Okay, updated alias to match and unify my identity. Sorry this is so short, too!

That, and finally back after months of writer's block, inactivity and university bullshit. I've glossed over the Wave Arc here, purely because it was one of my lesser favourite parts in the series anyway. That reminds me, the series ended... *breaks down in manly tears of manliness*

I digress. I've put in a fair amount of OOC character development in this chapter to pave the way for future shenanigans that I totally haven't planned out. Like, no shit, I haven't planned anything beyond this chapter. I wing it every week.

Anyway, enjoy!

After no small amounts of complaining from Naruto and subsequent ignoring on Rikuto and Sasuke's parts, the ragtag group finally made it to where, in a thickening mist, a boatsman waited with his humble vessel by the shore.

"Relax, it's me. These are the ninja we hired from Konoha. Just get me home and we'll go from there." Tazuna murmured, suddenly serious and mentally capable.

"How far?" Rikuto hissed, throwing a look at Tazuna. The man eyed the mist warily.
"No more than ten minutes at the most. This is where I fear the most, with this mist."

Rikuto agreed with the man, but he wasn't about to vocalise it. After some time with their senses on high alert, the man hurried them off his boat and didn't waste a second before hightailing it out of there.
Naruto sighed inwardly as he hefted Kakashi inside. If it wasn't for Rikuto-nii's harsh training, he probably would've required help to heft the man inside, and on to a hastily-erected bed, courtesy of Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami.

Rikuto sat the three genin down as soon as Kakashi was laid to rest upstairs.
"Now, there's something I want to warn you two about. All Jōnin know that standard ANBU procedure upon killing a target is to remove the head and destroy the body on the spot. In addition to this, what weapon was used to take him down?" Rikuto prodded, waiting for a reaction, which he shortly got from both boys.

Sasuke's eyes widened as the realisation hit, whereas Naruto groaned. "He's alive, isn't he?"

Rikuto sighed in defeat. "Yes, and it means that you two are going to take on his accomplice, whilst I engage Zabuza with a hopefully battle-ready Kakashi. I have some seals that will dilute my chakra enough for him to use, which should ease his natural recovery."

Rikuto dropped his hand from rubbing his chin. "That also means that we're going to have to step things up. I assume Kakashi hasn't taught you the tree-walking exercise, Sasuke?"
At the raven's blank stare, Rikuto slapped his forehead. "And this is why I insisted you learn it, Naruto. Okay, Sasuke, outside with me. I'll make a clone for you to work on your water walking, Naruto."

Once outside, Rikuto ordered the 'Sakura' clone to stay with Kakashi, as he made one of his own. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

After some time demonstrating the technique to the young Uchiha, Rikuto activated his dōjutsu and examined the boy's chakra flow.

"Less force, Sasuke! Let the chakra help you, don't fight it!" Rikuto called, seeing near instant results as he began to instantly climb faster and maintain that rate.
'Pfft, this is too easy. Naruto isn't nearly stupid, but he's more of a joy to teach than this kid, even the various Genin I've taught. He's a genius, for sure. I wonder if his learning curve will flatten out after this. He's ahead of his peers, but how will his peers compete now, with specialised training?' Rikuto pondered, thumbing a small rock, taking in its rough edges.

Sasuke was panting hard, and was about to run the gauntlet again, only to feel a light hand on his shoulder. Startling, he met the violet eyes of his pseudo-sensei.
"That's enough for now, Sasuke. Your chakra is running fairly low and we're in enemy territory. It would not do to run any lower. Besides," Rikuto cocked his head to the side, "I think we need to have a chat."

Sasuke tensed at the last part. "Here?"

Rikuto's eyes were morose, and he looked almost apologetic as his eyes bled green and began to spin, a leaf from a tree dropping at eye level. "Tsukuyomi."

