Beta: This has also been revised by readerboy7.

I must be cruel, only to be kind.

~William Shakespeare

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Father and Sakumo went on a mission to the Land of Wind together. Kakashi and I were seeing them off. Father ruffled my hair plenty of times and hugged me tightly. He's really touchy today, I wonder why.

I set the thought aside when father said, "If you behave, when I get back I'll teach you something about our clan!" That made me excited, I always wanted to learn about our bloodline's abilities.

Once Sakumo was done with his good-bye they both disappeared in a cloud of smoke. My stomach felt sick, but I ignored it and turned around to meet our 'babysitter' for the week, Uchiha Mikoto.

Staying with Mikoto wasn't so bad. It was just, to simply put it, the most unproductive week of my life. Kakashi and I were mostly inside our temporary room doing chakra exercises like walking on the wall… ha… haha, yeah that's a risk we're notwilling to take, especially inside the Uchiha compound. We also shared a futon; we both fit so there was no problem.

One of the things that annoyed Kakashi was the fact that Mikoto never allowed us to go anywhere without her. The only place where she didn't follow us was our temporary room, one reason I stayed inside with Kakashi most of the time.

Another is because we are at the Uchiha clan compound, obviously they wouldn't let outsiders wander around their territory. The third day was probably the day we actually got to do something. Mikoto brought Kakashi and I outside to the young Uchihas' playground/training fields. I was so bored, I didn't even care if there were Uchiha kids running around giving us weird looks. I needed fresh air...

Kakashi and I were playing a slightly different version of tag. I run from him and if he catches me he'll ask a question, like 'What is the name of the first Hokage?' If I answered correctly I get a one minute head start and if not then we switch roles.

I jumped from tree to tree trying to get away from Kakashi. When I saw a blur of orange, I stopped and looked below. I narrowed my eyes until I saw a boy with spiky black hair wearing a blue shirt with orange edges and the Uchiha symbol on the back.

He was sitting under the tree I was perched on. So I did the one thing I've always wanted to do since I arrived in this world. A ninja jump scare. I jumped down from the tree and landed right in front of his face.

"Gah!" He yelped falling on his back. He quickly recovered, rubbing the back of his head as he pointed a finger at me. "What was that for? Who do you think you are? What do you want?"

He is quite the loudmouth. "Um... I wanted to scare you a bit? My name is Kinju Takeshi by the way, and I was wondering if you wanted to play." He blinked, owlishly. "Well, do you?" I asked eagerly.

"You... want to play... with me?!" He asked, surprised, as he redirected the finger from me to himself.

I nodded. "Yup! So what's your name?" He didn't say a word, but instead gave me a disbelieving look. I already knew the answer to the question but I wanted to hear it from him. I felt Kakashi's chakra above us but he didn't make a move, he just continued to watch.

After a few more seconds of silence he finally gave me his signature bright grin and adjusted his goggles as he proudly said, "My name is Uchiha Obito and I'm going to be the next Hokage! And when that happens, my clan and everyone else will finally acknowledge me!"

We heard an arrogant huff from above. Of course, I should have known that he would-

"Hokage? Do you even know how to control chakra?" He flatly asked as he jumped down from the tree and landed gracefully beside us.

"N-not yet, but I will!" He stuttered out with determination.

"How can you say you're going to be the next Hokage, if you can't even do something as simple as that?" Not everyone is a genius like you, calm down.

"Kashi-nii, don't say that, please. Someday he might grow up to be stronger than you," I said. I know he will, with the help of Madara. He raised an eyebrow at me but I ignored him.

"Obito-nii, if you want I can help you unlock your chakra. When you do we can play tag," Kakashi flinched at my offer.

"What does chakra have to do with playing tag?"

"Kashi-nii and I play a different version of it. Instead of playing on the ground like 'normal' people, we play up on the trees," I explained enthusiastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kakashi blurted out.

"Is that why you came from up there?" He asked as he pointed above and ignored Kakashi.

"Yeah... but before we play, I want to ask you something."

"Huh? What is it?" He asked confused.

"You said you wanted to become the Hokage so that your clan would acknowledge you, right?" He nodded. "Obito-nii... you think people will acknowledge once you become the Hokage, right?"

