Nothing was worse than the stillness.

The slow groaning of the rubble as a foot slowly crushed through them. The sound of footsteps bouncing off the ancient frozen walls as the shadows retreated fearfully from the approaching figure. As he drew closer into the great hall, a new sound began to fill the desolate emptiness.

The dripping of fresh blood from a cloak as it became puddles on the cold ground.

As the boy slowly stepped further into the hall his gaze became less focused as he began to kneel next to the once old bed where he had laid, weak and broken.

his pale hand slowly clenched as his other hand ran down the smooth white substance which had soon become his new flesh. "Rin." He whispered as he closed his eyes and knelt, letting the blood stained cloak fall away from his strong toned shoulders.

As the cloak fell away, it soon became easier to see the white shell which encased his body. The swirl of the white shell began unwinding away from the exposed and marked skin which was his body. His legs visible shook as he took his stance and fell onto the soft black silk. The boy was barely past seventeen and yet his eyes were marked with an age which could not be explained to anyone beyond the reasons of trauma and devastation.

His right hand slowly reached out and clenched into a fist as it gripped onto the silken and before he wrapped it around himself as he regarded himself in the reflection of a pool of water. His black spiked hair which had grown down, halfway past his neck fell in a cover over his left, empty eye socket. the right side of his face was marked as though the skin had began to ride upon itself slightly and yet.

And yet.

His right eye mirrored the colour of dark crimson which had been dripping from his cloak.

The power it held was beyond imagination... literally. He could bring people to their knees as he created his own world around them. The power grew greater which each passing day, just as he did.

But still.

Here he was. Laying alone in a large cold bed, with only the shadows and breeze of winter to hold him as memories of horrors caressed his thoughts.

But not for long.

he snapped around as a long echoing scream shook him. His eye widened as he took in the sound further. "What the hell?"
"STOP! PLEASE STOP!" screamed the voice.

Obito stopped for a second as he stared at the entrance. "Oooh Obito! You should see this! I feel so sorry for him..."
"What are you on about swirly?" Obito glared at the white shell which began to close back around him. "Never mind... it doesn't matter."
"Obito, it's a boy from your clan."
"It doesnt matter." He laid back on the bed as he gazed to the ceiling.
"Obito...he... if you don't stop him. Then he is going to get more than beaten..."
"What are you on about! And since when do you care about others?"
"He was friends with Rin, she was all he had..."

There was a pause before all sound was lost as Obito launched himself down the tunnel.

-Break-

A gentle rain slowly poured over the town as I walked back from the academy. I lifted my face to the moon as I let the like take it's hold on me, letting the rain patter my face with a gentle kiss before letting a smile slowly spread across my face. I packaged away my books and shouldered my bag as i went from my crouch and leapt onto a fence landing with balance before thrusting myself further through the air and bouncing from the roof tops of the village.

The village hidden in the leafs.

My prison.

Everything... everything had felt so painful. Every morning waking up without her here to hold me and tell me everything would be okay. "Rin." A tear mingled with the rain, although I could still see it. It was the one that fell faster than the down pour.

Rin Nohara.

She was the only thing I had ever had in my life that that given me meaning to carry on. The only person in this village who new about my life... about my secrets. About the hatred I carried around inside me when I had to hide the bruises and scars over my body each morning.

She was like my sister. The only true family I could ever have had.

And now she was dead.

Murdered by the one man I hated more than anyone else.

Kakashi.

As I slowly came to an alley way I took a deep breath knowing how late home I was going to be. But my mind kept reeling back to the earlier events of that day. "You're the poorest excuse for an Uchiha i have ever witnessed!" my father shouted into my face as I took my stance and as per usual, took the full crushing blow of each insult he hurtled at me.
"Does that come from being an experienced failure to the Uchiha name?" I kept my gaze fixed on the ground knowing what was coming next as his changed crimson with hatred.
"You insolent brat!" he snarled as his fist came down across my face relentlessly. "REMEMBER!" I screamed as blood began to drip from my eyes. He kicked me in the chest and I felt the air rush out my lungs. I doubled over as my mouth gaped open and blood spluttered out. "PLACE!" he shouted.
"STOP" I screamed and felt him allow me a slight gain of breath before he turned back and delivered his final blow as I felt a rib break.
"remember where you belong dog." he looked down at me with loathing as I returned the look only too willingly after air had slowly returned to me.

It wasn't until somebody spoke that I began to realise how far away in my thoughts I had been lost.

A harsh breeze began to bluster through the trees which I had lost myself in. "Ah! Cieco!" laughed a rich voice. "Strayed a bit to far from the paths have we?" it chuckled and I turned my head slowly to look at the owner of the voice.

No... It couldn't be.

