Grief and Belief

(Still don't own Naruto or Boruto, just my own characters. Enjoy)

He opened his eyes to see sloping dunes of sand and he felt the gentle winds against his skin, he looked around the empty landscape to see the vast sand covered ground. Looking around, he didn't see anything in the massive desert that was worth noting. He started walking in the open sands and it almost seemed like it was an infinite reach of land, no matter how far he looked he couldn't see any sign of his village or any other form of civilization.

"Zeko."

The boy's neck almost snapped with the speed that he turned his head, and he looked in every direction to find the source of that voice that allayed all of his worries. No matter where he looked he didn't see anyone else around him, he was all alone in the arid expanse of land. The world around him started to look more defined as he continued to search.

"It's okay."

All of his efforts were making no progress as he started running through the desert to find whomever was with him in this abandoned landscape. His vision started to blur with his tears and he only got more frantic in his search, he tried his best to shout for the voice to come out from where it was hiding but he couldn't even open his mouth much less speak.

"I just need you to focus."

He couldn't see anything anymore on account of the tears, the last thing he managed to make out was the slight glint of red. Rubbing his eyes, he ran towards the only vibrant color he could make out against the bland terrain.

"Calm down for me."

His blurry vision started clearing up the closer he got to the red figure that was standing with their back facing him. He finally managed to get just a few yards away from the figure from his running and he slowed down to a slow walk. He reached for them but he froze when he saw his bloody hand, and when the figure turned his mind shattered.

"I'll always love you."

Her bloody neck, her torn upper chest, her dull eyes stared into his own and her mouth was in a semi smile even as her wound bled onto the sand below her.

"My little demon."

A scream tore through the calm morning air. The loud sound of Akira crashing through the door made Zeko realize that he was the source of the scream. "Another bad dream?" The boy nodded at his father's question and looked at his ruined door, Akira was a man who took going through something very literally and it showed with the man shaped hole that Zeko's door now had in it. The eight year old decided to get out of bed since he had to go to school.

It'd been a month since the funeral and saying that either of the two had recovered would be a bold faced lie. Akira had turned to drinking at night but he didn't let himself falter in his fatherly duties, he made his son's lunches and got him new clothes whenever they trained a bit too hard. A few minutes later Zeko had his clothes on and he looked at himself in the mirror as part of his new morning schedule. 'I'm starting to think you're just insane brat.' Zeko ignored the voice of his mental roommate and focused his attention on his black eyes and after a few seconds they were red with those two marks in both of them.

Unfortunately he learned two things from doing this over the last few weeks; for one he had a perfect photographic memory whenever he had these eyes active and whatever he saw he could perfectly recall, however he also learned that each time he turned them on the memories of whatever he'd seen with them active would flash into his mind as if they just happened. The reason Shukaku was calling him insane was because he'd activate the eyes every morning only to have the same things he'd seen flash back into his mind.

It didn't take a genius to figure out when Zeko unlocked this ability and what he'd been rewatching every morning for the last few weeks.

He went downstairs and saw his bento box on the table and his father in the kitchen with a pink apron around his waist. "Have a good day Zeko. I have a mission so I'll be back by tomorrow, you remember to go to your cousin's house after school right?"

"I remember geez. Good luck Tou-chan." He grabbed his lunch and left without another word.

"Is that him?"

"He couldn't have."

"I knew he'd end up snapping."

Rumor and gossip start fast but they don't die anywhere near as fast. After what happened a month prior, the start of spring only gave way to Zeko being more ostracized than he'd ever been.

"Monster."

"Demon."

"Don't get too close to him, he could lash out."

This wasn't even a public space, right now Zeko was in the schoolyard trying to enjoy his lunch. It would've been fine for him if he was only being ignored but he wasn't that lucky, he was the talk of the school because of his jinchūriki status. It couldn't be hidden how they'd recovered so many bodies and held a funeral the next day. The rumors that spread from anyone who saw the outcome of the incident varied and went from them being attacked and Yokano being a casualty, all the way to Zeko losing control and attacking the shinobi and his mother when she tried to stop him. Of course the people closest to their family knew the truth about the incident and tried to stop the spread of rumors but people would rather believe an outrageous lie than a simple truth.

"Zeko-kun…" Erumi made her presence known and sat down beside the boy with her own lunch in hand. "If you wanna talk Erumi-nee is right here!" She pointed her thumb at herself with her confident statement but Zeko's mood was unchanged. He watched the schoolyard avoid him as a whole and even give dirty looks to Erumi for being at his side. The twins were nearby but not close enough for them to get the same looks the girl was receiving. "It doesn't matter what they say Zeko-kun." She looked at the other students that were eying them. "They don't know the truth but you do."