"What about it?" He asked still confused.

"I think that's 'incorrect', in my opinion at least," Obito was about to say something but kept his mouth shut when Kakashi beat him to it.

"What do you mean by that?" Kakashi asked, intrigued by my sudden change of topic.

"It is more likely that a person becomes the Hokage because he was acknowledged. Take Shodai-sama as an example. He became the Hokage because people acknowledge and trusted him. He didn't have to become the Hokage before people acknowledged him. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" I tried my best to explain but storytelling and teaching are some of my weakest points.

He nodded his head in an affirmative gesture but looked confused. I sighed. "Don't worry. You'll understand when you're older." I told him. I am mentally older, I can say things like that.

He raised a brow at me. "Older? How old are you?"

"I am four years old," I answered confidently, in a ridiculous manner.

"Four?! That's a year younger than me! But you sound so mature! I thought you were at least 6, considering your height."

"So, you're saying, calling you Obito-nii didn't help you figure out that I was younger than you?"

"Pathetic, outsmarted by someone younger than you, how are you going to be the Hokage at this rate?" Kakahi said crossing his arms while giving Obito a cocky smirk.

"Shut up! If you're so smart then what do you think he was trying to say?" Obito countered, annoyance clear in his voice.

"It's just as he says. A person does not acquire acknowledgment because he is the Hokage; it is rather a person becomes the Hokage because he gained the crowd's acknowledgment," he said with ease. "Thats a very good observation," he added.

"Thanks!" I'm not very good at explaining, but at least Kakashi knows how my vocabulary worked. "I couldn't have said it any better." I said, which made him smile under his mask.

"Whatever," Obito said with a pout and crossed his arms.

"Cheer up, Obito-nii. I'll teach you about chakra! Come on," I grinned at him.

"Ye-"

"Kakashi-kun, Takeshi-kun, It's time to go!" We heard Mikoto call out as she approached us. I sighed. So much for hanging out...

"Is she your mom? Wait-" he held up his hand and looked between the two of us. "You two are related?! You look nothing alike!" This made Kakashi's eye twitch while a bead of sweat dropped from my head. Is he serious?

"No, we're not related and Mikoto-nee-chan is definitely not our mother."

"So, Mikoto-san is your sister? You're from the Uchiha clan too!" He asked hopefully.

"No!" I didn't know he was this much of an idiot; or maybe he's just lonely.

"Is there a problem here?" Mikoto said raising an eyebrow at the three of us.

"Nothing. Mikoto-san. This idiot here is just annoying us." Kakashi said as he stabbed a thumb over to Obito's direction.

"Don't call me that, you masked-weirdo!"

"Idiot."

"Meanie."

"Calm down," I whispered.

They stood there glaring at each other. You could actually feel the imaginary sparks of electricity crackling between their gaze. Mikoto just rolled her eyes at them while I just watched with a blank face.

"You know Takeshi-kun, sometimes I think you're the only normal boy I know," She said with a sigh.

"Normal? There is no such thing as normal, everything in this world is eccentric. In fact the human brain is by far the most complicated thing in the world and standing beside it is chakra." I said tilting my head at her. What am I saying? I sound like a hypocrite, didn't I just call jumping from tree to tree strange? I should stop reading the "Science behind Chakra and its Connections to the Brain."

"I take it back. I can see the weirdness now... the good kind though." She said with a smile.

"Thank you... so, what do we do with them?" I asked, motioning my head at Kakashi and Obito.

She sighed. "They'll get tired of it, eventually."

The week continued and Kakashi refused to go to the playground and the training fields no matter how many times I asked him to.

"Please Kashi-nii, if you don't come with me Mikoto-nee-chan won't let me go."

"I don't like it there," he retorted childishly.

"Why? It's fun to play outside and I haven't seen Obito-nii in a while," I said looking up, as I remembered that I had promised to help him unlock his chakra.

Kakashi looked away and muttered something under his breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," he said quickly.

Sighing, I let it slide. "Fine, I won't ask again," I said moving over to the futon. "Goodnight."

"It's five in the afternoon," he pointed out.

