Shizuka waded into the cool water after training for the last few hours. She had gotten to the river at dawn and she guessed it to be around mid day by the growling of her stomach. She grimaced. "First clean up, then food." She told herself.

She made her way to the low stone in the middle of the river and sat down. After scrubbing herself with sand from the bottom of the river and washing away the salt of her sweat she was enjoying the slow current flowing around her legs. Moving her legs back and forth against the current, watching the water swirl around her she hadn't noticed the boys watching her from the river's bank.

"Oi!" The brown haired boy called out to her.

Startled, she whipped her head around , lost her balance and fell into the river. Before she could even stand he was trying to boldly lift her up in his arms to presumably carry her to shore.

"Who do you think you are! Let go! Put me down!" She screamed at him.

When he only tightened his hold on her, she punched him. He fell backward and splashed into the river still holding her in his arms. They both popped back up out of the water spluttering and made their way to the shore to see the black haired boy smirking at them.

"Smooth Hashi." The black haired boy chided his friend.

"I was trying to save her." The brown haired boy replied meekly.

"I didn't need saving you oaf!" Shizuka growled angrily at the brown haired boy.

"I'm sorry I scared you, I didn't mean to." He told her smiling.

"I wasn't scared, you just startled me is all." She huffed.

"So, what's your name?" Brown hair asked her.

"Shizuka."

"I'm Hashirama and he's Madara, we come here a lot, we haven't seen you here before though." Hashirama said.

"Um, my family just moved into the area. This is the first time I have been here. I found it while exploring my new home." She told them.

"Well, find another spot, this one is ours." Madara said rudely.

"Madara! You mustn't be so rude, she can be here. I'm glad she's here." Hashirama tried to apologize to Shizuka but she was too busy glaring at Madara to notice.

"Who are you to tell me if I can be here or not? You don't own this land!" Her face is flushed with anger and her green eyes spark with malice.

"You're clearly a peasant, Find somewhere else to do whatever it is you do, birth aside, we have been coming here for years, so find your own spot." Madara glared at her. He didn't want some twerp of a girl interfering with his time with his best friend, they were getting older now and didn't have a lot of time to spend together. She was just in the way.

"I am not a peasant! I was here training, and it is the perfect spot for me, and like I said you don't own it so you can't tell me to leave!" She barked right back at him. What a horrible boy she thought to herself, who does this guy think he is.

"Let's just calm down, there is plenty of space for all three of us here, we can share it, can't we Madara?" Hashirama makes doey googly eyes at him pleading.

"Fine." Madara knows it is easier to just give in at this point. Hashirama is looking at the girl like he has a new toy and won't stop until he gets to play with it.

"Well, anyway, I'm done training, I was just washing up when you two got here, so I'm leaving. Don't think I'm running away though, I'll come back here to train whenever I want!" With one last glare at Madara and she didn't even look at Hashirama, she jumped up and ran away through the trees, her chakra signature fading away rapidly.

"She can run pretty fast, almost as fast as you Madara." Hashirama grins at his friend.

"I don't like her. She doesn't even mask her chakra." Madara says folding his arms over his chest huffing.

"I think she is wonderful! Did you see she had pink hair? How unusual, and her eyes, they were soooo green! She was neat looking, have you ever seen anyone that looks like her before?" Hashirama was rambling.

Madara sighed and put his hand to his head. He would be hearing about her for days now he just knew it. He did wonder about her though, not in the way Hashirama was going on about her, but she had said she was training before they got there. Was she a Shinobi? Her speed definitely portrayed that she was. The pink hair though, he didn't know of any pink haired clans in the area, maybe a distant Uzumaki.

"I hope she comes back soon." Hashirama ended his rambling just as Madara turned his attention back to him.

"Didn't you have something you wanted to show me?" Madara interrupted him before he could go off on another tangent about pink haired girls.

"What? Oh! Yes! I found a cave here last time that we didn't know about, this way, let me show you!" Hashirama led the way a bounce in his step.

Hashirama led Madara to a dense patch of trees where the vines of the forest overlapped and draped over the low branches of living and dead trees, some of which had fallen over concealing the entrance to the cave. Hashirama smiled at his friend pulled back a curtain of vines and ducked inside. Madara followed and when his eyes adjusted to the dark his mouth dropped open.

It was incredible. The cave entrance was a bit narrow but it opened up after a few paces into an enormous underground cavern. There was a waterfall dropping down from the ceiling, free falling into a small pool of water big enough for three or four people to swim around in. As incredible as the free falling waterfall was, what was most spectacular were the trees. Madara wondered how trees could grow in such a place, without sunlight, but grow they did, they were thick trunked and tall and beautiful.

"Wow!" Was all Madara managed to get out before Hashirama grabbed his arm and was yanking him to the back of the cavern where a small table and chair was set up, a fire pit and a small stack of firewood.

"I did this last time I was here after I found it. I figured you could help when you came, but I was thinking we could build some futon platforms for fun! That way if we ever needed to we had somewhere to stay!" Hashirama said gleefully.

"It seems a shame to cut down any of these trees though." Madara was thinking it was a good idea, but the trees were so majestic, he didn't think it right to kill one for a futon platform they would never use.

"Oh I would never dream of cutting down one of the trees here, outside, we will cut one down outside." Hashirama suggested.

"Okay, whatever you want, it is a good project, let's go." Madara doesn't really care what they do, he likes sneaking away to spend time with his friend.

Madara and Hashirama spend the rest of their time cutting down a large tree in the forest near the cave and haul it part by part inside and to the back where Hashirama wants to build their futon platforms. By the time they had gotten their tree into the cavern it was time for Madara to go home and Hashirama admitted he should be going as well. They promised to meet back in the cavern instead of by the river the next time they could get away.

A week later, Shizuka was sitting in a tree by the cave when Hashirama called up to her to come down. She dropped out of the tree in front of a smiling Hashirama. She smiled shyly back. Hashirama was much nicer than the other boy, Madara, and she thought they might be able to be friends without the black haired jerk around.

"Shizuka, I have something to show you, come with me." Hashirama took her by the hand and started to drag her forward in his excitement.

He led her a little ways up the river to a densely overgrown part of the forest by the cliff. He let go of her hand and disappeared behind a thick layer of branches and vines. She hesitated. She didn't know him very well, she had only met him one time , and even though he seemed a kindly sort she was a bit cautious.

"Shizuka, come here, it's ok, Trust me, you'll like it." He called her from behind the curtain of vines.

She hesitated for a moment more but stooped down to follow him under the vines curious as to what would be here that he wanted to show her so badly.

Much like Madara her mouth fell open. Unlike Madara her eyes sparkled and she smiled widely as she looked around the cavern. She ran to the free falling waterfall in the middle and reached her hands out as far as they would go but still couldn't catch the water. She was delighted. She spun in a circle by the edge of the pool and that's when she saw the underground forest.

"It's like a fairy tale, it is so mystical and beautiful." She marveled and looked everywhere at once.

"Here, this is where Madara and I are going to build our futon platforms, we can build one for you too if you like?" Hashirama offered generously.

Shizuka frowned, "Are you sure Madara will be okay with that? He doesn't seem to like me very much and I am not sure I like him either, he is very rude." She smiled at Hashirama.

"He just don't know you yet is all, he will come around." Hashirama tried to reassure her.

"You don't know me, we just met. " She laughed but felt it necessary to point out that simple logic to him. She knew she already liked him too though.