Sasuke screamed, and began scrabbling back from the redheaded demon who suddenly had the image of Uchiha Itachi overlaid in his vision of the man.
He didn't get the time to feel the red bubbling hate that surged within him, as the same man crouched before him, hand on shoulder again.

Suddenly, he could feel the man's chakra. Green, wispy flames spread from him and licked at Sasuke's shirt. Initially frightened, he batted it away, only to find it spread to his hand.

"It… Isn't burning?" Sasuke looked back at Rikuto in confusion.

Rikuto simply smiled. "My chakra is wonderful in the way that it's very calming when applied like that. The flames, no one has been able to explain. Now, I'm really sorry to scare you like that. If I had've known that it would have had such an effect on you, I would've avoided it." Rikuto sighed as he sat down cross-legged.

Sasuke took a deep few breaths to calm himself even further, and took note of where they were. Soft green grass carpeted the small area of a valley they were in, as an ancient oak tree sheltered them from a gentle sun.

"This is the same technique of the Mangekyō Sharingan, Tsukuyomi, yes. I assume you've read of my eye in the Uchiha library?" Upon getting a shaky nod, he continued. "Then you'll know how this is possible. I know the basis of what happened the night of the Uchiha Massacre. If only I'd have made it to the village even a week earlier, I could've done something to save your clan." Rikuto punched the ground in frustration.

"He… He killed them all! Only to test himself! What bullshit!" Sasuke broke like a dam, crystalline tears falling before he knew what happened.
Looking up, he feared seeing the same look of pity he received from everyone else, only to find a grin. Surprise gave way to confusion.

"Expecting pity, hey? You're not going to get that from me, bud. Listen, while we're in here and I have a lot more chakra to burn, I want to tell you a story. Come, walk with me." He flew to his feet and spun, walking away without giving Sasuke a chance.
After falling into step with the Uzumaki man, Sasuke took the time to take in his presence. Once he did, he was standing beside a sun. Chakra in amounts beyond his comprehension thundered underneath a calm surface, but it felt so otherworldly; he could relax with it around as it was so strong. Nothing could come close. But shining through that was the man's heart. Beats were thunder, strength given by massive amounts of compassion, fuelled by… Hate? That couldn't be right…

"You've sensed my fuel, haven't you?" Rikuto stopped, and Sasuke became aware of their 'surroundings' once more. They now stood on a cliff's edge, overlooking a vast forest, reaching as far as the horizon, which was now bathed in a rich orange light from the sunset.

Sitting down, he began the story of his brother, the Uzumaki quest for power, and how he had single-handedly wiped out the largest cell of Uzumaki survivors there was.

"When I came to, memories burned into my mind from my Ryuuringan played over and over for a few days. It nearly drove me mad. Until… I haven't even told this to Naruto yet, but I found a chakra imprint from my mother. She… She knew what the clan were doing, and was bound by the cell Elder to continue. I could feel the anguish in her chakra. It was always so strong, so… loving, I could never feel threatened around her." Rikuto smiled wanly, turning to gaze at the sunset his genjutsu had created.

"Your chakra feels the same way as you described your mother's to be…" Sasuke murmured, glancing at the small green flames that had settled on his shoulder, flickering contentedly.

"I thought it might have, but to hear that myself is a wonderful blessing. She told me that no matter what, she'd always love my brother and I to no extent. I hated the clan then. Overwhelmingly bitter, dark hatred. My mother immediately sensed it, and a simple touch was enough to quell it. She smiled at me, and said that she too hated the clan for what they'd done. But then… She told me why. You see, Uzumaki Emi was the one that served as the black ops unit of the cell. That warranted her basically access to all the dirty secrets that the clan cell had. They… They wanted to rebuild Uzushio. But they knew that the clansmen would not return unless they felt safe… It was Iwa, Kumo and Mizu that destroyed our home. They felt that I would be enough of a deterrent and enough of an icon to entice them to return and rebuild.
In the end, they wanted a safe haven. They wanted their families to be able to laugh, cry, and live life without fear of constant persecution. They'd lost all of that, and they never wanted to see it happen again." Rikuto mourned now, but he refused to cry. Tears would not revive the dead.

