Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Naruto Universe except the things that I came up with in my own mind. Other than that, all property belongs to its respective creators.

Chapter 2: Destruction, Fight or Flight?

Yakangakure: The Village Hidden in the Night

Three years later

(A/N Time skip, yeah. Hopefully the last major one for a while. I'm just trying to move along to main points.)

Skills improve, time flows on, and children do not stay such forever. Three years at the academy. Kazuharu, now eleven, was slightly taller, had some muscle, and more training. He was third tier, showing he had lived thus far. The accolades for this include: a chain mail vest that stops shuriken and senbon, reduces kunai damage, but is useless against forceful stabs; a weapon of their choice which, in Kazu's case, was a tanto (short Japanese blade) that he named Black Heart after its dark metal; the third was the ability to sign a summoning contract with a shadow animal. Unbeknownst to Kazu, he only got that last one because he was a part of the Living Shadow Clan. No one had told him this yet. His summon, was wolves.

Some students had died during the training. It was inevitable. The training was harsh, the punishments were worse. Those who lived were important, they were the future. There could be no future if those who were trained for it did not respect the lives they had to live to get there. That seems an odd lesson for assassins, does it not? To teach them that life is precious? Kazu wondered about that himself, but never spoke it aloud...

One day, just after class, Kazu was wandering around the village. People regarded him with indifference. He wondered about that, but not too much. It had always been like that. No one liked him, but no one hated him either. He didn't know it, but they were afraid to be attached to him, and afraid of the repercussions of hating him. Either way though, he liked the solitude.

He was on his way to his favorite place at the time. The top of Mount Sin. He enjoyed sitting at the top of the mountain and staring up at the stars. They were always there, so he could at any time he wanted. At least, as long as he was finished with working for the day. The solitude, the stars, the darkness, the absolute beauty of it all was astounding. He was still always alert though, of course. It didn't pay to let your guard down anywhere.

'Ah, this is bliss.' He thought to himself as he lay back on the ground, 'Why can't it always be this easy?' Kazuharu was used to the tough training, the rough sensei, and the indifferent civilians, but it was nice to not have to deal with anything. He wasn't top in the academy, not at all, his genjutsu block saw to that. Still, he was high up there and people were ready to hire him as soon as he had gotten the highest honor/accolade the academy could hand him.

Kazu sat up slowly and began looking around the village. He saw a flickering light at the edge of town.

'Must be having a bonfire or something,' he shrugged in the silence, 'Wonder what the occasion is?' Kazu hadn't heard about any celebrations lately (though he was never invited to them anyway) and was slightly curious about it. He stood up and focused some chakra to his eyes,

"Eagle Eye!" he called out as he activated the jutsu. Soon he was scanning the flickering, which had moved slightly closer to the village.

'Curious.' He thought as the first few figures came into view. He couldn't quite make them out, but they were carrying torches and didn't look familiar. He released the jutsu, ready to rush down to see what was going on, when he saw that there were more flickering lights surrounding the village.

"By the gods…" Kazu whispered and dashed off in the direction of the elders' complex.

He moved through the shadows as he came closer to the village, hoping to catch a glimpse of the intruders. It was curious, no one had ever found the village before unless they were told where it was, which never happened anyway. He came close to the men and heard them yell out to the village,

"Alright you assassin scum! We have the village surrounded! Come out, declare your allegiance to us, and you'll all live! Do anything else and DIE!" The last word rang out into the silence. Kazu began to shadow meld through the village, hoping he didn't alert the unknown enemies. He quickly found himself in the elder complex.

"What do we do? They found us sooner than we anticipated. Not everyone has been prepared for the invasion yet!" The elder known as Tomag cried to the other two, "We cannot forsake our village!" He huffed and had to sit down, he was getting along in years.

"Calm down." Elder Verit said quietly, "We'll just have to evacuate everyone we can through the back gate and hope our assassin squad can hold them off." He didn't sound sure of himself though.

"You're right. We can't do much else. I'll send the announcement around, you both try to stall the invaders until the villagers are leaving." Elder Crom sighed. He had hoped for a better plan. Too much could go wrong in the current plan.

