Riley stared out over the skyline of Paris; she'd found herself an apartment to rent, and had settled into her new home. It was easy pull off, a simple Transformation Jutsu was all that was needed to fool the muggles.

It had been nearly a full month since she arrived in Europe, and she'd been busy learning local languages and finding a place to live. She eventually chose Paris, as she fell for its beauty and art. It was a lovely place and had a thriving magical populace, so it wasn't hard to walk between both worlds and experience them both. After arriving she had all of her money converted to the local currency, and once she had her apartment, she turned her focus to training.

Each day from dusk to dawn she went into Kamui and trained there. Either Madara or Kurama would drill her on new items of interest. With both of their ability to project images into her mind, showing her their memories, or in Kurama's case, Kushina's memories, allowed for Riley to learn of their various abilities and powers.

Living up to her promise to Kurama she trained herself into the ground, learning everything there was to learn. She practiced her taijutsu endlessly, moving through katas, fighting against clones, watching and rewatching the memories Madara shared with her from his countless battles. The few days she took off from training, she spent learning English, and French. She was left with little choice but to develop a proficiency in them if she wanted to interact with the people who lived around her.

Days turned to weeks, weeks into months. Her ninth birthday came and went, with the only people acknowledging it being Madara and Kurama. She grew to adore them, in Madara's case more than she already had.

As time wore on and her finances started to drain, she needed to take on a job to begin gathering more money, so she took up the job of a bounty hunter. Dawning her black cloak and red and black mask, she would stalk and kill dark witches and wizards, often bringing their heads to the bounty offices as proof of her kill. The first time she arrived, drew natural disbelief from the clerk, only for her to produce the head and demand payment. She quickly earned herself a reputation. She could have avoided the added attention by just transforming into an adult, but she chose to appear as a child. Her logic was simple, too few people feared what they perceived as innocent. A man, or a woman, those could be dangerous, but a kid who would ever suspect a child of being a threat? The sickest and most twisted preyed upon children, and so she thought it would send a message if she taught them to fear what they perceived as innocent. As word of her reputation spread, criminals who targeted kids might just ask themselves in that moment, what if this kid is her? And if they chose to walk away, then that saved that child's life.

It most certainly worked, at least the reputation part. All over Europe those who hunted magical criminals began hearing about the child-sized masked killer who left her targets in pieces and returned with their severed heads to claim the bounty on them. She operated under an alias, using the name 'Null'. It was a word that represented her so well, both as a person, and what she represented as a bounty hunter. Null meant having no legal or binding force, which spoke of how she was as a killer, but it also represented something absent of value, which is how she believed her family and the people of the Leaf viewed her.

In her first six months she claimed thirteen bounties. She actually began considering this as a profession, something that she could do to pay her way through life. She still had the idea of going to magical school, and for some reason, Hogwarts still spoke to her. Beauxbatons was closer, and near to where she currently lived, but it was much younger, newer, didn't have the same history. Hogwarts was ancient, there was old power there, and it was overseen by arguably the greatest wizard born in the last century.

She'd definitely have to hide the Uzumaki-Uchiha name to avoid Dumbledore finding out who she really was, but that would be easy, and who'd think to look for her at Hogwarts of all places?

That was still a way off, and though Madara warned her of the risks, the rewards were just as great, and of course, she'd have far greater power by then, especially if she could keep hidden for several more years under Dumbledore's nose.

In that time, she also learned a number of lessons about survival. Magicals like witches and wizards were nowhere close to Shinobi in terms of their physical abilities, and much of their magic was more utilitarian and precise in nature than ninjutsu, so while Witches and Wizards could accomplish more with their magic, in just the area of combat and warfare, shinobi far outclassed them. This made them easy pickings. What trumped her up, was the presences of mages.

In the world there stood many different types of magicals. Witches and Wizards were lumped together, as they drew magic from a magical core, utilized a focus, called upon words of power, and acquired their magic through study. Shinobi drew magic from their coils, the place where magic was stored after it passed through the Eight Gates. They learned their magic through study but deployed it through the use of hand signs, coupled again, with words of power. Mages drew magic from the magical pathways that connected their cores to their coils, they drew upon magic in motion which granted it different properties. Mages shared many similarities to both groups, but they belonged to some of the most secret of societies. Mages hid themselves amongst the population of magicals, often pretending to be them to avoid suspicion and hide from both muggles and other magicals. Since it was easy to mistake them, that meant that on occasions a mage may be targeted as a witch or wizard, or some other form of spellcaster without anyone realizing it. Twice on her hunts, she'd had the misfortune of targeting mages, who's magic and abilities were often greater than that of witches or wizards.

Fighting them required her to think outside of the box and capitalize on her own abilities. In both encounters she had suffered injury. In the first, she ran into a mage that had the ability to alter his movements, this made him near impossible to read with her Sharingan because he could alter his movements while making them, throwing off her predictions. She walked away from that fight with a broken arm, which took a bone-healing potion to fix. In the second encounter she fought a mage who specialized in creating highly flammable substances that were difficult to detect. She received a nasty burn on her arm that would leave behind a noticeable scar, even with potions to heal it.

She learned lessons from these battles, each injury, a reminder of her own mortality, that even with Kamui she wasn't invincible. It taught her greater caution, greater care, and to not get complacent. She had to treat each battle like her life could be on the line, because she never knew what her enemy had in story for her. The mindset of battle versus dance, was meant to be reflected upon after a battle, not before. So, she developed a greater degree of care towards the preservation of her own life and carried the scars as a testament to those lessons learned.

So she devoted her time and energy to bounty hunting and training. It was Madara who suggested that at some point she goes to Gringotts and takes on the Uzumaki Lordship. Minato was the heir, but he had no clue as to his heritage and after so much time had passed, it was likely she could claim it instead, as age wasn't a requirement. That would emancipate her in the eyes of magic and the law, which would allow for other benefits in the future.

She agreed and shortly after her ninth birthday she went to Gringotts and spoke with a teller in regard to accepting a lordship. He took a blood test from her to determine if there were any lordships available for her to claim before they discussed things any further, and the look he gave her before waddling off to find a manager was quite concerning.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Kurama inquired.

"I think we're about to find out." Riley noted as the teller returned, alongside one of the bank managers.

"Greetings, I'm the manager of this establishment, you can call me Wrask. I understand you're here to claim a lordship?" Wrask inquired, the squat little creature standing shorter than even Riley.

"Yeah. That's what I'm here for sir." She responded.

"I see, please, come with me." Wrask told her, guiding her into the back of the bank and into his office. "Please have a seat."

"Is there a problem?" She inquired as she sat opposite of him.

"Not a problem, though there are things we would like to address. First and foremost, you've come to claim the Uzumaki Lordship, is that correct?" He asked her.

"Yes, that is correct sir." She responded.

"You understand what that would entail? You would not only be taking ownership of the Clan title, and become the lord of the Uzumaki clan, but you would also receive the title of Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools. This a title held by the Uzumaki clan leader, and upon taking the title, you would also inherit that land, though it is currently a ruin. The island, and all of its holdings would, by law, fall under your control, magically speaking of course. Who actually controls the land would be determined by who's there." Wrask informed her, earning surprise from Riley.

"You said your wife was the leader of the Uzumaki clan, you didn't tell me that she was a Daimyo." Riley questioned her grandfather.

"Did I forget to mention that?" Madara hummed, causing Riley to blanch.

"So... What would that mean for me?" Riley inquired while recovering from her grandfather's response.

"Again, most of it is now a ruin, but the island of the Land of Whirlpools would now become your property. Any residents living upon that land would have to pay taxes to you. All assets listed to the Land of Whirlpools, the Uzumaki Clan, or the Hidden Village of Uzushiogakure would be yours. It isn't much, as I said it was all destroyed, but it would now be yours." Wrask informed her.

"Why hasn't anyone tried to claim it? The land I mean. I understand the hidden village was destroyed, but why not conquer the land as well?" Riley inquired.

"They couldn't. The village was destroyed by a joint force of four of the Hidden Villages of the Great Nations. Sand, Mist, Cloud, and Stone. It was a joint attack that triggered the Third Great Ninja War. Had it not been for the damage suffered during that attack, and the deaths of so many leaders from those four villages, their alliance would have held strong and allowed them to then turn their attention onto the Hidden Leaf. Unfortunately for them, the Uzumaki were incredible warriors, and I was amongst them. At battles end, the land lay in ruins, and ancient seals activated that locked off the Hidden Village from outside interference. No one could gain entrance, and with the breakout of the Third Great Ninja War, the other villages didn't have the time or manpower to try and pilfer that dead land for valuables. So, it remains untouched, an island of ghosts, locked off from outside interference. People don't go there anymore." Madara explained to her, wrath touching at his voice as he remembered the conflict that had ultimately cost him his wife and son.

"I couldn't say. For whatever reason, it still remains untouched. The land may be in ruin and practically deserted, but it would still be yours." Wrask also responded.