"Madara is just a little less trusting, more suspicious by nature, he will like you once he gets to know you." Hashirama started walking to the pieces of wood and then looked at her.

"I was thinking of making a small house too." He told her.

"Isn't that a lot of work, making futon platforms is a lot of work too." She said.

"Are you part of a clan? I won't ask for your last name, I can't tell you mine either but I only wondered. You train by yourself, if you were part of a clan, wouldn't you train at your compound?" Hashirama watched her. He knew it was out of the blue but he was considering showing her his wood style. He might act the fool a lot of the time and his carefree attitude threw people off but he was actually very intelligent.

"Um, well, that's not really any of your business. I just like training by the river." She said shuffling her feet..

Hashirama cocked his head to the side and considered her. "You don't mask your chakra. I knew you were in the tree miles before I got here, that's dangerous."

"I um, don't know how." She said quietly.

"We thought that might be the case. That's why Madara called you a peasant. So, you don't have a clan?" He asked her smiling. He secretly hoped very much that she didn't have a clan, it would make it easier for them to be friends. She didn't know but he was the Heir to the powerful and well respected Senju Clan. It is one of the reasons he and Madara never told one another their last names, they could tell they were both from respected shinobi clans because of their larger chakra levels and they didn't want a name to come between their friendship.

"I am from a civilian family." She admitted. She knew what shinobi families thought of civilian born people with chakra, they thought they were still worthless and if you didn't come from a clan , no one would train you. After all, they wouldn't want to give away clan secrets to an outsider, much less waste their time training someone who might turn against them one day.

"So that's why you were training by the river by yourself, but how do you know what to train in?" He was very curious, he had never met a non clan born chakra user, muchless one who tried to train themselves.

"I um, stole a scroll off of a ninja that stayed at an inn in the village." She admitted.

"You could have gotten killed for doing something like that! That was really stupid Shizuka!" He scolded her. He was also worried, what if she tried to do it again and got caught, she could be tortured to death.

"Well, it isn't like I snuck into his room or something. He left it under the bed, or it rolled under the bed maybe, he probably doesn't even know where he lost it." Shizuka tried to defend herself.

"Can I see it?" Hashirama asked her, he wondered what clan it was from.

"No, I don't have it with me." She lied.

"Did you know that when you don't know how to control your chakra it fluxuates when you lie?" Hashirama smiled at her. "I won't tell anyone and I won't try to take it from you, I promise, I just want to see what clan it is from. I could take it from you, but we are friends, I don't want to do that."

Shizuka bit her lip a little nervous. She had seen shinobi around her village, staying at the inn or passing through, she knew even the young ones were not to be taken lightly.

"How old are you Hashirama?" She asked.

"I'm 14." He smiled at her.

"Oh." She said, Yes, he could take it from her, he probably knew all sorts of things she didn't. She knew shinobi went to war even as young as age 6, he must be very skilled to have lived to 14. She reaches into her shirt and pulled the scroll out and handed it to him.

"Thank you for trusting me, I promise to give it back to you." He smiled in what he hoped was a calming manner and unfurled the scroll.

Hashirama's eyes went wide, it was a Senju beginners training scroll, who was so foolish to leave this under the bed of a nearby inn! He continued to look at the scroll, something wasn't right, he frowned oh, now he understood.

"This is a training scroll for beginners, but it was written by a beginner. Let me guess, you have tried to learn the jutsu on this scroll but it won't work will it?" He smiled at her.

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. "How did you know?"

"It's wrong, who ever wrote this probably meant to throw it away but forgot it instead. You won't be able to learn off of this, sorry." He could see that this information upset her and he felt bad, but it was the truth. He handed the scroll back to her as promised.

"Oh, but, how do I know I can trust you? You might just be saying that to get me to give you the scroll or maybe it is your clan's scroll and you want to keep the technique secret." She countered tucking the scroll back into her shirt.

Hashirama laughed, she was smart. "I'm not, but I will prove it to you, I will teach you how to suppress your chakra. That way you will learn something and it will help keep you safe."

"Why would you do that for me, you don't know me, I could be your enemy." She didn't know if he was the most thoughtful person she had ever met or the world's biggest idiot.

"I can tell you won't give up, you will try to take another scroll and next time, you might not be so lucky. Do you have any idea what a shinobi could do to you if they found you trying to steal jutsu scrolls from them, the secrets of their clans? They wouldn't just kill you Shizuka, they would torture you, then kill you, slowly. It wouldn't matter if you are young, or that you are a girl, they would do terrible things to you. I don't want that to happen."

She didn't know that. She wasn't from a clan, she didn't know any shinobi, she realized then just how clueless she was.

"I didn't know that." She confirmed it for him.

Hashirama walked up to her so he stood in front of her, "Here, try this." He lifted his arms up to shoulder level at his sides, with his palms down. "Try to focus all your chakra into the chest, breath in and everytime you breathing, push your chakra into your chest, into your center, then try to hold it there." He instructed.

Shizuka lifted her arms up to her shoulders just like he had, palms down and she took a deep breath and tried to will her chakra into her chest. She closed her eyes and she could feel it moving, a little at a time, very slowly around her body. After another deep breath and letting it out she sucked in air and focused the swirls of chakra that she felt moving all over her body, into her chest. Again slowly, very slowly it started to move a little at a time, being drawn to her desired location, like a trickle.

Hashirama was watching her and could tell her chakra was moving but faintly, he could sense it fading but so slowly that they would be there for days before she could fully mask it.

He had recently been working on a new jutsu, a healing jutsu that required perfect chakra control, he found it much easier to focus his chakra to his hands to heal than to draw it to his chest to mask his chakra. So he had suggested she try that to get the hang of it, then try to draw it to her center again to mask it.

Shizuka frowned but closed her eyes and slowly drew chakra to her hands, they glowed green. "I did it! Hashi, I did it!" She grinned at him.

He grinned back at her, she had called him Hashi. He blushed. She was starting to trust him. "Good good that is great! Practice that a little more until you can do it without thinking. I am going to start cutting these logs into planks, let me know when you can do it without thinking and we will try to draw it to your chest and mask it."

"Okay! Thanks so much for this Hashi!" She smiled a bright excited smile at him.

"Uh, it's nothing really, I just want you to be safe." He nervously rubbed the back of his head at her gratitude and blushed a little more.

Shizuka didn't seem to notice because she was concentrating on moving her chakra to her hands without having to will it there. It took her two hours. She sat down after her last success to rest, it had really tired her out, more than she had expected it to. This, she thought to herself is real training. She could tell this was a simple task for Hashirama and wondered just how strong he was.

"Hashi, how strong are you?" She asked him from her sitting position on the ground.

"Oh um, I don't know, strong enough I guess. I mean, I'm not dead yet and I have gone to war several times with my clan already." He frowned.

"What is it like? Is it terrible?" She asked him.

"Yes, it is terrible. You see men at their lowest points, it is sickening. I hate war." He said bitterly.

"Can't you , I don't know, make an agreement, compromise?" She asked him.

He shook his head, "I wish we could, I don't like killing and I don't want to see anymore of my family killed, I have already lost two of my younger brothers to war, but my father he...won't stop." He sat down beside her on the ground.

"Maybe when you get older, you can stop it, I mean you could try to talk to the clan head or something." She said not knowing his father was the clan head and he would be the next one.

"Maybe." He sighed looking off into the distance. Maybe when he is the Clan Head he can find a way to make peace between the Senju and the Uchiha.

