The Strength of Blood

Chapter Two: The First Summer

Alex awoke late the next morning. Glancing at his alarm clock he cursed, he was two hours late for class. Since he was still dressed from yesterday all he had to do was brush his teeth, before hurrying to the academy. After a few stern words from Iruka, Alex took his seat in the back. He was still tired from the night before, unlocking his chakra must have taken a lot out of him. The day seemed to drag on, a boring history lesion, kunai and shuriken practice and some physical workouts. Finally the day ended and Alex headed home making brief stop to pick up some writing equipment and scrolls. He had dinner before taking a early shower and retreating to his bed for some more reading.

As Alex looked through 'Chakra from Beginning to End' he saw a small warning that he hadn't notice the night before.

"When unlocking your chakra, you should pull on it gradually easing it through your chakra pathways. Do not jerk or the impact of the chakra rushing through your pathways will leave you drained and may cause unconsciousness. Proceed with caution."

He scoffed, sure now it tells him. Putting the book away Alex grabbed 'Understanding the Art of Fùinjutsu' and read through it. The book said he should practice his writing till he could copy the symbol that was on the page perfectly in less than thirty seconds, if done correctly the symbol should light up. His first try came nowhere close and the symbol didn't even light up. He sighed at least he had something he could practice while learning how to mold his chakra. With this new addition to his work load, classes and his personal training, the academy year just flew by.

In the remaining Eight months of the Academy year, Alex remained in the upper Seventy-Five percent of the class. He also perfected his writing and was already starting Level Two Fùinjutsu, finishing the first Level in a little under Six months. He now knew how to create Sealing Scrolls of any size and was now learning how to make Reaction Tags, which covered any Tag that reacted when chakra was applied such as Explosive Tags and Barrier Tags. It seemed he had found another thing he was good at. He also learned that the Powerful Genjutsu that Mito had placed on the books was still active. To anyone else the books appeared to be useless old notebooks, which looked like they were scribbled in by a Four year old. The only people who knew otherwise were himself and Momo who had given him the book on Chakra, so he must have known what the books contained. When Alex had learned the Genjutsu was still active he had returned to the bookstore to ask Momo why they could see through the Genjutsu and no one else could. Sadly when he got there he learned Momo had decided to take one last trip through the elemental Nations before he died, leaving his assistant in charge of the store. Leaving him hanging, it was not a feeling Alex was unused to though. So he did what he always did and put it the category to ask at a later date.

Molding chakra was going very well to; he had already mastered the leaf concentration practice, which consisted of sticking a leaf to his forehead and keeping it there with chakra alone. He was now working on balancing one on each of his fingers. Unlike the concentration practice which was to get you used to the concentration required to mold your chakra. Balancing one on each finger refined your chakra control. The greater your Chakra control, the less Chakra you wasted using Jutsu's and other Chakra required Activities. He would later switch leafs out for small rocks, which would steadily get bigger as time wore on and after that was Kunai balancing. But he wasn't there yet.

Alex was sitting in his usual chair. With his now constant desk mates, Shikamaru who just wanted a seat in the back, so he could sleep and Shino who was quite except for the occasional buzzing from his colony of bugs. As a whole they were three quietest people in the class. They had just turned in their final test for the year and were waiting for Iruka to finish collecting all their answers.

"Well here we are, at the end of your first year here at the Academy. Continue to practice what you have learned and I'll see you September First." He smiled. "You should be proud; you have all taken your first step in becoming Ninja. If you have questions this summer don't hesitate to come to me, my door is always open to you." The bell rang and Students ran for the doors, eager to start their summer. Alex left at a more controlled pace, the day might have been over for all of them but Alex still had something to do. He absentmindedly fingered the piece of paper in his pocket to make sure it was still there.

The paper was a job notice from a local supply shop, 'The Iron Forge'. They were looking for someone who could make Sealing Scrolls and Reaction Tags. This was a perfect job for Alex; after all he basically got paid for practicing Fùinjutsu. The shop in question mainly sold high quality Weapons, Armor and other gear.

When Alex entered the shop he was surprised to find it mostly empty, except for a few people in line at the cash register. So he waited for them to finish as he wondered the store. This shop had everything, Kunai, Shuriken, were all neatly packed into shelves. A few sets of armor were on display. There were also Katana's, Tonto's and Wakizashi's resting on racks. He'd heard that this store specialized in costume orders, but it looked like the carried some standered Weaponry too. He also noticed one of the shelves seemed to be quite bare, with only a few Sealing Scrolls and Tags to say what used to be there.

"Can I help you?" Alex jumped; he hadn't noticed the man behind the desk had finished with the last of his customers and was now watching Alex.

"Are you the owner?" Alex would have to watch his words carefully; after all he was only Eleven years old, getting this job would not be easy.

"I am. Kenshin Yamada, proud owner and smith of 'The Iron Forge'" he crossed his arms. "What can I do for you?"

Alex walked over, fished the job notice out of his pocket and set it on the desk. "I was wondering if this job position was still open and if so, would you consider hiring me?"

Kenshin looked skeptical. "You know Fùinjutsu? You look a little young to be practicing such a dangerous Art."

