AN

Hey all! DB here with my first fanfic. This is a bit of a homage to the Bourne Identity (the book by Robert Ludlum) so you'll see some relation to that. Also I'd like to apologize in advance for any spelling and grammar mistakes that you uncover, and if I've

spelled something incorrectly please let me know. There will be no bashing in this fic, and there will probably be cannon pairings because it's my first time and I don't know how to write romance (so some tips in that area would be nice). Also, please don't

flame me after reading this, though genuine tips on how I can make the action, romance and characters better would be greatly appreciated.

Legend

"talking"

"Great Being talking"

'thinking'

'Great Being thinking'

Jutsu & techniques

Red Cloak: My OC's alias in this chapter

Some events were inspired by Final Fantasy VII

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

In the village of Konoha, the preliminary rounds for the third part of the chuunin exams had just finished.

But while the remaining Genin celebrated their victories, two figures were observing events from atop a waterfall-cliff overlooking the forest of death. They had been ordered by their leader to scope out the village for the upcoming operation. They wore black cloaks with a design of red clouds, and the taller of the two figures carried a giant sword over his back.

"Hey, Itachi," the man with the sword said.

"Yes, Kisame?" Itachi replied.

"Why do we need to scout the village in the first place? Don't you already know the password to get by the barrier jutsu?" Kisame asked.

Itachi sighed, "I left the village thirteen years ago Kisame, Danzo has had plenty of time to change the password and set up defenses against me. Currently it looks like our best chance to get into Konoha is to slip in with the crowds that will arrive for the Third Exam."

"But that's a month a way! Itachi, the Kyuubi vessel is down there right now, lets just grab it!"

"We can't, with Orochimaru, as well as high level ninja from across the nations down there as well, it's more likely that we'd be killed or captured. Besides, shouldn't we entertain our guest?"

"Guest?" Kisame said looking confused. Then he turned to see a young man walking out from behind the rocks.

The person looked about 14 years old. He had blonde hair and green eyes. He stood about 5'10, and was wearing a long red cloak that billowed about his arms and legs. The cloak was pulled over itself, hiding what he was wearing beneath. He also had

a large belt done up around the cloak at the waste which was holding it closed. On his right hand he wore a black glove, while his left was encased in a golden, armoured gauntlet. The gauntlet covered his entire forearm, with a short protruding spike to

protect the elbow. It was made of a kind of ring armour, where the largest ring was at is elbow, and was overlapped by a smaller ring to provide protection. This design continued down over his fingers, though there wasn't any armor on his palm. From

what the Akatsuki members could see, he was also wearing black cargo pants and combat boots. What held their attention was what he carried over his shoulder: a large broadsword in the European style, with a guard that curved back towards the hilt.

The sword was clearly sharp at the point and both edges and while it was much smaller than the Samehada, the blade was four feet long, at least. The sword was sheathed in a scabbard that was belted to his back.

"So, how long did you know I was there?" Red Cloak asked.

"Since you arrived, you have a very unique chakre signature."

"Damn, after this I'll need to master hiding my presence, I can't have my targets discovering me before I attack them."

Unhappy with being left out of the conversation, Kisame bellowed out "Who the hell are you! You got a lot of balls to be calling me your target."

Red Cloak looked up at Kisame, "Who I am doesn't matter, and even if it did, why would I give my name to a dead man?"

"So you intend to fight us then?" Itachi said, slipping into a combat stance.

"No, I don't intend to fight you," replied Red Cloak "What I intend to do is KILL YOU!" and drawing his sword, he leapt at the two Akatsuki members.

Kisame met him in the air with his Sameheda. The two swordsmen pushed against each other in mid-air until Red Cloak was thrown back near the water's edge. Grinning, the fish man leapt at his opponent "I've got you now!" he yelled. Red Cloak

planted his body, closed his eyes, and held his sword at his side. Any intelligent or observant ninja would have noticed the strange energy beginning to build up in the stranger's sword.

Uchiha Itachi was both of these and tried to cry out a warning to his partner. Hoshigaki Kisame on the other hand was neither of these, and as such completely ignored Itachi. As he swung his sword down towards the stranger, Red Cloak brought his

faintly glowing sword up, and smashed it against Kisame's blade.

The former Kiri nin was sent flying back several metres. He landed on the water before skidding across it and crashing into a group of very sharp, jagged rocks. He had almost no time recover though, as his opponent ran at him across the water and

forced another blade lock.

"Dammit, you're pretty good for a kid. But unfortunately for you, we fighting on water, MY TERRITORY!" Kisame threw the stranger back then flashed through a flurry of hand seals. "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" Large water dragons roared out of the river directly towards Red Cloak. The stranger kept a cool head and gripped his sword with both hands as golden energy began to collect around him.

