Ice by Fire

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own 'Naruto'. Masashi Kishimoto has that right.

The heat was unbearable. They had been hiding inside the bottom floor of the wagon for days since they got off of the ship. He had to bear it for his young wife and his 1 year old child. Katsumi Yuki, his pride and joy. That had been the main reason why he had fled from the Land of Water. The Village hidden in the Mist had begun to turn and oppress any bloodline holders and their families. Not wanting to risk any future harassment he had decided to sell his fishing equipment and home and left.

While he knew he didn't have the ability to use the famed bloodline of the Yuki Clan his other two siblings who had trained to be shinobi had been able to use it. Even though they had died fighting in the Third Shinobi War, he knew his own family would never be safe in the Land of Water. His wife had agreed and followed him across the sea to try and be "War Refugee" from the Land of Water. Though he did not have enough money to procure the official passes for him and his family into the Land of Fire. So he had to use whatever small funds he had to hire smugglers to get him the rest of the way.

What they had told him he found to be pure lies. They told him that he and his wife would be cared for and be provided food and water for their journey until they reached the Village Hidden in the Leaves. They had not been given food in the last three days! What little water and supplies they had been given were given to their small child. The pain in his stomach had become almost unbearable. He had almost no energy or will to keep himself awake too long. Though he knew he had to stay up and try and protect his small family if it came to that. What little they had been allowed to bring with him was a small sword that had belonged to his younger brother. His brother had once told him it was made from special metal that allowed him to fight better. As a reminder of his brother, he had not been able to part away with it. It was the last thing he had that connected him to his family.

Other things he had was a scroll that he knew nothing about. It had belonged to his own father. His father had passed it on to him and had told him to give it to his own son when it was the 'right' time. He looked around in the relative darkness in the compartment that hide him. Only light that came from the floorboards above. "Kaiya. How is Katsumi doing?" He whispered to the women next to him. "He is still running a small fever. How long do you think we will be here Ichiro?" she replied back with a worried tone in her voice. "They told me we would be there by the end of the day. As soon as we get out, I'll ask for help." He replied. Sweat had been running down his face. He was tired and thirsty.

That's when they heard distorted and hushed voices above them. The voices talked with urgency and that began to worry the duo. Without any warning that was a large rumbling and the entire world seemed to shake. The wagon that they were in seemed to rock and flip as it moved. Light entered into their small chamber.

Ichiro heard a loud ringing in his ears and he couldn't seem to feel anything on his left side. He felt something wet dripping on and down his face and right arm. The light was absolutely blinding and he decided not to open any his eyes any further. After a minute he began to hear the sounds of screaming and crying. The sounds of metal hitting metal. The sounds of battle. His heart began to race as he remembered about his wife and son and he forced himself into a sitting up position. He cringed immediately as he felt pain surging and stabbing into him from various places.

He looked left and right and saw his wife laid out next to a tree, part of the wagon rested on her lower half. Panic took him and he screamed. "KAIYAAA!". He rolled over on to his front and began to push forward with his right leg and arm. Dragging his unresponsive body forward. "Please be okay. BABY! Please. Can you hear me?!" His voice cracked and strained as he continued to move forward, inching closer and closer as time went on. That's when he saw the large amount of blood leaking out and stained her blouse. The pool of blood already big underneath her. He knew in his heart that she was dead but he refused to believe it. Tears began to stream down his eyes and washed away a small amount of the blood that had built itself up there.

He grew still when he saw a smaller in the grasp of his wife. "KATSUMI!" He continued to drag himself forward and began to shake more and more. He grabbed onto his wife's still body and full saw that the small form was barely breathing. The boy had not been crying but it was still clearly breathing. He breathed a sigh of relief when he grabbed him from his wife's arm and he held onto him. He stayed there for a few minutes struggling to remain conscience before he heard the sounds of the clashing stop.

"There's a survivor!" Ichiro heard someone yell near him. He heard the signature sound of footsteps crunching on the floor and dirt of the wooded area. Ichiro felt someone grab him and flip him off of his wife. Ichiro flickered his eye's open and looked at the scruffy man in front of him. The man held a bloodied sword and a smirk. The man put the blade down near his throat. "Any last words." The man snickered out loud. Then someone beside him called out about a little boy and what they should do. The man in front frowned visibly and noticed the woman pinned down by the remains of the burnt wagon.

"Let's go. They never told us that there would be women and children riding in the wagons." the man turned away and began to walk away. Then the other man spoke up. "So what do we do about the child. Do we kill it or leave it here?". "Leave the child. It will be dead soon enough." With that the footsteps began again and continued until Ichiro couldn't hear them anymore. After a few more minutes, he gathered any remaining strength and rolled over to his son and took the small sword that hanged off of his belt. He brought his son up next to him and held him until the drowsiness took him from the waking world.