"Okay. Thank you for explaining. I still intend to claim that title, but if we could avoid a lot of the fanfare, I would appreciate it." She said to the goblin.

"We're not required to inform anyone or make any sort of proclamations. In fact, you needn't even be here to claim the Lordship. The leadership of these lands and all accompanied titles were established long before the Uzumaki began using the goblin banks. Old magic is tied into it. You are the heir and fit all required prerequisites, so you are free to claim it, with little more than a proclamation of intent." Wrask informed her.

"Grandfather, what was grandmother's name?" Riley inquired.

"Kaguya." He answered her.

"Alright. I, Riley Uzumaki-Uchiha, granddaughter of Kaguya Uzumaki, hereby claim the title of head of the Uzumaki Clan, and Lord of the Land of Whirlpools." Riley stated aloud. A few seconds passed as nothing seemed to happen, but Wrask glanced down at a piece of parchment on his desk, and a toothy grin spread across his face.

"Your Ladyship." He said to her, confirming her change in status. "Now... there is some other issues I wished to address with you. Firstly, while nothing can be done with the land itself or the handful of inhabitants and that taxes they owe, Gringotts can send out letters ordering payment, it can also grant you access to the Uzumaki clan vaults as well as the vaults of the Land of Whirlpools. Both vaults are basically empty, but by my understanding the Uzumaki kept their own personal vaults that they linked to their bank vaults. It seems they made sure that their own vaults couldn't be reached by anyone save through the bank vaults themselves. Meaning while you do have access to both of the sets of vaults, I couldn't tell you what was in them. They likely remain untouched, lest someone found a way to breach the physical vault themselves."

"That's awesome. So can I have access to those vaults moved here?" She asked him.

"You may. We can transfer over access to both sets of vaults so they may be reached from this establishment. Would you like me to assign you your own personal vault manager? This is normally an automatic process but seeing as how both vaults are empty of any actual wealth and are simply a means of reaching the true vaults, we have no idea what is within them. If you choose to do so, any funds removed from the actual vaults and placed within the bank vaults may then be managed by the bank itself in whatever way you deep fit." Wrask answered her.

"It might not be a bad idea to transfer any wealth contained within the vaults into the bank vaults regardless. If they have remained untouched, then it's only by a stroke of luck and clever genius on the Uzumaki's part, but better to have that wealth and any items contained in those vaults, placed safely under the watch of the goblins. If they've remained untouched, you'll have access to the wealth of a small nation, and the wealth of the richest and most powerful clan in that nation. That's not even counting any other items kept within those vaults. That much wealth and you can guarantee the goblins will place an entire army around it, to keep it safe." Madara suggested to her.

"There's also the Goblin's skill in investing. If I recall correctly, I remember Minato explaining that to Kushina. The Goblins are good at that. Using money to make more money." Kurama chimed in.

"I'll certainly consider it, manager. First, I need to see if there's anything even in those vaults worth managing. If there is, then I think I'll take you up on the offer." She said to him, causing the goblin chief to nod in acceptance.

"Very well then your ladyship. The process should take only two weeks. We'll owl you once it is concluded and you'll have access to your vaults then. Instructions will be sent on how to obtain the keys to either vault. Unless you have any more questions, or are in need of anything else, then I believe our business is concluded for the day." Wrask laid it out for her.

"Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you. Until next time." She accepted the end of their meeting and exited the office. She had to temper the excitement she felt at getting to explore the Uzumaki vaults. There was no telling if there'd be anything in them, so for now, best to keep from getting too excited.

-One week Later-

She continued her hunts, tracking down those whose lives had been rendered forfeit due to their crimes, her reputation was growing, slowly but surely.

She was in Paris, outside of her disguise, simply traveling about when a cry caught her ears. It was there one moment and gone the next, almost being lost on the wind. Moving swiftly in the direction she believed it to be, she heard the sounds of a scuffle and drew closer. She arrived on scene to find several men attacking a family in an alley. Two girls and a man were being assaulted. A large man was pinned against the wall, held there by two equally large men while a third held him at wand point, casting some sickly spell that caused the man to yell and howl in pained agony. One of the girls was young, no more than four or five, pinned to the ground by another man, the other girl looked to be a few years older than Riley, had three more men on her, her shirt had been torn off, one of the men held her down while another was working to pull off her pants. Over them the third stood with a cruel grin, his fly already undone as he prepared to rape her.

Disgust erupted through Riley, rage immediately following it as her Sharingan exploded to life.

In a burst of speed, she shot forward, her mask and cloak appearing around her as she did. Her first target, the spellcaster attacking the man. She leaped into the air, delivering a flying kick that landed straight in the side of his head, snapping his head sideways, his neck breaking, his body sailing off down the alley. She then turned, drawing two kunai she launched forward, stabbing into the lower backs of the two men pinning their victim to the wall. Her blades dug deep, punching almost all the way through them from the force of her strike. She tore the blades free as both men screamed out in pain, releasing their victim and falling to the ground. She continued her assault, moving swifty, she raced along the wall, to drop down on the back of the man, pinning the smallest girl to the ground. viciously she rained stabs down into his neck and shoulders, tearing open his flesh and veins, blood spraying out of his arteries, splattering her in red as he collapsed onto the child, which she swiftly kicked off of her. She then turned to the remaining three men who'd now seen her. All three were backing away from her, one having pulled the older girl up to use as a human shield, all had their wands drawn on her, and from the looks on their faces, they seemed to recognize her.

She locked eyes with the man holding the older girl, his body freezing as she caught him in a genjutsu. She then shot forward, moving as fast as she ever had to clear the distance between them. The older girl felt herself be released, as her savior barreled into her attackers, she stumbled forward, collapsing to the ground, unable to run as her pants were around her knees. She rolled over, and watched in terrified amazement as the masked person brutally dispatched the three men, she bounced between them, stabbing and cutting at them, throwing her knives at them, blood rained through the air, as they were carved open. She took the legs out from under one of them and proceeded to stab him in the belly so many times, the girl could see his intestines start to spill out.

One started to run, while another staggered about, a knife sticking out of his chest. Riley quickly leaped onto him, ripping the knife out and stabbing in repeatedly in the face with it, only stopping when the blade pierced his eye and into his brain, silencing his screams. She fell with him, but rolled off of his body, her attention turning immediately towards the final man who had almost reached the end of the darkened alley. Drawing several shuriken, she sent them flying at leg level, watching as they sliced across his calves, knees and ankles. He collapsed with a scream and tried crawling away. Riley stalked the alley, making it to him and rolling him onto his back. She dropped down on top of him, sitting on his chest while she proceeded to hammer his face with her fists. Blow after blow she rained down until his skull cracked apart and all of his teeth were ejected.

She was panting now, not from exhaustion but from rage. Anger coursed through her, and she wished more than anything to kill these sick fucks again. Slowly, she rose to her feet, turning around to scan the alley. Her eyes were met by the older girl, who stared back at her unflinchingly.

Seeing the fear dancing in the girl's eyes, Riley felt the anger start to leave her. Crying caught her ears, the smaller girl sat further down the alley, bawling her eyes out. Riley began advancing, stopping for a moment to pick up the older girl's shirt which had been tossed aside in the attack, she stood over her, dropped it back in her lap, covering up at least part of her modesty.

"Are you alright?" Riley asked from beneath her mask.

She received silence from the older girl, only the welling of tears in her eyes. Riley dropped to a knee, "Hey! Are you alright?"

Again, the girl blinked at her, but finally seemed to register her question. She nodded shakily. Riley held her gaze for a long moment before glancing over to the older man, presumedly the father of both of these girls. He was dazed, breathing heavily, his eyes unfocused. The spell that was used on him looked like the Torture Curse, Riley herself had never felt it's effects, but she could guess as to how painful it must have been.

Riley let out a sigh, and rose to her feet, she crossed the alley and picked up the smaller girl who yelped and pushed away from her in fear. Riley paid her little mind as she carried the child over to the older girl who'd finished pulling her clothes back on. Upon spotting her, the smaller child leaped into her arms, crying out her name as she did.

"Fleur!" She cried, burying her head into her sister's chest.

Riley moved to check on the father, helping the man to his feet as his focus returned. She guided him over to his daughters, and helped him sit beside them, the two girls quickly moved to him, wrapping him in tearful hugs. Riley stared down at the trio for a long moment, taking in their bond, and the love they shared.

Slowly, the father managed to regain his bearings. He quickly sought to check on his daughters.

"Fleur, Gabrielle are you alright?" He questioned them, giving the two a quick once over.

"We are fine papa. Thanks to them." The older girl, Fleur responded, turning her blue eyes towards where Riley now stood over them

The man followed her gaze and laid eyes upon their savior.

"You... You're Null..." The man spoke.

"You look familiar to me. Jean Delacour, right? Chief Auror. I'm assuming these men weren't here by accident." Riley responded from beneath her mask.