"I should go, I have been gone for a long time, my mom will wonder where I am. Thanks Hashi! I will keep practicing it on my own and the next time I see you I will show you I can mask my chakra completely!" She hugged him and ran out of the cave.

Hashirama remained sitting but smiling. She had the will of fire in her, he could tell. He got up and started placing cut logs out and positioning them for the futon frames they would build the platforms around. An hour later Madara arrived.

"I feel that brat's chakra signature, did you show her our cave Hashi?" Madara scowled at him, he already knew the answer.

"Well, you see Madara, she was by the river when I got here, she would have seen me enter so I thought it would be okay to just show her for a little bit and um, are you mad?" Hashirama played with the end of his shirt front looking at his friend.

"You're a shinobi, you're trying to tell me the reason you showed her our cave is because you couldn't get into the cave without her seeing you…." Madara gave his friend a look that meant, you expect me to believe that load of crap?

"She really liked it, she said it was beautiful." Hashirama stammered. "And, I'm teaching her how to mask her chakra."

"You're training her! Are you insane! She could be the enemy!" Madara was fuming, of all the stupid things his best friend could have done.

"She doesn't have a clan Madara, how else will she learn, and it is only to keep her safe, you know as well as I do it is a miracle that no one has found her yet. I don't know where her family moved from but you and I both know it is only a matter of time till someone senses her and goes after her. Clanless chakra users are killed, you know that! I had to!" He pleaded with his friend.

"I didn't know for sure she was clanless." Madara said" but I was going to find out and if she was clanless I was going to teach her myself." He admitted. He was sick of war, he didn't want to stumble across a dead body with pink hair on it one day in the forest.

Hashirama's face broke out into a huge grin. "Madara! I knew you weren't as cold hearted as you like to pretend, you were worried about her too weren't you!" Hashirama beamed at his best friend.

"Well if she didn't look so strange she might have lasted longer on her own, it's her fault for being so weird looking, pink hair, I mean really?" Madara scoffed at his friends mushy words, he didn't care about the annoying girl, he just knew she was too clueless to survive without his help, it was the least he could do.

"You like her too don't you, admit it!" Hashirama was teasing him now.

"I do not, shut up you idiot, let's get to work on your stupid futon platforms." Madara picked up the bag he had brought with him and pulled out several tools to make planks with.

Shizuka hadn't been able to get away for another two weeks but when she did she didn't find Hashirama in their cave but Madara. She greeted him warily, she wasn't sure what kind of reception she would get from him finding her in their cave, that was meant for just him and Hashirama.

"Morning Madara." Shizuka greeted him.

"Shizuka." He had his arms folded over his chest and nodded to her.

He really is a stick in the mud isn't he, she thought to herself.

"I would have expected to see you sooner since you are civilian born and don't have the responsibilities of a clan born shinobi to attend to." He said to her haughtily.

What is with this guy, she huffed to herself. "Do you do that on purpose?" She asked him.

"Do what?" He replied.

"Do you insult people like that on purpose or are you just a jerk in general and it comes naturally?" She barked at him, she wasn't going to let him talk down to her, civilian born or not.

"I didn't realize what I said would insult you, are you sure it isn't that you are too sensitive?" He asked her with a straight face.

"You...you ...you are such a ... a jerk!" She yelled at him .

Madara smirked at her, her face was flushed with anger and her eyes glittered with annoyance, she looked kinda cute when she was mad, and she wasn't backing down from him. Interesting.

"I see you finally figured out how to mask your chakra...with Hashirama's help of course, but still, you did it...finally." Madara cocked his head at her. What would she say back, would she get mad? He wanted to see what she would do, the little spitfire.

"That's as close to an apology I am going to get, I suppose. Yeah, I did. I would have done it sooner but it is kinda hard when your parents market stand is getting harassed." She complained to him.

"Harassed? Your parents have a stand in the market and they are getting harassed?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I just said that duh." She rolled her eyes at him.

Did she just roll her eyes at me? He thought to himself and smirked.

:What are you smirking at?" She narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing." Madara said, she was so expressive, you can tell exactly what she is thinking just by watching her face. She would never make it as a shinobi he thought.

"Have your parents told the village elder?" He asked her.

"Yes, but he won't do anything, we are new, we just moved here, he told them everyone goes through it when they are new, hire shinobi to take care of it or just hang in there and it will blow over. We aren't wealthy and I can only mask my chakra just now, I don't know anything else. I started practicing throwing kunai but I had to buy it second hand and it is worthless and I could only afford one." She pulled the pathetic piece of metal out of her waistband to show him.

It was pathetic and more dangerous for being in such poor condition. He took it from her hand and broke it in half.

"Hey! That was mine! You jerk!" She raised her fist to hit him and he caught it.

"Tsk tsk, now now, no need for that, here." He pulls out three of his kunai and hands them to her.

"What are those for, you bragging how much nicer yours are?" She turns her head away from him pouting.

Madara smiles, she is kinda cute when she pouts, "No, you take these, I have tons of them. You need to practice with decent weapons or you won't learn correctly. Poor weapon, poor aim." He thrusts his hand out further for her to take them.

"Why are you doing this, don't you hate me?" She is confused, one minute he is talking down to her the next he is offering her his own kunai...very expensive kunai now that she looks at them.

"Hashirama would be mad at me if I didn't help you." He won't meet her eyes.

"So you are doing this for your friend?" She smiles at him but he refuses to look at her.

"Hn."

"What does that mean?" She asked him.

"What does that mean?" He is getting annoyed, he is still holding his hand out with the kunai and she hasn't taken them yet.

"That noise, you just made a weird noise, what does it mean, it isn't an actual word." She is laughing at him now.

"It means yes! Geeze, just take them!" He thrusts his hand out with the kunai at her again and she takes them.

"Thank you Madara." She steps forward toward him and he steps back.

"What are you doing?" He asks her suspiciously.

"I was going to hug you, it's what friends do when they get a gift from another friend." She looks at him like he's crazy.

"We're friends?" He looks like he is trying to do hard math in his head and can't get the right answer.

"Yeah, idiot, we're friends, come here." She hugs him once and steps back. "Not so bad right?" She smiles at him and then looks down to inspect the weapons he just gave her.

Madara stands still for a moment. She had hugged him. He couldn't remember the last time he had been hugged, much less by a girl, his mother, that was the last female to hug him. It felt...nice. He blushed. He wondered if he brought her a pouch for her kunai if she would hug him again.

"Shizuka! Madara! Hey guys! I'm so glad you're both here!' Hashirama comes up to them running and skids to a stop in front of them.

"Hi Hashi." Shizuka smiles and hugs him

She calls him Hashi now? Does she hugged him often? Madara isn't sure how he feels about that.

"Hey Hashirama." Madara greets his friend.

"What are you guys doing, oh hey Shizuka! Your chakra! You can mask it now! Good job, I knew you could do it!" Hashirama picks her up and swings her around then hugs her to him while she laughs.

"Put her down idiot, you look like a fool and she isn't a little kid you know she's our age after all." Madara scowls at Hashirama, he's so loud.

"Actually I'm younger, Hashi told me you are 14, I'm 13." She smiles at them.

"Close enough." Madara grumbles.

"Hey Shizuka, where did you get those? They are nice." Hashirama points to the kunai in her hand.

"Madara gave them to me right before you got here, wasn't that nice of him?' She smiled at Madara who looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and die because Hashirama's face lit up like a damn fireworks.