Kazu, having heard enough, planned to go help other people out. First though, he needed to get some of the scrolls from the elder mansion. They told of jutsu and training techniques the assassins held close. He thought he might need them, in case anything happened. He ran home immediately afterwards. He told his parents Mitsu and Fu, but they were both to stay behind and defend the fleeing people.

"No…" Kazu choked out the word. He didn't want to think about what would happen if they stayed.

"It will be an honorable death son…" Mitsu whispered to him, "Now go help those you can. We have to get to the front." Kazu stood there for a moment more, then nodded. They were right, of course.

"Did we do the right thing? In raising him how we did I mean? We pushed him hard all through his life. More than anyone." Fu asked her husband on the way out to the impending battle.

"It was necessary Fu. You know it was. I'd really like to think that we raised him as best we could though. He is strong." Mitsu said to her softly.

Meanwhile, Kazu was helping a few other students to try to leave the village. A few he had worked with before. Hawk, Vizer, and Terra. He quickly explained the situation and asked them to help him warn the civilians to evacuate. They agreed, but had a strange looks to give him as they left. He dismissed this as just being an odd coincidence. It took nearly a half hour, but all those contacted were on their way out the back. The elders were still talking to the invading army, though it was obvious they were anxious…

"You know what I think elder scum? I think you're stalling. Bow now, or die." The leader spat at elder Tomag while stepping towards him with a sword drawn. Tomag looked at Verit and Crom. They were both standing still, looking grave. Finally, Crom nodded. The three elders dropped to their knees, hoping to give the rest more time.

"There now. Was that so hard?" the leader laughed and cut off Tomag's head…

THERE ARE TORTUROUS SCENES AHEAD! SKIP IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT! YOU WERE WARNED!

The assassins, who had been in the area watching the exchange, began to attack before Tomag's head hit the ground.

"Bastards!" One yelled as he charged into the group of invaders, who revealed themselves to be members of the newly formed Sound Village.

'What?' Mitsu thought to himself, 'How did such a new village find us so easily? Even Konoha doesn't know our exact location!' He leapt into the battle almost immediately, and tried to hold his own. Others followed suit, each member attempting to use their knowledge of the village and their night vision to keep the opponents baffled.

It was battle that would last a few hours at most. The assassins, used to working alone on missions, were surrounded and slaughtered by teams of four or more. In time the only one left standing from the initial assault who hadn't fled was elder Verit. He had managed to stay hidden and was now attempting to get away. The leader, who revealed himself to be Orochimaru quickly found him.

"Don't go, we were having such fun! Hahahaha!" That laugh echoed through the village, followed by the anguished screams of Verit. The village was burning from the torches that had been throw around. Survivors were being hunted down and slaughtered. All in all, a complete job.

Outside the village, the ones who escaped were being followed by Orochimaru's men. Some were killed immediately, others tortured. Some assassins went into hiding to try and ambush the Sound Ninja, but were not very successful. For every one Sound taken out, at least three Night were taken. Further ahead, Hawk, Vizer, Terra, and Kazu were all attempting to flee. Out of nowhere, at least twenty-five sound ninja managed to surround them. They hadn't been careful enough.

Haru, quickly shouted, "Run!" Then performed a few hand signs and cried out, "Ninja Secret Art: Shadow's Deception!" He disappeared into the shadows.

"Coward!" Hawk cried out as Kazu disappeared. Hawk was the first to die. Three kunai found their mark in his kidney, lung, and heart areas. Of course, his vest stopped most of the damage. His face lit up in triumph, the last look he would ever give. One of the sound dashed in and cut through Hawk's throat quicker than he could react.

The next to fall was Vizer. He and Terra chose to flee when Haru told them to. He was immediately kicked in the head and flew into a tree. Terra kept going. Four of the ninja circled Vizer and yelled in unison, "Fire Style: Flames of the Abyss!" His blood chilling scream could be heard for miles as he burnt alive. His body was reduced to ashes, then vapor. Nothing would ever be left to know that a boy named Vizer even lived.

