The Shadow Of A Flash

Chapter 4: By His Own Hand


As he stood in front of the Hokage - his father - he shifted on his feet slightly. He couldn't deny he was nervous, it was his first mission debriefing after all. Yamato stood to his right with that damnable calm demeanor of his and not for the first time Naruto wondered whether the man used a jutsu to keep his emotions in check. While they waited for his father to speak he rubbed his leg subconsciously; Yamato hadn't given them time to rest when they returned, favoring an immediate debriefing instead. This left Naruto in a state of aching as he felt like every muscle in his body was on fire.

"Report." Minato's voice pierced the air.

"Jounin Yamato and genin Namikaze Naruto returning from their duties." This time it was Yamato's cold voice that carried across the room.

"Details please." It wasn't really a request.

"On the second day of travelling we arrived in the town. Upon speaking with an elder there we were informed roughly of the location of the bandits. We soon scouted the area and, after assessing the camp that the bandits had made, performed a frontal assault." Naruto almost snickered at that, the tree appearing in the middle of the camp was hardly frontal, "Myself and Naruto engaged with the enemy from multiple directions through the use of clones and my own personal techniques. The number of opponents was quickly reduced before the leader, a low-chunin level missing-nin, appeared." Minato's eyes narrowed imperceptibly and Yamato almost hesitated in continuing.

"I was otherwise detained from engaging with him. Fortunately Naruto was in a position to deal with him and did so rather easily." Naruto looked at him in surprise, it hadn't exactly been easy, "The enemy forces were soon dealt with. All have been neutralized - permanently." He spoke the last part with emphasis. Minato caught on easily enough and one could see the relief coursing through his body if they looked closely enough.

"Good job. Due to the unforeseen circumstance of an enemy shinobi the mission pay-grade will be risen to B-rank. You two performed admirably in the face of conflict and served your village well - dismissed." Yamato nodded in confirmation and turned to leave. Naruto began to follow before hearing Minato speak again, "Remain behind Naruto." Without a look back Yamato continued out of the room.

"Father?" They were no longer in the presence of others so Naruto allowed the formality to drop slightly. The man, to his credit, smiled at being addressed.

"We seem to already be approaching that time of the year again." Naruto's head tilted in confusion at that, "The day itself however is not one I would like to spend celebrating. So, how about we do it a week before?" Naruto suddenly realised, it was his birthday in a few weeks. A grim line set on his face. The day of his birth, his mother's death and the Kyuubi attack was not a day of celebration at all.

"Hai, I think I'd like that." They never usually got to celebrate his birthday so Naruto was thankful for the man's offer.

Minato smiled at his son, "Good! It's settled then." As Naruto prepared to leave the man suddenly grew a horrified expression before it turned into one of resignation, "I guess I should ask... You don't want to have a party do you?" Naruto would of laughed at the man's terrified face if it weren't so outrageous. His father hated big parties. While a part of Naruto would of liked to have a gathering - probably inherited from his mother - his more sensible side - definitely inherited from his father - realised it would be stupid. He didn't exactly have the most friends to begin with anyway.

He shook his head vigorously, "No thanks." The man's relief could literally be felt and his shit-eating grin was evidence enough alone, "Besides, wouldn't want the village to find out their leader was scared of a party would we?" Naruto smirked viciously at his father. The man sputtered in outrage, at a loss for words, before he suddenly smiled and ruffled Naruto's hair affectionately.

"You are so her." Minato's reminiscing smile was evidence enough for Naruto to know who he was thinking of.


The two of them stood at the front entrance of their home, having just exited. Minato took in a breath of the fresh air of the forest before he turned to his son and beckoned for the boy to follow. They began the leisurely walk toward the centre of the village and as they did so Minato inspected his child. walking with his hands in his pockets, the almost nine year old was a spitting image of himself when he was younger - aside from the vicious whisker marks on both cheeks. Evidence of muscle development could be seen and the way he held his walk showed evidence of shinobi training. While not as alert and suspicious as the more experienced shinobi of Konoha, he walked with a tense gait that Minato suspected he had picked up from Yamato.

"So Naruto, how are you finding Yamato?" He used the codename, for Naruto's sake - it was what he called the man.

"He is interesting." The way the boy paused to find the appropriate word put a smile on Minato's face. The man was nothing if not interesting.

"How so?"

"He's always so distant, so cold, but sometimes he shows this fierceness," The boy shuddered slightly, "It's scary." Minato raised his eyebrows at that, he hadn't seen Tenzou in such a way, "On the way back from our mission we talked about teammates and he was so... So passionate." Ah, that was it. Yamato, while at first glance uninterested in the people around him, was incredibly protective of his own. He would sooner die then let someone under his care fall.