"You did Madara? You gave your own kunai to Shizuka? Wow, that's so unlike you! I'm so proud of you! Sharing with your friends!" Hashirama tried to hug Madara but Madara stuck his hand up and gripped his face so he couldn't get any closer to him.

"I only did it because you were teaching her how to mask her chakra, I couldn't let you out do me could I? Besides, she doesn't know how to use them yet, we need to teach her." Madara says pointedly.

"Oh , yeah good point." Hashirama is still smiling.

"I need to go now but I would really like it if you could show me how to throw these with accuracy next time we see one another or both of you maybe?" She smiles at Hashirama and Madara. "Thank you for teaching me how to mask my chakra Hashi and thanks Mada for the Kunai!" She hugs them both then runs out of the cave waving goodbye.

The boys stand side by side and watch her leave, long pink hair flying over her shoulders.

"I really am surprised Madara, that was really thoughtful of you to give her those." Hashirama was being serious for once.

"She can't afford to buy any for herself, you should have seen the piece of trash she bought, who ever sold it to her is a thief." Madara picked up the pieces of the kunai he broke and gave them to Hashirama.

"This is dangerous, she actually paid for this?" Hashirama was frowning at the rusted pieces of metal that was once Shizuka's kunai.

"Yeah, I didn't ask her how much she paid for it, like I said her family doesn't have a lot of money, she would have been embarrassed." Madara told his friend.

"Wow, Madara, you are so insightful today, I really like this side of you!" Hashirama went to hug his friend again but Madara pulled back again.

"What are you saying, I'm usually a moron, that's you, my friend, not me." Madara is smiling though, he isn't mad.

Hashirama pretends to be hurt and whines "After all we have been through together!' He is so dramatic.

"That's not all though, she told me her family are merchants in the next village, that their stand is being harassed by gang like thieves. I don't know if they are stealing money or merchandise or just being assholes but maybe we should look into it? For Shizuka?" Madara looks at his friend seriously.

"Tonight?" Hashirama asks him, also serious.

"I can't tonight, tomorrow during the day, we keep watch and find out more then go from there?" Madara suggests.

"I don't think we should let her see us, don't you?' Hashirama suggests.

"No one can see us, no one can know it is us." Madara reminds him.

"Right. Tomorrow, meet here and then we will go check her stand out." Hashirama smiles at his friend. "So unlike you Madara going out of your way to help a civilian born."

"Shut up, let's finish cutting the boards for the futon platform." Madara walks toward the tree they have half cut into planks. "They are going to need to dry after they are cut to be ready for building." He walks to the logs thinking of Shizuka, she had called him Mada. He smiled to himself.

"I'm coming!" Hashirama runs over to help his friend who already has an axe in his hands.

Tomorrow morning a little after sunrise Madara makes his way into their cave to wait for Hashirama to show up so they can recon Shizuka's family stand in the market. While he waits he finished carving small targets out of wood that he had started last night for Shizuka to practice with. He made two last night but thinks it would be best to have a total of 7, after she can hit them with accuracy he will number them for the next step in training, where you call a number out and only aim for that specific target. It is how you are trained for assisination, well, in the beginning at least.

Madara gets one target finished before Hashirama shows up chewing on a dried peice of meat in one hand and a bamboo tea holder in the other.

"I was running late." Hashirama explained. :Are those for Shizuka?" He gestures to the targets at Madara's feet.

"Yes."

"Aren't you going to number them?" Hashirama says.

"She has to learn to hit them first but yes I will." Madara rolls his eyes at his friend. "Are you almost done eating we need to go, I want to get there when they open so we are there when they get harassed."

"Yes yes I'm done." Hashirama shoves the rest of the meat in his mouth chewing noisily, then slurps down his tea, even more disgustingly noisy.

"You are a pig, you know that right?" Madara makes a face at his friend's eating habits.

"Eh?" Hashirama makes an inquisitive noise.

"Nothing, let's go." Madara stacks the targets up and sets them aside.

They leave the cave and jump to the trees masking their chakra as they jump over the river heading toward Shizuka's village to the East.

They arrive just as the market is opening, different stalls lining the main road, their canopies being propped up and their wares being placed out in jugs, boxes, and tubs. Madara scans the stalls looking for Shizuka who told him she often opens the stand for her parents then goes to train and comes back at midday.

"There she is." Hashirama tugs on his sleeve gently and says to him quietly.

They watch as Shizuka sets out silk scarves on racks, beaded jewelry in cases and finely embroidered silk shawls wrapped in raw silk on ascending racks. Madara is surprised her family sells such high cost and beautiful things, he is ashamed to admit it but her thought they were perhaps grocers or had a food stand. From the slight hum and nod Hashirama was making, he was surprised but intrigued as well. This certainly explained the harassment though. A stand with higher priced goods was a target.

A short blonde woman little taller than Shizuka came out from the back of the stand with a basket of smaller scarves and ties, setting them on the corner shelf of their stand she called to her husband. A man with dark red hair came out of the back carrying a rack with long flowing kimono wraps, finely embroidered with cranes and blossoms, each a different color, and set them in front to the right of the stand.

Hashirama could see where Shizuka got her pink hair from, the man certainly looked like he could be an Uzumaki with that hair. Not everyone with red hair was an Uzumaki, of course but most were.

Madara and Hashirama move to the roof of the next building so they will be able to hear anything that is said at Shizuka's parent's stand and settle in to wait.

Shizuka's parents leave to get more stock from their home. Madara notices they only go a few buildings away down a small street, he turns to look at Hashirama who nods and takes off over the roofs to follow them. Madara turns his attention back to Shizuka who is now alone at the stand. He watches her fold and organize scarves, her hair falling in her eyes as she leans over the material. She is constantly pushing it out of her way and back behind her ear. He wonders why she doesn't use one of the scarves to tie her hair back. One of those embroidered scarves would look beautiful in her hair, one of the dark blues ones with the silver embroidery he thinks to himself.

Hashirama follows Shizuka's parents to their home, like he thought it is not far from their stand, only one street away down a small dirty road. He watches from a nearby roof as her parents go into their home and come out soon after each with a large basket of more scarves he assumes. He watches them go and then hops down from the roof headed for her house. He slips in through a back window and looks around. "This is where she lives?" He mutters to himself.

The place is terrible, it is so dirty and small. He frowns at the megar food stores, the one room that her family clearly shares. Hashirama goes into the room and surveys the pegs on the wall, he sees two sets of adult women's clothing, two sets of men's clothing and one set that is smaller , and can only be Shizuka's. She only has two sets of clothing? He frowns and leaves through the window he entered by, hopping along the rooftops back to Madara.

Madara only has to look at his best friend's face as he falls into place on the roof next to him. Hashirama motions "later" to his friend and looks down at Shizuka and her family's stand. After about 2 more hours three men walk up to the stand, they clearly aren't there to buy anything. Madara and Hashirama lean forward to listen.

"How is business this week Haruno? Got anything new for us?" Dirty man number one asks Shizuka's dad.

Haruno, Hashirama stores Shizuka's last name away in his head.

Her dad replies, "Nothing new this week, sorry, same as last week, perhaps you would like to come by next week." He is polite but firm.

"That's not how it works, you should know that by now, if you don't have anything new for us, give us what you owe us in cash, come on." Dirty man number one demands.

