi Katsu, just a little bit longer and the easy life is all yours, imagine cashing all the merits you own." I smile at him. He nods face brighter now a little drool leaks out of his mouth. I flicked a couple of ryo at him. "Pass me some clay." He complies. Manipulating the clay not as easily as Katsu. I take my time, feeling gazes on me I manipulate a part of it to make a middle finger. A gasp from Haru was the only reaction. I wrap it around my wrist deciding I'll finish it later.

— One day later. Approaching Midnight —

As night falls, we continue to the border station as we are almost there. Spotting the station everyone else sighs in relief.

We all stop in our tracks; the raw amount of chakra and its nature are ridiculous. Reminds me of the fourth tail's chakra. Looking around, we noticed our team is made up of regular chunin.

"Fucking hell, guys get to the border station and send a message towards Konoha. 'Bijuu release near the border'." Haru gives orders to the chunin. Haru and Katsu look toward me.

"Regular formation, Katsu you are our eyes, tell us as you feel something slightly off." We ran towards that chakra. Katsu's chakra seeps into the earth.

"We are gathering information for Konoha we spectate at a safe distance … Above all else look out for yourself." I give the orders. Breathing in and out we ran for another ten minutes. I note that the three-tail's chakra is disappearing.

"Guys I got something, another shinobi like us running towards the chakra. We won't be able to catch up to him by running." 'Shadow Clone' I transform it into a kunai.

"How far?" I asked him.

"Three hundred twenty meters traveling at 64 meters a second," Katsu yells.

"Give me a launch," I state.

"Earth Release: Great Pillar." I get launched into the air, focusing my chakra into my arms, and applying wind chakra to the special kunai I send it flying straight forward. I go into a free fall down and using a small amount of wind chakra to slow my fall I replace myself with a branch, and I join up with the group.

"Let's go." We ran forward. A minute passes. Memories flood my skull. Anger fills my being.

"It's Kakashi, Rin has been kidnapped by Kiri shinobi he doesn't know the reason." I give the facts. A growl rips out from Haru's throat. A sneer appears on Katsu's face. I stop and punch a nearby tree breaking the trunk and releasing my anger. I needed to clear my mind to think. Do they need a sacrifice for the sealing of their jinchuriki? Power of Human Sacrifice, maybe it's both ways. Bijuu chakra doesn't disappear like that after all.

"Possible new Jinchuriki." That's all I say. Which is a plus if it didn't use Rin as a sacrifice.

"We're coming up on a huge cave I think, something is stopping my chakra from seeping into the earth anymore," Katsu says lightly panting. Dropping down to the ground as there is a huge clearing, we sprint forward. "Pull back your chakra." He nods slightly as his chakra seeps from the earth to his body. Seeing dead guards litter the front of the cave. We shunshin, Haru walks into the cave me following drawing my sword. Fighting echoes throughout the cave.

"Go." I give the order.

"With pleasure," Haru says viciously licking her lips. Multiple shunshin later we catch up with Kakashi. Rin is strapped to a table, seemingly unconscious in the middle of the large cave opening her amour is torn. The cave has a small water source where Kakashi and his ninken are fighting multiple Kiri ninjas covered in blood. "Wind Release: Wind Spear." I send a spear impaling the unsuspecting shinobi.

"Katsu unstrap her and get her dressed." I tossed him my extra gear scroll. Haru blocks a water bullet from hitting me.

"On it." He turns and gets to work.

"Haru with me"

— Third Person –-

"REINFORCEMENTS!" One of the Kiri-nin yells. Two of the five shinobis break off from Kakashi. One holding a katana and the other having a gauntlet with spikes covering the outside.