Jean Delacour glanced around at all of the corpses, seven in total. He had been following the work of the mysterious Null for a several weeks now. A child-sized bounty hunter who'd collected quite the number of bounties so far. He hadn't known what to make of those stories until now. Here and now, he saw it with his own two eyes, those stories were true. This person, who had to be a child, given their size, had just killed seven men, full grown wizards. They were nearly soaked, head to toe in blood.

"You saved us..." Fleur spoke.

"Of course I did. I wasn't about to let this happen. Who are these guys?" Riley responded, meeting her gaze. She felt her heart lurch at the sight of the girl. She felt for her, only imagining what it could feel like to be in such a situation. There was something about the girl, something in her eyes that made Riley feel like a connection was there. For some reason, she felt her anger blaze. She felt a vengeful side of herself begin to creep up. Something deep within her was stirring and while it didn't feel good, it felt right.

"I think they are members of Frenado Consortium. That's who they said they were. They've been expanding their criminal activities into Paris these last few years, I guess they wished to send a message to my department." Jean responded, still shaken from the attack and his exposure to the Torture Curse.

"The Frenado Consortium, eh? Alright. You three stay safe alright. Get your daughters somewhere away from all this." She told the man, before turning to head off, a name for those responsible for this attack. She felt that dark stirring in her belly grow even more intense. She needed to act, to satiate this hatred and rage growing within her.

Before the man could question her further, she vanished in a burst of speed.

The three Delacour's were left to stare at the empty space where their savior had been, trying to get a grasp of everything that had happened to them.

For several days afterwards, Riley stalked and murdered members of the Frenado Consortium, hunting and killing members of the gang, and leaving their severed heads as warnings for others. Her body county quickly stacked up as she mercilessly murdered members of this magical crime syndicate. She made sure that a lesson was learned about running afoul of her. Getting her attention was not a good idea. By the end of her days long killing streak, her number of confirmed kills had risen into the high forties.

Needless to say, the name Null began to resonate with even greater fear amongst criminals. The only thing that put a halt to her attack on the criminal group was when word reached her that Gringotts had finished transferring her vaults here to France.

She arrived and was met by the bank manager Wrask, who presented her with the keys to her new vaults and led her down to their location. Both vaults, merely due to their ages were considered high priority to the bank and thus kept deep below, guarded by their army, as well as beasts and curses to keep away intruders. The first vault she ventured into was the vault for the Land of Whirlpools, inside it was completely empty, save for a summoning circle that sat in the center of it.

Riley knelt in the center of the circle, and following Madara's instructions, activated it, which teleported her into the actual vault itself.

What she found left her absolutely gob smacked. Cash lined the walls, and mountains of coins littered the vault itself. The money was naturally in Ryo save for the gold, and silver ingots also present. She couldn't even fathom how much money there was. When she returned, Wrask took one look at her face, and grinned toothily, asking her if she'd require an account manager to help her manage the funds. She offered a numb nod and inquired as to the cost of transferring the money into the local currency and moving into her Gringotts vault. He answered that they'd be able to easily handle the currency transfer, but in order to know how much it would cost to move it all over, he'd have to know how much it was. Her response was that it was a lot.

After recovering, she went to investigate the Uzumaki vault. Again, it was an empty vault with a summoning circle in it, to reverse summon her to the actual vault. She used it and was brought to the Uzumaki clan vault. Inside she found money, jewels, gold and silver, but beyond that she found what she was really hoping to see. Scrolls, dozens of them. Antique artworks, paintings, statues, masks, ancient weapons, ornate swords, and spears, and intricately carved bow, it was a lot.

"We'll need to begin investigating what's contained in these scrolls and see what they can teach you." Madara hummed with an unseen smile.

Riley could only grin in excitement. She returned to Wrask and again let him know that she'd need an account manager for both vaults as there was a lot kept within. They worked out having the money transferred and converted to the Bezant which was the coinage used in magical France. She also had some changed to the Euro as well so she could purchase things from muggles as well.

It would take a bit, but they'd have an accurate counting of her wealth sooner, rather than later.

Riley left the bank very pleased, now knowing that she no longer had money concerns. It would later be found that she had access to a combined total of close to two point two billion ryo, which was almost thirty million bezants. In the blink of an eye, she was a millionaire. The sum total of a country's wealth, all in the hands of a nine-year-old. The losses the Hidden Villages suffered in taking down the Uzumaki Clan and their hidden village must have been something spectacular if that amount of wealth was allowed to just remain buried in a vault somewhere. Despite being a small nation, the Uzumaki were very wealthy.

Riley was more than happy with it, and the goblins were happy to get the chance to invest that money and use it to make even more money. With accounts and vaults that big, she wasn't just given an account manager, but an entire team of goblins worked on investing a small portion of that money in order to maximize returns. Riley paid them handsomely for this, and they also received a percentage of what was earned on the profits of investments, so they were encouraged to make the best investments they could. It would quickly become a sought-after position within the bank that many goblins vied for.

After getting her accounts and money situation in order, Riley began devoting her time to studying the scrolls found within the Uzumaki vault. She was eager to learn what they had to offer. Many of the scrolls contained knowledge about the clan's secret sealing jutsus, though there were some scrolls that also had ninjutsu techniques as well. Riley was happy to dive into it all.

A treasure trove of information, and with the knowledge of both Madara and Kurama to aid her in her studies, Riley was able to quickly dive into it.

-Six Months Later-

Time began to blur together as Riley spent day-in and day-out learning and growing her skills. There were so many scrolls within the Uzumaki vault and no sense of categorization that she could follow, Madara explained to her that the nature of the Clan's organizing came from the mind of the Clan leader. It was meant as added security so that the true treasures were hidden somewhere in the mass. What went where, and what meant what, was all kept in the mind of the Clan Leader, anyone else would just be lost. Madara was able to help her find a few gems here and there, because he knew his wife so well, but for the most part, Riley was left with checking every scroll to see what it contained. Eventually she developed a system. She would take five scrolls and read what was one of them. She'd then determine if she currently had the ability to begin learning what was held in them. If not, she would set them aside for later, but if so, then she would add them to small pile. Once she had five scrolls in total, she'd organize them into what seemed more important to learn first. She'd learn all of it before moving on, but she'd start with what she felt was more important.

Firstly, came Ninjutsu. The Uzumaki were highly proficient in Water and Lightning Style Jutsu, so that was what a majority of the Ninjutsu based scrolls contained. She found and learned a number of Water and Lightning style techniques. These came to her easily, and she had Madara to help her understand the techniques and learn them quickly. The Sealing Jutsu, these were hit or miss. Some of them were techniques that Kushina knew, in which case Kurama could help explain them to her, to give her a better grasp of them. Those that Kushina didn't know, Riley had to more or less learn on her own. Still, sealing was in her blood, and she quickly found she had a knack for it. Practicing drawing seal characters became a regular exercise for Riley so she could hone her craft and draw out seals with greater speed and precision.

She grew proficient in it, developing greater and greater skill until she felt the brush settling more and more comfortably in her hand.

While exploring the Uzumaki vault she came upon two artifacts of interest, one was Madara's old armor from the founding of Konoha, it was robust and sturdy, and with a sizing charm added to it, she could easily use it to help her avoid injury. It was also useful in helping her to build muscle mass since it was reasonably heavy. So, she took it to get a sizing charm placed on it, and then began practicing while wearing the armor. The second object she found of interest, was her grandmother's old headband. A crimson red cloth, with the standard steel, the Uzumaki spiral crest, the symbol of both the clan and Uzushio inscribed upon the headband. Madara explained to her that Kaguya had placed the headband in the vault after she retired from active Shinobi life. At one point Kaguya had been the leader of the Uzumaki clan, the Kage of Uzushio, and the Daimyo of the Land of Whirlpools, and she held down all three jobs simultaneously for decades. She set aside the role of Kage after her son was born and passed it on to another, while maintaining her role as Daimyo and head of the Uzumaki Clan. It was a similar situation for Madara with his armor, after becoming a father, he set aside the armor and tried to live a more peaceful life. That ultimately didn't pan out.

As the Leader of the Uzumaki Clan now, as well as the heir to the Uchiha Clan, it was her right to wear both. When she asked him about being the heir to the Uchiha he explained that the leadership of the clan passed to Izuna's children after Madara left the village. Madara may have walked away, but he never cast aside the name Uchiha. By all rights, the clan had broken in two, creating two branches. The main line still continued through Minato, Riley, and Naruko. Itachi and Sasuke were all that remained of the Branch Family. Were he still alive, he'd actively declare her his heir, though he suspected since Minato didn't know of their relation and thus couldn't claim the title, that Riley, being his eldest child, could declare herself the head of the Main Branch of the Uchiha, and magic would accept her claim. She wouldn't gain any real assets, properties, or wealth, as most of what the Uchiha had was claimed by the branch family, but she'd still be recognized as the official head of Madara's line of the Uchiha clan.

