A/N: This story will have slash in it. There will also be spoilers in this story. On another note, I have some of the pairings made, they will be; Carly/Spike, Rad (Naruto)/Skyfire, Kira/Skywarp, Alexis/Carlos. More pairings will be decided as the story progresses, but these are the definite ones.

"Japanese"

"Speaking"

'Thoughts'

'Demon speaking.'

Memory/Flashback

As much as it hurts,
Ain't it wonderful to feel?
So go on and break your wings
Follow your heart 'til it bleeds
As we run towards the end of the dream

I'm not afraid
I pushed through the pain
And I'm on fire
I remember how to breathe again

As much as it hurts,
Ain't it wonderful to feel?

25. End Of The Dream

"So where do we stand in this?" Rad asked tentatively as they returned home.

Atticus took the reins for this. "You will continue to go to school, but you'll have to wear some of Machiko's concealer for your birthmarks so that by the off chance you do meet them, they won't recognize you."

Though Machiko looked annoyed at the concealer jab, she asked another important question. "Why couldn't Rad-kun just henge his marks instead?"

"Because they'll be able to sense chakra usage and that alone could make them suspicious at best, but it could also make them attack Rad-kun at worst to get him to dispel the henge." Kira replied.

"Onto the next matter, neither Kira nor Rad is allowed to answer the door until we can be certain that no ninjas will come knocking at our door." Atticus explained and there were nods. "Also Kira, Machiko and I have decided to withhold you from going to summer school and are going to hire you a tutor so you can get used to other people for the fall."

"Why can't I just tutor him?" Rad asked sullenly.

"Because Kira needs to be around other people so he won't be so inclined to immediately dislike everyone." Atticus replied and looked pointedly at Kira. "You've been hurt and I don't really blame you for being so angry, but there are still good people in the world."

Kira didn't say anything to contradict him, but he didn't look like he agreed with this either.

The doorbell rung and everyone froze. Machiko shooed Rad, Kira and Highwire into the other room as she opened the door. "Oh, it's you Alexis." She said trying to hide her relief.

"Yes, I came by like you said and was wondering if I could talk to Kira." Alexis replied.

Machiko looked at Kira, who shrugged and she looked back at the girl. "You may come in." When the girl came in, Machiko ushered both Rad and Atticus, and Highwire out of the room. "Let them talk."

Kira watched them leave and gestured to the couch. "What brings you here?"

"Um, I came here to talk about…us." Alexis said blushing slightly.

Kira looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"Um, I like you." Alexis said bluntly, thinking the best way to talk about the issue was to state in layman's terms. "I think you're pretty and brave."

Kira's face scrunched up into an even more confused expression. "Brave? Where did you get that idea?"

"Uh, well, I read it in your journal." Alexis admitted blushing brightly and shamefully.

Kira's face blanked before the pieces fit. 'Rad-kun said she couldn't read kanji; then most likely she figured a way around that.' He thought angrily as he clenched his fists. "That was my personal and private journal. You had no right to trifle through my life story."

"I didn't know it was your journal until Rad said you existed." Alexis replied. "I had no idea your life was so harsh."

Kira's eyes narrowed. 'Pity, I hate pity.' He thought disgustedly. "I don't need your pity, now I'll ask you to leave this instant."

Alexis stared at him this time. She had expected him to get mad, but not to kick her out the house. "But I really like you." She insisted.

"Well I don't like you." Kira deadpanned.

Alexis felt her heart clench and she lowered her head sadly. "I-I see." She said, her voice cracking at the end. "I'll see myself out." She walked over to the door, and for a brief moment, looked back, only to flinch as Kira's cold eyes stared stonily back at her. She didn't waste another minute before leaving the house.

Rad came around the corner and looked between the door and his brother. "What Alexis did wasn't nice, but did you have to be so harsh?"

"Rad-kun, you know how I am," Kira said staring at his younger brother, his gaze darkening, "harsh is sending someone to the hospital, that was me being nice."

