Mi Ho pov:

"Hey Mio, I'm going to Ichiraku's to meet up with my team. Do you want to come?" Kakashi asked from the balcony of his house. I was in the kitchen deciding what to make for lunch and I heard him from there. I walked to my didn't balcony and ge was looking at my balcony with his usual bored expression. I giggled and nodded. "Sure, I'll go with you. What's the occasion?" There was no way he was going to Ichiraku to meet up with his team without a good reason.

He closed his visible eye and sighed deeply. "Naruto wants a treat....I'm going to be bankrupt today." This time, I laughed loudly. "I'll put in a word so that he doesn't eat too much." I tried to give him some confidence but he sighed again. "I just hope it will work." I shook my head with a smile and headed out of my house to meet up with Kakashi.

I had been in the future Konoha for about a week now. Unlike the Senjus and the Uchihas, I wasn't locked up here. I had my own house, my freedom and I could go around the village without anyone following me. Although, I was pretty sure they didn't leave me so freely in the open. Tsunade san probably had people following me in secret. I was totally fine with that as long as they didn't spy on me when i was in the shower.

If I did catch someone watching me like that, oh no, they would dead meat.

Besides that, I have become good friends with Kakashi. He was assigned to make sure I feel welcomed here and he's a really nice chap. Even though he reads his weird and perverted books, that most of the time he tries to prove is pure literature, he's really nice to hang around with. Je also introduced me to many people in the village including his three teammates. They were originally hos students, but after they passed the ninja exams for the chunin level, they were considered to hold the same respected position as any shinobi in the village.

In many ways, since I am special, Tsunade san had let me in on some information that the village elders were actually against telling me. She told me about the different nations in the shinobi world. Konoha is part if the Fire Nation and there were five large and main nations. Well, I guess you can compare them to the different continents that we have in the real world so I was able to get a basic idea of how this place worked.

Although, unlike home, there still wasn't full stability and peace between the nations here. They did work out peace treaties but there was also high chances of wars between nations that didn't get along with each other.

She also told me about the bijuu, the tailed beasts that were distributed among the different nations to maintain balance in their power. Naruto, who happened to be one of Kakashi's student and teammates, and also the one who had an unbelievably enormous appetite, had the 9 tailed beast sealed inside him. It was a fox demon and people like him who had beasts sealed inside them were called jinchurikis. Naruto was shunned by everyone else because if it, but after working hard and doing what he thought was right to protects his comrades, everyone had accepted him. He was a really nice kid, actually.

"Oooiii!!! Kakashi sensei! Mio chan!!" Naruto waved to us with a big grin on his face. He was waiting outside Ichiraku's and I could see the excitement on his face. He absolutely loved ramen and he could probably eat it for breakfast, lunch, snack and dinner. Kakashi sighed next to me and slumped his shoulders. "I'm so sure Naruto has skipped dinner so that he can make me spend all my life's savings on just one meal." He groaned with his eyes closed. "Oh c'mon Kakashi! Don't be a spoilt sport! You invited me too so don't forget you have an extra stomach to feed today."

I stuck my tongue out at him as he watched me with a wide eye and I jogged up to Naruto and Sakura. "Hey guys!" "Yo Mio chan!" I ruffled Naruto's head and he grinned like a little kid. "Na na! I'm starving! I can wait to start eating! I'm going to eat till I'm satisfied cuz this is the first time Kakashi sensei agreed to treat us!" I coughed back a giggle as we went to take our seats inside the ramen stall. Kakashi walked in rather hesitantly. He sat down next to Naruto and gulped as he ordered his first three bowls of pork ramen.

A few minutes passed since we started eating and Sai walked in. I turned around, slurping some if the noodles hanging from my lips and looked at him. "Hey Sai! What took you so long? Where had you been?" He looked at me passively and then smiled....and I could easily make out it was slightly fake. I had heard about him too. He was from the ROOT ANBU. so they were trained to be extremely uptight with their emotions. Ever since Sai had joined up with Naruto and the others, he had changed and he was getting a little better at expressing his true emotions.