Riley was silent for several long moments as she thought on that. Finally, she simply shrugged and spoke the words.

"I Riley Uzumaki Uchiha, claim lordship over the Uchiha clan." Much like before, nothing obvious happened, but several hours later she received an owl from Gringotts informing her that her status had just been updated and she technically held a new lordship. So, she returned to the bank and discussed things with her account manager who informed her that she'd become the recognized Lord of the Uchiha clan. He explained to her what she already knew but put it into the proper terms from the banks point of view. There were technically two Uchiha clans. There was the Uchiha Clan, which she was now the head of, and there was the Uchiha Clan of Konohagakure, which Itachi was the head of. Due to the nature of their separation, they were recognized as sibling clans, or as Madara had described it, a main branch that still followed the unbroken line, and the side branch which remained behind after Madara walked away from them.

After confirming what she already knew, they worked out what she wanted to do. She had a new vault established, one for the Uchiha clan of her lineage, she then had some money transferred from the Uzumaki vault, with directions placed with the new account manager to begin working on growing that money through investments.

By taking on the title of head of the Uzumaki and Uchiha clans, Riley began to form her life's mission. It was rough, a real open-ended goal, but her desire began to reshape itself, specifically surrounding the Uzumaki clan, as the salvation of the Uchiha clan she mostly conceded to Itachi and Sasuke, her desire surrounding the Uchiha was to honor her grandfather and Shisui. To carry the name Uchiha and make sure that when people heard it, they understood the greatness attached to it. For the Uzumaki she sought a return to their former greatness. A clan that was once so powerful that four of the five hidden villages united to take it down. She wished for the name Uzumaki to once more be feared and respected across the world. She also felt a desire to repay those four hidden villages for what they'd done to her grandmother, and for being ultimately responsible for her own father growing up in Konoha, rather than with his parents, which likely resulted in him being the monumental scumbag that he was today.

Carrying this realization she somewhat rued her decision to give the Byakugan to Kumo. Had she known all of this ahead of time, and been in this state of mind, she wouldn't have aided what she was starting to consider her enemy.

Ultimately, in her heart of hearts, she started to dream of the lost village restored. The more Madara told her about its greatness and beauty, the more she wanted to remake it. Uzushio was the oldest Hidden Village in the world. It was a hidden village long before Hashirama and Madara designed the concept and built Konoha. It may not have recognized itself as such, but the village of the Uzumaki had always been what it was, stretching back for centuries. More of a city, than a village, it's high walls, and white marble buildings made it look like a city out of time. Something majestic and grand. Were it not for the Uzumaki's desire to focus on themselves and stay out of worldly politics, Madara had no doubt that they could have easily become a superpower amongst the Great Nations.

Riley admired his stories, and began to dream of it, to one day see that village restored, and the name of the Uzumaki carved into the hearts of every magical being on the planet.

It was Kurama who pointed out that if she sought to achieve that goal in her lifetime, she'd need to find other Uzumaki survivors, and probably find a way to reproduce with women. He knew it was possible due to the supposed 'sex magic' that Lily was aware of, he was sure someone out there had figured out same sex reproduction using magic, and she'd need it in order to achieve that greatness, as the clan would need numbers, and Riley couldn't spend most of her life pregnant if she sought to make all of her dreams come true.

The idea was an embarrassing one, but she didn't shy away from it. She knew he was right, and though a part of her did wonder what being a mother would be like, carrying her own child, in her own womb, she recognized that in order for her dreams to be realized in her lifetime she'd need a wife, probably more than one wife. If she sought to restore the clan, she'd either need to find some magic that involved same-sex reproduction, or used some kind of magic that would transform her sex into that of a male. Either way, she knew the answer was out there.

With a growing ambition she threw herself back into her training, set on becoming the greatest she could be, no the greatest there ever was.

After spending nearly, a month training herself into the ground she returned to her hunts, once more targeting the Consortium. She tracked its operation across the planet, using her skills as a Kunoichi to gather intel and locate prime targets. Across Europe and into Asia, she hunted them doing everything in her power to make the group's existence a living hell. Why? Because in her heart of hearts she felt they deserved it. All the pain and suffering she brought onto them, she felt they deserved every ounce of it, and whenever she tried to rationalize the 'why?' behind it, the answer came in those shimmering blue eyes staring up at her. A face she thought on often. That girl, the hope and pain mixed in her eyes as she stared up at her masked savior. It stuck with Riley, an image plastered into her mind that fueled this mission.

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Her travels took her far, even all the way out to Japan, where another branch of the Consortium had established itself. She began stalking its members, developing a kill list as she prepared for the night of blood. Japan was the location for the entryway back into the Elemental Nations, so she was hesitant to be here. Still, she was dedicated to killing off as many members of the Consortium as possible, so she planned on simply being discreet. So, she'd track them all first and wipe them all out in a single night before retreating from the country.

The first night, after she'd finished her initial stakeout, she retreated to a nearby forest. The sun was just starting to set, and she gotten some food to eat before she found a nice tree to sleep in. Japan reminded her a lot of the Elemental Nations; they spoke the same language and much of the architecture was of a similar style. That wasn't really a comforting thought though, as the idea of Shinobi appearing out of nowhere to attack her, kept her on edge. She picked at her food for a bit while sitting up in a tree, over an old shrine, the sky began to darken and fill with clouds and it soon began raining, so she took her food and moved inside of the small shrine. She intended to hide up in the rafters out of sight of anyone who could wander by but inside she found someone already there.

Tucked into a corner, knees pulled to her chest, half-asleep was a girl around her age. This girl had bright, pinkish-red hair, though her head was covered by a beanie. She was dressed in an oversized sweatshirt, and a long pair of pants that were a size or two too large for her, tied off by a belt. When their eyes met, Riley could see that they were a deep crimson red.

She sensed malice from the girl, though that quickly bled away to uncertainty and fear. Riley still wore her mask and robes, and no doubt appeared concerning to the young girl.

"Riley, be careful with that girl. She's a half-demon." Kurama spoke up.

"A half-demon? How can you tell?" Riley replied.

"I sense her demonic energy, activate you Sharingan and you'll be able to see it. She had demonic magic flowing within her." Kurama replied. Riley did as suggested and activated her Sharingan. Not only did she see blood red magic eking off of the girl but surrounding her and slowly reaching out towards Riley was nearly a dozen invisible arms.

"What are those?" Riley wondered, taking a step back. The girl seemed to react as she noticed Riley staring out into the open air, and actively retreating from her invisible arms.

"You can see them?" The girl spoke up, in a soft, low voice.

"Yeah. I'm not here to hurt you. I was just seeking shelter from the rain." Riley responded turning her gaze back to the girl, once more allowing her eyes to meet. This time the girl was able to see the Sharingan now present in Riley's eyes causing her to take in a breath and begin to pull herself up.

The girl was around Riley's height and just from her appearance, Riley could tell she was likely homeless. This outfit seemed roughly thrown together. Something to keep her warm, but these obviously weren't clothes someone had intentionally bought her.

The girl stared Riley down, her eyes surprisingly intense for a girl her age, though they briefly flickered to the food Riley carried in her hand. The second time this happened, Riley glanced down at it, and then held it up.

"You want this? Here, you can have it." She offered the food to her.

The girl blinked at her and was about to respond when her stomach growled loudly. The noise was loud enough for Riley to hear over the rain outside, which caused her to let out a light chuckle. The girl blushed at that, embarrassed by her body's reaction.

Riley set the food down and took several steps back. The girl watched her the whole way, only advancing when Riley stopped moving. She took a few steps forward and one of the invisible arms grabbed hold of the food and lifted it to the girl's hands.

"So, they can only stretch so far." Riley recognized. Despite how many arms there was floating around this girl, all seemingly emerging from her back, they had a range of about two meters. They seemed to be able to stretch and elongate within that range but couldn't extend past it.

The girl continued to watch her as she retreated back to the corner she'd been tucked into. She slumped back to the ground and after a final cautious glance she dug into the food. She wasn't able to help herself and scarfed down the half-eaten meal with a fervor that Riley recognized all too well. She knew what it was like to be hungry.

It was here again, that stirring in her gut. It was stronger though, that face, seeing this girl in pain, and alone, Riley felt it resonate within her, all the way down to her core. Despite Kurama's warning to be cautious, there was something so distinctly human about this girl, and Riley wanted to help her.

"Did you get stuck out here? Are you all by yourself?" Riley asked her.

"What does it matter to you?" The girl asked.

"I just want to know if I leave if you'll be alright." Riley responded, causing the girl to lift her gaze to her.

"Why do you care?" The girl asked with suspicion.

"I know what it's like to be alone. To be forgotten and abandoned." Riley replied, staring back at her.

The girl looked like wanted to snap a response but stopped herself when she again met Riley's gaze and saw the Sharingan therein.

"Don't concern yourself with me, I'll be fine. Once this storm has passed, I'll be on my way." The girl replied, setting the empty food carton aside.

