Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Obviously.

Chapter 1:

-Sasuke-

-Years Ago-

There was so much blood. One would think that it would be difficult to see in the darkness of night, but Sasuke was all too aware of the blood that covered the streets, the walls...everything.

It was the blood of his family. The blood of his clan.

Only he and one other remained. The man who had slain all of the others.

His brother, Itachi.

"Sasuke..." Itachi said, staring at his younger brother.

His eyes...they've changed. His Sharingan is different now. Sasuke thought. That was all he really could do. He wanted to yell, to scream, to ask why Itachi had done this. The words didn't find their way to his lips.

Itachi approached him. His eyes never wandered, never glanced away from Sasuke's. They were mesmerizing. Despite himself, no matter how much he wanted to, Sasuke couldn't turn away either. It was like he was being held, his eyes forced open.

And then suddenly, everything was different. Gone were the blood stains, the corpses of all of his friends and family. Even the darkness of night had given way to the light of the early morning.

At last, Sasuke found himself able to turn away from his brother's gaze. He took in their surroundings. "How...how did this happen?" he asked aloud.

"A genjutsu." Itachi said, still approaching Sasuke. "A very powerful one. Tsukuyomi. One of the most powerful techniques an Uchiha can obtain."

"So, this is all..." Sasuke began.

"Imaginary, correct." Itachi said. "I wanted to explain, to give you the reason for what I've done this night."

"The reason..." Sasuke said. "What reason could you possibly...?"

"The clan was planning a revolt. They were going to wage a war amongst the Leaf Village." Itachi said. "It would have resulted in massive casualties for both sides, weakening the village as a whole. This...was the only way to allow the village to survive."

"But...but Mom and Dad..." Sasuke said.

"Were planning to participate in the revolt." Itachi said. "Some of the leaders of the village wanted the entire clan to be eliminated. THis was the only way for the clan to continue. For you and I to carry on the legacy."

Sasuke swallowed hard. This was...unbelievable.

"What I have done here tonight is...unthinkable. Unforgivable. But it was the only way to guarantee your safety." Itachi said. "Those who gave me the orders promised me that you would be kept safe. Of course, I don't fully trust them. That's why I'm telling you this, and trusting you to keep it quiet."

"Keep it quiet? But..." Sasuke began.

"Speaking of this will likely make you a target." Itachi said. "You need to survive, and help propagate change in the village."

"How can I do that?" Sasuke asked. "You...you should be able to do that, you're a genius."

Itachi smiled. "I'm not the only one." he said. "I believe in you, Sasuke. You can change the direction the village is going."

"But...no, I can't. Not alone." Sasuke said.

"You won't be alone." Itachi said. "There are others. Among them, the child of the Fourth Hokage."

"The...child of the Fourth?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi smiled again. "Right. It's a bit of a secret, but I've already filled you in on enough to make me an enemy of the village." he said. "The Fourth had a child, a daughter. She's been hidden from view, so that his enemies can't get to her before she's capable of defending herself. If she's anything like her father, she should be aligned to the same goal I am. The same goal I'm hoping you'll follow."

"But if she's hidden, what can I do?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi shook his head. "I'm sure you'll meet eventually." he said, as a form began to take shape behind him. The figure was a couple of inches shorter than Sasuke, and had it's back to him. The figure...it was definitely a girl, had her back to him. She had deep red hair falling to her shoulder blades. She turned toward him slightly, allowing him to see one of her eyes. It was a striking blue color.

"This is what I can show you of her." Itachi said. "It's been some time since I've seen her, but this should be more or less accurate."

Sasuke studied the girl. Or...what he could see of her. "Okay..." he said. "But, what do..."

Itachi shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry. We're out of time." Itachi said. "I wish we had more, but..."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked.

"I need to go. There are...other things I need to take care of." Itachi said. "Remember, I believe in you." He then bent down and tapped Sasuke on the forehead with his index and middle fingers. As soon as the contact was made, Sasuke found himself back in the same bloodied street, surrounded by bodies, in the middle of the night.

Itachi was gone, with no indication of where he had gone. Sasuke sank to his knees. He could hear people approaching, probably Anbu coming to see what had happened.

Sasuke was just trying to process all of this. His clan was all but dead. Onle Itachi and himself remained. Itachi had been ordered to eliminate the others by someone in charge of the village. Sasuke didn't know who, though.

And Itachi wanted him to become strong. To become someone who could change the village and keep things like this from happening again? Itachi believed in him to do this?

Then he would. He would become as strong as he possibly could, and make everyone change. And he would find the Fourth's daughter, and she would help him.

-Present-

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts. He had been having more flashes from that night as his graduation from the academy approached. This was, after all, his first real step. He would officially be a ninja after today.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to graduate, of course." Naruto said.

"But...you failed the test." Sakura said.

"I took some extra credit." Naruto said.

"Guess there's a first time for everything." Sasuke said.

