Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor do I profit from this story in any way.

Prologue

It was definitely the worst day in the history of Crystal Country. This day in particular offered no rivalry to the previous record holders. Instead, it completely over-shadowed them twice, maybe thrice. Surely the lost of a country's royal family which housed the unique kekkei genkai said country was named after can make the massacre of all genin living in that country or the mysterious epidemic that crippled so many shinobi and civilians alike look like a spring picnic. Not that mobility or the lives lost wasn't devastating, it's just that there weren't that many genin the year of the massacre; most kids were still at the academy, too young to be permitted by their parents to take the Genin Exam. Also, the people of Crystal Country were very innovative, the victims of the still mysterious epidemic all learnt to adjust and bounced back somehow.

So yes, the people of Crystal Country were in lame man's term, screwed. The royal family was the core, the livelihood of so many divisions of the country. All which prospered and gave the country recognition on an international scale. Kesshō, the name of the now extinct bloodline gave the members of the royal bloodline the ability to call on crystal and precious gems from both below and above the Earth's surface. Of course, calling rare stones was just a minute scratch on the surface of the abilities of the kekkei genkai. Actually, simplifying it to such an extent was a gross understatement and an insult to all those who wielded it. Once crystals or rare stones were called, their summoner was able to mould them, shaping them into any and everything they wanted. Shinobi possessing said bloodline even went further in perfecting it. As if being able to form a spare of diamond or a shield of amber at a mere whim wasn't impressive enough, shinobi of the royal family found a way to create lava bombs by summoning balls of diamond filled with lava from the Earth's mantle. Depending on the size of the bomb, explosions would simulate a volcano eruption, melting away earth and evaporating seas, searing flesh and burning houses along the way. Such a technique required vast amounts of chakra and impeccable control and mastery over both chakra and the kekkei genkai to an extent that most of the royal family were never able to attain. Still, the prestige alone, from knowing that it was possible sufficed.

It was common knowledge that many countries sorted after the kekkei genkai, some even resorted to kidnapping in attempt to get it but such means always failed. What kind of royal family would rise high class, reputable shinobi and not keep any for themselves? The guards of the royal family were the best of the best of Crystal Country. All, though mostly branch members, they all belonged to the royal family, wielding the powerful kekkei genkai. Other countries tried a more politically friendly, peaceful but obvious approach by making peace treaties or sending royals or dignitaries offering marriage proposals.

Apart from the many battling advantages that made the royal family practically bred to fight, the kekkei genkai was used for mining. Before the bloodline was discovered, Crystal country was known as Gravel Country, only about one eighth of its current size. The heart of Gravel Country, Jari, was small and fragile. Its citizens were sickly, poor and struggling, yet they were better off than their country counterpart. At that point of time, Gravel Country could have easily been taken over but none of its neighbours thought that to be a worthy cause. Oh how they all came to regret that.

After the neighbours of Gravel Country started noticing the new excessive trading of precious stones, they flocked to form peace treaties, hoping to attain the secret source in Gravel Country. It wasn't until centuries later, generations after the first user of Kesshō died and Gravel Country had merged with its neighbours had Kesshō been revealed. It was then the Koishi, the family identified wielding the bloodline, took over Gravel Country, renaming it Crystal Country and ascended into monarchy. The family reigned for four millenniums until today, ending in an uprising.

To say that six year old Ishito Koishi, Prince of Crystal Country was terrified would not necessarily be a lie but it would not exactly be the full truth either. He was that and confused. He was dreaming of red rain and blood curdling screams, drowned with a petrifying killer's intent. Then he dreamt of wanting to run but was glued to the spot, unable to do anything but allow the rain, which seemed to only fall on his pants crotch, wet him and run down his legs to the ground. Ishito stood there mentally whimpering until he finally forcefully parted his lips to their maximum and hauled in putrid air into his stone lungs. It was then Ishito felt two hands, one on either of his shoulders, shaking him as two voices, which sounded oddly familiar, called his name over and over and over. Ishito's eyes shot open. Instantaneously, Ishito recognized who the hands and voices belonged to.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Ishito cried as he threw himself forward into their arms.

"There, there. It's just a nightmare. Mommy's here now."

"Tell Daddy what monster scared you and he'll go beat him up!"

Ishito buried his head deeper into their shoulders (as both of his parents were sitting on his bed) which muffled his crying.

Ishito looked up into his parents' eyes. They were gazing down at him in worried but caring eyes. Reassuring him that everything was alright.