"We don't have any cash for you, much less ourselves, we can barely eat as it is! Leave!" Her dad tells them forcefully.

"Looks like the rabbit grew some teeth, dangerous thing for a rabbit in the face of a wolf." Dirty man number two says threateningly.

"Leave our stand alone you bastard!" Shizuka yells at them clenching her fists. "You worthless no good filthy son of a bitch!" She is screaming now.

Madara and Hashirama look at one another stunned, what the hell does she think she's doing? This isn't going to end well.

"Oh and look what we have here, you're a pretty little thing aren't you, how old are you sweety?" Dirty man number three is looking at Shizuka in a way that makes Madara's blood boil.

"She is too young, she is a child, Shizuka, go in the back." Her dad tells her but she refuses to move.

"Looks old enough to me." Dirty man number one says and tries to grab her, but her mom steps in front of him, blocking his way.

Hashirama looks around, people have stopped, they are staring but no one is stepping in, no one is trying to help them, why? Is it because they are new to the village, is it because the whole village is just scared and doesn't want to be the next target? Why hasn't his family heard of these thugs? It makes him sick, and more so, because Shizuka is his friend.

"Madara, what are we going to do?" Hashirama whispers to his friend.

"I don't know. We can't just jump down there and attack them, too many witnesses." Madara whispers back.

"I'm not going to let them take her." Hashirama's voice is getting louder.

"Calm down, neither will I but we can't go in there all pissed and make things worse." Madara doesn't like waiting either, but to jump in without thinking is stupid.

"Get out of the way woman, we don't want you, we want your sweet little daughter." Dirty man number two says.

"Like hell! You're not going to touch her!" Shizuka's dad tries to hit the man but his friend rushes him and knocks him over along with a basket of scarves. The scarves go flying everywhere and the wind whips them around blinding them.

That's all they needed. Hashirama and Madara jump down kicking another basket of scarves into the air, Madara throws two kunai and hits Dirty man number one in the throat, Hashirama jumps on Dirty man number three pulling him back and flipping him to the ground breaking his neck. Shizuka has jumped on Dirty man number two and is biting him in the neck as he hit her in the face and shoulders. Madara grabs her and flings her to the back of the stall while Hashirama cuts Dirty man number two's throat.

Madra and Hashirama jump back to the shadows of the roof they were keeping watch from out of sight.

Shizuka crawls out from under the wayward scarves and the broken wood of the stand looking to where they are hidden, squinting. Both boys hold their breath.

"Shizuka!." Her dad cries, "My baby, are you alright, baby, I'm so sorry." He cries as he holds her to his chest.

Her lip is split, her left eye is swollen shut and she can't move her right arm because her shoulder is so bruised it hurts too much to try.

"Shizuka." Her mom drops at her side and hugs her with her dad.

The other villagers just stand there and watch, no one offers them help, no one says a word. The dead thieves lay motionless on the ground.

"What, who did this?" Shizuka's dad hands her over to his wife and stands up.

"Who helped us?" He calls out , looking around the market.

An old woman from a stand over, calls out. "Shinobi, that is the work of Shinobi."

Shizuka stand up, shaking off her mother's arms and looks to the roof tops again, scanning, stopping three times to stare hard at where Madara and Hashirama are hiding.

"Thank you." She mouths and turns back to help her mother clean up their ruined stand.

"Let's go." Madara says to Hashirama.

They head back to their cave in cave, both hoping Shizuka will come see them later, surely she knows it was them.

It was a little after 11pm when she finally came. They had both waited for her.

Her face was bruised and swollen, her left eye was swollen shut and puffy, it looked grotesque. Her lip was split and swollen, she had a cut on her right cheek , caked with dried blood. Those were the injuries they could see, they hadn't seen her back yet.

"Shizuka." Hashirama whispered when he saw her and burst into tears.

"Is it that bad?"she said painfully through her split lip and swollen cheeks.

"Hashirama stop blubbering and heal her." Madara could barely control his rage at the sight of her bruised and beaten body.

"Of course I will!" Hashirama took her by her hand, it had never seemed so small as it did now. He set her down on a small bench they had made while they waited for her and his hands glowed green as he ran them slowly over her face, starting with her eye.

She sighed as soothing healing chakra flooded her face easing the pain. She hated to admit it but it hurt so much, but it hurt more when she cried. She was weak, so weak. If she had been stronger this never would have happened. She needed to be stronger, she wanted to be stronger. Her fists clenched in her lap as Hashirama healed her.

Madara watched her as she seethed and raged inside her head. He understood, he was raging. He would help her. He would train her, she would become stronger so this never happened again. He would protect her, he knew Hashirama would too but they couldn't be there for her all the time. He went to pick up the targets he had started the night before. He chose a piece of wood out of the several he had brought with him and started to carve the next target.

She was watching him.

"We will start your kunai practice as soon as you are ready, I will make more time and be here for you as much as I can. I will train you, I will help you to become stronger so this never happens again." She nodded once to him and he smiled, a real smile at her.

Tears slipped down her face as Hashirama continued to heal her

"I will help train you as well, I promise Shizuka. I don't ever want to see you like this again." Tears slipped down Hashirama's face as he pressed more green chakra into his hands.

It took him a long time but in the end most of her injuries were healed. There was still slight bruising on her left eye but it was a lot better than before, at least she could open and close it.

They had gasped as she turned her back to them and lifted her shirt. As familiar to war as they were both boys were sick at the sight of her tiny fragile back bruised black and blue, swollen to the point of splitting and bleeding in one spot. Hashirama continued to cry and he healed her and Madara had to leave the cave and take a short walk before he spit fire balls everywhere in his rage.

He came back to find Hashirama holding Shizuka in his arms whispering things to her that he couldn't hear. Madara walked over to them and started a fire in the pit with the wood that Hashirama had gathered weeks ago. She slid from Hashirama's arms and sat beside Madara, in between her boys. They sat there the three of them by the fire in silence for a long time. It's funny how tragedy brings people closer together.

"Thank you, I know it was you, both of you. They were going to kill me." She said quietly.

"No, they were going to do much worse to you." Madara growled.

"We would never let that happen to you." Hashirama said.

"Thank you for being my friends." and she started crying silently again.

This time Madara gathered her up in his arms and held her, whispering things for her to hear as they sat by the fire.

They had fallen asleep but woke before dawn.

"I have to go home, my parents will worry if I'm not there when they get up." She rose to leave.

"I will come back, I have to go but, can you see that she gets home ok Madara?" Hashirama asked him.

"I had planned on it, I will see her home. I too will try to come back later." Madara nodded to his friend as he left their cave. "Come, let's get you home." He took her by the hand and they left the cave and jumped to the trees to run back to her house.

As they ran over the rooftops toward her home they saw a small stream of smoke in the predawn light. "No." He heard her say as she raced off even faster toward her house.

"Shit." He said through his teeth as he raced after her.

Her house was on fire and her parents were not among the people standing around her burning home. Not one person tried to help put out the fire. She dropped down from a roof a few houses away to run to her home.

"Mom, dad!" She screamed for her parents, but there was no answer.

"Mom! Dad! Please, where are you?" She continued to scream, still no answer.

"This is what happens when you fight back, cut down in there own home and set to burn." A man said behind her.

She turned on her heel, "Who the hell said that! Which one of your low life cowards said that!" She screamed at everyone standing around doing nothing while her home went up in smoke.

No one answered.

