Author's notes: Thanks to 'Sam666' for your review and I'm glad that I am keeping to the characters well cuz that's one thing i want to do well if all else fails :P. Thanks to 'Sammygirl1963' for your idea! I really didn't think about that but even though where I am currently up to in chapter ten, and Sam being 12 while Dean is 16...well the idea will fit in wonderfully with the storyline so thanks so much! -hugs-. And thankyou so much to 'Tuffman' for all of your chapterly reviews! I'm am so glad that I was able to bring out different emotions in my readers because that's one major thing that I was hoping for this story. The visions will continued occasionally as well as a few other less-human-like things in little Sammy, but hopfully they won't be as dark this time! Cuz like he's said...Sammy is just a kid.

Thankyou so much everyone and here is the next chapter!

Chapter Seven: Proving dad wrong

A whole year, and not once did John bring about the issue of Sam's age or rejection towards the life he's practically set out for his boys. But Dean knew that John was annoyed and now he hardly ever spoke to Sam.

Sam had just turned ten a few weeks ago and now locks himself up in his room or sits outside doing nothing but drawing in the dirt with a stick.

'Sammy?' Dean asked as he brought out a plate of sandwiches for Sam to eat since it was almost lunchtime and Sam hadn't eaten anything all day.

'It's Sam' came an annoyed response.

'Huh?' Dean asked.

'My name is Sam…not Sammy' his younger brother frowned at Dean and saw the plate. 'And I'm not hungry'

'You got to eat something' Dean told him and placed the plate down next to his brother that was becoming more of a stranger to him lately.

'Whatever' Sam sighed.

'You know dad-'

'I don't want to talk about dad' Sam said. 'I just-I want to be left alone for now…okay, Dean?'

'Okay, sure' Dean said. 'I'll um…be inside' Dean went back inside but didn't like leaving Sam outside by himself like that so he took a shotgun out for Sam in case he needed it and then went back inside before Sam could protest.

Sam looked down at the shotgun angrily and picked it up. He ran his fingers over the top and then sides of it and placed it in a firing hold. Sam was mad at his dad for not letting him be a kid when he clearly wanted to be normal and not some lonely freak that went out to hunt scary things all the time. He was mad at Dean for wanting to be like their dad, to hunt…but he was most mad at himself. Sam hated the fact that his dad and Dean were so much older and braver than him. True, he had a growth spurt recently and is starting to catch up with Dean's height (much to Dean's dislike), but it just wasn't the same. They were always looking out for him or protecting him some one thing or another. He was so scared of these creepy things that Dean had told him exist and then their dad expected them to hunt them like he did…even when they're just kids. But Sam just wished things could either be normal or that he was as good as they were. He then remembered something from when he was younger…

'Dean? How do you get so brave like daddy?' Sam asked.

'All in the practice Sammy, guess I don't think about it…and you get used to it after a while'

Sam stood up with the shotgun and checked through the window. He saw that Dean was asleep on the couch. Sam reached into his pockets where he kept a bunch of bullets because he knew that Dean would hand him this shotgun…he always did nowdays that Sam was more separate from him…another protection thing. Sam may not want to be much of a hunter, but he did pay attention. He had good boots on, firm clothing and he went over to where some old hunting gear was left from last week. Sam grabbed some more bullets, a bag of cans, the sandwich that Dean had left him and a water bottle. He gave one last glance towards the house and dashed off into the woods.

John got home a few hours later and found Dean asleep on the couch and slammed the door so that his return would wake him.

'Wha-!' Dean jumped and fell off the couch. 'Oh, dad…hey' Dean rubbed his face and looked around. 'Sammy?' Dean last remembered talking to Sam and trying to get his brother to eat before he settled for a bit of TV. He went to the back door and opened it while John sorted through the mail. He glanced over as Dean was calling for Sam.

'Sam! Sammy!' Dean yelled. 'Dad he was just here…Sam told me to leave him alone and I have him a shotgun…'

John knew the way Sam was acting recently and didn't give Dean a chance to apologise for not keeping a closer eye on his brother. John went outside and called for Sam as well and normally the boy would come but this time he didn't.

'Training gear is gone' John noticed and smiled. 'Dean, get our stuff…I think I know where he went'

They walked through the woods for a while until they heard distant gunfire.