Sasuke sat, and mulled over his own experiences at the hands of power.

"But what would that accomplish? You're not immortal, nor omnipotent." He muttered, looking aside at Rikuto's shifting.

"While that is true, their actions were for the good of the clan. What I'm trying to get at here, Sasuke, is that people can be blinded by love. If they continue to stumble in that darkness, whether over time or right away, they lose sight of what they hold dear, and they develop hatred. You could argue that all love leads to hatred, and that it defines our world, which it currently does. Or, if you've got a heart, you can argue that you've got to really love not just the entity, but the ones around it, too. It's a hard task, to do this. You're always going to step on toes in a crowded room. It's inevitable. But, I think you're the right kind of person to do it. To remain standing, even with your scars, is a remarkable feat and I really think you need to know this. You're a lot like Naruto, actually. The little squirt doesn't believe in himself nearly as much as he should. It's good to not be overconfident, but you need a belief in yourself, and the people beside you, to continue. You can't do everything alone." Rikuto smiled towards the end, throwing an arm around the boy.

"I know that I can't ever answer for your brother or what he did. But, going by what I've gathered, such a person could never do such a thing without valid reason. Oftentimes, the most extreme acts are fuelled by love. Judging by the fact that you're still alive, I'd say it was for you."

"But… He tortured me! For weeks, I felt that same scene over and fucking over again! I watched as he murdered the clan, and stepped over the corpses of our parents like they were fucking dirt!" Sasuke lashed out with a punch, which was caught by Rikuto.

"I know about the months before the Massacre. I know that for years the Uchiha clan was placed under huge amounts of suspicion due to the unfortunate night of the Kyūbi attack. It was likely there was a decision made in the higher echelons of the village to annihilate the clan, but they needed a scapegoat, or a civil war would erupt as clans would feel they'd be next if they so much as stepped a toe out of line." Rikuto muttered harshly, still tender from discussing the fate of his own clan.

Sasuke was sobbing by this point. "He… He was the light in my life, as well as my mother… Father was so distant. There was always the clan coming first, or focusing on my genius of a brother. All I saw was his shadow, but all he saw was his little brother… I hated him so much because he turned from that… to a monster overnight. I never wanted to believe that our village could be capable of so much… But why such an extreme?" Sasuke turned teary onyx eyes to Rikuto, pleading for an answer.

"I can assume that Naruto has the same feelings towards the village and his own parents, although he only knows of his mother." Rikuto murmured, trailing off as he side tracked. Realising now that the kid was in such a mentally unstable state and easily manipulated, he sought to quickly fix that by helping the kid help himself, the best he could.

"After years of abuse, distrust, suspicion and curbing, and I suspect outside influence, your father grew restless due to insistence from the Clan Elders and the clansmen themselves. They sought to rectify their treatment the only way they saw possible – taking power for themselves. In the same way that the Uzumaki sought to end their persecution by fear, the Uchiha took the same route. But, I can imagine it was so they felt free and in charge of their own destinies again, so their children wouldn't know such fear. I can imagine that your brother was torn between the incredible love for his clan, his village, and his precious little brother. As I said, love blinds people. I carry with me every day, the crushing guilt of my clan blood on my hands. If I could, I'd have my sins purged by my own blood, and for a time I envisioned it. I dreamt it and began to scheme it, but remembered my mother and the sheer belief she had that I could reunite my clan and keep them safe once more. I doubt your brother had that to keep him from that path." Rikuto concluded, looking at Sasuke to fill in the blanks.

"So… That's why he made me relive that… So I'd hate him, and kill him- Oh, no!" Sasuke choked on a lump in his throat and as he finally lost his battle with his overwhelming shock, the genjutsu ended, the very same leaf finally hitting the ground.