That only made tears come from Zeko's eyes even as he ate his daifuku and once he swallowed he turned to her with his crimson eyes active. "The truth is I'm a monster!" Any attention that wasn't on the boy was on him after the outburst. "What happened is all my fault!" He stood up and started back for the academy, the crowd parting in fear. Until he reached a group of students that flocked around a girl with a golden aura.

"Oi! You're the kid who beat up Baki, you still have a- a club to- lead…" Ibino put the puzzle pieces together and realized that Zeko was the hot talk of the school, maybe even most of the district. He wavered and gave a nervous smile. "You know what? You don't have to lead the club if you don't want to. We can find someone else to represent Tsuchika-sama."

Said queen bee looked over when she heard her name and saw Ibino speaking to a familiar face. 'Oh it's him… A normal girl would hold a grudge for how he treated me and she wouldn't even think about talking to him cause of the rumors but I'm not a normal girl at all.' She walked to Ibino and tapped him on the shoulder and when he turned he sputtered like a broken motor, but she didn't dwell on him and looked down to Zeko. "It's you again! I can tell these rumors are really hurting you but don't worry, I'll make sure my whole fan club gets things right in the academy."

"That… That's our Tsuchika-sama! Caring for everyone around her like a Queen would!" Almost every member of her group cheered at her promise of setting things right, however Zeko only walked past her and didn't even look back while her peerage cheered.

"He's so appreciative that he's speechless, you really are the Angel of Suna Tsuchika-sama!" Ibino exclaimed as said girl watched Zeko walk away. The girl's mind worked to find some reason as to why the boy would hurry away.

'I don't get why he hasn't even joined my club, he is younger than us so of course he doesn't see my beauty the same.'

Her delusions went so deep that she even fell for her own beauty but that didn't matter to her since there was a group working to clear Zeko's name without even asking a price. The boy went through the rest of his school day without being bothered but peace is always temporary. He was leaving the gate of his academy when a voice called out to him. "Oi Kusa-baka!" Zeko paused at the use of his mother's clan name, one that he wasn't sure if he'd take on yet but nonetheless it mattered to him. He looked up to see a girl with hair that was a disgusting shade of green standing a distance ahead of him. "I've been doing a lot of research on you! You poisoned my little brother Natamura!"

"Yes I did." Zeko somehow appreciated the distraction this girl was giving him, it helped him cope with the constant flashing memories running through his mind.

She growled and clenched her fists when Zeko responded so calmly. "You made a mistake in hurting him! I've done all my studying on you monster and I'll beat you down for him and me!"

The word "Monster" was all Zeko focused on and his entire body jerked in rage. His eyes turned red and focused on the charging girl with two fans in her grasp, she swung the fans and sent a gust of wind at him. Sand covered his arm and let him block the attack effortlessly but he didn't stop there and he decided to swing at the girl who could only watch her technique fail and the oncoming arm that intended on maiming her.

Before Zeko could land his hit a number of shinobi with turban head wraps and cloths covering their faces leapt in and used cloth to bind his arm. One of them gestures for the girl to leave and she scurried away like a mouse. "Our apologies but we can't allow you to transform within the village, please dispel the sand." The ANBU said calmly and the boy complied, not wanting to cause any larger issues.

After finding out a little more about what a jinchūriki was it was revealed to Zeko that there were always members of ANBU watching over him in case he lost control. He was ushered away with tears in his eyes once again from the rush of the horrific memory. He walked towards the house of his extended family and found himself beside a sand fall that went into a deep canal without water. Before he did anything he looked around to make sure his vision was normal again. He knocked on the wooden door and a few moments later a woman opened it. "Welcome Zeko-kun." Her voice wasn't comforting in the least but that didn't matter to him.

Once he was inside he saw that the table was currently being used by his uncle and Uso. "Ah the boy's right on time." His rough voice not matching his calm tone in the slightest. "Zeko-san have a seat." The white haired boy complied with the command and sat down at the end of the table. "As I was just telling Kusuo-san, we need to start thinking in the long term for you as well as your father."

"Exactly. He not only has the kekkei genkai but he's the host of the sand demon. The potential for him to help our village- I can't even see it Uso-sama." Kusuo replied to his elder.

"However it's come to my attention that he had a moment today and almost hurt another academy student. This is easily something that can be corrected with him training the demon inside of him but for now he can't be relied on for important missions." The elderly man said as he fiddled with his slung arm.

