"You're sure right..? I mean...he was so bad we-"

"Yes, I'm sure. Focus on Hiroshi. He needs you. I can handle Yukio."

"You're not exactly good with him..."

"Can you word that any better? I AM his father...I think I can handle him..."

"Okay...In other words...You know he's not going to calm down easily for you...and you know he's two now...he's only going to get worse..."

"Don't worry about it. I've got this."

Miyuki sighed, she had to admit defeat. "All right. Just...contact me if you need me to come back...?"

Hiroki smiled reassuringly. "That won't be necessary."

There was a moment of silence. Miyuki was visually upset. Hiroki's expression was hidden by the sunglasses he usually wears. The only thing showing his mood was the heartened smile on his face.

Miyuki narrowed her eyes, trying to read his emotions. She gave up quickly. She had known him since she was born and still could not fully read him. She gave him a hug and picked up her bags. She left the room without a word, causing Hiroki to frown.

'Hiroki ran a hand through his hair, thinking of what to do now that he'd be alone with his youngest son. As he turned to walk out of the room he was tackled down by said boy.

"Daddy!" Yukio beamed up at his father.

Hiroki chuckled and rustled his hair. "What's up, bud?"

Yukio frowned and looked out the door. "Where'd Mama go?"

"She and Hiroshi are going away for a while to train. We told you that..." He noticed Yukio look away sadly. "Didn't she say goodbye?"

"Yeah...But..."

"She'll be back...Just don't know when."

"'Kay..."

Hiroki shuddered as he heard thunder clash outside. "Don't worry. You've got me. I'm way better than Mom anyway, right?"

Yukio smiled a bit. "Maybe..."

"How about this? I'll teach you while your mother is teaching Hiroshi."

Yukio squealed. "Yes yes yes!"

Hiroki smiled and leaned back on the couch. "Okay, but tomorrow."

"Why?" Yukio whined. "I wanna now!"

Hiroki chuckled. "Yeah, but I don't wanna now, so we're going to do this." He pulled Yukio into a laying position and turned on the television. "Let's see what's on."

"Lazy Daddy..." Yukio giggled.

A few weeks later...

"Daddy, look!" Yukio beamed and pointed at the kunai sticking on the edge of of a broad target.

"Good job, Yukio!" Hiroki applauded. "You're picking this up fast."

Yukio somehow smiled brighter and threw another kunai.

Hiroki watched Yukio for a few moments, his attention soon being caught by a hawk landing on his shoulder. He sighed and took the note from it's leg. He sighed once again once he read what was on the note. "Okay, kiddo. We're going to have to call it quits for the day. I got something to take care of."

Yukio pouted. The sky became overcast as he teared up. "But, Daddy..."

"Hey hey hey, no tears," Hiroki tried to stay calm. He didn't want to see what would happen if Yukio started a tantrum. Things got bad enough when he was just upset. "We can pick this up later if you're good."

Yukio kept pouting, but the sky became clear once more, showing signs of a more flaccid attitude. "Okay..." he agreed.

The two walked back home quickly. Hiroki left Yukio with a clone then left once more. Yukio sat in his room playing with his toys when a loud thud interrupted his session.

"Daddy?" he tilted his head when he received no response. He stood up and walked to the living room. Standing there was a middle aged man that looked a lot like his father. "Who...who are you?"

The man smiled sweetly. "Don't worry about that." He feigned a frown when Yukio backed away. "Come now, Yukio...No need to be afraid. I'm not here to hurt you. Only to test you."

"Test me?"

"Yes," the man smiled once more. "See, I need to know if you'll be a proper heir. Your brother showed promise at your age too, but sadly..."

"Hmm?"

"He failed the test. Now things rest on you."

"I...I don't understand..."

"You don't need too," the man walked over to Yukio, grabbing his arm before he could move away. "Hopefully you don't end up like your brother."

Yukio found himself by the waterfall hidden the Taki from the outside world. His kekkei genkai had been forcibly activated by the man, causing him to go temporarily blind. He sat crying as rain fell from the sky. His eyes hurt badly from the amount of chakra forced into his body.

He looked around hopelessly as he heard voices approaching. His sight was starting to come back, though it wasn't enough to let him know what was going on.

He could vaguely see the shadows of Waterfall shinobi approaching, though because of his current mindset he didn't know if they were friend or foe.

"What happened?" a voice said.

"Is that Hiroki's boy?" another spoke.

"Why's he here alone?"

"Oh God...Look at the waterfall...!"

The ninja was referring to the electricity surging from the water.

Yukio's fear was causing unnatural occurrences. Aside from the electricity flowing from the water's surface, there was now hail falling on the sky; causing more distress from the toddler.

Lightning struck between the ninja and Yukio. The ground split and sent both parties flying. Yukio landing in the pool of surging water, while the ninja fell against trees and what was left of the ground.

One ninja appeared on the water, standing on the surface. He pulled Yukio up, ignoring the immense shocks he was receiving. "This is why we shouldn't allow outsiders..." he muttered as he knocked Yukio out with a blow to the back of the neck.

Yukio awoke hours later. A shadow loomed over him. His vision had come back slightly, or at least enough to know it was his father who shaded the light.

"D-Daddy?" he asked weakly.

Hiroki didn't respond. He simply looked down at Yukio, his expression unreadable.

"What happened?" Yukio was confused. He didn't remember anything aside from nearly drowning. "Where...where am I?

Once again, Hiroki did not respond. He simply shook his head twice in disappointment, something that was foreign.

"You failed," he finally spoke.

"W-what?"

Hiroki's response was taking off his sunglasses. His normally storm grey eyes were taken over by the colors of the Akugan; a blazing red rivaled only by the Sharingan.

"D-Daddy?" Yukio wanted to say more but all that left his mouth were screams of agony. He held his head as his father glared into his soul.

"Apparently you're eyes still work enough for this," Hiroki mused, his voice not his own.

Yukio tried to look at his father, but soon started to lose consciousness. The last thing he heard was the voice of the man who had shown up in house laughing in the distance.