"Old and reliable," Mayu whispers to Haru. In response, Haru drops down on all fours. "First Stance: Flowing Winds." Mayu blitzed one as Haru swiped a rock at the other. Cling. Mayu gets blocked while the others dodge the rock. Suddenly Mayu replaces herself with the rock, stabbing the gauntlet-wielding shinobi in the back of his head. Now two-on-one, Mayu and Haru perform a pinch attack. The Kiri-nin makes hand signs. "Water shunshin." He is all of a sudden behind Kakashi. "Behind you!" Mayu yells out throwing a wind-imbued kunai. Kakashi's head turns, locks eyes with the Kiri-nin, and the Kiri-nin falters the kunai pierces his amour and is stabbed into his lung. Haru finishes the job with a lightning kick to the head exploding it. Mayu grabs a kunai from the body and throws it at the remaining two Kiri-nin. The Kiri-nin easily dodges. Both Kiri-nin make hand signs rushing at the group. Mayu and Haru go on the offensive as Kakashi stays back.

"Water Release: Water Shuriken." Water Release: Water Jet."

"Earth Release: Earth Shield!" Katsu yells and an Earth wall blocks the jutsu. The Kunai from earlier, untransformed with no smoke into Mayu, and its arm transforms into a sword made up of pure fire burning through the two unsuspecting Kiri-nin. The Fire clone then disperses in ashes. The two then focus on Kakashi.

"Did they…?" Mayu trails off glancing from Kakashi and Rin. Rin is sweating, eyes were red from tears.

Kakashi responds voice low. "Yeah, she is now the three tails jinchuriki." Katsu puts Rin on a Mud Clone's back.

"We sent a message to Konoha as soon as we sensed the tailed beast chakra from the border." They take a small break sitting on the ground. "You don't mind if I lead?" Mayu asks.

"As long as your orders can get Rin to safety then no." Kakashi states.

"Alright, give me a rundown of your abilities?" Mayu requests.

"A ranked in Ninjutsu, know some B ranked genjutsu, my taijutsu is a bit embarrassing I rely on my speed, I am proficient in kenjutsu although. I'm low reserves, two B ranks max" His growth spurt still hasn't come yet, and although his well-trained body would do good against people his age against well-seasoned jonin that uses chakra to reinforce their already rigid body it wouldn't do well. He desummons his dogs.

"Rest of your status?" I look around at my teammates.

"I'm good here, a little less than full reserves," Haru states while cleaning her hair of the blood.

"I'm up to seventy-five percent of my chakra reserves, no injures" Katsu states.

"Alright, in case we encounter more Kiri-nin, Kakashi guards Rin, and Katsu gives support while Haru and I will attempt to eliminate the threat." They all agree. They gather themselves and leave. They hover at the entrance of the cave; Katsu puts his chakra into the earth spreading it out. He then perks up.

"We're surrounded," Katsu informs us. "Way too many to count." We dropped back into the cave. Kakashi takes a chakra pill. Mayu locks eyes with Katsu and Haru. Mayu sighs.

"Katsu and I will start tunneling us to a different exit. Kakashi takes Rin we will create an opening. With the three tails, she is or will be more valuable than us." No arguments come from anyone.

"Not where I wanted to die, I guess it's time to get serious. Spot me a kunai," Haru asks Kakashi. Kakashi opens his kunai pouch. "What's on that kunai," Haru asks spotting a kunai.

"It's a pres- Oh shit. Haru, I need your help." Kakashi brings out a single kunai, unraveling the paper displaying a seal around it he puts it onto his arm.

"We need to pour enough chakra in it so my Sensei knows something is happening, otherwise he will just think someone is messing around with one of his kunai he left around." Nodding they touch it pouring chakra into it, after a couple of seconds. "Stop, it can't take any more chakra. Now we can just hope he comes."

"Guys, come on they are coming from the entrance!" Katsu sends out a warning. They run into the tunnel and use a jutsu to hide the entrance. They catch up with the group. Kakashi puts Rin on his back. "We are about to breach the surface, I had Katsu create three decoys of us running in different directions, and as I said before we are trying to protect Kakashi to get through and get Rin back safely." Mayu signals Katsu.

"Earth Release: Hole." Fresh air comes into the cave. They run in a triangle formation around Kakashi with Haru leading Mayu to the left of Kakashi and Katsu on the right.

"Huff, I guess this isn't just another boring border mission. I know we don't do corny shit, but I love you guys." Haru says somberly.

"Don't talk like we are about to die, I mean we have to help Katsu raise the kid he is going to adopt because sage knows that he can't do it all by himself," Mayu argues.