Madara threw a flash bomb into the street and hopped down off the roof to scoop her up when it went off, he was back on the roof and running to their cave before anyone noticed. She gripped the front of his shirt crying harder than before and shaking with rage. "Madara, my parents, my house, everything is gone Madara, what am I going to do, I have nothing, nothing!" Her voice shook.

"You have us, Hashirama and I will not let you starve. Try as your parents did, that was no life for you. I am sorry for your loss, I truly am, I lost two of my younger brothers to the war and my mother is dead. I understand, but you are not alone. We are here for you Shizuka."

Hashirama had told him about the poverty ridden home, the lack of clothing and food, yes he and Hashirama would see that she was taken care of, more than she had been before this tragedy. He knew it would not make her forget, and he thought that was good, it would help push her to become stronger, now more so than before. Hate, he thought, hate makes you strong.

Madara left her in their cave after setting up a complicated genjutsu to protect her. He added the three protection seals he knew to the entrance as well as some advanced traps. If Hashirama couldn't get past them it was his own stupid fault he thought as he ran back home to get some simples for Shizuka. Hopefuly he would be back before Hashirama anyway.

Madara touched down just outside of the gate to the Uchiha compound, flared his chakra and entered. He ran to his room in the main house and started packing a large bag with a bedroll, blankets, some books on basic jutsus and some spare clothes.

"Big brother, what are you doing?" Izuna was watching him from his door.

"Nothing Izuna, go back to bed, it is early." Madara ignored his little brother.

"Are you going on a mission? Why are you packing your bedroll and clothes?" Izuna insisted.

"I will be training in the mountains for a few days, I have a new jutsu I want to work on and need time and space to do so." Madara grabbed his purse with his money in it and tied it to his waist.

"I didn't know you were working on a new jutsu, what kind of jutsu is it? Can I come with you? I promise not to be in the way." Izuna was waking up more and getting more curious as to why his big brother had stayed out all day yesterday and all night coming home now to pack and leave again for a few days.

"I'm sorry Izuna, I need to be alone for this. I promise, we will spar and train together when I return. Tell father for me, I will only be a few days. I promise." Madara left his room patting his little brother on the head as he passed him.

The kitchens in the main house were already busy with the morning chores and making breakfast for the main house. Madara stopped by there on his way out and asked for three rice cakes, a flask of hot miso and travel provisions of dried meat and rice bread for 5 days. He would only be gone for three but it would be enough for him and Shizuka and maybe even hashirama if he stopped by. He added the heavy sac the maid gave him to his already bulging bag and left.

He arrived at the cave as the sun rose and undid the genjutsu and seals as he passed through them. He replaced the seals knowing Hashirama could undo them but that they would help hide the cave entrance from most others. He would put up the genjutsu only if they left the cave.

Shizuka was laying on one of the wood planks that had been set out for their futon frame when he made his way into the cavern. He set down his bag and she smiled.

"What's this Mada?" She toed the bag he had set down in front of her.

"I brought some things so we would be more comfortable." He started taking things out from the bag and setting them around her.

"We?" She questioned.

"I am going to stay here with you for a few days to make sure you are ok, I don't want you to be alone right now...um...if that is okay with you I mean." He asked her, he hadn't even thought she might want to be alone, ugh idiot, he mentaly hit himself.

"Thank you Mada, I ...really appreciate that." She said quietly, but then tried to smile again.

"What did you bring?"

"Here, this is some miso soup, I heard it isn't good to eat solids right after shock so um, I got this for you, try it." He gave her the bamboo canister of miso to sip on.

She pulled the tight lid off and sipped some of the steaming soup. "Wow Mada, this is delicious! Where did you get it, I've never had miso this good before." She drank some more and the color started to come back into her cheeks.

"Our cook made it, they were making breakfast for the main house when I got there so I brought some things with me for us for a few days." He told her.

"Your cook? Main house? You're part of a main branch family? Wow, I'm impressed, no wonder you were such a stuck up little brat when we first met." She teased him.

"I brought you some books on basic jutsu too for you to study. Practical practice and training are more useful in my opinion but if Hashirama or I aren't here, you can at least read these." He placed several scrolls at her feet ignoring her comment about how had been stuck up when they had met.

"Thank you Mada." She said sincerely. She was really touched by his efforts. If he hadn't been there for her tonight she didn't know what she would have done.

He laid out his travel bed roll by the fire for her as well as a clean set of clothes, folded and set on the bedding.

"Um, I brought you some of my clothes, they might be a bit big on you but they are clean and of good quality. I had to rip off my clan crest on some and the ones I couldn't rip off I um blacked them out, I'm sorry but I had to." He apologized.

"I understand." She tried to smile.

Madara set out the rice cakes and dried meats, he handed her some rice bread to eat with her miso and set the rest in a cloth by the meat. He folded the extra blanket and laid it on the bedding by the clothes he had laid out for her.

"I promise to buy more, I know this isn't a lot but it is all I could get right now. I will go into the market in the next village over from yours and buy another bed roll, in the meantime you use this one okay?" He pointed to the bed roll in front of her in case she mistook it for the plank she was sitting on.

"Mada, this is more than enough, I'm not used to such lavish accommodations." She set the flask of miso, now empty, on the ground and brushed the crumbs from her shirt, walked over and hugged him tight. He hesitated for only a second then his arms rose and he wrapped them around her and hugged her back.

"I told you, I promised you, I will take care of you, you don't have to worry, I will protect you, I promise." He bent his head and tucked his face in her neck and hair inhaling her scent, fresh water and flowers. He sighed into their hug. I promise, he thought to himself.

"Here, I'll take this outside and rinse it off, why don't you change while I'm gone and get into bed okay?" He hugged her one last time before letting her go.

"Okay, I'm really tired." She yawned and finger combed her hair walking to the spare clothes he had laid out for her.

Madara took up the miso flask and walked to the front of the cave, he paused and looked back at her. She was shaking the clothes out her head cocked to the side and smiling. He smiled, she was happy with his choice of clothes, he left to rinse out the flask and to give her some privacy to change.

He bent over the bank of the river to rinse out the flask and fill it with water for drinking. He sat by the bank for a little bit looking around. If she was going to be living here, they needed to mark it off for genjutsu, clear borders she could recognise until she got better at recognising genjutsu on her own. He left the flask where it was and started to gather large rocks in his shirt, when he had his shirt full of them he started walking slowly dropping them along the border he planned on casting his genjutsu. He made it wide enough to encompass the cave entrance and a decent pathway to the river and a little beyond, should she wish to bath or do laundry. He picked the flask up when he was done and went back inside.

She was changed and reading one of the scrolls he had brought her. He stared at her, she looked good in Uchiha colors. The dark colors made her pink hair and green eyes even more fairy-like with the contrast. He set the flask by her on the bedding and sat down on the bench after pulling it closer to the fire.

Shizuka yawned and rolled the scroll up tying it and setting it aside with the others. "It looks really interesting, I can't wait to find out what chakra nature I am."

Ah, so she had started with the summary of jutsu and chakra nature, he was impressed. Most would want to jump right into learning how to fight without laying a foundation. She was smart.

"I will get some chakra paper and we will find out." He smiled at her.

"Why are you doing this Mada, I am not your responsibility, we haven't known one another long. I wouldn't think less of you if you never talked to me again." She was serious.

Madara frowned in confusion, why would he never talk to her again, he wouldn't abandon a friend, especially not one that needed him so much like she did, who just lost everything she owned including her parents. It was his fault they were dead.

