AN: My first story ever and I'm so excited! I'm going to try to update this at least weekly, but I still have school since I'm only 14, so I can't guarantee it will be weekly. However, I can guarantee that it will take no longer than 2 weeks. Each chapter will be at least 10 pages on Google Docs, but the first chapter will only be 5 pages because I want to see if you guys are enjoying the story and want more. Anyways, onto the story!

Blood Ties

Chapter One

Kakashi let out a deep groan, breath turning into small clouds of white which floated up into the jet black sky. The cold nipped at his barren shoulders exposing the faulty design of the Anbu's gear. The black fabric of his shirt allowed mobility, but the icy bite of the Village Hidden By Blizzards seemed to penetrate his garments. The freezing wind digging deeper and deeper, slowly seeming to glaciate his very soul.

The deep snow, which reached up to his upper thighs, dampened his pants and slowed his movements. For a moment he considered striking himself with lightning, at least that would warm him up. However, the thought of them kept him from using his chakra lest they find him. Those very same thoughts drove him forward. Forcing him to trudge through the snow. He never stayed in one place for very long, moving at night and sleeping at sunrise .

Dejectedly, he pulled up his mask. Adventuring so close to allies of the Shinrinyoku family was not exactly fun business. Kakashi's trip was only supposed to last him 3 weeks, but an… unfortunate encounter with members of the Root had elongated his trip to a month and a half.

After turning a major political figure in the Village Hidden by Blizzards into dust, Hashirama and Madara Shinrinyoku had come after him with a vengeance. They had sent Root to the border creating a wall of elite shinobi. Even with his blood tie, he couldn't overpower that many shinobi. Most of them probably masters of at least 1 art.

It had been over a decade since the Shinrinyoku family overthrew the Uzumaki clan. After years of war between the different nations, the wizards of Fiore discovered the continent of which they all lived. The wizards had taught people how to master their very own arts. Arts were a form of magic that used chakra, the spiritual energy usually used in the shinobis' battles, to create magic, or as the ninjas' called it, "Ninjutsu."

The Shinrinyoku clan, wielders of the Sharingan and masters of the forest, built up their army slowly. Hiring wizards to teach their underlings arts, they created a massive fighting force that swept through the land of Zama, decimating each nation, bringing each daimyo to its knees. They ruled with an iron fist, uniting the continent in some twisted idea of peace.

Of course, there was no peace for families with blood ties. Kakashi's family had a blood tie and they had been slaughtered just like the rest. He could've lived with even that. Adapted, survived, all because his father was with him. Was. Slowly, he tugged down his forehead protector, covering the tear trickling out of his left eye.

His stomach announced its presence, snapping him out of his thoughts. Kakashi stopped suddenly, collapsing onto his knees as he clutched his stomach. A bead of sweat trickled down his face despite the cold. Even the subzero temperature of the Hidden Blizzard couldn't eliminate his love for food.

Kakashi was no slouch when it came to hunting. He graduated the academy at age 5, before the Shinrinyoku's purification plan. Despite not being able to use his chakra, he still had his prowess with his kunai which always seemed to fly true. However, the Hidden Blizzard's deep winter had driven all the game into hiding.

He had only packed for a 3 week trip, but his detour through the mountains had caught him off guard. Kakashi slammed his fist into a nearby tree. He absolutely hated getting caught with his pants down. After all, the last time he did that, his dad had "left" him.

The tree quivered, dumping a copious amount of snow onto the white haired boy. As he sat partially covered by snow and partially sunken into it, he considered giving up. After all, he had no family to come home to.

He absentmindedly fingered the fairy-like symbol that rested on his forehead protector. What the hell are you thinking? He chastised himself. You DO have family waiting for you to come hhome Suddenly, a loud snap rang throughout the forest. Refocusing, Kakashi surveyed his surrounding. Bushes, trees, and snow were all he could see.

As he turned to check his back, a sharp movement to his left caught his attention. A large pair of antlers stuck proudly out of the bushes. Kakashi's focused his uncovered eye on the stag, spinning his kunai on his index finger, he pulled back his arm and slung the kunai forward. Like usual, it flew true, slicing through the stag's carotid artery. It ran forward blindly, charging straight towards Kakashi.