Finally, Terra was cornered about a half mile away. She had kicked into overdrive when she heard Vizer. She wasn't fast enough though. She tried to fight back. She dashed at one of the Sound with a kunai in hand and thrust towards him, but he caught her wrist and started to squeeze. She screamed aloud as her wrist broke and she dropped the kunai. The Sound Ninja caught it in hand and growled,

"Time for some fun…" He began to make slashes all over her body. Short, deep cuts that made her cry out in pain. She was crying uncontrollably before she finally lost consciousness from the pain. The Sound swiftly jabbed the kunai through her throat. Each breath pushed blood into her lungs. She drowned in her own blood.

TORTURE OVER!

The bodies that were still around were all grouped together and burned. The smell of burning flesh wafted off for miles. Orochimaru appeared near one of the Sound Ninja.

"Report." He hissed to the man.

"Sir! We rounded up everyone we found. The farthest out being about three miles. We don't think anyone escaped, but we are scouting around now!"

"Good. Now that that is out of the way, we can soon begin with my main plan."

"Sir, I have to ask. Why did we need to take out the Night Village for that plan?"

Orochimaru turned on him, "Are you questioning my orders?"

The ninja paled, "Of course not sir! I just wondered why you thought they would stand against you. They were more like mercenaries than anything. Couldn't we buy their loyalty and even use them against our enemies?"

Orochimaru laughed, "Where's the fun in that? Besides. You said it yourself. They are mercenaries. Someone could have paid them more to try to kill me instead. Now shut up and return to your duties." The ninja quickly dashed off.

Kazuharu, who had been in the shadows of the area maintaining his jutsu, had heard the whole conversation. Whoever that snake man had been, he was going to pay. Him and all the bastards he brought with him. For now though, Haru was going to need to make his way to the Leaf Village. It wasn't far, but it was going to be dangerous. He waited until the Sound Ninjas left before finally leaving the shadows. He gasped and nearly fell over. He had used a lot of chakra maintaining the Shadow Deception Jutsu. He would need food and sleep at the very least. He climbed to the top of a tree and looked out at the village…

What he saw made him gasp, and tears filled his eyes. The only home he had ever known was gone. There were only scorch marks to show that anything had ever been there. No debris. No bodies. Nothing. Even the scorch marks would fade in time. Haru was the only proof that such a village had ever existed at all… He was overcome with thoughts he couldn't begin to explain. Was he lonely? He'd never been before, but maybe that was because he knew that there was a village of people. A small village full, but enough. Haru felt numb. His hunger and fatigue no longer mattered. He had to survive. That was all. Live, then rebuild the village after snake guy was dead. Goal in mind, he ignored all other feelings and began to make his way to The Village Hidden in the Leaves.

It was going to be a treachorous journey at best. He had never been outside the village either, so that was going to be a problem. He knew how to get to Konoha, he had seen a map. That was the reason he'd been leading the others in the direction he had been. All he could think about doing was making it there though. That was all that mattered. Run in the general direction, and eventually he would see something that pointed him in the right direction. As they say, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. He took his first step into destiny.

Village Hidden in the Leaves

A few days later

(A/N Small time skip. Imagine whatever epic journey you wish.)

Kazuharu stumbled slowly through the gate to Konoha. A couple of Chunin who were guarding the gate called him over, but he ignored them and kept slowly limping his way along. One of the Chunin, who happened to be Iruka, walked over to him,

"Hey, kid, are you alright?" He put his hand on Kazu's shoulder, and Kazu immediately fell over from the contact. The other Chunin rushed over and asked in an incredulous voice,

"What did you do Iruka?"

"Huh? Nothing! I just asked him if he was okay and put my hand on him to get him to stop!" Iruka retorted.

"Gah, doesn't matter, take him to the hospital. I'll report it to the Hokage."

"Right." Iruka picked up Kazu and ran through the village carrying him.

Hospital

"It would have been quicker to Shunshin (body flicker technique, basically like teleporting) here Iruka!" One of the nurses yelled as Iruka ran through the doors. He flinched and hit himself in the head,

"I can't believe I didn't think of that… How is he though nurse?"

