A Thousand Years

The New Era

The years passed quickly and things had changed greatly, Tobirama had become widley accepted as the most powerful shinobi in the village, Hiruzen had grown to be a young teen, Tsunade was now a little older and understood things better, the village had grown even stronger, and everyone had become more comfortable with everyone else, meaning less conflict between clans. Not everything was good, however. A war was gaining strength and hidden villages were going against each other. There had recently been an attack on Konoha, luckily, only a few were injured. This did mean, however, that no one was safe, not even inside the village. Nina had been denied of her request leave the village to fight, Tobirama had refused each time she asked.

"Remember what you're here to do." He would always tell her. That was part of the reason she was so incredibly upset when she saw his team return from their latest mission. Without him. Hiruzen, who had grown close to her, had explained everything. He was every bit as upset as she. The boy had her pity, after all, he wasn't even an adult yet.

In accordance with Tobirama's wishes, Hiruzen was named the Hokage soon after. He would come to Nina's office every day in search of advice on one subject or another. She helped as best she could, giving him her thoughts on what would be best.

One day, she realized something that caused her to drop everything she was doing. She realized that everyone was growing up, everyone was moving forwards. If someone was to notice how she had not aged at all, had not changed at all, suspicion would undoubtedly arise. She had to avoid this somehow, so she went and spoke with the one person left alive who knew her story.

"What do you mean?" Mito demanded. "Leaving the village?" Her face was painted with worry.

"You can tell that I have not aged. Everyone can see that. If someone were to dig further into why that is..." The image of that Adachi girl stuck in her mind. "Things won't be good." Nina stated grimly.

"But you're one of the last shinobi left who helped found this village! Suddenly leaving will damage the morale of the council and elders, not to mention you're the one who handles most of the inner and outer village affairs." The Uzumaki tried to reason with her.

"Mito." Nina stared straight at her, gaze sharp and piercing. "I cannot stay." She said simply. The redhead closed her eyes and leaned back in her chair.

"When?" She asked solemnly.

"Tomorrow. I have a few things to sort out before then. And you'll be fine, there are others who are more than capable of doing the things I have, the village is in good hands. Besides, I'll always be close." Nina gave her one last nod and turned towards the door.

"Where are you going?" A small, sweet voice asked quietly. Tsunade. She's grown in the past few years.

"Nina-san will be going away for a while." Mito explained to the girl. Nina had been asked to babysit her quite a few times and she had grown to like the child.

"When is she coming back?" The girl asked, causing Mito to hesitate.

"I'll be gone for a little bit, but don't worry, we'll meet again." Nina bent down to her level and patted her on the head. The blonde grinned brightly and held out the small book in her hands. "Don't forget about me!" She demanded. "I'll let you borrow this until we can play again." Nina looked down at the cover; it was the picture book about Hashirama. She accepted it with a smile.

"Thank you." She stood and turned back towards the door. "I'll see you both later." She smiled back at both Tsunade and Mito. The latter held a saddened expression while the blonde waved enthusiastically.

"Come back soon, ok?" The child yelled, waving her hand back and forth. Nina smiled as she closed the door to the Senju's house, picture book in hand.