"Yes, the man is like that, a valuable trait. What about his training?"

This time Naruto did more then shiver; he radiated fear, "He's a monster. A slavedriver." At Minato's skeptical face the boy added quickly, "But in a good way! He pushes me so hard, harder then I thought possible, and then he just stops - right when I can't go on any longer." Naruto smiled at a memory of the man standing over his exhausted figure popped up, "He's done so much for me though. He's been great." Minato positively grinned at that. He knew he had made the right decision, Jiraiya could go suck it.

"That's comforting - the second part I mean." He added the last bit of the sentence at Naruto's horrified expression and almost laughed out loud at his son. He stopped however when he realised they were near their destination, "Come on, Ichiraku's is near here." Naruto's mind was quickly distracted and he followed his father as they walked toward the ramen bar.

As they neared gasps could be heard coming from the villagers nearby.

"T-That's Hokage-sama!"

"The Yondaime! And his... Son."

"He's already a genin? Can he really be trusted...?"

Minato's eyes narrowed while Naruto simply sighed in acceptance. He had long since grown used to the villager's anger and had learnt to simply ignore it. Unfortunately Minato wasn't exposed to it as often and usually exploded at the people who were being so callous around their leader. Naruto quickly tugged at his father's shirt and the man looked down at him.

"D-Dad," Minato paid more attention - Naruto never called him 'dad' anymore, "Please not here, not today." He felt the need to scowl at his child but contained himself and nodded slowly. If he didn't want him to stand up for him then fine, he wouldn't. He turned toward the ramen stand and walked briskly toward it, cloak billowing behind him. Naruto followed behind him and they soon found themselves sitting on the seats. It was a ritual of sorts, Minato would take the seat second from the right and Naruto would take the one on his left. It was where Kushina had sat when they visited the stand. A pang struck in his heart at name but he ignored it and smiled at Naruto as he began to speak.

"Order anything you'd like - it's your day after all." Naruto nodded eagerly and as Teuchi, the owner, appeared out of nowhere the boy positively beamed.

"Naruto-kun! How nice to see you. What can I get you?"

"One miso please!" The boy's enthusiastic request could be heard across the ramen stand.

"Straight away then!" The man seemed to notice Naruto's company and his eyes widened, "H-Hokage-sama!"

Minato waved away his surprise, "Pah! You've known me for so long, I think Minato is sufficient." At the older man's grinning response Minato quickly added, "I'll have a miso too." The man nodded in approval and shouted into the back of the stand, "Ayame! Two miso!" A small 'eep' could be heard and then a crash of plates. The man sighed and rubbed the back of his head, "Eat at your own peril - she's still learning to cook." He shivered slightly in horror but Minato knew he was joking, any daughter of Teuchi would be incredibly talented at cooking.

"I think I'm willing to risk it." Minato spoke in amusement and his son nodded his head in agreement.

"Any ramen is better then no ramen!" The boy spoke in a hurried tone. Minato almost wanted to hit the boy in exasperation, there was such a thing as being too keen for food.

"Damned Kushina and her unhealthy genes." Minato thought in frustration, "And expensive genes at that!" The man was watching Naruto devour the newly placed food in front of him and waiting for the second order to be requested. The boy seemed to notice his gaze and paused while eating.

"Father?" He was confused by Minato's looks.

"I'm just... Thinking." The boy was now completely out of his wits, having no clue what was going on. Instead of trying to work it out however, the boy simply returned to eating. As the child scoffed down his food Minato continued to watch him, momentarily forgetting the troubles of the village.


The eleven year old darted down the stairs, grabbing his headband as he passed it. While fastening it around his forehead he pushed the door leading to the training ground outside open and walked toward a figure standing in the distance. Trees surrounded him and as Naruto neared the man's sun-kissed hear shone brightly. He walked up to his father with a grin on his face - he loved training.

The man noticed his approach and smiled, "Good, you're here. Now, it's been a while since I've taught you anything," too long by Naruto's standards - at least 4 years. "But I've decided you're finally ready for something." The boy got giddy at that, "Are you familiar with my Rasengan?" It was a stupid question, the boy had tried to copy it religiously for the last 11 years of his life, "I'm just going to assume you are."

Naruto nodded quickly, "Yeah I saw Jiraiya-sensei use it a while back!" Minato looked at his happiness in amusement.