Alex shrugged. "I'm already training to be a Ninja, which is a dangerous lifestyle onto itself. Why can't I practice something just as dangerous? But I do take precautions, I'm not an idiot."

Kenshin sighed. "Your straight forward kid and I like that, but even if you can do what you say you can. I can't hire you. If you had your headband circumstances might be different, as it is though you're a minor and just can't hire you."

Alex thought for moment. "You might not be able to hire me, but how about an alternative" seeing he had Kenshin's attention, he continued. "What if I made the Scrolls and Tags then sold them to you; from there you would mark up a reasonable price and sell to you costumers. That way I'm technically not working for you, I'm just selling you Items I have no use for. What do you think?"

"That might work." Kenshin reached under the counter, retrieving a blank Scroll and brush set. "But this all depends on your ability to do what you say you can" seeing what he was suggesting, Alex grabbed a brush dipped it into the ink and wrote a perfect Seal, before wiping off the brush and replacing it. Kenshin's eyebrows almost touched his hairline. Grabbing the brush set, Kenshin sealed it into the newly made Scroll. He waited a few moments then unsealed the set, the Scroll had worked perfectly and this kid had written it in under Thirty Seconds. "What's the soonest I can start expecting supplies?"

In reply Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a Scroll, which he unrolled on the table. Tapping the Seal, Alex unsealed three Scrolls. One was the common use everyday foot wide Scroll, the next was Two foot Scroll and finally the uncommon Three foot Scroll. "These hold Twenty of each size. I'll start the Exploding Tags tonight. Give me a week and I'll have the Tags as well as some more Scrolls ready."

"That sounds good and in the mean time I'll keep looking for a full time employee, to help fill my Storeroom and keep it supplied while you're attending the Academy. Now to business, I'll give you 30Ryo for the Small Scrolls, 70Ryo for the Medium and 120Ryo for the large, so a total of 4400Ryo." He handed Alex the money. 4400Ryo might seem a lot for a bunch of Scrolls, but Alex knew the small ones would sell for 60 the medium would sell for 100 and the large for 150. Which meant Kenshin just made 1800Ryo.

"You're right about needing an employee while I'm at the Academy, but I'll fill your storeroom by the end of the summer by myself." Alex said as he took the money. "Thank you for your time and see you in a week." Alex waved goodbye.

As he left the store Alex began to plan his summer. If he could make a minimum of 5000Ryo a week, a number he could easily reach with the combination of selling Sealing Scrolls and Tags. That would more than pay for his monthly rent on his apartment, which was 3000Ryo a month. That meant he could use the rest to refill his Fùinjutsu supplies, buy spare Ninja gear and food. He would of course be saving a third of what he got every week, anything could happen and he might need the extra cash. That and even though his apartment was good, he would eventually like to buy a house for himself. He wouldn't be able to buy a house till after he became a Shinobi, but at least he'd have the money to buy one or maybe he would build one himself, if done correctly it would save him money and it would give him something to do when not on missions, training or practicing Fùinjutsu. Taking a liking to the thought Alex made a mental note to keep an eye out for any suitable empty plots of land.

And so Alex's summer began in earnest. His schedule was simple. Awake by 5am, go for a run, eat breakfast at the training grounds then train till lunch. After lunch he would practice fùinjutsu and then take some time making sure to fill his quota for the day so he would have plenty to turn in to Kenshin every Wednesday. By then it was dinner time. After dinner he would take a walk in the cool night air, he found the Forest around Konoha very relaxing at night. It was on one of these nightly strolls that Two things happened, One: he got an answer to a question, but earned a new one in the process and Two: one of the Villages strongest clans would never be the same.

Alex walked lazily through town, already missing the comfort of the forest. He had decided to take a detour through the clan district to prolong his quiet walk just a little longer. His peaceful stroll came to sudden stop however when he noticed a front door to one of the compounds was left ajar. It wasn't so much the partially open door that made the hairs on the back of his neck standup, even though a Clan compound door is always locked and under guard. It was the fact Alex could see a foot keeping the door open in the evening breeze. Reaching down he pulled a Kunai out of his leg holster and held it at the ready, as he slowly approached the door. The sight that met his eyes made dread swell in his stomach. The foot that was keeping the door open belonged to a fully outfitted Shinobi, his throat was slit and a Senbon was sticking out of each eye. Now a normal Eleven year old boy would have screamed and ran as fast as they could to get away, but Alex wasn't a normal boy. He had already seen death, he was even the one t cause it. So instead of running Alex took a deep breath, he pushed open the door and entered the Uchiha Clan Compound.

He found the other guard right inside the door, the Compound would have looked fairly normal for anyone who didn't have Alex's sharp eyes, which picked out the prone body's of other dead Uchiha. He slowly made his way across the front yard, which would have been fairly nice if dead Uchiha weren't littering the ground. The path from the door led to the front do of the main house, before splitting three paths. One continued to the front door. The other two went around and disappeared to either side, no doubt leading to the other houses that surrounded the main house.