"Okay." Riley nodded. She sat across from the girl on the opposite side of the shrine. The two sat in silence for several long moments before the girl spoke again.

"Why are you dressed like that?" She inquired.

"To hide my face. Same reason you wear a hat." Riley replied causing the girl to blink in surprise, her hands shooting up to her cap to the sides of her head.

"How...?" The girl began.

"My eyes can see those invisible arms of yours and the energy that makes them up. I can see the energy of your body too. A lot of energy is passed into the sides of your head, someplace outside of your skull. So I'm guessing you wear that hat to hide whatever that is." Riley explained to her. The girl blinked several more times, before letting out a noise, almost like a grunt. After several long moments she pulled the cap from her head, revealing two bone-like protrusions coming from the sides of her head, pointed at an upward angle. They almost looked like cat-ears, just made of bone instead.

"Nothing to say?" The girl questioned after Riley took a moment to examine her.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. They're cool though." Riley offered in response.

"They're not cool. They mean I'm a freak." The girl responded darkly.

"No, they mean you're not normal, but who wants to be normal. Normal people are overrated." Riley countered.

"You're just saying that. You don't actually believe it." The girl threw back at her, ruefully.

"My uncle in all but blood is a werewolf, and I think he's awesome." Riley again countered, causing the girl to blink in surprise.

"We-werewolf?" She stuttered in response.

"Yeah, ya know, turns into a wolf-man on the full moon, that sort of deal. I've seen plenty of people who aren't normal, but it's never bothered me. Normal is overrated." Riley shrugged. "Heck the two people I'm closed to are the disembodied voice of my grandfather and the actual Nine-Tailed Demon Fox." She added in thought, a cheeky grin under her mask.

"You... seem to know a lot about this stuff." The girl noted.

"It's magic. I was raised by people with magic, that's how I know. Your power is some kind of magic too. Not any I'm familiar with, but still magic." Riley explained to her.

"Magic? This is magic?" The girl blinked, her eyes focused on several of the invisible arms, revealing her own ability to see them.

"My name is Riley, what's yours?" Riley inquired.

The girl focused her gaze onto Riley and stared at her for several long moments, it looked like she was struggling with herself, fighting off the urge to resist. Finally, she uttered a word. "Kaede."

"Kaede. Nice to meet you, Kaede." Riley greeted her, reaching up to remove her mask as a sign of respect.

The girl blinked once more at the sight of her, taking in Riley's appearance.

"So Kaede, do you mind if I stick around for a bit, at least until the storm has passed?" Riley asked her.

"You're asking me?" Kaede responded.

"You were here first." Riley shrugged.

"You can stay." Kaede conceded after a moment of thought.

Silence held between them for several long moments, as Kaede kept her eyes on Riley, but they slowly started to droop. She tried to stay awake but eventually the girl fell asleep. Once she was out, Riley rose to her feet and crossed the distance between them. She removed her cloak and draped it over the sleeping girl so she could stay warm. She then created a Shadow Clone to watch over her and make sure no one else stumbled across this shrine, once done, she left the shrine and headed down towards the nearby town.

It took her a bit to track down all the things she needed, but she eventually got everything. A backpack, some clothes, some toiletries, and a bunch of nutritious food, all that she could stuff into the backpack. She then headed back to the shrine and left the backpack next to the sleeping girl. She then returned to her spot on the opposite side of the shrine and allowed herself to fall into the land of dreams.

She awoke at daybreak; around the same time, she heard Kaede began to stir. The girl opened her eyes and blinked several times. Riley was already up and standing at the entrance to the shrine, watching the sun rise.

Kaede took a moment as she felt an unfamiliar warmth. She took notice of the cloak draped around her and realized that it was Riley's. She went to move but her leg accidently brushed the backpack sitting next to her, drawing her attention to it.

"That's for you. I went out and got you some things while you were asleep." Riley said to her.

Kaede stared up at her for a long moment before pulling over the backpack and opening it. When she saw what was inside, she felt all of the breath leave her. Tears started to fill her eyes, but she quickly looked away to hide them and wipe them away.

"Why?" She questioned pushing the backpack aside and rising to her feet.

Riley turned to face her, sensing that the girl was unused to any sort of genuine kindness.

"WHY ARE YOU BEING SO NICE TO ME! YOU DON'T KNOW ME! I'VE HURT PEOPLE FOR PRETENDING TO CARE! WHAT DO YOU WANT?" Kaede roared at her, tossing Riley's cloak at her feet.

"I told you last night. I get it. I wish more than anything that I had someone who cared enough to do something. Those instances were few and far between, but they meant the world to me. I know this won't fix your problems, but maybe it can make your life a little better, at least for a bit. Maybe it helps you make it, and get to a better place, and that would be worth it for me. I know what it's like to think something is wrong with you, to be hated for something outside of your control. I get it. People hated me all my life. They wanted to kill me for something I had nothing to do with. I hurt them for trying to hurt me. Believe me Kaede, I get it. You're not a monster. You're just a person." Riley said to her, meeting her gaze for several long moments. Kaede turned her head away, her body shaking as she took in Riley's words.

"I hurt the last person who was kind to me. What I did was unforgiveable. I don't deserve your kindness. Or anyone's. I am a monster, Riley. I am." Kaede responded, bitter pain in her voice. Tears spilled out of her eyes, and she grit her teeth in anger.

A warmth enveloped her, as he felt Riley wrap her in a hug.

"You're not a monster Kaede. You feel guilt, don't you. You regret what you did. You hate yourself for it. Monsters don't feel guilty. They don't feel bad for the things they've done. You hurt someone who was nice to you, and you feel terrible for it, that doesn't make you a monster." Riley reassured her, doing what she felt she'd have wanted someone to do or say to her when she felt alone, and at rock bottom.

Kaede was silent. She shook as she fought to stop the tears from fall from her eyes.

"Hey... don't worry so much. I'll be your friend. Look, I'm only staying here for a week or two, but when I leave to go back to Europe, why don't you come with me?" Riley asked her, pulling back to allow Kaede to meet her gaze. She stared at her for many long moments, as a smile slowly spread across her face.

"I-I'd like that. I'm not sure if I can go, but I'll think about it." Kaede whispered in response. Riley smiled and pulled her back into a hug, happy to have a new friend.

It was her first since Shisui and Itachi, and she intended to hold this one close and make sure it lasted.

For the rest of the day, Riley hung around Kaede. She used her money to rent them a hotel room to stay at for a few days. They talked about a lot of things, but mostly they just spent time with one another. Riley got to explain magic to Kaede and even showed her a bit of it. She didn't reveal everything about herself, but then again, neither did Kaede. The two were still getting to know one another, but it felt good to have a friend.

While Riley spent most of her time with Kaede, she did send Clones to continued gathering intel on her targets.

Kaede really seemed to come out of her shell as the two spent time together. She even requested they go to the zoo. It was an ask, made so hesitantly, though Riley didn't know why. Still, Riley took her. Riley brought up if Kaede would come with her when she left, and though it seemed that she wanted too, something seemed to be keeping Kaede here, so she was hesitant to accept, though it was obvious she appreciated Riley's continued offers.

Eventually Riley was curious enough to ask why Kaede wanted to stay in this place and admitted that she didn't want to stay here, but she felt she had to. The person that she had hurt, they met near this place. She stayed around hoping to see him again so she could one day atone. She knew it was stupid, a fool's hope, but it was why she wanted to stay.

Riley accepted that answer. Kaede already knew it was foolish, but it's what drove her on, kept her going. It was just one more thing that assured her that Kaede was a good person deep down. Troubled as she was, she was a good person.

Days bled together, and on the last night, Riley sat with Kaede before bedtime.

"Tomorrow is my last day here. You still haven't given me your answer, and I won't make you. I've paid for this Hotel Room for three more days, and I put some money in the backpack for you to use. If you decide to come with me, meet me at the place where we first met. If not, then I'll come back and see you when I can. This isn't goodbye. Okay. I won't be mad if you decide to stay, we'll still be friends, okay." Riley explained to her.

Kaede was quiet as she listened. She offered a small nod and gave Riley a small smile. She deeply appreciated Riley's offer and had already decided to join her. She just couldn't find the words right now. Still, actions were louder than words, so she'd go to that place, and she'd leave with her new friend. There was still so much mystery between them, but Kaede had come to care for her new friend. She loved her and wanted to stay with her.

"Riley... this has been the best week of my life." Kaede managed to get out, blushing as she did.

Riley gifted her a big smile in response, happy that she was happy, and hoping that meant that Kaede would join her when she left so the two could continue growing their friendship.

They shared a hug, and once Kaede had fallen asleep, Riley left the hotel and carried out her attack on the Consortium. All throughout the night, she slaughtered the members of this branch, stalking them each to meeting places or their homes.