She sighed, "Dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted, the list goes on. He just limped through the gate? Where is he from?"

"Not sure," Iruka said sadly, "He collapsed the moment I touched him, like the only thing keeping him going was the fact that nothing was in the way."

"Alright, thank you Iruka, that might help. Now, you should probably get back to guard duty." The nurse sadly shook her head.

Hokage's Mansion

Same time

"Lord Hokage!" The other Chunin shunshined into The Third Hokage's office.

"Yes Shin (Chunin's name of course)?" He asked in a concerned voice, "What's the news from the gate?"

"Sir," Shin hesitated, "A boy wandered into the village just a few minutes ago. He looked… bad, to say the least."

Sarutobi (The Third Hokage) gasped, "Who is he? Where is he from? Where is he now?"

Shin sighed, "Unknown sir. He is currently at the hospital. Iruka took him while I came to inform you."

"Very good. Head on back to your post. I'll go check on the boy soon." Shin nodded and disappeared.

Sarutobi sighed, 'What is this ominous feeling?'

Hospital

Kazuharu awoke in the softest bed he had ever felt in his short life. He felt the machines that were monitoring him hum. He had no idea where he was. The last thing he remembered was… Wait! He was in the Leaf Village. He remembered collapsing just inside the gate. He opened his eyes quickly, as if he had merely closed them to blink. The nurse monitoring him gasped sharply and dropped her folder.

"Geez kid! Don't scare a girl like that!" She sighed, it couldn't be helped she supposed.

"Where am I?" He asked quietly, just to be sure. She looked at Kazu thoughtfully before answering,

"Well kid, you're in Konoha. The hospital to be more precise. You were battered, bruised, dehydrated, exhausted, and who knows what else. We still aren't sure how you lived…" He sighed in relief. He had made it alright. Well, as alright as he could manage considering the situation.

Kazuharu sat up and attempted to get out of bed, but the nurse pushed him back down,

"No way kid! You need to recover."

"I feel fine." He retorted, "Besides. I have an important mission… I need to see the highest ranking official you can bring me." She sighed. Why did she always get the people who wanted to run off the moment they opened their eyes?

"I'll see what I can do if you stay in bed."

He sighed again, "Fair enough lady. Be quick though. It's important." She immediately left the room to contact a Jonin at the very least and he immediately hopped out of bed and started stretching.

"There ain't no rest for the wicked." Kazu chuckled to himself. He really wasn't sure what he found funny about that statement.

Moments later, a Jonin walked into the room. They took one look at Kazu and said,

"Either they exaggerated, or you're great at faking your deathbed." Kazu laughed,

"Or, I heal quickly and can't stand the thought of sitting around waiting." The Jonin smiled at that. The kid had spirit, and a lot of it.

"So what's your name kid?" Kazu smirked,

"Kazuharu. I also go by Kazu or Haru if that's easier. Yours?"

"Asuma Sarutobi," He said, "It's nice to meet you Haru. Now, what exactly do you need help with?"

"Hm…" Haru hummed slightly, "I need an audience with the Hokage. I have news about a recent treaty that, well, can no longer truly be honored…" He looked at the ground sadly. Asuma sighed, knowing that something big happened. He walked over to the window, pushed it open, and lit up a cigarette.

"Wanna talk about it Haru?" He finally asked. Haru looked over at Asuma, gauging his facial expressions, wondering what he was thinking.

Finally, he spoke.

"Alright Asuma. Maybe it will help…" He breathed quietly for a minute, then started… When he finished telling about that day, he told of his journey to Konoha. It was a three day trip and he couldn't remember a lot of it due to his condition. When he finished, Asuma just looked stunned. He didn't know what to think of the situation, and it showed. Haru looked grim. It wasn't the telling of it, it wasn't the fact that only he lived, it wasn't even the destruction of his village. The part that bugged Haru the most, was the fact that he could do nothing to stop them. He didn't try to fight because one against thirty holds terrible odds unless you outmatch them in strength, speed, and overall combat skill. Haru was good, but so were all the others in the village. It was at that point that he realized what the village lacked. Teamwork.