I shrugged. "I want as much sleep as I can get. When we become ninjas we might not have enough time for sleep." I explained.

"I see," I heard him say as I fell asleep.

I was walking toward the gates with Kakashi and Mikoto to welcome our parents.

While Kakashi and I anxiously waited for them, Mikoto said, "You'll always be welcome at my house, so don't be shy. Drop by once in a while, okay?" We, of course, politely accepted the offer.

After waiting for an hour, we were greeted by a tsunami of leaves headed straight for our direction, with a panicked Sakumo trying everything he can to redirect it. Mikoto quickly grabbed the two of us and made a run for it.

"Mikoto-san, what's happening?" I asked panicking. Where is father? Is he all right? Mikoto didn't answer and instead ran faster.

What's happening?

I saw many members of the Police Force run to the direction opposite to where we were headed. I heard shouts of 'don't let them get the boy' and 'protect Mikoto-san and the children'.

ANBU and high level ninjas started to arrive using multiple Fire Style and Barrier Techniques. Some created walls made of earth while the Uchihas made the hand signs for Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique .This burned all the leaves. Yet as the current wave burned, another wave was created and it surrounded some of the defenders, before exploding, killing their victims instantly.

Kakashi looked horrified, the blood of the dead ninjas filled the field. The stench was revolting, it was disgusting. Some were slashed, some were decapitated, some were punctured by a needle-like material unmoving, and some turned to ashes.

Due to the air waves we were blown back. The bomb exploded near Mikoto, which caused her to lose her grip on both me and Kakashi. But before we got separated I grabbed Kakashi by the collar and threw him over to Mikoto. As we separated leaves surrounded me.

Inside the cold cave of Uchiha Madara, Takeshi was unconscious on the ground. Every now and then he would twitch but wouldn't wake up entirely.

Earlier that day... night, Madara dropped a ton of 'facts' on Takeshi's shoulders, almost breaking his back. His father, Yukimaru, was dead. The Land of Wind... is it a good place to die in? Was the age of thirty-one long enough? Do things happen for a reason or do they just scream it at people's faces?

He let out Robin Odon, the sickly thirteen-year-old that just wanted a normal and happy life. He remembers hanging out with Ben when he was eleven. Then at age twelve, he got admitted to the hospital. His old family was not rich, not poor either, but there really just wasn't any hope for him. Relatives and friends visited, but visiting wouldn't cure his condition. It just made him think he really was going to die.

The life he wanted. No war. No sickness. No sudden deaths. Most importantly, no chakra. All the people who he cared about alive; Mom, dad, Sakumo, and his parents, his first parents he wanted them back, all of them...

Leaf Puppetry... the same technique that took him away from his perfectly 'normal' life was his own. He hated it.

He hated his village for letting this happen. You would make a good ninja, someone once 'complemented' him. Bullshit logic, they think I would make a good killer. An eye for an eye; you make me stronger your way, I'll get rid of you my way. The bullshit logic of the village gave a person some pretty wacky thoughts.

The 'village leaders' never cared for the villagers' well-being. If they did, then child soldiers wouldn't exist. Wars start because of their childish bickering over small things. If you want a village to be successful then lead them to greatness, not war. But how would one conquer land without bloody, hissy fights?

~"This world is full of things that don't go as you wish; the longer you live the more you realize reality is just made of pain, suffering, and emptiness. In this world, when there is light, there are also shadows. As long as the concept of winners exists, there must also be losers. The selfish desire of wanting to maintain peace causes wars, and hatred is born to protect love."~

Very deep, true, and irrelevant. Love, the thing that causes failure; every time. Trust is a sign of weakness, the weakness of needing someone; independence is what the world needs… No, actually, let the world fall if it chooses to.

But I can't do that. I want them to grow, I want the people to live longer lives. I want their ages to reach eighty and not thirty. Long lives, better family ties. Most parents die during their children's teenage years, the time when they are needed the most. Temporary "peace" is what I would call it, temporary for personal reasons. Some might disagree, some might see the right in my point.

Father is dead... and he kept secrets. Yukimaru of the Kinju? Madara said, he is from an ice release clan… My plans... are they acceptable in human terms...? Takeshi clenched his fists. No, it doesn't matter, I'm doing this for the best. This is right, this is fine

"Uchiha-sama"... your help in this little project would be much appreciated.