It was late into the morning, when she cut the throat of the final man, discarding his body without care. Her job here was done, and she could finally leave this place behind. She didn't like being this close to where Shinobi operated. This side of the entranceway into the Elemental Nations was also guarded by ninja, and she didn't know how often they ventured away from it, so she wanted to get clear of them as soon as possible.

She went to the hotel room to check if Kaede was still there but found it empty. Kaede was gone, but so was the backpack. So, Riley headed out of town up to the Shrine to wait and see if her friend came to join her.

Hours passed. The more time passed, the more Riley warred with herself. She started to conclude that Kaede had decided to stay, but she didn't want to leave, just in case.

So, she left a clone at the Shrine and went back to town to check on the hotel to see if Kaede was there or not. She wasn't. There was no sign of her.

"Seems she's made her choice, my dear." Madara hummed.

"Yeah. I shouldn't make this harder on myself." Riley admitted, feeling down, but doing her best to accept it. She went back to the shrine and waited for the remainder of the day for any sign of Kaede. Past midnight she finally allowed herself to concede that her friend had chosen to stay. Taking in a breath and allowed herself to accept it, she promised herself she'd come back to Japan once she no longer worried about the Shinobi presence, and she'd reunite with her friend.

As one final act, she left a note behind, tucked into the corner where Kaede had been sleeping that first night, it was a letter thanking Kaede for her friendship and if she ever changed her mind to send her a letter directed to the Head of the Uzumaki family, and to address the letter to Gringotts and they'd make sure it got to her. Riley knew enough to know that most magical communities had ways of intercepting mail like that, even ones served through muggle means, so the bank would get it, and it would work it's way to Riley's account manager.

And if she still wanted to stay, she could still send letters to Riley, just to stay in touch.

Riley passed through the town one final time, hoping to at least catch a glance of her friend, but quickly decided to leave when she took notice of all the cops around. They'd no doubt discovered the bodies of her kills the previous night and were out in force. That of course meant that magical law enforcement would also be out in force to clean up the mess and work to preserve the Statute of Secrecy.

So, with a heavy sigh, Riley departed, heading to India to begin her attack. She hoped that someday soon, she'd be strong enough to return to these lands without fear of the consequences, and maybe by then, Kaede will have found her atonement. She wished her friend the best of luck in that regards, hoping beyond hope that she'd get it. In the pit of her stomach, she felt an unsettling movement. She knew she wanted to stay and find Kaede and stick with her. She knew that's what she wanted, and she knew in order to become stronger and achieve her goals for the future, she had to be far away from the dangers of the Elemental Nations, so despite the feeling in her gut, she knew she had to leave.

So, she left with a final prayer for her friend's safety and salvation, and a promise to return one day. She looked forward to it, and to seeing that incredible smile once more.

Far from the city, moving away from it, Kaede sat alone in a train car. A heavy and yet resolved depression hung over her. She had been leaving the hotel when they showed up. Police who'd come looking for her. She knew why they were here. It was something she kept hidden from Riley. She'd told her friend that she'd hurt people, but that was far from the truth. No, she'd killed them. She'd killed a lot of people. The only reason she'd been sleeping in that shrine was because the police had found the bodies of her latest victims in their home where she'd been living. She was a killer.

Seeing those police officers, she was reminded of all the terrible things she'd done and how she didn't deserve kindness because of it. Riley was the first person that the little voice inside her head actually encouraged her to be with. A voice that hated humans and encouraged her to distrust and hate them. With Riley it spoke differently, said things that made her blush, made her see Riley in a different way, a way that made her heart flutter and her body tingle in foreign ways. She liked those feelings, she liked being around Riley, but she couldn't stay with her. She was being hunted.

A small smile touched at her lips. There wasn't likely any atonement to be found for a monster like her, but she could protect her friend. The best way to protect Riley was to stay away from her. She hoped to see her again one day, but for now she needed to keep her distance. Riley had said that she was living in France... half-way around the world. One day, Kaede would go to her. She'd find her friend and be with her, and all those things the voice whispered about, she and Riley could do them, and be happy. For now, though, she needed to leave.

So, with a final sigh, she rested her head against the window of the train, watching the countryside roll by. In her mind's eye, she saw that smile and felt her heart flutter. She closed her eyes and basked in the warmth of that smile, ready for the day she saw it again.

-Several Months Later-

Riley was approaching her tenth birthday. Over the last few months, she concluded her assault on the Consortium having devastated their operations across the world, continued her training, continued her work as a bounty hunter, and as a side hustle she turned her attention to hunting down gangs of criminals in the magical underworld. The name Null became synonymous with dread. You could always tell who had a criminal background because of how unnerved they became around kids they didn't know. Kids, little people, gnomes, goblins, all were considered as a possibility for the figure behind the mask, but no one knew for certain. Riley found it humorous.

Her powers continued to grow, as she learned more and more from the Uzumaki vaults, as well as from Madara and Kurama. Madara began teaching her his own jutsu, and Kurama even used Kushina's memories to help her begin learning the Rasengan. Kushina had helped Minato develop the technique based off of an ability of Kurama's, so she was integral to its creation. She couldn't perform it, but she knew how it was made, knew the steps that Minato had taken to develop it, so Riley followed after them. It took her three months before she finally managed to create her first stable Rasengan but when she did, she felt an overwhelming sense of pride.

Her ocular powers continued to grow, giving her a greater ease at performing the abilities that lay within her eyes. It was getting easier to replicate the feats that she'd performed against Obito without the need for Kurama's help. On that note, Kurama was progressing well in his recovery. The unknown demonic entity within her that was healing him, continued to perform the act, rebuilding Kurama's magical network. It would still be a long time before he was back to full power, but there was noteworthy progress, and that's all Kurama cared about.

The more she grew, the more she styled herself after her grandfather. Riley had hair that reached down to the middle of her back, and when not wearing her mask, she let it hang down. Her bangs also grew longer, falling over one of her eyes on many an occasion. A little mini-Madara Kurama liked to tease.

Her skills as a warrior were remarkable with Kurama noting that she was a better fighter now than any Chuunin, and could probably easily best all but the most elite Jonin. At almost ten years old, that was a testament to her incredible abilities and ever-growing skill. She got plenty of practice in using her skills against those criminals she targeted. Her kill count was now closer to one-hundred-and-fifty, a body count that surpassed what Madara held at that age by a long shot.

Every battle, every injury, it made Riley stronger. It taught her more, it helped her understand herself, and her enemies. She began to raid the homes of her targets, stealing items of value, things she could use, or sell for a profit. If she was targeting criminals, she'd hunt for information so that she could use it in further attacks. There were acts of retaliation. Ambushes here and there. That was where powers like Kamui were lifesaving. It taught Riley caution, and patience. It taught her deception and trickery. She was always on guard, always acting under the guise of her alter-ego of Null. Null was absent affiliation. A black cloak with red armor underneath, her grandmother's headband she wore beneath her red mask with black flames on it. No distinguishing symbols that could be spotted on her disguise to give a clue as to who she was. The only two clues as to what she was, was the mask, and the red Shinobi-Battle Armor. This led some, a few individuals who were the more worldly sort to begin to understand what they were dealing with. A Shinobi.

The idea would be considered ludicrous by some, most people didn't even know what a Shinobi was, of those that did, most considered them a myth. Only a few knew the truth, knew that they were real, yet even these found the idea of Null being a shinobi to be impossible. First off, Shinobi never left their lands. They didn't come out into the magical or mundane world, they simply didn't and even if they did, Null would still be a child, how could a child, Shinobi or not, be able to do all of this.

One man though, knew quite a bit about Shinobi, and when he heard about Null an idea began forming in his mind. It took months to track down the bounty offices this unknown hunter usually went to, but once he did, he began to stake them out until one day, he spotted the hooded figure entering into the office.

He waited outside, watching patiently. Having seen her size, he felt his heart race. As she left, he followed after from a distance, knowing how dangerous this move was, but he had to take the risk, he had to know if it was her.

He followed her a bit down the street, and into a dark alley, when he turned the corner to follow her into it, he found the alley empty, and the pressure of a blade pressed against his spine.

"Who are you? Why are you following me?" Came a muffled voice from beneath the mask.

A small smile touched at his lips as he became more certain than ever.

"I'm just looking for someone. My niece has been missing for some time, and I think... I've finally found her." Remus Lupin spoke as he slowly turned to face the small, hooded figure. He saw her take a step back as her eyes fell upon him.

"Remus?" Came his name from her lips.

His smile grew, and in an instant, she flew into him, engulfing him a tight hug.

"When I'd heard of the possibility of a shinobi running around over here in Europe, I had a hunch on who it might be. I had to come and see for myself. I'm glad to finally find you." Remus said to her, returning the hug as he did.

"Remus... does anyone know you're here? What you're looking for?" Riley asked him as she slowly separated from him, lifting her gaze to meet with his.

"No. They're all still chasing leads in the Elemental Nations. As far as anyone knows I simply chose to return home." Remus responded, causing Riley to let out a sigh of relief.

