CHAPTER ONE

She darted in quickly with a punch, the two wheels of her Sharingan blazing fiercely but

I dodged it at the last moment, swaying sideways and the attack swept passed my face.

She quickly used the momentum of her punch to sweep a kick at my face but I ducked it.

Quickly and almost effortlessly, I swept a low kick knocking her balancing foot from

beneath her. Her momentum flipped her forward and she landed on her back, a look of

surprise on her face.

Sazumi frowned up at me and I smiled down at her waving at her. Quickly, she leapt up

bringing with her, a sweeping kick that would have knocked some sense into me had I not

seen it. I blocked it with a wrist but she came in again angling a punch at my face. I used

my other hand and swatted her fist away.

Sazumi leapt away from me making the all-too familiar hand seals that I'd seen most of

my life. "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" she shouted spitting a rather large fireball at me

from her mouth through her hand.

I mimicked her hand seals. "Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" I said and spit a fireball as

large as hers.

The two balls of fire clashed into each other causing a small explosion of flames.

"It's not nice to use an attack against me that I taught you." I called through the smoke.

"You taught me Ryukku. Sasuke taught me Goukakyuu." Sazumi called leaping through

the smoke spitting more fire at me.

I smirked, disappeared and reappeared behind her. "Right you are." I said swinging a

slow punch.

Sazumi saw it coming, as I knew she would. She ducked it hunching down to her hands.

Quickly she began fighting me with her feet, all her attacks aimed at my legs. She was

using her hands to balance as she battled me backwards and I had to hop, skip and lift my

feet accordingly to dodge her attacks.

She's getting better, I told myself battling a smile that wanted to spread across my face.

Sazumi flipped herself up and spit a quick, small ball of fire at me as she did so. I

frowned; swayed and let the fire dart passed my head. The flames singed the very ends of

my dark hair and I nodded in approval.

She's definitely getting better, I said to myself as she came in again.

Before she could attack though, Father somehow made his way into the fray blocking

her attack with a wrist. Sazumi stopped fighting instantly and I watched him with a frown

of curiosity.

"What?" he asked displaying a child-like smirk. "Don't stop on account of me."

I smirked too. So did Sazumi and we both turned on him. I released my Sharingan, the

three wheels quickly flashing to life in my eyes. Father released his three-wheeled

Sharingan as well.

"I'm ready whenever you two are." he said.

I dashed in using Escape by Air to appear behind him in the blink of eye but Father had

already turned to face me blocking the punch that I'd thrown to his head. Sazumi came in

with a sweeping kick but Father bent his head forward and the kick passed over his head.

She then went low with a kick and I threw another punch. Father leapt into the air turning

his body parallel to the ground forcing both mine and Sazumi's punch to miss him high

and low. Father kicked backwards and punched forward. The move caught me off guard

and it hit me square in the face staggering me backwards a few steps. The kick hit Sazumi

and she tumbled backwards in the dirt. Father landed on the ground with one hand

balancing himself completely.

He smirked at me and I laughed. Sazumi rolled to her feet reaching for her weapon's

pouch as she did so. She threw them deftly and accurately but Father began spinning

wildly twirling his feet around and twisting his body about. The blades whistled

harmlessly passed his weird dance-like maneuver and my shoulders slumped realizing

that Sazumi's thrown kunai knives were now spinning at me. I swayed through them

simultaneously making hand seals. I placed a hand on the ground and looked up at Father

who had just jumped to his feet.

"Goukakyuu Ryuuku no Jutsu!" I cried and instantly, a pillar of flames shot up from the

ground beneath Father engulfing him in fire.

Sazumi stumbled backwards and looked up at the pillar in surprise. She had never seen

the technique before, I'd realized.

"Koharu!" she cried coming up beside me. She gave me a little shove. "That's too

dangerous."

I laughed. "You must not know your uncle too well then." I said shoving her hard to the

side and then ducking low as several balls of fire whizzed over my head.

Staying low, I spun about to face Father who was standing there looking quite amused.

"That's a nice Jutsu, Koharu!" Father said nodding in approval. "When did you pick that

one up?"

I looked up in thought trying to recall the time when I had mastered the Goukakyuu

Ryuuku no Jutsu technique. "A couple of weeks ago I think." I answered and Father

nodded.

"Wow." said Sazumi looking at the two of us in awe. "I'm never going to catch up to

you two."