Zeko's ear almost grew to match his interest in hearing Uso call Shukaku a demon, sure he'd admit that the tanuki was immensely powerful but after being with him for so long he couldn't find it in himself to call him a demon. 'They don't see you as anything but a demon.'

The tanuki laughed. 'Good, that's all humans like them can ever see me as. They only want weapons that can be used for their own retarded purposes. Fuck that and fuck them! I'm not a slave for anyone!' The whirlwind of anger that his bodily roommate was feeling made Zeko unconsciously release a wave of malice through the room, but it was partially his since he wasn't satisfied with how Shukaku was being disrespected.

Kusuo instinctively jumped from his seat and took cover behind Uso who stood strong and formed a half seal with his good hand. "Keep the beast calm boy! I'm too old to help rein it in." That only made the boy even more angry but he held back his emotions and managed to pull away his furious aura. Uso and Kusuo took their seats again and resumed their conversation about Zeko that he wasn't taking part in. "Hm. As I was saying, there's the bloodline his mother gave him and I believe there's something else that Akira-san might've passed along."

"What could that knuckle dragger have given him?" Again the boy had to hold back a wave of anger at the blatant disrespect towards his father, by someone who wasn't even a fraction of the man he was no less.

"Would you happen to know what other abilities you have Zeko-san? I act for the village as a whole so you can always confide in me if not anyone."

The boy almost revealed his eyes and their ability to shift right then but something told him that wouldn't be a good choice so he did something that would give him practice for being a shinobi. "Tou-chan hasn't told me about anything so I don't know. I apologize for not knowing Uso-sama." He lied.

"That's quite alright. I do know that his father is from the leaf so it must be an ability that is hard to rival if not un-"

"Dinner is ready!" The woman called from the kitchen with a voice loud enough to be heard through the entire house. Right after her announcement Zeko heard footsteps come from the hallway and his cousin popped out in a sleeveless cream-colored top with brown pants. She sat down beside him with a wide smile on her face.

"It's nice to see you Ichika-chan." The white haired boy's voice had some happiness in it when talking to his cousin.

"I missed you Zeko-kun. Has the academy been fun?" The girl's bubbly attitude towards Zeko made him brighten and open up towards her as they began to talk about what their days usually consisted of.

While they went on with their childish conversation Uso decided to excuse himself from the table. "It was nice conversing with you Kusuo-san but I'd rather not impose and stay for your family dinner." He walked away and gave one last glance to a smiling Zeko before putting his sandals on and leaving. 'I know he fooled Kusuo but I've been around too long to fall for a boy's lie. He'll make a fine shinobi of Suna.'

The family just finished their dinner and was cleaning up their mess. "You two go wash up and go to bed." Kusuo said firmly as his wife collected the plates. Ichika hurried to the bathroom while Zeko only eyed his uncle. "Did I stutter brat?"

"Don't call him a demon." Was all he said in response as he followed his cousin. The boy watched Ichika descend a spiral set of stairs and immediately found out that unlike a normal house, this one was subterranean and went downwards towards the underground instead of upwards. He went down the stairs and at the lowest level went into a short hallway that lead to the bathroom door which Ichika was standing at.

"Our change of clothes is inside Zeko-chan. I took care of it before you got here." Zeko smiled in appreciation at his cousin's preparation but he opened his eyes in surprise when he realized something she said.

"Uh Ichika-chan… You said our." The only response he got was his cousin going into the bathroom ahead of him and starting to undress.

She smirked at him as she stood there with her hands on her hips, taking pride in her lack of garments while Zeko was looking away. "Fufufu, don't tell me you're scared of a bath with your genius little cousin." He took that as a personal challenge. While he seemed to be a genius among kids his age in terms of being a shinobi, Ichika was a genius academically and was even more mature than some fresh genin. She laughed again and prepared to taunt the boy even more but a splash of water made her turn her head to see that he was already in the bathtub.

"Nice and warm Ichika. Come in unless you're too scared, little girl." She pouted and looked at her body before jumping into the bathtub with him. Now they were two relatives… naked… in a bathtub together… this certainly would be something that a degenerate would have some odd thoughts towards but neither of these kids were old enough to think that way.

"This is nice Zeko-kun. But I need to know, what was Tou-san talking about when he brought up your bloodline?"