My eyes slowly began to make out the silhouette of a tall muscled boy with brown hair. "Jonathan." I whispered as he slowly pulled out a Kunai and pushed me against a tree.
"You know." his hand slowly moved over the black t-shirt i wore as he moves his finger slowly towards my chest. "You shouldn't be such a tease." he grinned as the kunai began to slowly cut through the material and I paled but as soon as he saw me begin to move away he slammed my head so hard against the tree that for a few seconds my entire sight began to blur.

For a couple of minutes he watched me with an amused dark grin as he leant close and began whispering in my ear, "I know your secret, Uchiha." I tried to take in more of his features as the split vision became one again. His muscles were obvious and almost mouth watering. His eyes were pure white and yet those eyes, they were as famous as mine. "Really Hyuuga?" I glared defiantly up at him. "well here's one thing you don't know." I felt myself focus as I felt chakra running wildly through my body and building in chest. "Fire style fire-"
"Eight trigrams, Sixty four palms!" My eyes widened as I took the full blow of the first hit.

then the barrage started.

my body was mercilessly smashed through the tree and into the ground. as my mouth fell open I felt the rush of air escape my throat as i was left with a struggling heart. As I took notice, the ground had been mingled and stained with the blood of being beaten.

Jonathan's hand slowly began to wrap around the collar of my shirt as he pulled me off the ground. His leg smashed down and I screamed out as I felt the bone break. "STOP!" my eyes widened as he pulled me closed and grinned. "PLEASE! NO!" I shook my head and thrashed but he just brought his foot back down on the smashed leg and I screamed in agony as the bone soon began fragments with each stomp.
"Scream." he laughed quietly as his foot crushed down on the bone.
"Go to hell!" I bit back at him.
"I want to hear you scream. I want to see the light leave your eyes, I want to hear your voice collapse as you fade from this world. Rin couldn't even die right. So." he stamped down on the pathetic excuse off all that remained of my leg which was a mangled mess. "I guess you will just have to make up for that."

Tears rolled down my face it became numb and yet the pain was still there. "You sick bastard Jonathan!"
"Oh for gods sake, don't go into the speech; you will never get away with it you fiend! Here's the sad fact Uchiha your own father hates you and will probably thank me for killing you, and your own mother." he grinned horrificly at me. "Well, you will be joining her soon. You're going to die... but how about I play with you a bit first."

I screamed as he lent forward but then my eyes widened as i watched Jonathan pale. "You should be dead!"
"Never."
"Those eyes-" he backed away slowly.
"Ever."
"Wait... OBITO!"
"INSULT RIN." he roared.

-Break-

Obito's gaze burned with pain as his hatred focused onto the Hyuuga in front of him. "I'm sorry I-" Obito rushed forward as his mangekyō sharingan began to burn his gaze into the boy. His pale hand slammed straight into the boys throat as he lifted him off the ground. "You should never speak of Rin like that." his hand slowly began to close as he felt the bones in the boys neck began to break. "As much as I would love to kill you... your fate does not belong in my hands." With a quick and crushing toss. Jonathan smashed through the ground as a crater formed where he skidded along the floor.

Obito slowly knelt as he looked over at the boy on the floor. His eye began taking in more details of the body and wounds. "Chest cavity is broken and so are a lot of his ribs. Bone in his legs is crushed into fragments beyond repair... by medical ninjutsu anyway...but there's damage here as well, which wasn't inflicted by the Huuga kid, who ever this boy is, he has been getting hit and beaten up on a daily basis for a long while now."
"What's your name kid." he rested his hand on the side of the boys face as he tried to draw the boys unfocused gaze onto him. "Hey, still with me there? Come on." he tried and encouraging smile as the boys eyes slowly locked on him.
"W-who." Obito let the white mask around him fold away to reveal part of his face.
"Don't worry, just answer my question." his voice was calm and steady yet dominant.
"Cieco." he whispered as he tilted his head to look at Obito. "My name is Cieco Uchiha."

Why had Rin never mentioned this boy before? In all the time that Obito and Rin had been friends... why had she never mention him?

His eye ran over the poor boy on the ground. He was seventeen with soft brown hair which was mixed with golden locks which were flattened against his face by the rain. The boys shirt was torn in placed where a kunai seemed to have sliced it. Blood was seeping through the material and Obito became suddenly aware of just how much blood was on the ground around them. "Obito he could not possibly walk!"
"Think I don't know that?" he took a long look at Cieco before he lent down and scooped the boy off the ground and held tightly onto him as he launched into the trees.

Why did Rin never talk about him.

He felt the blood slowly seep through his cloak. It was growing colder by the second.

This was all he had left of Rin.

If that was true.

He would protect Cieco with his life.

By any means.