John held his finger to his lips to let Dean know that they had to be quiet and no matter what happened they were just going to watch Sam for a bit.

Sam placed some more cans up and then moved over to fill his sweater with leaves and tie the ends so it was like a bag. He grabbed some rope and hung in from a tree branch. Sam then stopped and looked around, he had the edgy feeling of being watched but he was quite a bit from his spot so even if there was someone, he couldn't see that far. Sam shrugged it off and grabbed his shotgun again.

He wandered back to his spot that he'd been aiming from for the last hour or so. He really had no idea how much time has passed nor did he care. He grabbed some more bullets and loaded the gun. He almost wished that his father was here right now to see him and anyone that looked at Sam right now would have seen the seriousness on his face and know just how focused he was at this moment.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Sam hit all three cans right through the middle. He'd been practicing for ages and now he was getting the hang of it, plus his anger at his father and the way their life was had been eating at him for so long and this was almost his way of letting it out.

Sam re-loaded and raised the shotgun again, he stared right at his sweater and tried to imagine it as some ugly thing and fired.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Sam smirked as the sweater fell to the ground since he'd shot clean through the rope.

'Take that' he said and raised the gun carefully. He aimed towards the cans again as there were only four left.

BAM! BAM!

Sam then stopped and just stood there listening carefully. He could have sworn he'd heard something this time.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

He finished the last cans off, but missed the last one so had to aim again.

'Stupid Dean' Sam said, loud enough for his brother and father to overhear.

'Why is he so brave and stuff, and then dad…' Sam grabbed a nearby stone and threw it, hitting a tree and his reflexes kicked in as he ducked when it came flying back his way. Right now Sam felt like he could do anything, but he knew that if he was faced with some evil spirit things might go very differently.

Sam raised his shotgun and pointed it towards a large, bushy area a few metres behind him.

'Come out!' he yelled, he was so mad now at his father and the way he'd tried to raise Dean and him as soldiers that will follow in his footsteps.

What he wasn't expecting though, was for his father and Dean to come out with their hands up.

'Not gonna shoot us like the cans now are ya, Sammy?' Dean joked but his hands stayed where they were.

'I'm so proud of you, Sam' John smiled.

'I bet you are' Sam muttered and threw the shotgun onto the ground before sitting on a log near him.

Dean and John lowered their hands and made their way over to the youngest member of the Winchester family.

'Don't take off like that again, Sammy' Dean said and went to pat Sam's back but his brother shoved his hand away.

'It's Sam' he reminded Dean and frowned at his father. He stopped when he saw the look he was getting. John really was proud of Sam and saw hope in Sam becoming a great hunter.

'It's late' Dean said. 'How about we go home?'

'We don't have a home, Dean' Sam said and gathered his stuff. He headed out of the woods and was followed by the other two.

A few hours later, John had to go out for a few hours on official business. Sam watched him leave from the hallway and then rushed over to Dean.

'Dean!' he grabbed his brother to get his attention.

'What?' Dean asked.

John was outside putting his boots on when he heard some running inside and Sam's frantic voice. He stood up and leaned against the door to hear when his youngest son was saying.

'Dad's going out!' Sam said. 'So get some stuff, I want to hunt something!'

'Who are you and what have you done with Sammy?' Dean asked and switched the TV off. 'You want to hunt now?'

'I just want to see how I do, now that I can shoot properly' Sam shrugged. 'Please Dean? I still have the matches, salt and gasoline stuff that dad got me ages ago for my birthday'

'But we won't know where to start' Dean said and was surprised as Sam pulled out a newspaper from under his jacket.

By this point John had found a spot of the window to watch them and was smiling, it seems he underestimated Sam.

'Come on!' Sam tugged at Dean as his brother read the paper.

'Fine' Dean gave in and grabbed his jacket and boots, only to notice his brother was already dressed to hunt as he came back with a bag and his shotgun.

John was glad he'd parked the car well out of their view this time and hid around the corner as the boys started to walk to the cemetery that was about twenty minutes away. John was a good hunter, so he knew how to follow his boys without them catching him as he really wanted to see how they were going to do without him and he would butt in if he had to. He did notice that every now and again one of them would look around so it seems they have good senses too.

'Dean?' Sam asked after a few minutes. 'Why does dad do this to us?'

'Do what?'

'Raise us like soldiers of some stupid war' Sam stated.