Reflexively, he threw himself sideways dodging the attack. The stag crashed into the nearby tree, collapsing due to blood loss. Kakashi drew his katana and stuck it into the ground, using it to force himself up. He stumbled over to the stag, the 9 days of starving sent jolts of pain throughout his abdomen.

As he stood over the stag, he sent a quick prayer up to whatever deity was watching over him before locking eyes with the stag. It met his eyes with its own. They were filled with a mixture between understanding, defeat, and sadness. Kakashi performed a few hand signs before the chidori sprang to life. He flexed his fingers a few times before putting the stag out of its misery. Hopefully, Root didn't hear that, he thought.

Some time later…

Kakashi was sitting with his legs crossed, watching the fire crackle underneath the spit. He had stripped off his flack jacket and arm guards leaving him in a tight fitting shirt and loose black sweatpants. The fire had melted all the snow around him, leaving a circle of drowned grass underneath him. He was laying down on what little grass had been dried by the fire, left arm resting behind his head, and his right occupied holding his favorite book "Icha Icha Paradise." The fire lashed out, licks of flame angrily sputtering towards the reclining boy.

Fearing his favorite book combusting, he slid it inside the flak jacket he had been using as a pillow and rolled onto his back. The Hidden Blizzard was an ugly land. It was a land ruled by tyrants who slaughtered many. However, it was an undeniably beautiful place to be.

The stars above twinkled underneath the moon. Its beautiful pale light bathed the forest in light, reflecting off the snow and ice. Crystals of beautiful formed ice hung from the evergreen trees like Mother Nature's Christmas decorations. He sighed as his eyes trailed back to the stars. Based off the location of Avis Major, his favorite star, he was about a days walking away from Fiore, but it saddened him a bit. He knew that he would miss this place. The way the smell of evergreen permeated the air, the way stars seemed to peer down from the heavens themselves, it all resonated with him. However, he knew that he couldn't stay here. It was in the Shinrinyoku's hands after all. The only place he could stay without eyes in the back of his head was Fiore.

Fiore was a small country off the coast of the Hidden Leaf Village. It was first colonized by the wizards, so its population consisted mostly of wizards. The only reason the Hidden Leaf hadn't yet been able to invade was due to its offering of refuge to clans with blood ties and its mastery of arts. After all, wizards were the first ones to create arts. Also, Fiore was surrounded by water on all sides, the Shinrinyoku may have had their Sharingan, but they had no way to put their master of the forests to use.

Kakashi belonged to the Fairy Tail guild. They were a rowdy bunch, but they welcomed him when he stumbled in at age 9. He was an emaciated bag of bones with a head of silver hair sitting on top. They fed him, clothed him, gave him a family, a reason to live.

He had spent all his time working to get back into fighting form. Eventually after working his ass off, he made it to the guild's darkest branch, the Anbu. They worked in complete anonymity. Identities unknown, they did all the guild's dirty work. This was Kakashi's first mission. As Jellal had told him before he set out, "it's time to earn the mask."

Each Anbu member had a mask they wore to conceal their face. This was Kakashi's inauguration mission. If he completed it, he would get a mask. If not, he'd most likely be dead, or in the custody of the Shinrinyoku clan. In that case, he would rather be dead. No matter what happened, there was no surrender, so it was a hit or miss situation.

As he lay there listening to the rustling of evergreens, sleep began to set in. His eyes became heavy, but he battled the fatigue, hoping to get one last glimpse at the stars. Slowly, he managed to force his eyes back open managing to get one last glimpse of the stars. Then, he slipped into unconsciousness.

Well, that's all I got for now. Huge shout out if you managed to finish reading. Any reviews would be awesome, so I can touch up on the story and fix any writing flaws before my next chapter.

Also, go check out Berserk by Rivendell101 if you haven't already because she's a much better writer than I am. Reading her story really inspired me to put out a fic of my own. There may be a few similarities as of right now with the whole tyrannical ruler and whatnot, but I hope to make this a long fic that's uniquely its own.

Much love

-Godslayer Namikaze