The indirect fact "your father is a Yuki, not a Kinju", is the reason Madara chose Takeshi to be his pawn. A pawn that will give Madara the advantage he wants, the advantage he needs.

The pawn would reach the other side and become a queen piece, a weapon of mass destruction; mass destruction on the chess board and a priceless asset in Madara's point of view.

~"Everybody from Konoha thinks you're dead, even Sakumo and Kakashi."~

Those simple ten words that crumbled all the boy's hope for all. Regret... Madara felt none. This is right, this is what the world needs; peace. Visions of the future... such a shame he's not an Uchiha.

Zetsu is disappointed with the results of his "master's" convincing. Anti-climactic was his view on the mind twist.

A child's mind is a great place to plant ideas and opinions... but the child is too young to fully understand all this shit. Zetsu smartly kept to himself. How is he going to lead another kid, who's older than him by almost a year?

~"Keep an eye on him."~

The order was annoying and obvious. Even he got it the first time he stalked the kid. Jumping from tree to tree, talking in strange babbles that may or may not have meanings according to Madara. Obviously, it meant something. Psh!

Yeah, yeah, no. If he was an idiot he would have laughed in the elderly Uchiha's face, but no, instead he went underground and proceeded to laugh his ass off.

~"I heard a voice in my head once say, 'If life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade... and try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party...' Uchiha-sama I think you've got the vodka covered, now all we need to do is to plan the party."~

~"It's a self-invite. It's going to be fun. Let's just hope a he-she won't interrupt your dance this time... or would you prefer to have a dance rematch?"~

Apparently the kid's crazy... although, the random snippets of the future probably overdid it and broke him.

Zetsu was surprised by the 'gift' Madara was given, but he brushed it aside to get started on 'work.' Now, how to get the Obito kid... this might take a while.

"Uchiha-sama, who is this person you speak of, whenever I say something strange?" I curiously asked. Obviously whoever the person was he or she is already dead.

"Continue channelling your chakra to the leaves. Zetsu will be back later with more," He said firmly, ignoring/avoiding my question once again.

I let out a defeated sigh. "Yes, Uchiha-sama,"

For the past couple of... weeks? I've seen some scrolls with my clan's techniques. Apparently my two clan members that Madara controlled had some scrolls with them. Madara said some pretty interesting things about my clan... I'll look into that when I have time. For now I'll focus on keeping myself alive and plotting, which of course meant following Madara's orders.

I didn't fully understand how my kekkei genkai worked, all I know is I unlocked it when I snapped. Sanity is the price for power. It's always been like that ever since the beginning. Since then, Madara's trained me how to do the Leaf Clone Technique, Ninja Art: Leaf Animal Puppets, Multiple Leaf Blades, and Ninja Art: Leaf Detonation. Though the only jutsu he wanted me to finish was the Leaf Clone Technique.

"I'm back," I heard a voice announce. Zetsu... I labeled him as 'the freaky, one-eyed "clay" dude' and Zetsu-nii.

"Zetsu-nii, do you have any idea who this person Uchiha-sama keeps mentioning?" I asked him with a hopeful expression. Answers will be much appreciated. Random lady or dude needs a name.

"No," he replied bluntly. A look of confusion was suddenly clear on his face. "Why do you want to know so badly?" he asked.

"Well, even though this person is obviously already dead I still want to know who he or she is," I answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

My clan, according to Madara, suffered the same fate as the Uzumaki during the Second Shinobi World War, when Uzushiogakure was destroyed. My mother found refuge within the Leaf. She was not welcomed with open arms and was usually followed by Anbu.

So, that's why I had this feeling... unbelievable, they never trusted us!

"Continue your training, Takeshi. Remember once you perfect the Leaf Clone Technique I will give you the scroll with the Forest Chameleon Technique," he bluntly ordered.

I nodded then gave him a lazy salute. "Yes sir," Forest Chameleon Technique. It allows the user to turn their body into leaves.

"Good, now show me what you can do so far," he commanded.