Catching Sasuke on his back, Rikuto's eyes shifted back to their violet as his clone returned with a drenched Naruto.
"Get it, squirt?"

Naruto nodded exuberantly, spinning excitedly to nail his cousin's clone square in the gut, dispelling it. "Oh, that felt good. It's a hollow victory, but… Hey why is Sasuke on your back? Did the sissy pass out?" Naruto pointed and laughed, but trailed off shortly afterwards at Rikuto's stony expression.

"He's going to need some time alone, so we're doing the protecting tomorrow as I leave him at home with a clone of each of ours. By then Kakashi should be awake." Rikuto informed him, turning to leave, Uchiha slung on his back and Uzumaki trailing behind him.

As expected, Sasuke was quite sullen the next morning. After waking up in a makeshift bed, with a note that read "Remember, you can't accomplish everything alone."

"Hey, Naruto. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Sasuke murmured to the exuberant redhead, who was busy scarfing down breakfast.
"Uh, sure." Following his teammate upstairs, Sasuke spun on his heel and faced his possible only friend.

"Your cousin made me realise something yesterday… And I might've never realised it until it was too late. I owe him more than I can say, but he also made me realise that I hated you, for what he is to you. What I'm trying to say is-"

Naruto held up a hand, silencing his teammate. "Don't. Loneliness isn't forever. I'm so lucky that Rikuto came into my life, and I will never think of losing him. You're human, and I can't judge you for that. You know, Rikuto isn't too far from here and he'll be here soon. But give him one chance to be there for you and he'll never let you down. He's just that kind of person that I wish there were more of." He sighed, and held out his hand. "Friends?"

Sasuke sighed, and gave a mock glare. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I? Friends."

Both boys stiffened as they felt a large sense of danger approaching, in the form of Rikuto with a camera. "Oh, this is gold. I'm so saving this for future birthdays." The jōnin laughed, stashing the infernal device away.

"What? An Uchiha showing more emotion than that of a teaspoon is rare to see." Rikuto chuckled at Sasuke's glare, only to move aside for Kakashi to groggily make it out of the room.

"Well, morning sunshine. What's got you so groggy, eh?" Rikuto nudged the older man's ribs, eliciting a groan.
"What did you do to me, you Uzumaki bastard?" Kakashi groaned, peeling sealing tags off his arms and legs. Sticking an arm up his shirt, he threw the last one with the others.

"Oh, I just used chakra diffusing seals to dilute my chakra back to standards you can use. Of course it'll feel weird at first, but you'll find it'll stimulate your own recovery, I believe." Rikuto nodded, pleased with his own explanation, spinning on his heel and yanking Naruto by the ear, earning a yelp from the boy and leaving Sasuke and Kakashi to share confused looks.

"Uzumaki, huh." Sasuke muttered.
"I'll never be able to keep up." Kakashi agreed, turning to face his student. "So, I hear Rikuto knocked some sense into you yesterday. He has a knack for that. But, to get that far I think he'd have to share some very delicate village secrets, which I don't agree with doing, but," he held up a hand to quell Sasuke's righteous objections, "if it means that you're feeling a lot better about the past and your brother, then I'd say it's very well worth it. Although, if Itachi ever did meet Rikuto, and knew he'd done this, he'd be very angry."

Sasuke paused to consider this. "Then," he decided, "I'll just have to demand that Itachi listen to me for once. I need his own explanation, by my own hand. Of course, some help wouldn't go astray… The bastard's crazy strong."

"Hey, Sasuke. I don't know how he did it, but those redheads somehow helped you, but most of that pain and effort to make that leap was all you. I'm proud of you." Kakashi eye-smiled, suddenly feeling weak. "Naruto understands more of a hard life than I can imagine, and it's good you're letting him in. I don't know how Rikuto tolerates this chakra, but it's real heavy. I need to sleep for a bit, wake me if you need anything."