He looked at Asuma, and asked the hesitant question,

"Do you think… I don't know… Maybe, if my village had worked at teamwork, squads, and such things, that the result could have been different? Too many tried to put themselves one against many, and only had someone else step in as they died. It just seems that it could have gone even slightly different if we had worked together." Asuma looked at Haru. Here was a kid, one who had just faced a terrible situation, thinking rationally about it all. Asuma answered Haru,

"That's one thing we do in Konoha, and I know many other countries do it too. They work as a team to make impossible odds, slightly more possible. Do I think it would have made too much of a difference to the outcome? Sadly no. Would more of those bastards have died? Probably." Haru nodded at the answer. It was clear what had to be done. He would stay in Konoha, learn what teamwork was and if it would help him, get stronger, then find his revenge down the road. There was no real hurry. It would come in time…

Soon after, Asuma left. Sarutobi had already been informed of Haru's presence, so he had to get back to his duties. He promised to help Haru out if he needed it later though. Haru, not wanting to sit around at all, was practicing some of his skills. He was facing the window, directing any projectiles out of it. As such, he didn't realize that The Hokage, Sarutobi, was behind him watching. He stood there, marveling at the skills such a young shinobi had. As soon as Haru stopped moving, he turned around and asked,

"Enjoy the show old man?" He didn't realize it was The Hokage until after he'd already said it. His face lost all trace of color and he stuttered,

"Uh… S-sorry Lord Hokage, I… Didn't realize it was you…" He went down on one knee to show respect. Sarutobi, slightly surprised, started laughing at the boy's actions.

Not long later, they had had several conversations. Sarutobi had asked about the situation of Yakan and hung his head sadly when he'd heard the news of its destruction. Kazuharu asked Sarutobi the same question he'd asked Asuma, and got basically the same answer. He did however add, "I have seen your skills, obviously." He chuckled slightly when Kazuharu blushed from the memory of earlier, "I have to say, you go beyond normal students. I will have you work with each Genin squad as a fourth member so you can learn some team skills. When the time comes, you will take the Chunin exams, though something special will need to be arranged for you... As soon as I have gauged your skills, we will come up with a permanent standing." He smiled at Kazuharu's reaction. The boy looked ecstatic. Kazuharu smiled, and said finally,

"Thank you Lord Hokage. I will do all in my power to make sure I do not let you down. This, is a wonderful chance. It was originally my dream to be a great assassin, but now, I will be a great ninja. It will be hard, but I won't give up." Kazuharu had confused himself slightly. Where were these words coming from? Why was he alright now? Was this simply his destiny?

Breaking him from his thoughts, Sarutobi took something out of his robes and handed it to Kazuharu. It was his own Leaf Headband. He was stunned, but managed to give his thanks,

"Thank you… Lord Hokage. This means… A lot to me actually. I also like the dark colored metal. It reminds me of my blade, Black Heart…" He pulled out the blade, and indeed, they were similar. Sarutobi kept up his same smile,

"You are welcome Kazu. Something of note. Your headband is unique in the metal. It shows you as a part of Konoha's ninja, yes, but the dark metal shows where you are from. I will announce it to the Shinobi Council at the next meeting. If it were not so crucial, I would not bother, but the situation of Yakan is dire…" His smile had left his face at this point. Kazu nodded all the same though. It made sense that he would honor those who had come before, even if it was in a small way.

They sat in silence for a moment more, then Sarutobi stood, headed for the door, and said just before he left,

"Make sure you are recovered, you will stay in the hospital tonight, but tomorrow we will find you a place to live. After that, you will go on your first mission in a few days. May as well start soon." Kazu nodded. He was ready to get started as soon as he could. Sarutobi left, and a nurse came in. She started yelling about him being out of bed, visitors that wouldn't leave him alone, "Even The Hokage! I swear!" and about her not being able to watch her patient. Needless to say, he lay down and let her watch him before she told him to get to sleep. It was getting late, though to Kazu, the night reminded him of home. He felt an ache that he couldn't explain. He didn't cry, he never had, but it was a long, mostly sleepless night…