"I see. That's good." Riley stated.

"Kakashi told me about what happened, about why you left. How are you? How have you been?" Remus asked her, kneeling down so that he was eye level with her.

"Surviving. I'm actually doing quite well for myself." Riley responded with a shrug.

"So I've heard. Made quite the name for yourself." He hummed, and then let out a chuckle.

"Come on, let's get off the street and go talk. It's not safe for me to be out and about looking like this. Criminals like to track my movements and keep an eye on me." Riley said to him. Remus nodded in understanding and followed after her. She led him to a quiet place just outside of the town they were in, so they could talk.

Once they reached a place, Riley took a seat and removed her mask, lowering her hood as she did.

Remus let out a chuckle upon seeing her.

"You've grown." He noted.

"And you're still raggedy looking Remus." She threw back at him as a good-natured jibe.

He smirked at that, his hands falling into his pockets. He stared at her for a good long while before finally speaking. "How are you, really?"

Riley stared back for several seconds before she responded. "I'm alright. It's a bit lonely, but I'm free. I'm free to live how I want too. No one around to tell me how to live or what to do. No one to forget me or ignore me when they're supposed to care. It's pleasant. As pleasant as it can be for someone like me." Riley answered him honestly.

"Narumi... I can't imagine how you must feel. I'm just happy you're doing alright." Remus offered to her.

"Not Narumi. I gave up that name. My name is Riley now. Riley Uzumaki-Uchiha." Riley informed him, causing him to blink curiously and digest that information.

"Well, I suppose I don't need to wonder why you changed your name, but why Uzumaki-Uchiha?" Remus asked her.

"After my grandparents. The Fourth's parents. I know who they are. One is an Uzumaki, the other an Uchiha." Riley answered him, again causing him to blink in surprise as he took that in.

"I'm sure there's a story there." Remus mused as he approached her and sat beside her.

"There is, a bit of a long story I'm afraid." She spoke.

"Well, I'd love to hear it, and though I know you don't need it, I plan on sticking around if you'll have me. I know you can take care of yourself, but it wouldn't be right to leave you alone. So, I'll be around, if you want to talk, or just want someone to spend time with." Remus offered to her, causing a smile to form and spread across her face.

"Thanks Remus, I really appreciate that. I'd love to have you around." She replied.

The next few weeks were a bit strange as she invited Remus to come and stay with her at her apartment in Paris. She had two rooms, so there was plenty of space for him. She was overjoyed to have him back, but there was a certain degree of caution from her. As happy as she was to have her uncle in all but blood around, she kept quiet about a lot of things, and Remus could tell she was being careful with what she said.

This wasn't necessarily born of a distrust for him, but rather a general need for secrecy. She kept things to herself and wasn't overly talkative about personal issues.

From Remus she learned a lot about what had happened after she left.

When the bodies were discovered and the blame placed on her, everyone and their mother came out of the woodwork to proclaim how they'd always knew she was trouble, and not a single person spoke out against the accusation. Those with doubts, like himself, like Kakashi, like the Ichirakus were drown out by the roar of condemnation and demands for retribution for the murders of good loyal members of the Hidden Leaf. Then more bodies began to stack up, and the calls grew louder. Minato and Lily seemed resigned to hunting her down. Lily openly spoke of her regret surrounding Riley, and how she always knew she'd end up being trouble. The only person who was distinctly quiet about the situation was Naruko. On the outside she remained her boisterous colorful self, in private she was becoming more like Riley. Quiet, and thoughtful. Remus had seen it a few times, though he noted how Naruko grew angry whenever Riley was brought up, and she openly declared her intention to bring her sister back to the village one day. It became her driving force in the academy which as far as Remus knew she was getting top marks in.

Riley wasn't overly thrilled hearing all of this, but she could do nothing to change it. Remus noted the distinct lack of sadness and pain in Riley's eyes, instead he saw only anger. She'd grown a lot since departing from the village, and it showed in her heightened maturity. Despite not belonging to any village or association, she had certainly become a shinobi in her own right.

Despite the growing pains, the two were happy to be together again.

Eventually the time would come when Remus had to deal with his furry little problem. The man was a werewolf, so on the night of the full moon he had to go away from the city and find a place to keep himself contained. Riley went with him and offered to stand guard to make sure nothing happened which Remus tentatively accepted.

-Four hours later-

Riley could hear the hellish growling and snarling coming from within the shack. She heard the rattling of chains and violent movement from the wolf trapped inside.

"Gods if this keeps up, he's gonna really hurt himself." Riley groaned to herself.

"Got a plan to make it stop? A cure for lycanthropy perhaps?" Madara mused.

Riley sat for a moment, before an idea came to her, she hopped down from the tree she was in and threw open the barred door to find the towering wolf-like creature chained inside. Upon seeing her, the wolf lunged at her, barely making it halfway across the cabin before its chains pulled taught. With the wolf's attention, Riley's Sharingan blazed to life, and she locked eyes with it.

"Sleep." Riley commanded, putting the wolf under an illusion and placing it into a dream filled sleep. She made sure he dreamed of deer and elk, all the tasty food he could want.

The wolf remained restless as it slept but ultimately didn't awaken. Come morning, Remus transformed back into himself, and a few hours later, began to stir.

Remus awoke on hard floor of the cabin, still chained up as he had been.

"Feeling alright there Remus?" He heard a familiar voice say from nearby.

Remus looked up to see Riley sitting on the old dusty couch on the far side of the room.

"Riley... how?" Remus managed to say as he winced at the sunlight peeking in through the cabin blinds.

"Used an illusion to knock you unconscious. Seemed to work at keeping the wolf asleep, how do you feel?" Riley replied as she tossed his wand and a wool cloak to him. Remus used his wand to undo the chains and transfigured the cloak into his normal outfit.

"I actually feel far better than I normally do. Not nearly as exhausted." Remus said to her, earning a nod from Riley.

"Good. Well since that worked than I can knock you out every time you transform so you don't have to worry about any accidents." She offered to him.

"I-I appreciate that, Riley. I know that stunning spells don't work on werewolves, but I've never thought to try Genjutsu." Remus said.

"Whelp, like I said, it worked, and if you feel better than normal, I say we stick with it. Now come on, I'm sure you're hungry. I certainly am." She offered to him, he offered a hum of agreement and joined after her.

It wasn't long after this that Remus began teaching Riley more about performing magic. She had taken to using wands she stole off of the witches and wizards she'd killed, looking for one that worked best for her. Having Remus to actually teach her meant that she was actually able to begin learning some of the finer points of magic, like wand movement. After learning of her intention to go to Hogwarts when she turned Eleven, Remus suggested they visit Ollivanders to find a wand suited to her. So that was added to the list of things to do down the line, but for now they stuck to learning with stolen wands.

Another interesting thing that occurred was that she stumbled upon her ability to use Wood Style. She had been practicing a water and earth combination technique, when she botched it, and it accidentally came out as Wood Style.

The act had surprised the hell out of her, and Remus when he'd seen her do it.

After overcoming his own surprise Madara applauded her at awakening the power. Being a direct descendant of Hashirama, she was the only one of his line known to possess the legendary Wood Style.

Madara began teaching her how to use Wood Style based off of the techniques and abilities he'd copied from Hashirama during their time fighting one another all those years ago.

Eventually Madara would even get around to clearing up the nature of his relationship with Hashirama, and how he'd survived his supposed death at the Final Valley. Madara explained that Hashirama had given him some of his cells, when he was dying in the Valley of the End, in order to heal him. According to him, the story of his death at the Valley, was actually a lie told by Hashirama so that Madara could leave and live in peace. Yes, the two did have a legendary battle that created the valley itself, but it was not a battle to settle old grudges the two just wanted to fight again, test themselves at their best, without an audience or spectators to judge the end result. They both fought at their best, and in the end Hashirama won.

Apparently Madara had received the ability to use Wood style after Hashirama's transfusion. So not only could she learn about techniques from the original practitioner but from some abilities that Madara had created as well.

Learning to use Wood Style became a passion for Riley as she dreamed of one day surpassing her grandparents. Madara, Kaguya, Mito, and even Hashirama himself.

Madara and Kurama both encouraged her in this pursuit, her passion for learning and overcoming her limits driving her onwards.

Aside from magic, and Wood Style her other primary area of study was learning more about biology and the human body from Madara. That included the healing jutsu that he knew, allowing her to learn how to heal injuries through the use of the Mystical Palm Technique.

It was several months after meeting with Remus again when Riley arrived to drop off a bounty at the offices. The man at the desk, who'd worked there for years and knew her, told her that someone had left a letter for her.

She took the letter with her and after having a Clone check it for any hidden dangers or charms, she read it.