"Well, as I'm sure you've just guessed, I've decided it's time you learnt it." The man pulled out a water balloon suddenly and threw it lightly at the boy. Naruto caught it deftly and looked at him in confusion, "Before you can pull off the technique you have to learn it in stages. This," He pulled out another water balloon, "Is stage one." At that the balloon suddenly contorted in different directions before exploding. Naruto looked at the ball in amazement - that had just been chakra power.

"How did you do that?" He asked softly.

"Nah-uh-uh! That's part of the training." The man grinned, "You're a smart boy - you'll figure it out." Naruto smirked in reply, figure it out he would. Without even so much as a second glance at his father he began thinking about how the man could have possibly done it. Minato, realising his deep concentration, let him be and walked away from the training ground. It wouldn't be too long now.


"Another so soon? Are you sure..." There was hesitance in the man's voice, "He can handle it?" Yamato spoke slowly and guardedly. As Minato listened he looked in surprise at the ex-ANBU member's caution. Tenzou was not one to decline a mission out of fear.

Regardless, Minato nodded and addressed his concerns, "Yes, absolutely. Naruto needs to learn what a longer mission is like. Besides, I doubt you'll encounter much trouble - it's only border patrol for two weeks. If you have any problems there should be another team nearby monitoring the border as well." He thought that was dissuade the man's fears and was pleased when he saw the man's fearful expression - if you could call it an expression - drop.

He threw a scroll at the man, "Hokage-sama?"

"The details for the mission are in there. I don't have time to debrief Naruto personally." The man paused for a moment before grabbing another scroll from the desk and giving it to Yamato, "That's for Naruto's training. Due to the circumstances of the mission he hasn't been able to complete his training with me. Ensure he finishes it on the trip." It was cruel really when he thought about; making the boy achieve the Rasengan in only two weeks. But he was his son and he'd be damned if the boy had it any easier.

"Hai. By your leave, Hokage-sama?" Formalities ever present for the man.

Minato sighed and rubbed his temple, "Yes, yes. Off you go now." The ex-ANBU member needed no further motivation and with a swish of leaves he had left the office. The Hokage, now alone, allowed his stress to show and sunk into his chair dejectedly. He hated giving his son missions; the worry and torment of what could happen harassed him, endlessly, but it was a necessary thing - for the child's progression.


Naruto had been walking past the academy when he heard it; a small cry of help. He changed direction as his interest was piqued in whatever was causing the shout of pain. He soon found himself at a nearby playground where he saw three boys perhaps a little older than him - twelve or thirteen - surrounding a younger boy who seemed about the age of six or seven. They appeared to be bullying the child who was now crying from the torment. Upon seeing the scene Naruto clicked his tongue in distaste before walking toward them with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi!" He spoke with a smile on his face although it didn't reach his eyes. The three bullies looked up from their victim and sneered at Naruto, "I saw this from afar and it looked like a fun game! What are you playing?"

The three bullies laughed with mirth before one of them, a brute of a child, stood forward saying, "This brat always babbles about how strong he is so we're just putting him in his place." At this he pointed at the seven year old who was looking up at Naruto in fear. As the boy's scarf billowed in the wind Naruto smiled softly to try and reassure him before hardening his gaze toward the bullies.

"Well he doesn't look like he's having fun..." He gestured at the terrified child, "So how about you stop it?" The boys all laughed at his suggestion.

"And why would we listen to a kid like you?" It was the same kid, the ringleader it seemed.

As he spoke another of the three stepped forward, "He has a headband Kenta..." The boy was perceptive, "He's a shinobi."

The boy turned to his friend and snorted, "He's even younger than us! The kid probably stole it." He looked back at Naruto, "Now, you gonna leave or do I have to make ya?"

Naruto giggled softly at this, "There's no need for such petulance. How about you go your way and I go mine?"

"A fight it is!"

Before he could step forward however his friend from before rose his voice, "Kenta... I'm pretty sure that's Namika-"

"I don't give a shit what his name is!" At this he roared and stepped forward to take a swing at Naruto. The eleven year old sighed and sidestepped the punch before, with his hands still in his pockets, raising a vicious knee into the boy's face. As the boy fell the other bully - who had stayed quiet during the confrontation - suddenly stepped forward to attack Naruto. As he swung the blond rose his foot into the boy's face and made him flip backwards. Both Kenta and his friend were rolling on the floor clutching their noses and the other bully, the cautious one, looked at Naruto in fear.

"Go away. And take that scum with you." Naruto spoke coldly and spat at the floor of Kenta in particular. The last bully standing needed no further warning and nodded in terror. He quickly grabbed his friends and dragged them away, leaving a trail of blood from their noses behind them. Naruto finally turned his attention to the child on the floor only to see the kid staring at him in amazement.

