Ryuji

Two months have passed since we met our half-brother. It felt good having closure after learning why Itachi massacred the Uchiha clan, and it allowed me to put my complete focus into training. Thanks to Madara, Nyoko and I have grown much stronger since we began training with him. Our chakra reserves have grown, we have become more efficient in using our chakra, and we are able to use the Sharingan more effectively than ever.

Nyoko and I meet with Madara in our training field, as we did every morning.

"Thank you for coming, as usual, but I have something a little bit different for you today," Madara said. Something different? I look at Nyoko, and she looks just as confused as I am. "Instead of training, I have a mission for you two."

I feel butterflies in my stomach. We haven't done a mission for Madara since we were tasked with retrieving money from the Land of River's Daimyo. I have been waiting anxiously for another mission, and it has finally come our way.

"Let me start at the beginning of my little… predicament. The Akatsuki had contracted a medical ninja who had formerly belonged to the Village Hidden in the Stand. His name is Akihiro. He was quite the asset, as missions for the Akatsuki's members tend to be extremely dangerous and my men would often need healed afterwards. Unfortunately, Akihiro turned out to be a double agent. He is still loyal to the Village Hidden in the Sand, and has been giving the Kazekage information about my organization. Thankfully, Akihiro has not been given information that could directly jeopardize my plans, but still, a rat is a rat, no matter how small. A meeting had been arranged between him and I at a hideout here in the Land of Rivers. I would like for you two to intercept him. I'm sure you can guess what I would like for you to do from there."

"You want us to assassinate him, is that right?" Nyoko says, blankly.

"Very good deduction skills, Nyoko. You would be correct, I need you two to assassinate Akihiro before he can cause any more trouble for me." Nyoko appears to be uneasy. I can't blame her, as I don't feel completely comfortable with this. If it is our mission, though, and it shall be completed.

"What does this, Akihiro, look like?" I ask.

"He is a rather unassuming man. He lacks many distinct features, aside from his hair, which is a peculiar, bright red. He has fair skin, and wears black, rectangular glasses as well." Madara takes out a map with two X's marked on it. He points to one of them, which lies in the Land of Rivers. "This mark is placed on our current location," he directs his finger to the other X, which lies on the border of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Wind, "and this mark is placed where Akihiro is going to cross into the Land of Rivers. I need you two to go to this location and wait for him to arrive. You know what to do from there. Good luck."

Madara hands me the map and swirls away, disappearing from our sight.

"Well," I say, "we better not waste time. Let's go."

Nyoko hardly speaks as we travel. She has been acting rather strange as of late. She just gets up, goes to training, and then retreats to her quarters until the next day. I've never felt so disconnected from her. We've been partners since birth, we did everything together. Training, eating, missions, everything was done by each other's side. Not anymore, I now only see her for a few hours out of the day. I wish I knew why… I know she isn't very fond of Madara, but is she truly this bothered?

We eventually reach the point on the border where Akihiro is set to cross. The area is surrounded by woods, with a dirt path that is difficult to follow due to the leaves on the ground and the lack of light caused by the dense forest.

"Let's hide up in the trees and wait for him to show up," I say to Nyoko.

"Alright," she replies.

After about an hour of waiting, a figure finally emerges on the path. I look closely to make sure he matches the description Madara gave us, but much of the path is not visible due to the trees' shade. The figure walks into a ray of light, revealing his appearance. Bright red hair and black, rectangular glasses. Bingo. I signal to Nyoko, who sits on a tree about 20 meters away, and she directs her attention to Akihiro. I prepare to jump down, but Nyoko extends her hand to stop me. She whispers to me, "He's not alone."

I look at Akihiro again, and realize that Nyoko is right. There is someone with him, someone who is much smaller than he is, wearing a black cloak that hides their appearance. Nyoko quietly makes her way to me. "What do we do?" she asks.

I think for a moment. "Let's tail him. Madara didn't say anything about an accomplice, he must be up to something."

We continue to follow them from a distance. Akihiro and the accomplice begin to stray from the dirt path. Where are they going?

After another half an hour of travel, they arrive at a clearing in the forest, in which there is a small hut towards the treeline. Once they get inside of the hut, Nyoko and I make our way towards it, carefully hiding our presence.

We approach a window to see what they are doing. Without alerting them, I peer in and notice that the unknown accomplice has removed their cloak. It's a child. The young boy has bright red hair, just like Akihiro's, and is very pale with a gaunt face. Nyoko grabs my shoulder. "That must be his son," she says. "We have to figure out what's going on before we do anything else, Madara said nothing about a child."

I think it over. She's right, this wasn't part of the equation. But still…

"We have a mission to do, Nyoko. We have to complete it."

"What are you talking about?! We can't kill a man in front of his own child!" she says, clearly appalled.

"Do you think I feel good about this? Regardless, a mission is a mission… we have to complete it."
"Ryuji, I beg of you, let's think this through first!" Nyoko cries.

"Nyoko, quiet down. We can't alert them." She looks at me with a look of sheer disappointment. "I promise…" I shut my eyes and take a deep breath, "I'll make this quick."

I make my way to the front of the hut and open the front door. Akihiro and his son turn to face me. "Wh-Who are you?!" Akihiro questions, frantically.

"I am Ryuji Uchiha. The Akatsuki knows of your wrongdoing, and I am here to put an end to them."

Akihiro becomes pale in an instant, and his eyes grow wide. "P-Papa, wh-what is he saying?" the child cries in fear.

"Please… Please I beg of you, don't do something you'll regret, sir. Pl-please, I beg." Akihiro's voice shakes with each word that leaves his mouth.

I feel a pit forming in my stomach. "I-I'm sorry, Akihiro… but orders are orders. This is the end of the line. You should not have crossed the Akatsuki." I draw my kunai and the child's cries grow more intense. Each blood curdling scream makes the pit in my stomach grow.

"P-Pl-Please Mr. Uchiha, p-please don't do this! Not in front of my boy!" Akihiro begs.

I close my eyes and prepare to take the steps towards them. I have to do this. I lift my foot from the floor. I open my eyes. The sight of them, father and son, holding each other, knowing they are living their final moments, is enough to make me want to throw up.

The moment my foot finds the floor, I feel a blunt force crash into the back of my head. My vision goes black and I fall to the ground. I see stars. It takes what feels like minutes to regain my sense of sight. I stumble back to my feet, still disoriented. I turn around to see what hit me, and see Nyoko, clutching a branch in her hands. Her eyes are closed as tightly as possible "Wh-what…" I barely get the words out, still not fully recovered from the blow.

Nyoko drops the branch on the floor. She opens her eyes to reveal her Sharingan, now with three tomoe present in the iris.

"Enough is enough, Ryuji!"