'After what happened to mum, I guess he kinda lost it' Dean shrugged. 'But he's just making sure we can protect ourselves, Sammy'

'What happened to mum?' Sam asked and Dean didn't look at him. 'Dean?'

'Um, just that she…you know? Died' Dean said.

Sam nodded and after a minute of silence he frowned, remembering something.

'And Dean?'

'Yeah?'

'It's Sam' his brother corrected him again.

'Whatever Sammy' Dean smiled and looked up as they'd reached the cemetery.

'My hunt' Sam reminded him. 'You just sit back and play lookout'

'Play bodyguard more like it' Dean muttered and gripped his gun tightly as he stood by his brother. Sam looked down at the dirt and frowned. He grabbed a shovel and started digged but looked at his brother.

'Dean?'

'Yeah, I'll dig' Dean sighed and took the shovel from Sam, handing him the shotgun. Sam took a deep breath like Dean had taught him and stayed guard while Dean digged.

After an hour or so, Dean climbed out after opening the coffin with Sam's help and Sam salted the bones and then poured gasoline on.

Dean grabbed his brother to yank him out as Sam went to light the match.

'You're gonna set yourself on fire' Dean said. Sam got out properly and lit the match, he had watched Dean demonstrate how to do it before, so he concentrated as he threw it into the grave and the bones went to flames.

'Yeah!' Dean gave Sam a high five, but then was thrown a few metres from Sam.

'Dean!' Sam grabbed the shotgun and aimed it everywhere. A spirit appeared and tried to grab him but Sam knew the gun was loaded with rock salt so he shot her and ran over to Dean.

'Dean? Dean!' Sam shook him and saw the ghost coming back. He shot her again and glanced over to the burning bones, just as he heard her scream out. Guess he didn't light it was well as he'd thought.

'Sammy?' Dean muttered and Sam pulled him to his feet.

Another two spirits appeared and the boys cling to each other.

'I wish dad was here' Sam said. 'He'd know what to do!'

'He'd tell you to focus and shoot them!' John said loudly and fired his own shotgun.

Sam and Dean got up and grabbed their guns, firing at the spirits while their father performed some kind of ritual behind them to banish the spirits.

Sam stopped shooting as he saw a dark, hooded thing coming from the other end of the cemetery and he froze in fear. One blink later and it was right next to his dad.

'Daddy!' Sam yelled as the thing grabbed his father and threw him a few meters.

'Sam!' Dean yelled to get his brother's attention. Sam turned to face Dean and realised right then that it was true, no matter how much he wanted to deny it…he wasn't a normal little kid that hides under his bed when he gets scared (although Sam had only stopped doing that once something actually attacked him from under his bed), he has been raised to do a job and if he failed at that then what was the point? Sam doesn't want to be a hunter…but the truth still remains…he is one. Sam frowned and turned to the thing that had hurt his father. It was approaching Sam so he aimed his gun and shot it.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

The thing vanished and as Sam looked for it, he saw Dean and John nearby finishing the ritual. Sam reloaded his gun and held it ready. Dean watched his brother and John got up. He walked over to Sam and pat his back, which made Sam whip around and point the gun at him.

'Dad! You okay?' Sam asked, the normal Sam that they knew now looked back at them. His face was no longer focused and serious, but concerned and soft. He saw that his dad was hurt on the arm and blood dripping down his jacket sleeve.

'You're hurt' Sam noticed and tossed his gun aside.

'He's okay' Dean said and picked up his brother's gun. 'You did good Sammy, but let's go home now'

'Okay' Sam said and followed his brother. John just watched them and felt so proud. He decided that his hunt could wait; tonight was one that he wanted to spend with his boys.

'Come on dad!' Sam stopped and called out to him. 'Don't get left behind or Dean and I will have to come back and get you!'

John laughed and followed his boys back to their current home.

After he finished his hunt…he was going to train these two beyond anything they'd done before and then, the three of them will be up for anything!

Author's notes: This was one chapter I had been planing since Sam's 7th birthday and got those items, but I just wasn't sure how to do this, so I hoped it worked out well! Anyways, let me know what you all think and next chapter is when you will start to get a sense of the girl-loving Dean that we all know well :P I can't wait to submit chapter nine cuz I put a lot of hard work into that one :P

Well, let me know what you think so far k:)