"You okay?" He spoke softly to the six year old who sported bruises all over his body. The boy seemed to ignore his question and instead stood with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"That was awesome! Who are you?!" The boy was so happy Naruto couldn't help but smile back.

"Naruto."

"I'm Konohamaru! Pleased to meet ya!" He thrust his hand out at the blond who could only stare at it in amusement. As soon as he took it the boy's grin seemed to grow even wider, "Then it's settled! From now on you're gonna be my sensei, Naruto-niisan!" Naruto barely had time to react to the first statement before he realised the child already considered him his brother.

"Nani?" His confusion did nothing to dissuade the boy's resolve as he dragged the blond away to a training ground to teach him. Before they could get far however a small messenger bird suddenly flew down and landed on Naruto's shoulder. Letting go of Konohamaru's hand, he quickly snatched the message off the bird's leg and read it. His eyes widened slightly and he looked at the boy in front of him apologetically.

"Sorry Konohamaru-kun," Hey, if the could wanted to be informal he could be too! "It seems I have a mission. Maybe next time?"

The boy looked dejected before he quickly shouted, "You mean definitely next time!"


"Is something wrong Naruto?" Yamato's calming voice carried a tinge of worry that was unbecoming of the emotionless man. He stood in front of the boy in question near one of the gates of Konoha as the child perused the mission scroll. He had recently begun allowing the boy to read the mission statements as a way for him to gain experience and understand the responsibility he would inevitably face when he was older. It seemed that Naruto had become disturbed by the scroll in front of him however and so the man found himself voicing his concerns.

Naruto himself had read the scroll with no small amount of trepidation. They were to travel to the north-east border of Konoha and patrol a particular area of it for a small period of around one to two weeks depending on when relief arrived. Due to the small size (only Naruto and Yamato) of their squad they were expected to immediately signal for help if they came up against overwhelming odds. Otherwise - it was their responsibility to deal with whatever issues came up. For some reason though, he found himself uneasy with their assignment.

"Not precisely. Something just feels... Off about this mission," The eleven year old spoke nervously, "It's like I have this dark feeling in the pit of my stomach."

Yamato grinned at him - a real smile. "Don't let your emotions rule your mind too much, it's probably nothing." The man said so to try and calm the child down and so felt a degree of relief when the boy nodded in acquiescence.

"Yeah I guess..."

"Let's get going anyway, we're a bit behind schedule as it is." Yamato announced off-handedly.

"Hai." The two turned toward the imposing gates in front of them and began a leisurely walk out of the village - they wouldn't travel fast until they were in somewhat dangerous territory. As they walked Naruto withdrew a rubber ball from his bag and began to concentrate avidly on it. Yamato watched in keen interest at the action.

"What, exactly, is that for?" His voice held a tone of amusement, "I didn't pick you to be someone who enjoyed such frivolous things."

Naruto grew horrified at the suggestion that he was going to use the rubber ball for some sort of childish prank and quickly stated, "That's a bit uncouth - even for me! No, it's to do with my father's training." He absentmindedly patted the scroll Yamato had handed him earlier that contained information on how to learn the Rasengan as a way to reinforce what he said.

"Sure, sure." The ex-ANBU member seemed to get the message and raise his hands in a sort of mock surrender.

Sometimes Naruto wished the man was as emotionless as he used to be.


The two walked along the treeline slowly with Naruto grinning like a madman from the progress he had achieved with his Rasengan training. Just last night as the two sat by a fire Naruto had finally managed to pop the rubber ball. This, according to his father's scroll, signaled the end of his second stage of learning and now all that was left was combining the two stages together. And so here he was, hand out in front of him, trying to claw the chakra together in the correct way. He was so close he could feel it. He would almost have it perfect and then it would dissipate harmlessly just before success. Yamato, to his credit, watched the events unfold with no small amount of amusement. It was always entertaining to watch the boy struggle ruthlessly with an objective until success.

"So, the off-spring imitates the parent - how very interesting." It was a cold voice, one that immediately put the two of them on edge. They both drew kunai at the sudden interruption, with Yamato wondering how the man who was speaking could possibly have snuck up on them. A figure appeared before them out of thin air wearing a black cloak with red clouds emblazoned on it and a enigmatic orange mask to hide his face. Perhaps most curious of all was the single eyehole in the mask itself. He walked with a relaxed gait and seemed amused by their reactions to his presence.