"Mio san, good to see you. I was busy with a meeting." I blinked. "Meeting? What meeting?" "Some people from Iwagakure have come to meet Tsunade sama. I overheard that they wanted to talk about a peace treaty with Konoha." Kakashi said and I bent forward to look at him over the eating counter. I frowned and pouted at him. "The Stone Village? I thought you said the Stone Village didn't like Konoha."

"Yeah, that's how its always been. But I guess times are changing." I just nodded and Sai sat down next to me and ordered his share of ramen. "I guess that makes sense."

Our ramen feast ended with Kakashi going penniless, just as he had expected. Naruto took the opportunity to eat 14 bowls of ramen, Sakura had three, Sai had five, I had four and Kakashi barely finished one. The poor guy was so devastated about losing all his savings on ramen that he had completely lost his appetite. And as we walked home, he totally looked like a lost soul. I had to support him all the way home.

"Oh c'mon Kakashi. Cheer up, would you? Its not like tour life is over." I chuckled as I served him tea. "All my life's savings.....every last coin....and I was saving it to buy the latest Iccha Iccha Paradise!" He anime cried and I raised a brow at him. "Really Kakashi? Honestly, I think you should try reading some real literature instead of those perverted books." I muttered as I sipped my tea. I sat opposite to him at my dining table and he made me jump in surprise when he looked at me with fire in his eyes.

"You don't know what true literature is! The plot! The adventure! The drama! The romance! The...." "The pervertedness...." I muttered, cutting him off and he sighed at me. "Its not perverted....." I shook my head. "Whatever you say, Kakashi."

I finished my tea and walked to the sink to rinse the cup in water. "So, anyway, I was wondering Mio." Kakashi started. "Yeah, what is it?" "What was Uchiha madara like when you were in the past?" I looked back at him a little surprised by his question. "What makes you ask that?" "According to what we have heard, well....its not really pleasant."

Now that he mentions it, I hadn't asked Tsunade san what happened to Madara in the past 127 years. I had always known that he was someone who liked being powerful and dominant over other people and the words that he had said just before he punched me all the way here....'To reach a greater height' or something like that. I had never given much thought about it, more so because I kind of didn't think it was important and I was startled when he hit me. But now that Kakashi was saying that the things they had heard about Madara wasn't pleseant....his words did seem to have a ring of trouble to it.

I wonder what it meant...what had he done?

I stopped the water in the sink and looked at the stagnant water in the used dishes. I could see my reflection and I could almost imagine seeing Madara's face next to mine. I felt nostalgic and the fact that I missed him seemed very obvious to me right now. I sighed and looked out of the window above the sink. I could see the Hokage mountain in the distance ans I looked at Hashirama's and Tobirama's carved faces. Why wasn't Madara's there? I could have felt a little better if I could at least see his face. There weren't even any Uchihas around to remind me of their dark hair and eyes and the usual stood look on their faces. Besides, the look Madara had in his eyes was....different.

He was confident, strong, dominating and to some extent, quite possessive too. But ever since Izuna died, there was a loneliness in his eyes that no one ever seemed to notice besides me. He held me, he kissed me, he confessed his pain to me. What did Kakashi want me to tell him? That I loved Madara? There was no way I would be left alone if I said that.

“Well…..he was a rather…..difficult person to understand.” I finally said to Kakashi. “Even until the last minute I saw him, there was some part of him that I could never really decipher. But besides that….complicated past of him, he was just like everyone else. He was normal….well, he did have quite a temper, which let me tell you was really really annoying. But I guess it was expected since he had to lead the clan.”

I turned back to Kakashi and he was watching me strangely. I laughed and put a hand on my hip. “What?” “Oh, its nothing. Its just that the way you describe him is a lot different from the way we have heard.” He stood up and began to walk to the door. “Woah, wait a minute. You cant just tell me something like that and leave without giving me some details. Its mean to leave me hanging like that.” I pouted at him and he blushed slightly.