"I-I wet my bed." Ishito snuffled as he wiped away a stray tear.

"It's okay honey. How about I give you a warm bath and then you can spend the rest of the night with me and Daddy?"

Ishito gave a timid nod which signaled his father to hoist him up and carry him off for a warm bath.

A warm bath had really done the trick. Ishito was already nodding off back to sleep before he hit the water. By the time the bath was over he had already fallen asleep. His head was slumped against the wall of the bathtub and he had a smile on his face. He looked so peaceful, so serene that no one would have guessed that he wetted the bed from a nightmare just moments ago.

The next time Ishito opened his eyes he noticed a few things simultaneously. He noticed the fact that his parents were not in their bed. There were still a few hours to spare before dawn so they couldn't have gotten an early start. He also noticed the air he breathed. It was thick and asphyxiating with the scents of smoke and saline metal. Blood. He began experiencing déjà vu; it was his dream all over again.

Strangely there was no screaming, no sounds of terror or panic that would have alerted the young boy. This heightened Ishito's senses even more. He may have been only six but as the son of King Ishiri and Queen Jarika and heir to the throne of Crystal Country, not to mention the infamous and highly sorted after kekkei genkai, Kesshō, there were a lot of high expectation placed upon him. Many of them were satisfied earlier than expected when he unlocked his bloodline at age five, the youngest ever to do so. This prompted immediate training in his family jutsu. Even though he was only six months into his training, Ishito had proven himself worthy of being called a genius by his rapid progress. He could now match most of the mid-level genin in his village. He was a force to be reckoned with that caused many of his sparring partners to forfeit matches before they started or very early into the fight. His mother however, still saw him as a child and prevented him from enrolling in the academy. King Ishiri may have been strong but Queen Jarika held subtle control. She wanted Ishito to be a child as long as possible so no meant no. As a result, Ishito may have been capable of battling but he lacked experience and knowledge of the life of an actual ninja which was a drawback in his progress. A factor that now left the fate of his life in limbo.

Ishito stepped out his parents' bedroom. The guards at the door were sprawled out on the floor, out cold. He stooped to check their pulse. They were dead. Immediately Ishito began to panic. Outside, it was pouring and thundering hard and inside he was alone with two of the people who were suppose to be protecting him dead. Even worst, it was dark. Somehow the power had gone out which was odd. The jutsu that had made the lights was irreversible and had to wear out on its own for the lights to go out and all the lights weren't lit at the same time so there was no way the lights could have all gone out at the same time.

Ishito slammed his hands onto the crystal floor. All the buildings in Jari and most of Crystal Country were purposefully made with crystal to further aid the Koishi in battle. Their kekkei genkai not only allowed them to summon crystal but travel within them, merge and solidify into them to become one without any trace of their presence. Also it allowed them to sense the presence of others in any crystal building by having contact with the crystal with their bare flesh. Unfortunately, Ishito was not able to do the former at all and even though he was able to do the latter, he wasn't advanced enough to get a sense of the entire castle. His sensing capabilities only stretched to a radius of forty feet which allowed him to sense the four rooms in closest proximity to his current location. Everyone in all those rooms was dead and their bodies showed little to no trace of struggle or trauma. How could this have happened was the question that raced through Ishito's mind. As he raced forward near the centre of the castle, Ishito came across more dead body, all like the ones before, no sign of struggle or trauma. It was as if they all dropped dead.

Ishito slammed his hand onto the cold crystal one last time as he neared the end of the corridor that lead to the throne room of the castle. He mentally pleaded to find someone. Then, as if he had the luck of the gods on his side, he did. His parents were in the lobby, they appeared to be in battle stances but Ishito didn't sense anyone else in the room. But then again, Ishito's sensing capabilities didn't extend to the entire room. Elated to find prospective pleasant company of the living, Ishito rushed into the lobby only to discover why his parents were in battle stance. There were maybe anywhere between one hundred and fifty to one hundred people in the room. Ishito lost count due to the constant movement that was occurring. Boy was his sensing capabilities off. He was only a six year old Koishi and had started his training barely six months ago; sensory was a high level skill of Kesshō so inaccuracy was something to be expected. He may have been a genius but still, sometimes even geniuses can go only so far.

"Ishito!" his mother cried out, dodging a fireball spat at her. "What are you doing here?"