'Null, I am sending this letter to thank you for what you've done for my family. You are responsible for saving the lives of myself and my daughters. Your actions that day kept us from meeting a far grislier fate. Thanks to you, I yet live, and hold onto my sanity. Thanks to you my daughters have recovered well. We think about you often and wish more than anything to express our gratitude for saving our lives. So thank you. Thank you for being there that day. Thank you for saving our lives. Words cannot express how grateful we are for your heroic actions. Though unlikely, I wish to extend this offer to you so that we may meet and thank you in person. I do not know how long it will take this letter to reach you, as I've sent it to one of the bounty offices you are known to utilize. If you would accept our offer, please feel free to contact me at my office and we can work out the details, otherwise, accept our most sincere gratitude and stay safe. Well wishes from house Delacour and with endearing respect and admiration. -Jean Delacour.'

Riley sat stared off for several long moments before rereading the letter. She felt a smile touch at her lips, a sense of accomplishment, as well as humility washing over her. Rescuing those people wasn't something she sought gratitude for, or even recognition, and yet receiving it, was a new feeling. She certainly wasn't familiar with receiving praise for her actions outside of the two voices in her head.

Still, it felt good, so after sharing the news with Remus and telling him about what had happened that lead to the letter being sent, he encouraged her to respond. It didn't matter whether or not she chose to meet with Jean Delacour, but at the least she could write a letter in reply.

So that's exactly what Riley did. She wrote a letter to him, thanking him for reaching out to her and after giving it some thought she'd be alright with a meeting. She also left instructions for how to respond to her, sending the letter to be held by the goblins, just have it addressed to Null, and the goblins would hold it for her.

A week went by before the letter arrived. It was a simple letter, asking to meet with her at a rented conference room at Gringotts in a few days' time. If she was fine with that, she could send her acknowledgement to his office, and they'd meet then.

So she sent her response and a few days later, she sat in the conference room, hidden beneath her cloak and mask, waiting for Jean to arrive.

He was escorted in at the appointed time, his eyes immediately falling on her.

She rose to her feet and crossed the room to stand before the man. He seemed much taller than she remembered him being. Tall and broad. Muscular with dark features. Free from the effects of the Torture Curse he looked far more like you'd expect the Chief of magical law enforcement to look. His deep blue eyes, matching Riley's own.

"Chief Delacour. Pleased to see you again." Riley greeted him.

"Null... You seem well." He responded, eying her intently.

"As well as can be expected." She responded with a shrug.

"So... I'd like to start out by offering my sincerest of thanks for saving my life, and the lives of my children. It was a noble and selfless act, and I cannot thank you enough for it. My children are alive today because of you, and you have my eternal gratitude for it." Jean offered to her, gaining a nod of acceptance from Riley.

"I appreciate it, but it's not needed. I would have helped anyone in similar circumstances, I hate bullies, and people who prey on innocent lives just because they can." Riley responded to him.

"Your modesty is commendable, yet my gratitude still stands. My wife and my daughters are here, they wished to offer their thanks as well, I wanted to speak to you first though, to get a measure of you. I've followed your work for a while now. You are a shinobi, aren't you?" Jean told her.

"Yeah, I am." Riley responded.

"What are you doing here? Not that I am ungrateful, but what is a shinobi, let alone one so young, doing so far from your homeland?" Jean asked her.

"I was run out of my homeland. A man sent his servants to capture me. He wanted me for reasons unknown to me. I killed the men he sent, so he framed me as a murderer. More shinobis were sent after me as well, so I killed them too. I wasn't going to let myself be dragged back to that village and prosecuted for defending myself. They chased after me. I didn't go after them. If they'd just left me alone, none of this would have happened. Now five of them are dead, and here I am. As far from those lands as I could think to get." Riley answered honestly, causing the man to blink in surprise, his gaze then turned hard.

"Is that the reason for the mask?" He asked her.

"Partly, yeah." She responded with another shrug.

"I see. This man who attacked you, you have no idea what he wanted from you?" Jean inquired curiously.

"I got mixed up in some nasty business surrounding one of the village's dirty secrets. Maybe he wanted to figure out what I knew. Maybe he'd heard of my growing skills and wanted me to join him. Maybe he's just a bastard. Sadly, I don't know. He murdered my best friend though. Maybe he was worried I knew that. Like I said, I don't know for certain. Didn't ask. When his men tried to take me, I killed them." She answered him.

"I'm sorry to hear that. You have my condolences, for your friend." Jean offered to her.

"Thanks. Don't worry though about your family. If you're concerned about me, then we can part ways right now, no hard feelings. I wouldn't want anyone to get wrapped up in me without knowing that there are dangers." Riley said.

"I can assure you; we are no strangers to danger. As you no doubt remember. Less so now, thanks to you. Your attacks against the Consortium have largely driven them out of France. The low-level guys are too afraid to work anywhere around these parts for fear of Null and meeting their end. Though rumors I hear is that the Consortium is cannibalizing itself because that it true everywhere. They fear to go outside, and their competitors are tearing them apart because of it." Jean spoke in response, earning a soft smile from Riley beneath her mask.

"Really? Well like I said, I don't like people like that, so I figured I'd make them my personal training dummies and do the world a favor while I was at it." Riley noted.

"As an officer of the law I cannot condone vigilante justice. As a man with a family, you won't find me shedding a tear for them." Jean agreed with the sentiment of removing them.

A moment of silence passed before a knock came at the door. Jean turned to it and gave it a thoughtful look before heading over to open it and allow his family access. Riley watched as three blonde haired women entered all at once. They looked like mirrored images of each other. Pretty, lovely, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, sharp features and each of them had a radiance to them, something unnatural and magical that seemed to draw attention to their looks.

Their attention collectively landed on Riley, the youngest girl, moved a bit behind her mother, smiling shyly at her, while the eldest daughter, seemed to take in a breath at the sight of her.

"Ladies, this is Null. Null, my wife Appoline, my daughters, Fleur, and Gabrielle." Jean introduced them.

"This is Null? When you mentioned they were a child, I didn't know what to think." Appoline spoke.

"Mrs. Delacour. A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Riley said to her, her eyes briefly flickering to the oldest daughter, the sight of her, her face specifically, no longer stained by tears, brought back that strong feeling. She was happy to see her, wanted to talk to her even. It was just like the feeling with Kaede.

"Oh, the pleasure is mine. You saved my husband and children from those vile criminals. I owe you my whole world." Appoline returned with gratefulness.

"I appreciate the thanks, but it's not necessary." Riley shook her head.

"Ah but it is. You saved my entire family from certain death. A debt is owed there. Even if I felt otherwise, we are Veela, there is powerful magic that surrounds us. Your act, as selfless as it was, demands repayment." Appoline responded, causing Riley to blink in surprise.

"You're Veela? I see. This debt you're referring to, it's not a magical one, is it?" Riley asked, having heard of such things in the past and how magic could force repayment between parties for acts such as saving a life, while at risk of losing your own.

"It is not a full-blown life debt, as from my understanding of the events, only my husband was immediately in danger of dying, but we all know where it would have ended. They would not have spared any of them. Once they were finished, my husband and children would have been dead. No, this is a debt owed by our Veela magic, and by house Delacour. My husband is the patriarch of our house, and Fleur is the heiress, saving them as selflessly as you did, imbibes a debt." Apolline explained to her.

"I see. Then all I ask for in repayment of that debt is your friendship. Extend that to me and all debts owed between my clan and your house are settled." Riley responded, her words causing Apolline and Jean to blink in surprise.

Seeing their surprise, Riley took in a breath and removed her mask, lowering her hood as she did.

"I would also ask for your secrecy in regard to my true identity. I am the Lord of the Uzumaki Clan, and Head of the main line of the Uchiha clan, and Daimyo to the broken country of Uzu no Kuni." Her words drew astonishment from the two adults, though the younger girls didn't fully grasp what her words meant, they were more interested in her appearance.

"You're a lord?" Fleur questioned.

"But you look like a girl." Gabrielle followed up.

"I am a girl. In some cultures, the title of lord is used interchangeably between sexes. In the Uzumaki clan, all power rests with the lord, aside from the heir or heiress, there are no other titles like lady for example. I would be considered Lady Uchiha though, as the Uchiha do recognize feminine other titles besides that of lord, as well as Lady Daimyo." Riley responded to the two girls.

"Wow..." Gabrielle uttered.

"You ask for House Delacour's friendship in repayment for the debt owed to you, and you shall have it. You came to our help in a time of need, with no thoughts to your own self-interest. That is truly commendable, and we thank you for it." Jean said to her, gaining a smile from Riley.

"Thanks." Riley said, sensing that this was the start of hopefully another friendship, her eyes settled onto Fleur, who had this curious look in her eyes, as if sizing Riley up. She didn't know why, but Riley felt something there, something that reminded her of how she felt around Kaede. Her curiosity piqued Riley decided to explore if maybe she could form another friendship with the eldest daughter of House Delacour. If nothing else, it'd be nice to have another friend.

Regardless of what the future held, today had been a very productive and eventful day.

-To Be Continued-