Nodding, Sasuke decided to get some shut-eye himself, having spent most of the early hours of the morning lying awake, deep in thought.

Inari sat inside his room, catching every word. Were these ninja truly that stupid? Or did what the scarecrow say make sense? Did Naruto still try this hard, despite his hard life? Where did that leave him?

After a day of boring patrols, sleeping and mulling, Rikuto had them assembled in the living room, with a still semi-drowsy Kakashi who insisted he'd been 'through worse'.

"Consider this your first briefing, Naruto, Sasuke, 'Sakura'. Zabuza and his accomplice will be attacking today. While I could've ratted out the base and nipped it in the bud that would've risked a power vacuum that could create a large problem. I've made sure the local authorities make use of their seemingly extensive cells today. But, I digress. Gatou will likely strike here as an insurance policy, ensuring that Tazuna would bend to his will, by using Inari and Tsunami as hostages. I'll be leaving two reinforced Shadow Clones here to eliminate that possibility.

Next is ensuring Gatou shows up. Beat the two into submission, but do not kill. If they see that they weren't going to get paid, which I can guarantee, their allegiances may be available. Securing these two for the village will prove to be a great military boon.

As I discussed a few days ago, Kakashi and I will take on Zabuza, leaving my clone disguised as Sakura to defend Tazuna, and the boys to take on his accomplice. This should be enough of a strategy to make changes on the fly. We have the manpower for this to work effectively." Rikuto concluded, standing up. "You've got your orders, let's go."

Rikuto made two sealless clones, who had received mental orders, and hid themselves in the room. Walking with Kakashi out of the door, he commented, "You're still having trouble with that chakra? You'll be pleasantly surprised, soon enough." Rikuto grinned, leaning forwards and vanishing in a burst of speed that Kakashi tried to follow, and nearly exclaimed as the Uzumaki chakra in his system that he could process due to Rikuto's dilution seals exploded to life, forming a green aura around him and allowing him to easily keep up with his redheaded colleague.

Naruto and Sasuke kept pace running behind them, content to keep the silence between them. "Hey, Sasuke. Your eyes. They're… Sharingan!"

"The mental strain that… Oh, that makes sense." Sasuke marvelled as his vision became so much clearer, and he could track fast moving scenery with ease, and the powerful blue hue around Naruto, that had to be his vast chakra reserves.
Deactivating his new eyes, he took off with Naruto hot on his heels to keep up with the speed demons that made up their superiors.

…Only to land behind them, and in the thick of a battle between elite KI. Kakashi put out a bitter, dark, and oppressive Killer Intent, countered by the sheer bloodlust behind Zabuza's, the fierceness of his accomplice's, however augmented by the simple dead weight of Rikuto's pressure he exerted.

"So, it appears the rest of your play ninja have arrived, Kakashi. But I never expected to be able to fight the Second Red Death today! Haku, you take the small fry, I'll take these two." Zabuza cocked his head to the side, tugging Kubikiribōchō into his grip, as Rikuto reached for his own sword.

"The legends say you wield a sword of a kind to the Seven, you know." Zabuza growled, excitement seeping into his KI.
Rikuto's face split into a grin. "You fuckin' bet I do, asshole!" He hissed, drawing his beautiful wakizashi – green patterned handle, with a chipped black wooden tsuba, which curved four inches over the blade as an ornamental guard.

"I'd know that sword anywhere. The stories say it's an Uzumaki heirloom, a Kōmaken (demon-slaying sword) and it's exceptionally powerful." Kakashi muttered, eyeing the blade he'd never seen his colleague use until now. Even more to the unusual, he held it backhanded, sinking into a crouch.

Zabuza and Rikuto tensed, then simply disappeared, reappearing in the middle of their standoff, Zabuza using powerful, precise, measured heavy slashes, and Rikuto using his stance and spinning momentum to counter strikes and lash out with swift slashes of his own, making a deadly dance of reflexes and precision.