BREAK

A group of 4 shadows jumped and ran along the branches of the forest surrounding the Village Hidden in the Leaves. "Hey, you see the smoke coming from the road 3 clicks east of here?" The shadow in front said to the rest of the group. The group stopped advancing and turned in the direction of the smoke. "Are we going over there captain, or do we continue to Konoha?" The masked individual looked back and motioned to move forward. "Could be people in need. The Hokage would want us to go and help." There was a sigh and reluctant order for the group to head toward the smoke.

A few minuets later of their high speed travel they arrived to a gruesome scene. Several bodies were strewn around a small road with three wagons on fire. The group looked around and began to check the area for any potential survivors or any attackers left. They saw signs of an ambush and hiding spots used.

Swords were laid about full of blood and other broken pieces of wood laid around on the road. As the group continued up the path they saw the signs of a fourth wagon that was completely annihilated near the side of the wooded area. There laid a woman, a man and a small boy. The masked individual came up and knelt down and began to check the pulse on the woman. No pulse. Then the person went and checked the pulse of the small boy. There was a very faint pulse but it was there. "Got a live one over here!". The shinobi bent down next to the man holding him and picked up a small pulse as well. "Another one!" He yelled out to the other members of their team.

The medic of the team was the first to get to the scene. "What's their status?" "Blood loss and possible trauma for the man and I am not sure what is ailing the youngling. Possible blunt force trauma as well." With that the medic did a few hand signs and her hands began to glow a lime green. She began to analyze the young boy first. After a few seconds, she began to shift her hands over to the fallen man. She instantly gave a frown. "We do not have too much time. I can more than likely save the boy. If we rush back to the village we might be able to help the man but his chances of his survival goes from approximately 2% to 25%. If we do that, I would have to give him immediate help and I wouldn't be able to start on the boy. The boy's chances of survival fall from 65% to 52%." She looked back up at the man next to her.

There was a deep sigh and after a few seconds it was decided. They would try and help the man first. The chances were better for saving both of them. "Go with the First Option. If we have a chance to help both then the Hokage would want us to do that." With that order the shinobi sent into action. The shinobi considered the fastest in their groups was charged with handling the boy and setting off as fast as possible to the village. The other three would try and make a makeshift gurney to take the man as the medic worked on him on their way.

As soon as they sprung into action the man began to stir from his unconsciousness. The medic saw and began to try and talk to him. "Sir. Don't move. I'm trying to heal you." The man flickered his eyes open and began coughing. "Mmmm-my son." He managed to grumble out through his dried throat and coughs. "Don't worry, sir. Your son is getting transported to the Konoha General Hospital." She continued to try and work on his wounds. The man seemed to ease his restlessness and tried to remain still. "What's your name, sir?" She asked him trying to keep the man from falling into unconsciousness again. "Yuki. Yuki Ichiro." She seemed to recognize the name but didn't say anything about it. "What about your son?" "Katsumi." The man gave a small smile as the name came out of his mouth. A few seconds later he seemed to remember something and began reaching with his good hand toward the fallen sword. The medic saw this and instantly asked him what he was doing. "Sir. Please stay still." "F-family. Family Heirloom." He managed to grit out as he settled back down on to the gurney made of sticks and leaves.

The medic finally finished stabilizing him enough to get him moving. She pulled out a vial of pills and took one out. "Here. Take this. It will help with the pain." She went and placed it into the man's mouth. As soon as the man swallowed it, it took effect. The man struggled to keep his eye's open and drifted back off to sleep. "Captain. I think we may have a Kiri shinobi in our hands." The others instantly looked back at her. "Explain." "Well, the man claimed to be from the famed Yuki Clan. He also reached for the sword to his right and claimed it to be a 'Family Heirloom'." Another sigh from the masked man. "We still need to bring the man back to Konoha. If you're right then we may need to interrogate the man once he is able to talk. Bring the sword with you as evidence." One of the Anbu went and retrieved the sword.

The rest went around and lifted the gurney and the man up. Then they suddenly leapt up into the branches and took off in the direction of the village.

A/N: Hello everybody and welcome to the prologue of 'Ice by Fire'. This is officially my second story to be posted on Fanficiton. This story will hopefully span as long as the Naruto Main story-line. I will try and update the story once every two weeks on Sunday. The main character in the story will revolve around Katsumi and his adventures in the Narutoverse. No. This character will not be a "Mary-sue". I will try and be realistic about the abilities of the character but this does not mean that this character will be weak. Just that his progression will be on the more realistic side of things. Obviously, the character being from the Yuki clan will hold the ice release. I will try and be creative in how the character uses it and won't be used a crutch for the character. This story begins roughly around 2 years after the end of the third shinobi war. Some events will be slightly changed in order to better fit into the story. Onto Pairings. I haven't decided fully but I decided on Yamanaka Ino or Hyuuga Hinata. Feel free to leave a review, it helps to motivate and it is the best way into getting feedback on how my writing is going or if you enjoy the story.