Sasuke was walking through the village when he saw Ino's flower shop. He had just been in the Hokage tower dealing with another session of Tsunade trying to be a therapist...She was trying her best; he knew this. He just wished that things wouldn't have gone the way they had. He wished everything had been different... he slowed his pace down more and sighed as he saw the variety of flowers she had. A month...An entire month has passed since she was killed by Tobirama.

He glared down at his hands, he felt the familiar clench in his chest and burning at his eyes. He turned and walked into the flower shop. His footsteps were silent, but the sadness in the air is what made Ino jolt around. She had been tearfully setting up a bouquet of Red and white roses, pink lilies, yellow daffodils, and those small white space consuming flowers that no one knew why they were there, they were just there to take up space and give specks of white throughout the flowers. She wiped her eyes and set the bouquet on the counter. Her sniffles made him frown. Her eyes were red and puffy and she bit her lip as she looked up at him.

"What can I help you with, Sasuke-kun?" she asked and he looked around. "Can...ban you get me a dozen red roses?" he asked softly and she nodded. "Yeah..." she whispered and she made her way around the shop gathering her supplies. She clipped the ends of the roses and set them on the crinkling green plastic. He watched as her fingers delicately folded the plastic around the roses and then she set them in a vase. Sasuke opened his mouth to stop her and she gave him a sharp look. "I know where you're going. I'm going with you...there is someone I want to visit as well." She said as she turned and grabbed the other bouquet of flowers and put them in a vase as well.

He opened the door for her and she nodded politely in thanks. The walk was silent and both of them were obviously saddened. "You loved her..." she said suddenly and he nodded. "I loved her, but she loved him. I was always the friend she could talk to and she was the one I could open up to without being treated differently." He said and Ino nodded. "That's how Neji was. He was hard and a little rough around the edges...but if you needed anything he would always be the first one to offer to help me." she said and Sasuke offered a pat on the back and a light smile. "So you loved him, but he loved Tenten...those situations are always the hardest." He said and she nodded.

"She always loved Naruto... there was no room there for me... but Naruto always chased Sakura... and Sakura chased me... everything was just.... complicated. it wasn't like she would have ever looked my way anyways...I was a traitor. I had run off and joined akatsuki. I was the exact opposite of the one she spent her entire life chasing after...I was the demon in the dark while he was the angel in her eyes..." he bit out and Ino nodded. "That sounded sappy, but...I get it..." Ino said and Sasuke chuckled lightly.

They reached the graves and they went their separate ways. Ino had not only come to visit Neji's grave, but her father's as well. Sasuke looked down at Hinata's grave and frowned. The leaves had already started to fall and cover her grave. He hit his knees and with gentle hands, he brushed away the leaves to reveal the stone beneath. His fingers brushed over her name and he smiled sadly. "Hello Hinata-chan." He greeted and the wind blew around him. "I hope you will wait for me, wherever you are." He said and placed the red roses as he looked up towards the bright blue sky.

He then stood and waited on Ino to finish saying her greetings and goodbyes. He saw an extremely elderly woman with a cane making her way over to the grave sites. He watched as she slowly forced herself to sit in front of Hinata's grave. Her white eyes admired the flowers and her long delicate fingers brushed over the petals and then they moved towards the name on the headstone. Ino turned to see the woman as well and she smiled. "Apparently she was loved dearly in her family. I heard she took care of the elderly men and women in her family." Ino said and Sasuke nodded. "I guess she must be her great, great grandmother then..." Sasuke said and the old woman made a move to wave them off.

"Goodbye Ino, Sasuke." She said and the two barely heard her, but they did and it made their hearts clench tightly. The way the woman had spoken, was as if she knew them and cared deeply for them.

:-:-:-:-:

Hinata sat by the river awaiting her friends as they were taking a bit to show up today. Neji had gone to get more supplies for them, seeing as he helped civilians in the village out and they thought nothing more of him than a young teen trying to help. Hinata had noticed that the majority of shinobi in this time had severely under developed chakra systems. Hashirama was stronger than most of the adults of this time...Madara was strong as well but it seemed he knew Hashirama was a lot stronger than he was.