Zeko frowned and closed his eyes but when he opened them Ichika could see that his eyes were different. "Tou-chan told me it's called the Sharingan, he didn't tell me much else yet but I've been-" He paused to wipe away tears to his cousin's concern but he managed to calm himself down. "Gomen, I figured out that the sharingan gives me a perfect memory but when I turn it on everything I've seen when it's on comes into my mind again. I keep seeing…" He stopped to cry, holding it in always takes a toll on him at the end of the day. He resolved himself to only cry at night but his schedule worked against him since he wasn't in his home. Ichika could only watch him suffer from his actions and have to relive them every time he used this new ability.

"It's okay Zeko-nii, nothin wrong with crying. Sometimes you gotta let it out." Despite the two being completely undressed in the bath she actually closed the gap they had and hugged him. Neither of them felt embarrassed from the contact and instead Zeko felt a little more calm at his cousin's touch. "I promise to help you whenever you feel sad okay? That's what a genius imouto should do!"

"But you aren't my sister." He managed to say through his sniffling. "Well if you wanna be then fine, but you can't try to make fun of me anymore."

The girl only laughed at the term and covered one of her eyes with a peace sign. "The main job of the imouto is to bother and belittle her onii-san! You will go through this and more from me Zeko-nii!" The boy didn't think about it but the fact that his eyes were active when this all happened only made it all the better when he had to leave that next morning.

It was a Saturday so of course Akira and his son had plenty of time to train but after coming back from his simple escort mission the man wanted to talk to his son that morning. "Zeko I know you're curious about it so go ahead and ask."

"I don't know what you mean Tou-chan…"

Akira smiled at the coy look his son had and decided to play his own game. "Well suit yourself, I could've taught you a lot about the best kekkei genkai but since you want-"

"It was a joke Tou-chan!" Zeko panicked at the new piece of information that his father added to the conversation and decided to end his joke then and there. "What is the sharingan?"

Akira inhaled and let his eyes flow into a form like his son's but with three marks in each eye. "This is the sharingan, one of the three great visual jutsu. It gives us the ability to learn jutsu at a rapid rate and memorize anything we see… But I'm sure you figured that out by now."

Zeko was downtrodden for a second but he quickly smiled and activated his own sharingan. "I'll just use it to see good times too, so I won't get too sad."

Akira chuckled at his son's proclamation. "I'm glad you're such a clever boy. So many Uchiha were driven into being psychos because they only ever saw horrible things with their eyes. Now the thing about the sharingan is its ability to evolve into a greater form." Zeko waited with bated breath for his father to demonstrate but it didn't come. "Of course you're too young to need to know about what that form is so I'm not going to teach you anytime soon."

"Aw that's not fair. Well what can you teach me about this one Tou-chan?"

Akira stood up and grabbed their bentos for the morning. "Well first I'm going to teach you everything you need to know about analyzing a fight, then I'll teach you how to copy a jutsu." Zeko sprung up and followed his father to go train, his eyes finally getting to witness something new, something that would draw him out of the darkness that threatened to take him before.

A relatively tall young man was leaning against a wall twirling a kunai, his blade glinted in the dark of the alleyway, and his black spiky hair was gently moving as he stood there. "Hey baka-tetsu! I didn't appreciate you messing up my display earlier!" The boy looked to see another boy his size approaching him rapidly. "So I'm gonna tell you-"

"Wanna know something I'm famous for, asshole?" He threw his kunai at the approaching boy and the instant he dodged it 'Baka-tetsu' was driving an elbow into his nose, he tried to retaliate but the first strike would be the only strike and lead to a win in this case and the boy was now in the ground with a broken nose. "A kid tried to bully me when I first got into the academy so you wanna know what I did?"

"W-What did you do?"

He brandished another kunai and gave an eerie smile. "I ruined his sense of balance so he'd never be a ninja. Wanna know how I did it?" The boy didn't answer the question. "I said you wanna fucking know how I did it?!" The boy stepped on his shoulder and repeated.

"No I don't! Bak- Kotetsu, please let me go!" His face was bloody below his nose and his tears didn't help the mess.

Kotetsu's grin somehow grew wider as he held up his kunai. "Here's a hint; A human doesn't need all their toes, only the big one for balance…"

The screams heard in that alley gave everyone in a half kilometer radius the chills but nobody bothered to help since they knew exactly who basically owned that small area and they knew they'd wind up contributing to the screams if they intervened.

Author's notes: Take that Savion I stole your chapter name! That personal issue aside I didn't want the majority of this to be focused on sadness but the elements of it are there even towards the end. Who is this mystery boy? What relevance does he have to Zeko? Find out next time on dragon- Oops wrong anime, see you next time.