I looked over at her. "Yeah you will." I said smiling reassuringly. "I used to think the

same thing about dear old Pops over there and now look at me." I offered her a wink and

she laughed.

"He thinks," said Father reappearing beside me so quickly that he could have been there

the whole time. "that he's caught up to me. I've still got quite a few tricks up my sleeve."

Sazumi laughed even harder as Father and I grinned at each other.

"Come now. Lets head home before Sakura hunts us down like wild pigs." said Father

wrapping an arm around the two of us.

As soon as those words left his mouth, we turned to find Sakura standing there with a

wave of fiery anger radiating from her. She was staring at Father with a look of death

which Sazumi and I were quick to notice. Together, we sidestepped away from Father

leaving him staring back at Sakura with a pool of sweat quickly forming at his feet.

"Hey honey, I was just talking about you, wasn't I guys?" said Father laughing

nervously.

"See you at home, Father." I said and quickly, I used the Escape by Air technique to

send me traveling away from the devastation as fast as possible.

I could hear Sazumi in the distance calling after me. I laughed and let the air take me to

town in the middle of the village. I stopped the Jutsu slowing down to a casual walk and

shoved my hands comfortably into my pockets. I let go of the Sharingan and took a deep

breath.

The sun was hanging low in the west, most of it disappearing behind the mountains right

next to the village. In the mountains, the faces of the past Hokage were etched into the

hard, rocky surface.

I began walking through the town admiring the people who were enjoying the scene and

buying things out of the shops. My mind raced to Father, who seemed particularly more

happy ever since Itachi's death.

Itachi. Although four years had passed, I still couldn't believe that he was dead. Killed

with Father's most deadliest attack. An attack that I'd never seen. The Kuriso. An attack

so viciously horrifying that I'd never asked him about it. Nor had he spoken of it since

then either. It was no doubt, a technique that he'd been harvesting since his days with

Orochimaru and it was something that I hoped he never had to use again.

I shook my head bringing my thoughts back to how things were now. Father was happy

as was Sakura. Sazumi had finally begun coming around to liking us in the passed couple

of years and she was practically part of the family. Although she was Itachi's daughter,

she was nothing like him and she looked up to me a lot.

I smiled. Sazumi. She was coming along quite well. Being raised by Itachi, she had been

raised hard and strict but when she had not shown the traditional Uchiha talent of combat,

he'd practically disowned her. He had pushed her away but now that she was with Father

and I in Konoha, she had improved drastically over the passed few years. I was happy that

she was beginning to open up to us.

Sazumi reminded me of myself. She was a bit younger than me when Father and I had

stepped back into Konoha again for the first time. She was in school and on her way to

becoming a Chuunin. I grinned in thought. Her Chuunin exams were next week and I

couldn't wait to see how well she'd do. She wasn't the leader of her Genin team but I

didn't expect her to be. Especially with her being in the same team as Tsunade's son,

Hiro.

A hand suddenly grabbed my shoulder and I paused in surprise. I turned and found Iame

there looking at me. I smiled and she smiled back. Almost reflexively, I looked around for

any sign of Natari but knew I wouldn't find her.

"You seem lost in thought." Iame said falling in step beside me.

"I've got a lot on my mind." I answered casually.

Iame nodded her head. "I bet. How's your cousin?" she asked.

I shrugged as I thought of Sazumi. "She's doing great. I can't wait to watch her in the

Chuunin Exams this year."

"Yeah, it's going to be competitive this year." Iame said.

I nodded in agreement. We walked together in silence passing Naruto's favorite ramen

shop, the smell coming from it intoxicatingly inviting.

"So," I said looking at Iame from the corner of my eye. "have you talked to Natari

lately?"

Iame smiled. "Yeah, she was just with me actually." she said. "But we saw you and she

went home."

I frowned. Why did women have to make this so difficult?

"Come on, Koharu." Iame went on. "What did you expect? She practically confessed her

darkest secret while you were dying. It's kind of embarrassing to see you now after

admitting to such a thing."

I shook my head as my mind swirled around the memory of that night. There was so

much blood. My blood. I could feel myself dying, my body becoming weaker and my

consciousness fading. Itachi would have succeeded in killing me had it not been for

Mistress Hokage. I also believe that Natari's confession helped give me strength and keep

me alive just long enough for Mistress Hokage to reach me in time. Those words alone

gave me the will to want to live on. To keep breathing just so that I could be with her.