“Oh, w-well….” “C’mon. sit down and tell me.” I sat on the couch and patted the seat next to me. He sat down half heartedly but he finally decided to give me some information.

“From what we have all heard, Madara was the most feared and possibly strongest shinobi to have ever lived. He and Hashirama sama were almost equal in strength but Madara was a cruel person.” I noticed how he refered to Hashirama as Hashirama sama but he didn’t use the same honorific with Madara. Looks like he wasn’t really liked by people much.

“Cruel? How so?” I pressed and Kakashi looked at the ceiling. “He betrayed Konoha just about a year after it was formed and he even attacked Konoha several times. He continually challenged Hashirama sama and the peace of the village. The last time he was seen, he used the Kyuubi and threatened to destroy the village.” I tightened my fists on my knees as he said that. Why would Madara threaten the village? Isn’t peace what he wanted too?

Its true that he wanted to become stronger than Hashirama, but what was the need to betray the village and try to destroy it? I knew that he felt betrayed by his people who opted for peace instead of following him to become the strongest clan. But in the end, he accepted it too right?

“I see.” I said simply and looked at my hands. “I guess people change, huh?” “Yeah….I guess they do.” Kakashi replied. “Well, anyway, I think I’ll head to meet up with Hokage sama. She said she needed to speak to me.” Kakashi stood up and I smiled as I walked him to the door. I said goodbye and he jumped towards Tsunade san’s office. I shut the door and stayed there with my hand on the door.

Madara…..what had he planned when he sent me here? What was his goal? Why did he try to hurt his own friend and his own village? There were so many questions that I couldn’t find answers for. I wanted to see him. I wanted to talk to him and ask him everything. I wanted to take in his intoxicating and heavy scent. I wanted to feel his soft lips against mine. I wanted to feel his arms crushing me against his chest as he kissed me.

“What am I thinking?” I mumbled to myself as I closed my eyes. Madara is gone. Its been 127 years! He’s the past and there’s no way someone could live this long. Even if he was alive, he would be a wrinkly old man with white hair or worse, balding. He would be over 150 years old and there’s no way someone could live that long.

I rubbed my face with my hands and shook my head. I had to snap out of this. “I should have another doze of tea.” Thinking so, I headed to the kitchen.

>>Timeskip

*clang!* *snap!* *thud!*

I slowly peeled my eyes open and lifted my head off my pillow. I reached out lazily to the clock on my bedside table and looked at the time. The clock showed 2:15AM and I groaned. What was that noise that woke me up at this time of the night?

I got off my bed like a slug and ran a hand through my messy hair. I walked out of my room and looked around the dark house. I walked to the switches and switched on the light in the living room. I didn’t see anyone but one of the windows that I had closed before going to sleep was open. I furrowed my brows and walked to the window. I popped my head out and looked towards Kakashi’s apartment.

I hadn’t seen Kakashi since this afternoon when he went to see Tsunade san. I looked back in the room and frowned. “Kakashi? Is that you?” I called out not finding any trace of anyone. This was the way only someone as lazy as kakashi would use to visit me. He either spoke to me from the balcony or decided to invade my house through the window. But he never came at this time of the night…..so what was he doing here now?

“Kakashi?” I called out again but I got no answer. “Isang hae….[strange….]” I shrugged and turned around to close the window. But I gasped and reached up with my hands as I felt a cloth being brought over my mouth like a gag. I couldn’t even reach the gag as my hands were grabbed and held behind me in a painfully tight grip. “Mmghh!! Mmmmmghghh!” I screamed in vain and my hands were tied behind me with some rope.

My eyes went wide when a black cloth was brought over my head completely blocking off my vision as well and I fell sideways on the ground. I felt someone grab my legs and I kicked in every possible way and with all the might I could muster. I think I hit someone because I heard a voice as someone gasped in pain, but I was grabbed again and roped were tied around my legs as well.