"Do you fear me, progeny of Senju?" He was laughing at Yamato's reaction to his presence; that much was obvious, "How entertaining!" The man's face was shrouded in darkness by the cloak and so Yamato was unable to see the madly spinning red eye staring out of the mask's hole. The man began to approach them and Yamato tensed in preparation to defend Naruto if need be. "That's good. Your fear is well-founded." Without warning the man disappeared before suddenly reappearing in front of Yamato. He struck out viciously with a leg and sent the man flying before he turned to face Naruto.

"Who are you?!" Naruto screamed as terror gripped his heart. The man's presence suffocated the eleven year old, forcing him to his knees.

"I am your master." The tone was so self-assured that for a moment Naruto felt anger rise in himself from the arrogance of the man. Grasping hold of the emotion, the boy struck forward at the man with a kunai in his hand. The blade was blocked easily by the man and Naruto soon found himself flying across the treeline from another kick. He landed next to Yamato with a loud thud and climbed to his feet slowly. The ex-ANBU member had already stood and seemed to be looking for their opponent.

"No more games. Let's begin." And then, like a predator stalking his prey, he was upon them.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto's voice glided across the forest as five pops signified Naruto's success in the technique. As they charged the man however they were all cut down in seconds and Yamato, who had been trying to lock the man into a wooden prison, found his technique alight from some sort of vicious katon jutsu. The two fought savagely; Naruto was creating clones as fast as he lost them while Yamato tried to hit the man with his Mokuton abilities to no avail. The masked-nin laughed mercilessly at their pathetic attempts and instead copied Naruto's own technique, summoning his own Kage Bunshin to combat the boy's. While this happened he jumped from side to side to avoid the wood trying to pierce him. And then - he stopped.

"Enough." He spoke it coldly and as he said so he suddenly disappeared.

Naruto whipped his head around in confusion only to suffer a vicious kick into his chest as the man suddenly appeared in between the two leaf-nin. Before Yamato could react he too was launched in a completely different direction as the man saw fit to grab his arm and fling him away. With the two now separated Naruto groaned and tried to stand up. He knew he was no match for the shinobi facing him and so looked in the man's eyes with no small amount of fear when the masked-nin appeared in front of him. The man held the gaze for a moment, seemingly inspecting Naruto's resolve.

And then suddenly the entire world shook. Naruto desperately tried to rub his eyes as the forest surrounding him dissolved into a blur. He tumbled slightly and a knot of fear grew in his stomach as he was hit by the ghastly ninjutsu. He tried to push forwards, toward the cloaked figure in front of him, only to fall to his knees. The man began to walk toward him slowly and the light flickered off the reflection of his dark, organge mask. Before he could near however a tree suddenly appeared to block his path, smashing into the masked-nin. As it happened Naruto felt his senses attain balance once again and he no longer saw in the blur he had moments ago. He silently thanked Yamato - his saviour - before darting toward where the figure was knocked by the tree. He followed the damage and found the man climbing out of a crater slowly.

His attention was obviously drawn elsewhere as he looked around desperately for the source of the tree. It was then that Naruto realised what he could do. Summoning up as much courage as he could muster he willed himself to try to sneak up on the man. As he did so he held his right hand out and drew chakra into it. A small whirling blue ball of pure chakra began to form and, as the sound of the jutsu finally became audible, Naruto ran recklessly at the man. The masked-nin turned around in surprise at the sight of Naruto running on top of him. He was shocked and knew he couldn't dodge in time. With that realisation on the man's face Naruto screamed in triumph, driving the sphere into his chest.

"Rasengan!" He screamed loudly, both in anger and in relief.

The two flew from the force of the technique until their momentum was finally stopped by a tree. The man looked at Naruto in a pained way that disturbed Naruto - for what reason he didn't know. Suddenly the man's eyes widened and, despite the obvious fact that he was dying, he drew his hands up into a famous seal. As he did so Naruto looked at it in pure horror as he suddenly worked out why the man had been so surprised.

"K-Kai." Yamato's exerted breath could be heard in his voice as the whole world changed for Naruto. No longer was the masked man in front of him. Instead, he found his hand plunged into his teacher's chest - a swirling pattern evident among the wretched burnt skin. Naruto's hands shook in disbelief and he stared at the blood coating them with a dead expression.

"N-NO!" The horrified thought echoed through his mind; he had been tricked and now his sensei lay dying - by his own hand.

The man looked at Naruto in a multitude of emotions before he steeled his resolve and opened his mouth to give one final message.

"Run." The final words of the Mokuton user reverberated in his soul and as the boy watched the man's eyes glaze over and become dull something changed. In the reflection of those lifeless orbs Naruto's eyes could be seen - slitted and as red as blood.


A/N: Yes that did just happen. Yamato be goooooooone.

Mwahahaha