Rad, while he had not minded how Kira acted towards people that hated them in Konoha, was starting to see just how much of a bastard his brother really was towards others. Though in this case Kira had a legitimate reason to be angry.

Alexis walked dejectedly down the path through the park on her way home. It seemed that Sureshock was right; Kira was nothing like she's thought he'd be. He had been angry and didn't seem too thrilled with how she had invaded his privacy.

She had fallen in love with an image she had created, and now it had just been shattered into a million pieces; just like her heart.

She passed the pink-haired girl she had seen earlier, but paid no mind to her or the company that was with her, but the little dog suddenly barked and she felt someone cough behind her and she looked over her shoulder to see the pink-haired girl. "Yes?"

"Hello, I'm Sakura and I was wondering if I could ask where you had just come from." The girl said pleasantly.

Normally, Alexis would find this strange, but at the moment, all she wanted to do was go home and cry into her pillow. "Kira's house, he lives there with his brother and parents." She answered absently.

Sakura's smile widened. "Thank you for your help."

Alexis nodded and was back to walking home.

Sakura though went back to her teammates and sensei. "She said someone called Kira lived nearby."

Kakashi looked up from his book at the name. "Kiba, could Akamaru track the girl's scent back to where she had just been?" he asked rather seriously.

Noticing the change in his sensei's tone, Kiba nodded. "Yeah, he can."

Kakashi nodded. "Right, when we get there, no one is to approach the house, and we'll wait until someone comes out and ask them to see if they've ever met someone name Uzumaki Kira." He added extra emphasis on the name.

The blank looks that came across the three student's faces signified that they had no idea who this was, before shock came over Sakura's face and a slight look of fear crossed Kiba's. "Isn't that the demon that the villagers killed?" he asked.

"Didn't he also burned down the Yondaime's home?" Sakura questioned angrily. "If he's alive I'm going to kill him for his blatant disrespect for our past leader!"

"He's a demon, Sakura, he'd kill you before you could land a hit on him." Sasuke said flatly.

Sakura preened, ignoring the fact she's just been insulted. "Oh, Sasuke-kun, you are so right."

Kiba rolled his eyes as he knelt down to Akamaru. "Boy, track the girl's scent." The little dog barked before he began sniffing around, then barked and ran off. "He's got it. Said the demon's scent gets stronger in this direction too."

While they followed after Akamaru, Kakashi noticed how none of his students remembered Naruto, despite being in the same year and class with him. Still, he had no idea how to feel about this. On the one hand, he genuinely was glad that both Kira and Naruto were alive after having been declared dead by the village the day they had vanished.

The villagers had all celebrated 'killing' the 'demon brats' when it was reported that the arriving ANBU had only seen a red glow before both Uzumaki's had disappeared before their eyes.

Kakashi gave a small shudder; it had been four incredibly bad years for the civilians as Anko had taken to setting her snakes on people who even now slurred Kira. Then again, Kira had been her one and only student, who had been as much a pariah, if not more, than her…well, her rage had been understandably.

He also noted with some sadness that none of his students had called Kira by his name, only 'demon.' Half-demon was a more appropriate word, but of course no one bothered to remember that Kira had a human mother; no, all anyone had ever seen was Kyuubi's spawn.

Kakashi was not looking forward to seeing Kira, as he was sure that the boy's sympathy for anyone other than his brother, and the rare tolerance he'd had with Anko, was non-existent. He just hated them all so much, and in particular he winced at the sight of those eyes, only years younger, looking at him with anger and betrayal for throwing them to the wolves.

Yes, he could have taken them in. Yes, he also could have backed up Kira's claim that Minato had been his adoptive father, and Naruto's father, but he didn't. He had been blinded by his own anger at two children who had done absolutely nothing wrong other than being born.

There were so many 'could haves,' but nothing was going to change the righteous wrath Kira was going to most indefinitely unleash if he saw them, especially him.

Well-deserved wrath that he was sure Kira had found long overdue, as there was little doubt in his mind that the half-demon's hate for Konoha had lessened any in the years he and Naruto had been gone.