Queen Jarika's yelling had grabbed the attention of King Ishiri who was noticing that thanks to her lost of concentration she had let her guard down. A few of the enemies had banded together to take advantage of that opportunity to create a combined attack. A blast of a spiral composed of fire, water and lightening came hurling towards Queen Jarika who was still screaming for her petrified son to leave. King Ishiri quickly summoned a topaz wall which began melting a few seconds after the attack failed to relent. He fortified his wall with a second topaz wall which began to melt before the enemies' attacked died out.

King Ishiri, though still focused, was a bit puzzled. He and his family had actually been fighting for the past few hours. He was aware that his comrades had fallen. Initially he was alerted on a massive, unforeseen civilian uprising which he found strange since Crystal Country was extremely prosperous which allowed most, if not all civilians to live a relatively modest life the least. And it wasn't as if his subjects, ninjas, refugees and civilians alike were being mistreated or ignored in their generally minor plights. One of his first acts as King of Crystal Country was to commission an Action Committee who recorded all complaints by subjects and worked to correct slights a promptly and efficiently as possible. The last civilian survey had given government satisfaction a positive rating so why were civilians rioting? King Ishiri knew the current events were not random nor were they planned, at least not by the people outside rampaging in mass. No, the civilians were merely pawns, a distraction that diverted the Crystal Country's Ninja Force from being in the castle to fight.

The first thing that solidified King Ishiri's theory was the behaviour of his subjects. When he observed them from the castle's watch tower, he noticed their behaviour patterns were just off and catching the blank stare of a few of his subjects, he concluded they were all operating under genjutsu, ninja and civilian alike. The second clue was his dead armed forces. They were all of Koishi descent, wielding the bloodline Kesshō, making them the best of the elite. This didn't make them invincible, no, but it put them damn well nearer to it than most. To even be a commendable match for any Koishi, one would usually have to own a kekkei genkai themselves and had to have excellent mastery over it. And sometimes even that wasn't enough. However, Kesshō wasn't the only bloodline in Crystal Country but the others were rare and weak in comparison to Kesshō.

Even if there were ninjas who had acquired one of these bloodlines, there was no way they could have all banded together and over power the Royal Forces not to mention that King Ishiri did not see any of Crystal Country's other kekkei genkai while battling. That coupled with the fact that the enemy had used jutsu not native to Crystal Country told Ishiri that it was an outside attack. It had to be, there wasn't anywhere in Crystal Country that anyone besides a selected few could have hidden such a large number of people to train without notice to mount such a precise attack.

The next thing that threw King Ishiri off was the target, the point of this attack. It was no secret that Kesshō was sorted after but these ninjas attacking left no one in their path alive. If they were after Kesshō it would have been easy for them to snatch a Koishi child and escape already, plus they didn't seem to be phased by the fact that they couldn't locate the crowned prince despite actually being inside the room he was hidden in at some point of time. The prince was protected in his parents' bedroom. King Ishiri had used a concealment jutsu on the bed Ishito slept in. He had not expected his son to be awake for hours. Ishito was safe in the room, more specifically the bed which King Ishiri wished his son stayed in.

"Ishito! You have to run now!" King Ishiri fell to his knees. The battle was really starting to wear him down.

Ishito glanced backwards and forwards between his parents and the attacking ninjas. One of the attacking ninja started to approach Ishito with a smirk. Queen Jarika and King Ishiri both shouted their son's name simultaneously as they attempted to rush towards him but their efforts were blocked by the remaining ninjas who were still hurling various elemental jutsu at them.

Ishito was sitting on the ground with his legs under him. They had just collapsed under him. He was pleading mentally with his body to move. He pleaded louder as the ninja got closer to him. His plights became verbal.

"Move! Move body! Move! Please move!" he groaned, looking down at his knees.

The enemy ninja was now towering over Ishito with a sword pointed at Ishito's head. Ishito closed his eye, readying himself to accept his fate but secretly wishing he could have somehow melted away from the battle or vaporize into the atmosphere. Ishito whimpered but quickly realized he was in no pain. He looked up and saw the ninja with the sword, it was touching the ground but he was in no pain. Then it hit Ishito, he had finally learnt to merge with the crystal, it was the only explanation to the confused look on the ninja's face and why he was alive with such an awkward perspective.

"Ishito! I know you can hear me! I'm proud of you son!" King Ishiri was now bleeding in various places. His fatigue had caused him to miss some of his counterattacks which caused him damage.

"Me too baby!" His mother smiled faintly, she was bleeding as well, worn down with the same fatigue.

"Now son, you have to run! Don't worry about your mother and me! You have to survive! You have to run so Crystal Country can have a king!"