I hurriedly complied and poured out chakra into the leaves and started to manipulate them. They started to take shape then I added more chakra into the structure. I didn't stop until it gained colour, when I was satisfied I looked at my creation.

The figure was a boy with spiky black hair, golden eyes and tan skin. He wore a dirt-covered black shirt and shorts. He was thin and he looked like he lived in the streets.

"I feel sorry for myself," I bluntly stated.

"Looks can be deceiving, Takeshi-chan," Zetsu said. I twitched at the nickname.

"Zetsu-nii, your advice would have stayed in my head for all eternity if it weren't for the honorific," I told him, irritated.

"Same goes for me to what you just said," He replied with a cocky, lopsided grin.

"Enough," Madara ordered, which of course made us both listen.

He eyed my clone, which made it fidget. Yup, that's definitely me. "This clone is better than the first one," I felt pride swell inside me, so I smiled.

"You can start with the basics of the Forest Chameleon Technique. I have no direct knowledge about the technique, so all you have are the scrolls. Now do not bother me," as he ended this he closed his eyes and slumped a little as his breathing slowed down.

I scratched the back of my head then turned to look at the scrolls. Wow, some help you are... oh… I see what you're trying to do, Uchiha… no direct knowledge my hyde... So I need to impress the all mighty Uchiha before I get special tutoring like Obito… Challenge accepted, old man. I sighed. Whatever, let's just get this started. If you didn't have anything that I needed, I wouldn't be as polite. You better be worth my time, Madara.

I skimmed through the scroll while Zetsu read over my shoulder.

Months? Have passed and I continued to train under Madara. My former weaknesses were no hindrance to me anymore and my past skills were accelerated. I had now perfected every technique in the scroll.

Okay, I may have gone overboard with the boasting. It's actually more of 'I understand, but I don't know if it will work well in a real fight'.

Madara decided to delay the mission for some unknown reason.

My hair has gotten longer and messy, so I tied it in a low ponytail using a piece of my clothing hoping that it didn't look as bad as it did before. But when I saw my reflection on a puddle the only words that came out of my mouth were "My hair looks like a retarded rooster's rear end."

I heard a snicker from behind me so I turned to glare at Zetsu. "Really now? I didn't notice," He teased before snickering again.

I scoffed then looked away from him crossing my arms together, pouting. I look like Sasuke! This is unacceptable!

"I-Takeshi," my head shot up then turned to Madara. What was he going to say? He looked worse than he did the first time I saw him. I walked over to him then sat by the steps near his throne.

"What is it, Uchiha-sama?" I asked. I wonder if he's going to make me do laps on the ceiling again... I sure hope so, it's fun.

He inhaled deeply then exhaled tiredly. "Your first mission is about to begin," My eyes widened with excitement. Finally, I can get out of here!

"But first I want you to make a clone and transfer half of your chakra to it," I was confused but followed his order nonetheless.

It was hard to do at first but once you get the hang of it it's really not that bad. Once the clone was done it looked exactly like the current me. I turned to Madara as he said, "Now the mission," he paused before continuing. "I want you to go back to Konoha."

"What? Go back there? For what? I have no one to return to. Everybody thinks I'm dead," he sent a hateful glare at my direction. "Sorry, Uchiha-sama, I did not mean to interrupt," I said looking down. Hm, I'm going to play this card for a while... Madara seems to be fond of it. Who wouldn't want a kid who doesn't question your orders?

"As I was saying, I want you to go back to Konoha and befriend Obito. I know recruiting him is a risky move but either way he would be of great use to me. The other people who you see in your visions too, befriend them, earn their trust. I want you to act as if you are still you. You will leave this clone here with me to serve as a messenger on what is going on at Konoha. You will never speak of this place to anyone, make up a story, make it believable, do not tell them you don't remember anything for they will bring you to the Torture and Interrogation Unit and have someone look through your memories... and most importantly do not fail me." He said as I buried everything he told me into my brain.

"Yes, Uchiha-sama," I decided. That was a mouthful of orders, but whatever... it's not like I'll do all of them.

He nodded then turned to Zetsu. "You will leave today. Zetsu will knock you out and leave you at the forest three kilometres west of Konoha, understood?"

"Yes, Uchiha-sama," I complied.