Kakashi took the time to summon his ninken, and to engage the accomplice, whom appeared to be using Hyōton (Ice Release) ninjutsu, save this was the real thing.
Taking the time to avoid the ice senbon thrown at him, Kakashi nailed the youth with direct eye-contact with his Sharingan, paralysing the youth, but keeping him awake.

"Why… Why are you doing this?" He growled, trying to resist being tied up.

"Because we have reason to believe that Gatou would never pay up. Besides, you're likely someone important to someone else, and besides, you're valuable. Stay here with me." Kakashi chuckled inwardly at his own joke.

Turning back to the fight, he witnessed Zabuza and Rikuto jump back from each other, both sporting gashes and cuts all over their bodies.
Rikuto muttered something, and laughed. "You know, I've been waiting for a day like this. Fly, and strike gracefully, Kaminari." He hissed, flicking his sword to a forehanded grip, which glowed emerald green, and then shot outwards, becoming a beautiful halberd, with a wickedly curving blade, which looked as if it were made of emerald scales, but became black on the blade edges. The halberd also had a glittering emerald gem that had a tapered point on the other end.

Zabuza whistled. "So, that's one of the Uzumaki creations. Well, shit. Come at me!"

Rikuto was about to gleefully oblige, when the smacking of a cane could be heard, and the heavy footsteps of a large group of men could be heard.

"I'm afraid that won't be necessary. What a shame, you couldn't take care of a few kids and a scarecrow. Please. As if I'd pay you anyway!" Gatou laughed heartily.
"Kill them all, men!"

The group of ragtag thugs charged, giving the shinobi a moment to exchange looks. "So, temporary let's-fuck-this-bumhole truce?" Rikuto glanced around, and meeting another shrug and fierce nodding, Kakashi cut Haku loose, who jumped to Zabuza's side.

"First to thirty wiiiiiiiiiinsss…!" Rikuto cried, already having resealed his sword, and laying into the men with brutal Uzuken asskickery.

"Oi! You fucking Leaf cheat!" Zabuza swore, leaping into the fray, leaving the others to stand back and let the two lunatics duke it out.
"So, uh, hi?" Naruto peered at Haku, who grinned. "I'm actually glad this happened. Zabuza-sama seems to like Rikuto-san a lot. He bonds over fighting," he explained at the end.

Straightening from his last victim, Rikuto clicked his fingers and four Leaf ANBU agents appeared and apprehended the fleeing Gatou, vanishing as soon as they came.
Spinning around, he put his hands on his hips. "So, Zabuza, Haku. You've got two options. One, I can escort you back to Konoha, where you'll then be integrated into our ranks, and perhaps become a Mizu envoy if the country stabilises itself. I know your story, Momochi."

Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow. "And the other 'choice', you have for us?"

"I leave you to run off, to be hunted by Mizu ANBU which by sure aren't far from here, or to starve from no income. Either that or I save them the trouble and kill you both right here and now." A Rikuto clone muttered in their ears, hands landing on their necks, shining green seals spreading over their bodies.

"Those are a special seal developed by the Uzumaki clan. The ancestor to the Caged Bird Seal used by the Hyuuga today, it is a very rough jūinjutsu (Curse Seal) – get more than ten kilometres away from me, and it will use your own chakra to break down your own body, to the point where you detonate. Additionally, I can activate this effect at will." Rikuto informed them, dispelling the clone.

"You're… not giving us much choice, are you?" Haku whispered, rubbing his neck, chills from Rikuto's hand still there.

"No. I have no doubts you would've chosen Konoha anyway, but I don't operate without an insurance policy or three." The Uzumaki grinned.
Then, much to the chagrin of the younger Uzumaki, he continued with "Now, I really want a fucking bath." He whined, flicking a globule of blood off his forearm.

And now, I leave you for an indeterminate amount of time! Sorry for the drop in writing standard, I need to get back into planning this shit out before I write!

Love ya's,
Night Doktor