"Yeah!" Katsu agrees but then makes a face of mock hurt and shock.

"Mhm." Haru mumbles. They go into the forest.

"One team destroyed." Katsu gives them an update.

— Kakashi —

Is this, okay? This team is giving their life to strengthen the village. Although I feel it is more than that I don't say anything and just pray Sensei can get here. Rin stirs, she is breathing hard I can feel her sweat dripping onto me. Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"Can't huf huf go home." "Huh?" What does she mean? Where else? Is she deflecting to Kiri? "Seal cough." She coughs up blood.

"Guys." I began to say. Mayu glances at Rin and frowns.

"We are bunkering."

"Earth Release: Tunnelling Technique" A hole in the ground opens up, throwing rocks down there. We replaced ourselves and I set Rin on the ground and then I closed the hole.

"They destroyed all decoys." Silence fills the hole. I look at Rin with my Sharingan. Her chakra is clashing? Containing? With a foreign chakra. Covering my eye back up.

"Her chakra is actively fighting with the three tails chakra." I let them know and forcibly turned myself away from her.

"Do we want to know what happens if she loses?" Mayu asks rhetorically.

"We need to get her to a seal master to seal the bijuu chakra. Maybe Third Hokage can do it." Katsu states.

"Kushina can do it," Kakashi mumbles.

"True, an Uzumaki can probably do it, but will we get there in time?" Mayu asks. I take the seal from my arm and place it on the floor next to Rin. "So, we are just stalling then."

"Guys I don't know if sensei will have enough chakra to bring us all back if he was constantly teleporting here," I stop them from getting their hopes up. "Sorry I didn't mean to be rud-"

"You're not wrong though," Haru cuts me off. "Kakashi what is that one saying you preach? That people who abandon their comrades are scum." She looks at each of their teammates then Rin and me the atmosphere gets darker.

"Kakashi you are staying with Rin and going home with her." Mayu gives the order.

"Aren't we comrades though?" I ask wondering if they resent me.

"Yeah, but Rin wouldn't want to come home at the sacrifice of you," Katsu says.

"Why do you value Rin so much? I know it can't just be because of the three tails." I must ask.

"If we count as a family, Rin is the little cousin. We found Rin crying because the puppy she chooses to take on, died of sickness a little after she joined the academy. We took her in for a day and made it a mission to cheer her up. We took her shopping, out to eat, and played 'ninja' with her. Didn't know if we succeeded but after we took her to the Inuzuka compound she kept coming back to play with 'Big brother Su and Big sister Mayuuuu and Haruuuu'. Now we are in good graces with the Inuzuka." Mayu narrates a story. I laugh but I realize.

"Wouldn't she want you coming home more than me?"

"You haven't realized? You are cold-hearted, no feelings bastard." Haru punches me on the head. It hurts.

"Stop arguing you are going to go home with Rin. Just tell her that this isn't her fault." Mayu gave me an order.

"Alright." I won't say anymore. I let tears fall down my face, how many people sacrifice themselves for me before I can stand up for myself?

"Good, don't blame yourself nobody foresaw this." Mayu hugs me. Hard and Cold? I punched her arm. It breaks reveling rock.

"Ah, that's so rude Kakashi," Haru says.

"What is this? Where are you guys." I yell. Katsu then moves from the spot where he sits revealing a silencing seal.

"Ah." I resigned myself. I let tears fall down my face unrestrained now. I sit against the wall and hide my face in my arms. My adrenaline leaves my body, my eyes are heavy.

Mayu hums something, her voice has a little bit of a tremor, "The Lost Lamb, young and small, forced to fight and take a fall, their innocence stolen away, their childhood cut short without delay, trapped in war, with no escape, their youth and dreams now a distant shape, but still, they hold on to hope, for a future where they can cope, and find their way back to the light, away from the horrors of the fight." Closing my eyes, I drift away from the cave.

I wake up to a yellow blob of hair covering my vision. "Kakashi what-" Sensei gets cut off.