"It was my fault, you have nothing and your parents are dead because of me." He confessed. That was why. Guilt.

"It isn't your fault, they would have come anyway, if they hadn't burned our house tonight it would have been the next night or the night after. It wasn't your fault, if anything it was mine." She sighed.

"Yours?" He didn't understand how she could think any of this was her fault.

"I provoked them, you heard me didn't you, you and Hashirama were on the roof weren't you?" She asked him

"You sensed us, yes, we were. We went to check on you, to see who was harassing your stand, we...wanted to help you. Look what happened because we interfered. I'm so sorry Shizuka." He said

"You aren't listening, it wasn't your fault, it was mine! I yelled at them, I provoked them , like I said, I caused this, and even before that, I knew they would keep coming till my father or I broke down and gave them a reason, that's what they wanted, they wanted a reason to hurt us, I don't know why, maybe because we were outsiders, because of my hair color or my dad's, who knows, but they came to do harm from the very beginning and I just pushed them over the edge...it's my fault." She stared at her hands in her lap.

"You just said they came there to do harm, it would have happened anyway. At least you're still alive, at least they didn't take or kill you." He was thankful for that, so thankful she had been at the cave with them when it happened. He was sorry about her house and her parents of course but if she would have died, he didn't know what he would do. She had become very special to him in these past few weeks. He wasn't close to that many people. His little brother Izuna and Hashirama, and now Shizuka were the only ones.

"I want to become stronger." She whispered, she didn't want to argue with him, she understood what he was doing but it didn't matter, she still felt it was her fault.

"You will." Madara told her.

She nodded and drew back the covers to the bed roll and slipped inside. "Did you, um, I mean you're tired aren't you, do you want to share the bedroll?" She blushed.

"No, thank you, um, I will wait for Hashirama to get here then go buy another one, it's okay, I can't sleep right now anyway, you rest, I'll be here if you need anything." He smiled at her and waved at her to get going, to go to sleep.

He picked up the target he had been working on earlier and started to carve it out again, they would need it sooner than later, she would want to start training as soon as she woke up, he was sure, it is what he would want to do if he was in her position. It is what he and Izuna had done when their brothers had gotten killed.

Hashirama came at noon. Madara felt his chakra signature disappear about a mile from the cave and went to the entrance to meet him.

"Morning Madara." Hashirama greeted him.

He is unusually sober today Madara thought.

"I heard about a fire in the village where Shizuka lives, I heard it was the home of the new merchant that sells scarves and other fine goods, tell me, is she okay, did her parents get out?" Hashirama was pleading.

"Her parents are dead, she is here. We saw the end of the fire when I saw her home last night, I brought her here and went home to get some supplies. She is sleeping right now so don't be loud." They walked back into the main part of the cave, the cavern.

Hashirama nodded and asked quietly, "It was because of us wasn't it, this is our fault isn't it."

"Yes, it is our fault." Madara agreed looking down at a sleeping Shizuka. "I promised her we would take care of her. She told me she wasn't my responsibility, but she is she?" He looked at his friend who nodded.

"Yes, we will take care of her, not only because she is our friend but it is our fault her parents are no longer here, she is homeless then?" Hashirama looked at the bedroll and food stuff on the ground.

"Yes." Madara confirmed. "She didn't mention any relatives that might take her in when I suggested she stay here. I didn't ask her about it, I didn't wish to press her in her grief."

"No, no of course not, she would tell us I think if she had somewhere to go. I'll go get some more food and maybe some clothes for her? She only had one other set she will need more now that even that is gone." Hashirama suggested.

"I brought her two spare sets of my clothes. She is wearing a set right now." Madara pointed at Shizuka in his clothes and smiled.

"She is a girl Madara." Hashirama frowned at his friend.

"I know that! What's your point? She looks good in my clothes." Madara smiled.

Hashirama raised an eyebrow at his normally less than social friend, "She weaseled her way in didn't she, she is special isn't she. I told you, you would like her."

"Hn."

"Girls will want girl clothes though, it was kind of you to give her those but she will want something pretty. I'll go get us some more food and clothes for her." Hashirama turned to leave but Madara stopped him giving his his purse.

"Could you get me a bedroll, I am going to stay here for a few days with her, to make sure she is okay and I didn't want her to be alone right now, but I gave her my only bedroll, so I need one." He said.

"I can do that, I will stay too! We will have so much fun! I'll go home and be back ." He bounded out the cave door in a flurry of clothes and energy.

Madara shook his head but then thought, maybe he would be a good distraction for her.

Hashirama came back with several boxes from shops and a large hamper of food he had stored in a storage scroll. He tossed the bedroll he had purchased for Madara at him along with his slightly lighter purse.

"What's in all the boxes?" Madara eyed them suspiciously.

"Clothes for Shizuka." Hashirama gave him a puzzled look.

"But there are so many, I counted six boxes!" Madara was exasperated.

"Girls like to have more clothes than boys, it makes them feel good about themselves and gives them confidence, it will help, trust me." Hashirama was confident.

"Are you sure, she doesn't really seem the type to want all this." Madara opened one of the boxes and pulled out a light kimono with cherry blossoms embroidered along the collar. "This doesn't look like something she would wear." He frowned and put the kimono back in the box opening another one.

This one had a dark brown and cream colored short kimono with matching capri pants in it. "Oh, this one is nice, she will look nice in this one." Madara set the box aside from the others.

"I got her a pouch for the kunai you gave her here, and some senbon, and wraps, and chest wraps because she is a girl and a sharpening stone, and a katana." Hashirama told him.

"A katana? Why would you get her a katana, she doesn't even know how to use one." Madara protested.

"She can learn now that she has one right?" Hashirama said cheerfully.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Madara conceded to his friend.

"Lets get working on the futon platforms we are going to need them now more than ever, right?" Hashirama said.

"She's sleeping, I don't want to wake her up." Madara told him. "What's in the hamper?" Madara pulled the hamper over to him and pawed through it digging out a take out container of Inarizushi, opening it and popping one in his mouth.

"These are good, where did you get them?" He asked.

"The next village over." Hashirama said absently.

"What's wrong?" Madara asked noticing his friend looking around the cavern.

"I was thinking we need some walls for privacy, maybe just open walls so she can have a half room or something and we can have a sitting room and kitchen. She will probably be here for quite some time, don't you think? My clan won't adopt her and yours won't either I assume?" Hashirama looked to his friend.

Madara shook his head and took another bite.

"Well, she has nowhere to go and this is the safest place for her really isn't it?" Hashirama asked.

"I think so." Madara agreed, that's why he had brought her here.

"So I was thinking we should build her a sort of structure, a roofless house because we are already in a cave but she will want to be comfortable while she is here and it will make it feel more like a home." Hashirama told him.

"That is going to be a lot of work but I agree, she will need something to feel more like home to her, but I think we should put a roof on it for her, it will be colder soon, and even though she won't be outside it will still get very cold in here." Madara pointed out.

"You're right." Hashirama nodded." we're going to need a lot more wood."

Hashirama frowned, it would take forever. He had been working on his wood release more and more lately, he was sure he could make Shizuka a very nice house if he could only use his jutsu without getting caught. It would be a dead give away to Madara what clan he was from if he used it, after all he was the only wood release user alive that he knew of.

Shizuka sat up rubbing her eyes. Where was she? Oh. Her brain told her, she was in the cave. Her parents were dead and her home burned to the ground. She looked around and saw Hashirama was here, he and Madara were over by the side of the underground forest pointing at different trees and motioning with their hands.