"What was that, jerk?" Naruto asked. Sasuke smirked a bit. Taking shots at Naruto was...cathartic. He was, for all intents and purposes, the opposite of what Sasuke strived to be. He was a failure, constantly slacking off, putting more effort into his pranks than his jutsu. Sasuke, on the other hand, had devoted himself to becoming as skilled as possible.

He had learned as many jutsu as he could, trained his body to be as strong as possible. Unfortunately, his Sharingan hadn't activated yet, but once it did, he would begin using it to increase his standing even more. None of his fellow new Genin would argue that he was anything other than the top of their class.

Sasuke looked up and met Naruto's gaze. He hesitated for a moment, seeing the other boy's piercing blue eyes. Every time he saw them, they served as another reminder of that night. The night his clan was slaughtered, and his brother fled the village with no indication of where he went.

Those eyes...somehow, the same as the girl Itachi had shown him in that illusory world.

Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts. "You heard me, slacker." he said.

Naruto looked like he was going to begin yelling, but then stopped and shook his head. "Whatever, not worth my time." he said.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. That was...unusual. That wasn't how Naruto usually reacted to his taunting.

"Finally accepting your place at the bottom?" Sasuke asked. A few of the others in the room snickered.

"I earned my graduation." Naruto said, sounding oddly serious. "I don't need to prove anything to you here. I'll show you how good I am when I become Hokage. Believe it."

Sasuke shook his head as the other boy sat in his usual seat, and then turned to glance out the window again.

Well, if the clown wants to get serious, all the better for the village. Maybe he won't be completely useless when it comes time to change things around here.

-Naruto-

That jackass... Naruto thought. He has no idea what I've been through.

Naruto knew that that was a pretty stupid thought. Of everyone in their class, Sasuke understood better than anyone. Doesn't mean he needs to be a jerk.

Losing your parents as a baby was bad enough. Having a demon fox sealed inside you, and a fair number of the adults in the village knowing it and hating you for it? That's something not many people could really understand.

The third had explained it some time ago. He had almost needed to. A few too many close calls when the Anbu guards almost couldn't stop things in time had warranted an explanation.

One would think that the villagers would be a little more thankful to the child who was acting as a vessel to keep a dangerous creature at bay. One would be wrong.

And, for all the power he had and respect people had for him, the Hokage's threats to leave the child alone wouldn't work on everyone.

That was part of the reason for the Hokage's other defensive measure.

Naruto barely noticed as Iruka walked in. He seemed to be doing well, despite the injury he had sustained the night before. He made a little speech and then started listing off the teams.

When it was finally Naruto's turn, he was...less than thrilled. Sasuke was skilled, but he was a jerk. And Sakura...she knew plenty from a text book perspective. Would she be good in the field? It was hard to tell.

The newly formed teams began departing, leaving Team 7 alone, waiting for their instructor. It took him about two hours to turn up.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Got a bit hung up." the man said. "My name is Kakashi. I'll meet you on the roof in one hour, so that we can do introductions properly."

"Why an hour?" Sasuke asked.

"I need time to prepare." Kakashi said.

"Two hours wasn't enough?" Sakura asked.

"I wasn't preparing, I was...busy." Kakashi said. "One hour, on the roof." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

All three Genin groaned. Sasuke was the first to leave. He silently stalked out of the room. Sakura seemed to be trying to gather her wits, so Naruto was the next one out. He said a quick goodbye to his new teammate, and then was out the door.

He headed away from the academy, toward his apartment. He noted a few stares being shot at him. It didn't matter. He was used to it.

He reached his apartment in about 10 minutes. That meant he had about 40 before he needed to head back to the Academy.

He closed and locked the door behind him. It had numerous locks to keep intruders out. It had only taken about 5 break ins for the extra security measures.

The bars on the windows made the place seem more prison like, but they also kept people out, so Naruto wasn't going to complain.

He pulled the shades and was left in relative darkness. He couldn't see out, and no one could see in. Just how he wanted it.

He made the hand signs to release the seal, and he...no, she was finally able to relax. The special seal that the Third had put on her was comprehensive, powerful, but took a lot of concentration and chakra to maintain.

Natsumi stretched, relishing the feeling of being in her natural state. She walked into the bathroom and stared into the mirror. Her blue eyes and the whisker marks on her cheeks were the only things that carried over between her two forms.

When transformed, her hair was blonde like her father's had been. In this form, it was red like her mother's, which went down to her shoulders. She was also about 4 inches shorter in this form than she was as Naruto.

She exited the bathroom and took off her thick orange jacket. A gift from the third. It was big enough that if the seal ever let go when she wasn't ready, it might be able to hide her true form...potentially. If everyone around was blind so they couldn't see her face and hair change.

She tossed the jacket onto her chair. She didn't have much time. It would take a little bit to cast the seal and transform again, so...

"Looks like it's ramen for lunch...again." she said to herself. When she was like this, she generally spoke aloud. It was nice to hear her real voice. "It's a good thing I like ramen." she said, going over to her cabinet to grab some.