“Mmghhh!!” I was lifted off the ground and the wind was knocked out of my lungs as I landed on my stomach on someone’s hard shoulder. “Lets go before we’re noticed.” A man’s voice reached me and I struggled kicking both legs up and down together while on the person’s shoulder. “Stop struggling!” The person holding me hissed and held my legs down. I felt them jump and I was sure they had jumped out of the window.

No matter how much I struggled, I wasn’t able to do much because my arms and legs were tied up. I could just feel them running with me and I could feel the wind hitting my skin. I was wearing shorts for crying out loud! My legs were starting to freeze! And because of the wind, half my shirt was lifted off my back and my back was freezing too!

I don’t know how long these people ran, but I could tell it was quite long. I had gotten tired of struggling some way through and I was too cold to move too. After what felt like hours, they came to a stop. They began walking and I could get a musty smell through the cloth that was covering my face. I heard someone open something metal with keys and these people with me carried me inside.

I was dropped unceremoniously to the ground and I coughed. The ropes on my arms and legs, the cloth above my head and the gag were removed and I cringed as my eyes took a few minutes to adjust to the light. When I finally looked up, I saw a short old man standing in front of me with a frown. I raised my brows and saw several ninjas standing behind him. They were all armed and they were watching me skeptically.

I looked around and realized that I had been dumped in a prison cell. I looked back at the old man and glared. “Who are you and where am I? And don’t you know you’re supposed to be gentle with a girl?!” I said annoyed. “It looks like you’re mouth needs some training. You should know how to talk to your superiors.” The old man said and I narrowed my eyes at him. “Superiors snupiriors! I don’t really care who you are and how ‘superior’ you are. There are just two kinds of people I know – people I like and people I dislike. And people I like get my respect.”

“Hmph! Women should know how to hold their tongue!” “Blah blah blah! Enough with your gender bias. Why don’t you tell me who you are? Its rude to keep a girl waiting.” I crossed my arms over my chest and gave him an expectant look. “I am Ohnoki, the third Tsuchikage. The leader of Iwagakure.” “Iwagakure? Why did you kidnap me? I thought Iwa shinobi had come for a peace treaty with Konoha.”

“That was just a reason to get into the village and have you brought here. We know about your abilities and you will add to our assets and make Iwagakure a much stronger village than all the others.” He said. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Why is everyone so obsessed with power? Hello people! There’s a lot more important stuff out there than just power, you know?!” I yelled.

“Hmmm, it looks like your attitude needs some work. You should learn your place before you speak to others. Perhaps a day without food will teach you some respect.” He walked out of the cell and had the shinobi lock it. My jaw went slack and I watched him walk away without another word. “What?! Hey! If you want me to help you even a bit, you should be giving me the royal treatment! Hey!! Are you even listening to me?!”

“Silence woman!” One of the guards hissed at me and I took in a sharp breath while glaring at him. I scratched back of my head and groaned. “Ah jincha thapthappe….[ah how frustrating….]” Well, I guess I couldn’t get out of the cell now, could I? Stupid shinobi running after power and world domination. Seriously, they are not going to get any peace of mind by thinking about world domination! Why couldn’t anyone get this fact through their thick skulls?!

I sighed and walked to the back of the cell. I sat down against the wall and looked at the moon through the barred window at the ceiling. “Michin saramdeul….[crazy people]” I muttered under my breath. I was woken up from my sleep because of these morons….I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. Might as well get some sleep and replenish my energy so I could yell at that old man when he came to see me again.

If these guys thought I was a chicken and I was going to listen to them like miss good-two-shoes, they were so wrong. They were in for a treat the next time they spoke to me. Big time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, I have reached the point where they are showing Aizen sama's past and the whole past of Soul Society. I'm sure it will give me some good understanding of all the charaters and the plot and I will be able to get more details into the Aizen Love story.

In the mean time, I thought I shouldn't disappoint the Madara fans either so I decided to put up a new chapter for this story!

Hope you enjoy!

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