Hashirama landed beside her and she squealed in surprise. "Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you, Hinata-chan." He said and she laughed lightly, her hand over her racing heart as she watched him scratch the back of his neck nervously. She beamed up at him and he blushed lightly. "Hashi-kun...where is Madara-kun?" she asked and he shrugged. "I don't know... I haven't seen him around today..." he said and she smiled. He looked around and furrowed his brow. "Where is your brother?" he asked and she smiled.

"He went to go get us some new clothes and stuff...we don't really have anyone to return to that can supply those things, y'know?" she asked and he nodded. "I could ask my father if you could live with us, Hinata-chan..."he offered and she blinked then fiddled with her fingers, a slight blush on her face. "I...I don't know if nii-san would want to..." she said and he shrugged. "It would keep him from having to do everything himself. Everyone needs a little help sometimes." He said and she looked at him.

He was smiling up at the sky his shoulder length hair was blowing lightly in the small breeze. In that exact moment she saw a familiar blonde boy sitting in his place grinning up at the sky, causing her to blush and look away while fiddling with her fingers. He turned to her and blinked in confusion. "Hinata-chan? Is there something wrong? Your face is awfully red..." he said and reached to put his hand on her forehead, which made her blush deepen. "A-ano...I uh..." she stammered and he furrowed his brows as he leaned around to take a better look at her. He didn't think her face could get any redder but it did and she turned away from him and fiddled with her fingers more.

"Hashirama...if you don't quit, you may kill her of embarrassment." Madara's voice rang out and Hinata jerked her head to look at him he had that familiar stance, the whole cocky I'm-better-than-you stance. Hashirama blushed lightly and his head fell. "Sorry Hinata-chan." He said and Madara snorted. Hinata looked up and could see Sasuke in him...and then he blushed a bit when he noticed her staring. That was when she smiled at him and waved him over. "Madara-kun, come on over and sit with us." She said and he was going to look defiant but she frowned at him and he sighed, he knew what would happen if he didn't. Those tears were awful...

Hinata smiled brightly as he moved to sit down on her right side, Hashirama on her left. "So where is your brother?" he asked and she shrugged. "Helping old people." She stammered lightly and he rolled his eyes. "You must be a very weak shinobi if you can't even talk to your friends." He quipped and she looked at her hands. I'm not weak...I'm just mousy..." she said and he blinked. "Alright, I guess that can work." He laughed and leaned back on his hands to stare up at the sky that peeked in through the tree tops.

"Who wants to play hide and seek?" Hashirama asked suddenly and Hinata smiled brightly. "Ok!" she chirped and Madara shrugged. "Could be fun. If you find someone you have to be able to take them down or you lose." Madara said, setting the rules and Hinata beamed along with Hashirama. "Alright, Hinata-chan is it!" Madara said and she blinked but then nodded. The two boys vanished and Hinata closed her eyes. Her eyes shot open and the veins bulged out around her eyes.

She scanned the area and automatically found them both. Madara was underwater and this caused her to giggle. She landed on the water and reached under and tapped him on the forehead with a giggle. He frowned and aimed a kick at her but she twisted off to the side and dodged his foot. He lunged for her and she began weaving the net of chakra around her and when he hit it, it sent him flying backwards. She jumped and landed in front of him with a smile.

He huffed and looked away from her with his arms crossed over his chest. He had let her win, he really didn't want to hurt his friend. He watched her curiously and he noticed the veins around her eyes then she vanished and his eyes went wide as she vanished and he saw bright blue chakra coating her arms and forming lion heads as she dropped down on Hashirama who ducked and rolled to dodge her fist. He looked just as surprised as Madara had been.

"She's fast!" Hashirama laughed as he continuously dodged her swift fists. "Alright Hinata, don't wear yourself out..." Neji's voice rang out and her chakra engulfed fists stopped their assault on Hashirama. He sighed in relief and she smiled at him shyly. "Sorry Hashirama-kun..." she said and he scratched his head. "It isn't a problem Hinata-chan..." he said with a slight pink tinge on his cheeks. Neji handed Hinata a backpack full of things while Madara gave Hashirama a dirty look.

Hinata noticed Madara glaring at Hashirama and she stood and walked over to him and crouched beside the obviously pouting male. "Madara-kun..." she said and he looked at her. "Do you want some?" she asked and he looked away quickly with a pink tint to his cheeks. She set the cinnamon roll on a piece of wrapping on his leg and stood. He turned and watched as she walked away. He frowned and took the cinnamon roll and took a bite. Hashirama walked over and smirked at him.