"Listen to your father Ishito!"

Normally once a Koishi got into crystal, they were untraceable except by other Koishi but his mother had taken a blood oath that bonded her to his father spiritually which gave her the ability to sense Koishi in crystals. This allowed her to know that Ishito was still in the lobby.

Ishito watched from the crystal as another of the enemy ninja's combined attack blanketed his parents. His father summoned a glass shield but it quickly melted away. His parents were too weak to fight. The attack killed them.

"No!" Ishito cried out, which alerted his position to the enemy ninja but they couldn't destroy the crystal floor so they couldn't do anything to him.

Ishito floated through the crystal to his parents' body and pulled them in. His father was Koishi and his mother had blood bonded to his father which allowed her to move threw crystal with aid of a Koishi. He pulled their bodies through the crystal walls of the castle and the crystal bricks of the streets outside. Then he stopped in front the gates of the royal gardens and surfaced with is parents. He still couldn't believe they were dead. The garden was peaceful and empty. Ishito cried silently as he mourned his parents. He didn't want to alert the enemy ninjas inside that castle that he was nearby.

Time movement became so fickled. Ishito had spent hours sitting with his dead parents (he knew this because he saw the sun was beginning to rise) but it felt like only seconds had passed. He wasn't ready to leave his parents but he knew he had to go now. He couldn't stay in Crystal Country. Everyone knew who he was and how he looked. If the ninjas who attacked his family got word that he was still alive they would come after him. Ishito carried his parents to the apple tree that they often picnicked or read to him under. He summoned two crystal coffins and placed his parents in them then he sent them back underground. He summoned two emerald (emerald with his mother's favourite gem which made it his father's favourite gem) tombstones with their names and a short message engraved on them.

Thank you for loving me and being my parents. I WILL avenge you and I WILL make you proud. Ishito.

Ishito kissed both of his parents' tombstones.

"Good bye Mommy. Good bye Daddy." he said solemnly. The he turned and walked away.

Somewhere in the Realm of Gods and Demons a goddess named Kiki was watching the all this. She was furious. She was the one who had granted the Koishi family with the kekkei genkai they possessed in honour of her fallen son Akira. Now mortals had vanquished them. It pained her heart to watch Ishito. Someone would have to pay for that.

Unlike King Ishiri, she knew who was responsible for the attack. It was a set up by various council members of Crystal Country, an alliance formed with many missing nins from various countries including Crystal Country. A coup d'état planned because the daughter of one dignitary thought she was more worthy than Queen Jarika to sit on the throne of Crystal Country.

Kiki looked down at her. She was smiling in her sleep. The devious bitch knew watch she had done. She thought herself beautiful. She was vain and the council that should have been advising, protecting, assisting the king betrayed them for her and encouraged her vanity.

"Vanity they wanted. Vanity will get!" Goddess Kiki smiled. She had plans for this Crystal Country which she no longer blessed.

Two years later in Wave Country

"Hey kid! You alive?"

A man with heavy hands was shaking a small boy. He had brown hair and he looked very frail. The boy groan and he pushed his self into the upright position and attempted to stand up.

"You look so forlorn," the man said. "Children shouldn't be looking like you."

The man helped the child up.

"What's your name?"

Ishito Koishi. The brown hair boy thought, but he couldn't reveal his lineage so he made up a lie. He had died his blond hair brown and grew it out just to hide it and make himself even more unrecognizable.

"Hikaru," he said faintly.

"You have parents and a last name Hikaru?"

Ishito's eyes began to water as he thought about that night. He shook his head.

"No. They died a long time ago."

"An orphan, eh?" the man smiled. "How would you like to come with me and have a meal and maybe live with me?"

Ishito strugged.

"My wife and I have always wanted a son but we never got one, only daughters, four of them to be exact. Now her body's had enough so she won't be getting any more children but we still want that son. I'm pretty sure she'll be glad to have you."

Ishito looked into the man's eyes with his azure eyes. They were typical of his family and stood out in Crystal Country but in Wave Country it made him blend in. The man was smiling, he seemed honest enough. Ishito decided to trust him and if it didn't work it would run away. Even use his kekkei genkai to escape if necessary.

"So would you like to come home with me little boy?"

Ishito nodded and the man hoisted him up and walked away with him.

Author's Notes

Ishi- stone

Jari- gravel

Kesshō - crystal

Some of the ideas for the kekkei genkai in this story was inspired by another fanfic which I really enjoyed; The Melt by pudgypudge.