"Sir, we have recovered Rin from a kidnapping by Kiri-nin but she has become the jinchuriki of the three tails after Kiri-nin sealed it in her, seal is unstable. Get Kakashi and Rin and leave find a seal master that can seal the jinchuriki, we will hold out here." Mayu states.

"Why don't I just seal her here?" Sensei raises an eyebrow. Oh, yeah he is a seal master.

"Go ahead." Mayu stammers out. He takes out ink and dips his fingers. He lifts Rin's shirt and says "Shishō Fūin." Rin immediately lets out a sound of relief still not opening her eyes.

My eyes snap from Rin to the clones suddenly remembering the battle above. "Um, Sensei you got to help them." I point at Mayu Haru's and Katsu's Earth Clone. "Earth Release: Tunnelling Technique!" I yell. Sensei catches on and throws a kunai up teleporting. I sealed the tunnel back up.

— A while before: Mayu —

We sit on tree branches eating a beef sandwich.

"Going to miss this," I say licking my fingers. A round of agrees to follow that statement.

"I heard that Niko and Kyo are getting married soon," Haru says.

"Haven't seen them since we left that shitty place. Nice to know something good is coming out of it." Katsu states taking the last bite of his beef sandwich.

"Hey, we came out of the place!" Haru protests.

"I said something good, not something perfect," Katsu says with a mock flirty tone. I put a hand on my head and feigned fainting. Wiping my mouth. A clone appears and hands me a scroll.

"They're here." We burn our napkins. Circulating my chakra in my body I warm myself up on this cold night.

"Let's crush these Kiri losers," Haru says. Getting up we stand in the direction of the coming shinobi.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Divide." Katsu states. The Earth in front of us parts. Shinobi fall in between the cracked earth. Keeping chakra in my feet to not fall over from the miniature earthquake.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Combine." Me and Haru yell. The earth combines again I would imagine if they could be heard screams would fill the forest. I take out my sword. We all take a chakra pill. Katsu uses shunshin and we follow. We come upon two Kiri-nin and than I decapitate the right Kiri-nin's head. Haru gets the other. Following the same pattern, we kill a team of three, one, two, and one.

"They have gathered up again." Following him. "West. Earth Release Pillars." He launches Haru and me up. I unseal a lake's worth of water, and Haru imbues it with lightning chakra. Sending an Electric Tsunami at them trees get swept up with the tsunami. Using the wind to catch us we make it down safely.

"Retreat. How many more?" I ask slightly panting while we run back near the hole taking out my container, I drink some water. "Four left." Relief fills my body. We arrive at the same tree as before. Unsealing a scroll explosion seals pop out. We each take a stack and scatter them around the forest before we can get that done. A red flare signals that the enemy is nearby. I dash back. Appearing on the branch above our team.

"Ready?" I asked tossing a kunai down to Haru.

"Been ready!" She exclaims quickly, sharpening her nails in delight as her chakra buzzes from under her skin. She blows the clippings away from her hand and nods. Haru grabs the item kept on her tool belt. Opening a scroll, she says. "Cat Covering: Cougar." A reddish-brown cat-like chakra cloak envelopes part of her body. Her chakra coat consists of a lone chakra tail that sprouts from her lower back, chakra paws, and chakra ears, and her eyes become slits, and canine teeth sprout from her mouth. She drops to all fours growling.

"Ready," Katsu replies taking out a vial of poison. Mayu eyes widen and surprise as he almost never uses his poison but then grins. Coating senbons in poison. He grabs a bottle of poison and opens it, I hold a hand sign and manipulate the poison out of the bottle. "Hair growth jutsu." Katsu's hair grows down his back. "Hair Needle Senbon." Katsu's long spiky hair turns spikier. I then douse each hair needle with poison.

I unsheathe my katana; I get into the first stance.

— Third Person POV—

A-rank Disappearing Sword, Queen of the Jungle, and Stoneheart wait for their prey.

— Mayu —

Explosion sounds throughout the forest. Holding out my sword I conduct wind and lightning chakra into it.

AN: Just like that finals week pass. I apologize for any grammar mistakes as I am one person. Bet you guys didn't expect that clan to come into play but don't expect much from Boruto as I don't actively read it. I'll see you guys next week. :/