I love you, Koharu.

The words floated around in my mind as clearly as the night Natari had spoken them to

me. I could still feel the warmth of her tears as they fell on my face.

"It's been four years." I said sighing.

"Yeah, but she hasn't seen you in four years, Koharu." Iame said. "She and Naruto left

to train with the Uzamaki Clan to the north."

"I know." I said shaking my head.

"For the record," said Iame giving Koharu a knowing smirk. "when she came back,

seeing you again froze her. She said that you had become more handsome than she had

expected and her love for you, which she was trying to get over while she was gone by

the way, redoubled."

I stopped remembering the day Natari and Naruto had come back from training with

their long lost Clan. I had seen her and my heart tripled in size. There had been so many

butterflies fluttering in my stomach that I couldn't breath. She had let her long, golden

hair grow longer and it was styled in an exotic fashion now. Her blue eyes were fuller and

deeper while her limbs had grown long and slender. The thing I had found most

surprising was that she was no longer a young teenager but a young woman. Natari had

become fuller, shapelier, her curves rounding out attractively and I could do nothing but

stare. However, she didn't even speak to me. She hadn't said a word to me every since

she had returned with Naruto last week. I had started to believe that anything that Natari

and I could've had was gone, her trip to the north stealing any chance we'd had together.

However, Iame had just changed that insight. "So, you think she still likes me?" I asked

uneasily to Iame.

Iame snorted, her cute face becoming cocky. "The word like is an understatement." she

replied. "Her knees practically give out when she sees you."

That brought a smile to my face that no effort on my part could have fought it away.

Natari does still love me!

"You know why I'm telling you all this?" Iame asked looking at me quizzically and I

shook my head a bit interested.

"Well our team's a bit unstable now with you two not talking to each other. Mistress

Hokage has planned a mission for us and if we go out like this, we're going to fail it."

Iame said. "Probably not come back alive depending on the rank of the mission she gives

us."

"It's not me, its her." I felt compelled to say but I knew that I was trying to shove the

blame away from myself.

Iame stopped walking and I stopped as well turning to face her. "Is it really?" she asked.

"How many times have you tried to talk to her? You know where she lives."

I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out so I shut it.

"Look, Koharu." Iame said placing a hand on my shoulder. "We're not called the Three

Eyes of Konoha for nothing. We were - still are, the best Chuunin team in the village."

I sighed. Everything Iame was saying was right. We needed to pull our heads together

and get over ourselves.

"So I should go talk to her huh?" I asked nodding.

"Hell, you're the guy. You should've realized that already." Iame laughed and I

chuckled with her.

I activated Sharingan and made the quick hand seals for the Escape by Air technique.

"Everything's going to be alright." I told her with a wink.

Iame smiled.

"Wait!" said someone grabbing my shoulder and I spun around in surprise.

Iame's eyes opened wide as the two of us gaped at Instructor Shikamaru. He removed

his hand from my shoulder and sighed. "I thought you were going to use that technique

before I could get to you." he said looking at me and I released the Sharingan.

"What's up, Instructor?" I asked with an arched brow.

Shikamaru looked at the two of us. "As you know, Mistress Hokage has a mission

planned for the infamous Chuunin Team, The Three Eyes of Konoha." he said smirking

and I frowned realizing that Iame had just called us by that nickname. "She was planning

on giving it to you tomorrow but things have changed."

"How so?" asked Iame.

"Follow me." Instructor Shikamaru said and with that, he disappeared.

"Follow me, he says." said Iame frowning. "And then he disappears. How the hell are

we supposed to follow him?"

I laughed and activated the Sharingan again. "You ready?" I asked looking back at her

and she nodded.

I used the Escape by Air technique to take us out of the business district of Konoha and

into the far side of the village where the Hokage's office dwelled. It was easily the largest

building in the vast village and we were there in no time. I sped through the air holding

Iame by the hand as we dipped through the turning corridors and right to the large, double

doors of the building.

We came to a stop and Iame shook her head trying to rid herself of the dizziness. She

still had not gotten used to me taking her with me using the technique. It had just dawned

on me that I only used it with her twice before but Natari on the other hand, had traveled

with me so many times using Escape by Air that it hardly phased her anymore.

Oh damn, Natari!

"Shouldn't we get Natari?" I asked looking at Iame as she knocked on the large double-

doors.

"I'm willing to bet that she's already here." she said as the Hokage's voice sounded

through the door beckoning us to enter.