"what do you think those two are talking about, nii-san?" she asked quietly and Neji turned to look at the two and shrugged. "I don't know, but they seem to be getting along like Sasuke and Naruto." He said with an eye roll. Hinata smiled softly as she watched the two boys shove at each other. "You noticed too huh?" she asked with a sincere smile and he nodded. "Yeah..." Neji said and Hinata looked at him. "I was going to miss you Neji-nii..." she said softly and he blinked at her. His eyes softened as he saw the saddened look in her eyes.

"I was going to miss you too, Hinata..." he said and he ruffled her hair lightly. "How are w-we going to protect them?" she asked softly so the other two couldn't hear them. "I don't know yet...we will just have to wait and see I guess..." he sighed and she frowned. Her eyes drifted over to the others and she noticed Madara had stood. "I have to go Hinata, Neji." He said and Neji nodded. "Bye, Madara-kun." She said and he blushed lightly and vanished before her eyes.

"I must go too Hinata-chan." Hashirama sighed and Hinata blushed lightly. "Bye as well, Hashirama-kun..." she said and he waved goodbye to her. "Bye Neji-san." Hashirama said before he vanished as well. Neji chuckled and shook his head at her. "Ah, its always the loud ones huh, Hinata-chan?" he asked and she blushed dark red. "Neji-nii! I- I don't know what y-you are talking about she stammered and covered her face. Neji chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure, Hinata-chan." He said in a mocking tone.

She blushed and feigned a glare at him. "Whatever Neji-nii! I know how you are!" she said and he blinked. "You claim to help but you just flirt!" Hinata giggled and Neji blushed a light shade of pink. "Ano! Hinata-chan..." he complained and she giggled as she finished going through her backpack. There was a white tunic and black leggings in the bag and some ninja sandals, food, and other supplies. Neji had fishnet shirts, supplies and a bunch of black cargo type shorts, and wrappings, he obviously couldn't leave those behind...

They made their way into the depths of the forest where Neji had found a cave earlier that day. Hinata was building a fire when she heard a commotion outside and she swiftly put the fire out. She clung to one wall of the cave entrance while Neji clung to the other. Their eyes activated at the same time. They watched as a single shinobi took out men two and three times his age faster than Hinata could move. Hinata's eyes went wide and her chest clenched in fear. "It-it's Hashirama-kun..." she whispered and he did a roundhouse kick and sent one man flying into a tree. Neji nodded and he looked at her. "Hinata, I told you that this was going on...Please don't be too surprised...here...even children are tools to use in the war..." he said and she frowned as Hashirama looked their direction.

He locked eyes with Hinata...He had seen them. Neji saw the shame in his friend's eyes. Hinata saw it too, and that was the only thing that kept the exuberant male from going to them. He knew they had watched him kill those men. "Hashirama-kun..." she called out softly and Neji pushed her against the wall with a hand over her mouth urging her to be quiet.

:-:-:-:-:

Hashirama took the Uchiha men out as fast as he could, he didn't want to be caught up in this mess any longer. He felt like someone was watching him so he looked over and across the area there was a small carefully hidden cave; white eyes bore into his own. He couldn't keep the shame from his eyes. Hinata looked scared while Neji looked as if he understood. He looked down and frowned. "Hashirama-kun..." she had called out his name. His head jerked up just in time to see her be pinned to the other wall by her brother. That was when he noticed Tobirama had hit the ground behind him.

"Nii-san...what's taking you so long?" he asked and Hashirama rubbed his neck nervously with a forced smile. "Nothing Tobirama-kun! Let's go..." he said and he started to walk but Tobirama's gaze was locked on the cave. "Did you let someone get away?" he asked and Hashirama shook his head. "No, you know how angry father would be if I had." Hashirama said and Tobirama nodded. "I see, well who are they?" he asked pointing towards the cave and Hashirama shrugged.

"I don't know, but they don't seem to want to interfere. They obviously aren't Hagoromo or Uchiha, so let's leave them be." Hashirama said off handedly and Tobirama took one last glance towards the cave before he hmph'd a reply and walked away. Hashirama took one last look then turned and followed his younger brother away from the dead bodies of the Uchiha. He wanted to yell at them to run, but running would get them nowhere, not anymore. Tobirama had already memorized their chakra signatures...