Slowly, she stood up and off of the bedroll, it was so comfortable, so soft and warm, btu she knew she had to get up and get moving, she needed to start training. First, she needed to wash.

Her boys had noticed her and started walking over to her. "Good morning Hashirama." She greeted her friend.

"Good afternoon Shizuka." He said and hugged her hard.

He knew, of course he knew, Madara must have told him she thought. She hugged him back and then gently pushed him away. She noticed the boxes now and the large hamper, bless him, Hashirama had brought things too?

"I brought you some things, some girl clothes," he grinned at Madara." some food and some more shinobi things like wraps and weapons." He said.

"Weapons?" Her eyes lit up, "Where?" She looked around but didn't see them.

"Here, " He handed her a new pouch with senbon, wraps and a sharpening stone.

"You got these for me? These look very expensive, this is too much, I can't accept these Hashi." She tried to give the pouch back to him.

"He got you a katana too." Madara told her.

"What?" She shook her head." Hashi, thank you really but, it makes me feel weird accepting these things, it doesn't feel right."

"We're friends though and I love giving gifts, you will find I give gifts to all my friends ask Madara." He defended himself.

"He gave me a cactus for my birthday." Madara admitted. "He got you all those boxes of clothes too. I like this one." He picked up the box with the brown and cream two piece and handed it to her.

"Hashi, this is too much." She opened the box and pulled out the short kimono and pants. "Wow, this is beautiful."

"Here." Hashirama handed her a ladies kit with shampoo, body soap, wash rag and towel in it.

"I made a pathway and sectioned off a small area of the river bank for you and put up a strong genjutsu, I marked it with rocks on the inside of the genjutsu till you are trained enough to see where the genjutsu starts and ends. Let me show you. You can wash and change and no one will be able to see you, we will stay here till you get back." He offered.

She walked outside with him and he showed her the bigger rocks and where the path was. She thanked him and went to the river bank to wash while he and Hashirama waited for her inside.

Shizuka sat at the water's edge soaping her hands and washcloth running it over her bare skin. The water was chilly but refreshing. She had never used such sweet smelling soap before of such high quality. The washcloth was so soft and the shampoo was made with real oils from flowers. Who were her new friends? She knew they both came from well to do clans of power from the way they talk, their manners, aside from Hshirama's eating habits, they are well spoken, trained and clearly thought nothing of spending a lot of money on her. It bothered her...greatly.

She would never see the kind of money they had spent on her in less than 24 hours, she never had. Her parents were merchants of fine goods but that was all, merchants. They did not use the goods they sold. She had never had an embroidered scarf or shawl. She certainly never had a beautiful kimono like the ones they had sold. If it was valuable, they put it in their stand. She had never starved, she had clothes, just of the poorest quality and little quantity. It had never bothered her much, she had been content.

She washed herself quickly and then splashed water over herself to rinse off all the soap after she had shampooed her hair. Opening the box Madara had chosen for her from the many Hashirama had purchased for her she took out the short kimono and pants. She had dreamed of wearing such things before but never thought she would. The pouch Hashirama had given her lay on the bank by the box and she pulled the chest wrappers out and wound her chest, then her wrists and ankles like she had seen shinobi do. She slipped on the kimono top and tied it with the matching sash in the box. Stepping into the pants and doing up the boots Hashirama had given her she twisted and turned looking herself over. After gathering her things she went back into the cave.

Her boys were arguing when she got back inside. Having set her things down she walked over to them listening in.

"She doesn't need a whole kitchen, just a small one, enough to cook simple meals in, she isn't cooking for a clan you know." Madara was exasperated with hashirama, she could tell.

"I want her to have everything she needs!" Whined Hashirama.

"She will you idiot, we have to build it though, you're going overboard as usual. We just got done agreeing on two bedrooms, one for her, one for us when we stay here, a living room for all of us, a small kitchen and a bath. A wood burner in each room for heat in the winter, the kitchen will already have one and so will her bathroom for the tub! She doesn't need anything else!" Madara was yelling now.

"Um, excuse me, I don't need a bathroom, and we can all sleep in one room, we don't need a living room, it will be warmer in the winter that way, the kitchen fire pit will give off more heat anyway." She smiled at them. "Thank you both, for everything you did and have done. I really appreciate it, I can never repay you for your kindness. If you ever need anything, I mean, I don't know what I could possibly give you that you don't already have but if there is ever anything, you can count on me." She bowed to them.

"Shizuka, we did this, do these things because you're our friend." Hashirama told her.

"You don't have to repay us, just continue to be our friend." Madara added.

"I can do that." She smiled at her boys.

"You look beautiful Shizuka." Madara was looking her over. She blushed.

"I picked it out, see I have good taste in women's clothing Madara." Hashirama boasted.

"That's nothing to be proud of when you're a guy you know." Madara laughed at him.

"I love it, Hashi, thank you." She kissed him on the cheek.

"I didn't get a kiss." Madara mumbled.

She kissed him on the cheek too.

They all stood there blushing until Shizuka said, "So, when are we going to start training?"

"Right now" Madara said, "Go read that scroll from start to finish about chakra control and chakra nature. I will go out later and get some chakra paper to see what affinity you are."

"I have some right here." Hashirama started digging in his pouch, "here." He handed Madara two little squares of paper.

Madara handed one to Shizuka, "Okay to find out your chakra nature, just send a little bit of your chakra into the paper like this" Madara sent some chakra into the paper and the paper crinkled up, "I have a lightning nature. See? Now if you have more than one nature," he pushed chakra into the paper again, and it crumbled away, "See I also have earth affinity."

Madara also had fire affinity but he didn't want Hashirama to know that. His looks already pointed to him being an Uchiha he didn't need to confirm any suspicions his friend might have.

"Okay, let me try." She pushed a little of her chakra into the paper, it turned wet, "Water?" she asked.

"Yes, do it again to see if you have another." Madara instructed.

Shizuka pushed chakra into the paper again and it split in half much to the surprise of both boys.

"What does that mean?" She asked them.

"Wind affinity." Hashirama was looking at her oddly. "A rare affinity to have, and you are civilian born, do you by chance know if any of your relatives are related in some way to the Uzumaki clan?" He asked her.

"Um, I think my dad's third cousin might have been a third Uzumaki, but I'm not sure I don't remember." She told them.

"Is that bad?" She asked because they were looking at her even more strongly than before.

"Try the paper again Shizuka." Hashirama said.

She did and it crumbled and fell apart in her fingers, she frowned and looked up to Madara and Hashirama. They were staring at her again.

"Incredible." Hashirama said.

"Earth, you have three chakra affinities, how is that possible Hashirama? She is not from a clan!" Madara was confused but also excited.

"She must be part Uzumaki, they have an incredibly strong life force and are exceptional sensors. She knew we were on the roof in the market when we went to spy on her stand, you and I can drop our chakra to zero, yet she stared right where we were, three times." Hashirama was smiling now, he was over the shock of learning this civilian born girl had three chakra affinities and was now thinking of the possibilities. He looked over at his friend who had a very familiar calculating look in his eyes.

"Shizuka, I hope you're ready, we are going to help you become an incredible shinobi." Madara smiled at her, the gears grinding in his head, there is so much she can do, that she will do. He was happy, things that had happened wouldn't ever happen again. He and Hashirama would see to that.