Together the two of us stepped into the large, circular room where there stacks of books

littering the plush blue carpet. There was a large, oak desk in the middle of the room with

stacks of paperwork seemingly unorganized on its surface. In the chair behind the desk,

sat a beautiful blonde woman with deep brown eyes, her hair falling into two long

ponytails.

"You asked for us, Mistress Hokage?" I said coming to stop before her desk.

I looked over and noticed that Shikamaru had already made it to the room. He was

standing on the far side of the office with his hands shoved into his pockets. Another

person I noticed, and my heart doubled its pulse rate, was Natari already standing by

Mistress Hokage's desk.

I gulped. She saw me looking at her and she quickly looked away, her cheeks turning a

slight shade of pink.

"I did." said Tsunade rising from behind her desk. "This mission has to be carried out

tonight."

"What happened? Why the change?" asked Iame inquisitively.

"Our intelligence has changed." she said looking at the three of us. "Have any of you

heard of the three Kunai?"

Natari and I shook our heads but as usual, Iame nodded. "They are the three best

Chuunin of the Village Hidden in the Mist. They've never failed a mission and

apparently, have never lost a battle together as a team or individually." she said. "It is said

that their leader wants to promote them to the level of Jounin but they are not yet old

enough to enter the Jounin Trials."

"Correct." said Tsunade with a nod. "We have gotten word from them that they intend to

enter a tournament called the Dark Shin obi. The daughter of the Mizukage has been

abducted and won't be returned unless they enter and win. The Mizukage is their version

of our Hokage."

"Wow." said Iame frowning.

"Yes. Their name has made some attention for them and the leaders running the Dark

Shin obi want to see how good they really are." said Tsunade. "If they lose, the daughter

will be killed."

"Why don't they send their whole militia to rescue her?" Natari asked and the sound of

her voice snatched my gaze to her.

"Blackmail." said Shikamaru speaking up. "Apparently, the Mizukage has done quite a bit of dirt in his past and they threaten to unearth it if they don't play by the rules. The

secret could destroy the whole village if it got loose."

My eyebrows lifted with interest.

"So what do they need us for?" Iame asked.

"They are asking that we assist them in the tournament." Tsunade asked. "They want

two teams to enter that are no higher than Chuunin. They are tired of the same rift raft

ninja that come in to try and win their money. They want something new."

"So its all business then?" I asked nodding and Shikamaru smirked. "But it still has

nothing to do with us though."

"Well, the Three Eyes of Konoha, your reputation is bigger than you think. These

leaders have also heard about your skills and have also stated that you must enter as part

of the agreement." Mistress Hokage said looking at each of us. "It has to be you three and

the Three Kunai or no deal."

"Can't we just refuse? I don't feel much up to a tournament." Natari asked.

I couldn't blame her, I realized. She had just returned home after being away for nearly

four years. I'd want to relax and just enjoy the village.

"We could, but the Village Hidden in the Mist is an ally of Konoha's and we will do all

we can to help them." Mistress Tsunade said. "Besides," the Hokage looked at us, her

eyes twinkling with excitement. "I'd like to see who is better. The Three Kunai or The

Three Eyes of Konoha."

I frowned. So all in all, this was also a way to test our military strength against the

Village Hidden in the Mist's?

"I think this is a trap, personally." said Shikamaru with a frown and a shrug. "Getting a team like you three and the Three Kunai out there alone in no man's land would be a

great start in trying to finish you off, furthermore weakening the military strength of both

Villages."

"Jeez, are we really that important?" Iame asked a little flattery in her voice.

"Not really." said Shikamaru and her shoulders slumped. "But its not that that they are

looking at. They are looking at reputation, and skill. If you three were to be killed, word

would spread like wildfire that three of Konoha's best famed ninja were dead, it would do

a lot to boost their own reputation and it will make us seem weaker in losing you."

I folded my arms. Who the hell started this whole Three Eyes of Konoha crap in the first

place, I thought to myself with a deep frown. I was sure it was Naruto bragging about

Natari being the leader of a group who commanded the powerful Byukagan, the infamous

Sharingan and the dangerous Kochirigan. I shook my head and sighed. I'd get him back

for this.

"Any questions?" asked Tsunade looking at the three of us.

"When do we leave?" Natari asked and we all looked at Tsunade with anticipation.

Tsunade's eyes gleamed dangerously. "Tonight."