"What is this strange chakre?" Itachi wondered, "Is it even chakre that he's using?" Suddenly, the energy stopped building and Red Cloak opened his eyes. They were tinged with gold. Holding his sword next to him, he slashed forward crying "RYUUGAI!" As the blade sliced through the air, a large golden arc spread out in its wake, decapitating the water dragons. Making use of the opportunity Red Cloak leaped over the fish/man and landed directly behind him.

Caught of guard, Kisame didn't even have time to say "Oh, Shit!" before Red Cloak brought his sword down with another ryuugai. This time the scythe/beam sliced right through the zanbatou wielding sword master from head to groin. Blood spattered everywhere as the two halves of the corpse fell into the river, to be washed away from the battlefield.

"That's one down, on to go." Red Cloak stated as he sheathed his sword and began to walk towards the Uchiha. "You really are a cold person Itachi; just leaving your partner alone to die at my hands. Well, I guess it's to be expected from someone who murdered his family."

"Don't overestimate yourself boy. You don't have the ability to defeat me." With that a kunai slid down the Uchiha's sleeve and into his hand. Raising his arm Itachi threw the knife towards the stranger head. Red Cloak drew his sword and deflected the kunai before it could hit him.

"Is that all the great Uchiha can do? Throw knives at people? If that's it then just die right there!" Red Cloak shunshuined forward until he appeared right next to the Akatsuki member. "DIE, UCHIHA ITACHI!" Red Cloak brought his sword down and sliced through Itachi's midriff. Itachi grunted has the blade tore through his body while black feathers blew out of the wound.

'Feathers!' Red Cloak turned and saw the corpse break apart into hundreds of crow feathers. 'Ah crap, a genjutsu! Don't tell me that he threw the knife he wans't trying to kill me, but trap me!' "KAI!" Red Cloak dispersed the genjutsu just in time to see the Samehada smash into his face.

The stranger was sent flying from the blow and though he managed to land on his feet, he was still bleeding from his head. "Dammit," Red Cloak began to cough up blood "The you I killed before was just a mizubunshin, right?" He looked up at the smiling face of Hoshigaki Kisame.

"While it's impressive that you could defeat a clone of me operating at less than one eighth of my abilities, that doesn't mean you can take either of us." Kisame sneered down at the young swordsman.

Red Cloak glared up at him "You ain't seen nothing yet!" Gripping his sword he spun himself up into the air, releasing another ryuugai at his opponents. He was shocked to see Itachi leap over the beam, grab his head and smash it into his knee. The Uchiha prodigy than gave the stranger a devastating kick to chest that fractured three of his ribs. Coughing up blood he fell backward, only to be hit from behind by Kisame's Samehada. "AAHHH!" He screamed as he felt the blade tear at his back, though it didn't puncture his coat. The swordsman was thrown forward by the force of the blow and landed face down in the dirt.

The two Akatsuki stood over Red Cloak as he struggled to get up. As the swordsman started to stand, Kisame stepped on his sword. 'Dammit,' Red Cloak thought while coughing up blood and grit 'Their stronger than I expected, but it's not over yet, I can still win!' With that thought in mind he lunged toward Kisame with his gauntleted hand out. "Oh no you don't." Itachi stated has grabbed Red Cloak's gold encased wrist. "You won't use anymore strange techniques." And with that, he brought his foot up and slammed it into the back of the boy's elbow.

Red Cloak screamed in pain as he felt the joint shatter. Letting go of his sword, he reached up with his good hand and smashed it into the ground, shaking it with the impact and knocking the two Akatsuki off balance. Grabbing his sword, the blonde stranger turned and began to run, knowing that at his level, he was no match for the two of them.

"The little prick." Kisame grunted as he got up, "there's no way he's getting away from this." The fish-man leapt forward and swung his spiked sword into Red Cloak's back. The boy let out another cry as he felt several of his ribs break, while the force of the blow knocked him into the water.

"It's time to die you bastard!" Kisame yelled with glee "Better luck next lifetime!" with that he flipped through a set of hand seals and cried out "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" The river exploded outward, shattering a large section of the cliff and triggering an avalanche of rock, mud, and water. Red Cloak, bruised, broken, and bleeding was battered even more by the jutsu. Rocks smashed into his head and face, and he lost his grip on his sword. Unconscious, and in a state of near death, the young warrior fell into the darkness, with his sword and the rest of the debris.

"So Itachi, what do you think his chances of survival are?" Kisame asked.

"Very low. After the beating we put him threw, not to mention the effects of that jutsu and the fall, he'll be lucky to be in a coma, if not dead." Itachi replied, "But in the meantime, we should leave Kisame. This battle will have attracted the attention of the ANBU, and we don't want to be discovered just yet."

"You're the boss."

And with that, the two Akatsuki slipped away into the dark. However, no one could have predicted the effect that the outcome of this battle would have on the ninja world, the village of Konoha, and one blonde haired, orange clad, knuckled-headed ninja.

AN

So that was my first chapter and I hoped you enjoyed it. Once again tips and constructive criticism = good, flames = bad. Please Review.