Slowly sliding the front door open he stuck his head inside, only to find the same result. More Uchiha lined the halls, men, women, children, it didn't seem to matter they all were dead. It was about this time he began to question himself. "What the hell am I doing?" He thought. "I find what seems to be the entire Uchiha Clan massacred and I have to take a look around, what is wrong with me" any further thought was stopped dead when he heard voices coming from the courtyard. He dashed to the courtyard, only to stop dead at the scene.

Itachi Uchiha. The prodigy of the Clan stood in front of his siblings, Sasuke and Satsuki. Satsuki was on her knees in tears, while Sasuke stared in shock at his older brother. In a blink of an eye Itachi was in front of Sasuke. Without even touching him Sasuke collapsed to the floor. Itachi then turned his attention to Satsuki who was still in tears unable to move as Itachi repeated and she collapsed as well. The whole thing was over before Alex could register what was going on. "You're the last person I would have expected to be here Alex" Alex Recognized that emotionless voice. Itachi Uchiha was the Weasel Unbu he had met that night four years ago. "Why have you come? I've watched you when you take your late night strolls and this Compound is nowhere near your usual rout." Itachi had been watching him during his walks, ok that was kind of creepy.

Seeing no reason to lie, there was little chance he would be walking away from this one alive. His only chance was if Itachi decided to put him under a Genjutsu, like he did with his siblings. "I decided to take an alternate rout tonight and stumbled upon your little adventure." Alex said and then added in afterthought. "You left the front door open by the way"

Itachi turned to face him. Alex knew what a fully matured Sharingan looked like. Plenty of Uchiha had flaunted them around the Village. But Itachi's Sharingan were different. Instead of having three tomoe in each eye, he had what looked like pinwheels. "I see your interest in my eyes, you notice there unlike other Sharingan. These are called Mangekyò Sharingan, they are the next level. Few have ever earned them." In the blink of an eye Itachi closed the distance, Alex's instincts barely had time to flare before his Kunai was yanked from his hand and he felt cold steel rest against his throat. "The question I now face is whether I should kill you or not."

Alex glared up into Itachi's eyes. "If you're going to kill me do it. I won't beg or plead for my life." He felt the pressure increase from the Kunai but instead of killing him, Itachi took a step back still maintaining eye contact. "Tsukuyomi" the pinwheels in Itachi's eyes spun for a fraction of a second but that was the time it needed. Alex froze, before his eyes drifted closed and he crumpled to the ground.

Itachi stared down at him. "Your life does not end tonight Alex. You may not know it, but I see the Will of Fire burning strong in your eyes. The question is, will it still burn after you wake up? We shall just have to see. Train hard, you're going to need every skill you can get it in the years to come." And with those words Itachi Uchiha vanished into the night.

Slowly counting to ten after Itachi left Alex cracked an eye, before sitting up completely. He clutched his chest as he breathed deep breaths, trying to get his heart rate back under control. "I just played possum with a guy who just massacred his whole clan." he thought. He still couldn't believe it actually worked. His shoulders began to shake, before he dissolved into pure laughter and laugh he did.

He didn't know how long he sat there laughing, but eventually the laughter died away as his mind began to think over what just happened. Itachi had cast the Tsukuyomi on him, that was supposed to be one of the strongest Genjutsu's in the world and yet like the one on the books it had no effect on him. He had begun to suspect that Genjutsu's had no effect on him, but this put the final nail in the coffin. He now had two choices, tell someone about his ability and most likely let the whole Village know of it or keep it secret and use it to his advantage. He went with option number two. It was too great of an advantage to let it get out.

Now came the second topic on his mind. He sat in the middle of the Uchiha Clan Compound in the midst of massacre. No matter how he looked at it, he didn't see this ending well for him. So after checking to make sure Sasuke and Satsuki were ok and making them more comfortable, he doubted it would help much but he did it anyway. He left them resting against the tree in the courtyard nest to the pond. On his way out the Compound he noticed at least a quarter of the dead Uchiha had Senbon sticking out of their eyes like the guard's out front. He had the feeling they were all members who had awakened their Sharingan. Those Senbon would make sure the Sharingan could never be salvaged, was that why Itachi had done it? Deciding to put a pin in that line of thought he would thing about it later, Alex hurried home.

It wasn't till he was sitting on his bed after his shower that he began to think about Itachi's last words. "So he saw the Will of Fire burning in my eyes huh?" he thought. "I guess we'll have to see about that. I wonder what he meant when he said he would need all the skill he could get in the years to come, was he talking about me becoming a Ninja? No his words were far more ominous then that." Alex didn't like the ominous feeling he got from Itachi's words, it made him think a storm was coming and a big one at that. So with that line of thinking he fell asleep, at least he had found his reason for becoming a Ninja in tonight's adventure. Minako could have her dream of being Hokage of the Village and Alex would become its protector. He would be a buffer from oncoming the Storm. Konohagakure was his home and he would not give it up without one hell of a fight.

A/N Hello again my readers, I present to you the second chapter of 'The Strength of Blood'. Next chapter: Alex begins his Second Year at the Academy and makes a troublesome friend. Please R&R and P.S. I own nothing form the Naruto Universe. Also I noticed that my title is off center when I post chapters, how do I fix that?