I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any characters. Hopefully this version is better than my last try.

Happy Birthday

Ryuu glanced back again, seeing Itachi walking down the road with Sasuke. Ryuu may not be Itachi's brother but he did consider Itachi to his brother. Ryuu's own older brother, Shisui, was waiting for Ryuu in the clearing they usually trained in. Technically speaking, Ryuu shouldn't know how to do much of anything since he wasn't old enough to join the academy but he had convinced his brother to train him. Ryuu was now proficient with kunai both as ranged or melee weapons, was excellent at Sealing Jutsus, and had bee watching his brother perform offensive jutsus for so long he had memorized how to do several, even if he knew better than to try it himself. He had made himself a trench knife styled after Asuma Sarutobi's and always kept it with him so that he would be ready for his brother challenging him to random sparring sessions.

Shisui, being older and much better than Ryuu, never really tried during their sparring sessions, only enough to challenge Ryuu. Because of that, Ryuu had excelled at learning to fight and would be one of the top of his class when he entered the academy in a month. Ryuu had yet to awaken his Sharingan but that was fine with him given the usual circumstances surrounding gaining a Sharingan.

"You're late," Shisui stated as Ryuu stepped into the field, already holding his trench knife and a kunai in reverse grip. "You were at your mother's grave weren't you?"

"Yes," Ryuu nodded.

Ryuu was only Shisui's half brother. Shisui's father had cheated on Shisui's mother with a Hyuga resulting in Ryuu. When the Hyuga clan had found out, they had sealed Ryuu's mother's Byakugan. She had later died giving birth to him and they had decided not to place the seal on his since he had black eyes, not Byakugan. He was taken in by his and Shisui's father as per his mother's last request, and the family had accepted him. Not many people new the truth about who his parents were but that was fine. Shisui still had some negative emotions regarding Ryuu's conception but he never blamed Ryuu. He loved Ryuu as his brother and would give anything to protect him.

"Shall we begin?" Shisui questioned drawing his tanto.

Ryuu nodded and charged forward, leaping into the air and slashing at Shisui's head but Shisui blocked it then caught his other arm and spun, throwing him. Ryuu landed on his feet and charged again, beginning to attack Shisui as fast as he could but with no effect. After a few minutes he jumped back and grinned. he wanted to show off. He loved to show off. With that in mind, he made several hand seals, making Shisui panic.

"Ryuu don't even-"

"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" Ryuu shouted exhaling a ball of fire the size of a pebble which went out instantly making Shisui blink in surprise. "Aaww."

Shisui laughed at Ryuu's reaction and put his tanto away walking over and kneeling.

"Ryuu," Shisui spoke voice stern but caring.

"I know," Ryuu sighed. "No jutsus until I'm in the academy."

"Good boy," Shisui smiled as Sasuke and Itachi entered the clearing.

Ryuu and Sasuke were best friends and rivals, since their older brothers were best friends and trained them. Neither ever really competed for anything but attention but they both knew the other's strengths and weaknesses. Sasuke was better at bare hand fighting than Ryuu and Ryuu was better with knives. Neither was anywhere near old enough to try to use a sword so neither really cared about swords. And as far as ranged weapons were concerned, they were just about tied.

"Training him again?" Itachi questioned.

"Yeah," Shisui nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"It's time for dinner," Itachi stated.

"Is it really that late already?" Shisui questioned looking up at the darkening sky. "God, we'd better get going."

They all headed back to Ryuu and Shisui's house and from there out to Yakiniku Q's for Ryuu's birthday dinner. Afterward, everyone gave Ryuu a present. Ryuu and Shisui's parents gave him a necklace with a round gold pendant with the Hyuga Clan Symbol on one side and the Uchiha clan symbol on the other. Sasuke and Itachi gave him a silver ring in the shape of a dragon with the body replaced with an onyx that had an empty chakra holding seal carved into it, and a pair of arm bands that could be used to store ninja tools and were big enough to fit over Ryuu's legs but that shrunk down to his arms once he slipped his arms through them. Then, Shisui handed him a long rectangular box. Ryuu opened it and his eyes widened. Shisui's present was a tanto with a straight, double-edged blade, a round tsuba, and black leather wrapped around the base for a grip.

"This is...your old tanto?" Ryuu breathed staring at Shisui.

"I'm not allowed to use anything except the regulation tanto anymore so I figured you could have my old one," Shisui smiled. "Of course, I'll have to teach you to use it."

Ryuu threw his arms around Shisui hugging him tightly before returning to his seat staring at the new weapon. After a few more minutes they all left and Ryuu and Shisui went to their clearing where Shisui taught him how to fight with a tanto. Ryuu picked it up quickly and after a little while, they went back home.

That night, Ryuu lay awake in his bed trying unsuccessfully to sleep. After several hours, he finally managed to drift off only to be awoken by a scream. He was on his feet with his tanto and trench knife within seconds and silently crept out of the room toward the living room. The entire house was pitch black. He couldn't see anything. A flash of lightning illuminated the room for half a second before the room went dark again. In that time, Ryuu saw something that made his heart stop. His father was lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood with his mother beside him hand inches away from his fathers. Both had been stabbed through the heart. Ryuu turned to run away, wanting to be anywhere bu there, only to see Itachi and Shisui fighting in the yard. Shisui had several scratches and one wound to his side that was much worse. Itachi was unharmed and had blood running down his sword.

"What...what's going on?" Ryuu questioned.

"Ryuu run!" Shisui shouted blocking another slash from Itachi's sword and kicking Itachi away. "He'll kill you! Leave now!"

"But...Mom and Dad are..." Ryuu tried to speak but couldn't.

"Ryuu go!" Shisui ordered again before Itachi managed to remove his left arm.

Ryuu snapped out of his daze and sprinted forward, slashing at Itachi with his tanto and forcing Itachi to jump back before he could kill Shisui. Itachi sighed as Shisui stood, readying his tanto again and stepping in front of Ryuu.

"Leave Ryuu," Shisui ordered. "I'm not letting you get hurt. I'll handle Itachi. You need to leave."

Itachi charged again, drawing a kunai and slashing at Shisui with the sword. Shisui blocked the sword and Ryuu blocked the kunai with his trench knife then threw a stab at Itachi. Itachi spun sideways then kicked Ryuu away while blocking Shisui's tanto. Then, Shisui dropped to the ground tripping Itachi and stabbed him. Ryuu crashed into the wall and stood as Shisui stabbed him but didn't even have time to cheer before Itachi's body exploded into crows and the real one appeared behind Shisui, stabbing him through the heart.

"NO!" Ryuu shouted falling to his knees and clutching his head, wishing someone would just wake him up from the nightmare he had to be having.

After a moment, Itachi turned and began walking toward Ryuu and Ryuu felt his pain turn to rage. His eyes burned and he wanted one thing and one thing only. To see Itachi die.

"You should have listened to your brother," Itachi stated voice emotionless. "Now you die."

Ryuu sprang to his fee forming hand seals and glaring at Itachi who was giving him a strange look, almost like he was afraid.

"Fire Style, Fireball Jutsu!" Ryuu shouted exhaling a fireball bigger than his own body at Itachi.

Itachi leapt back then to the side as the fireball exploded against the compound wall behind him. Ryuu fell to his knees instantly after firing off the jutsu and groaned as his body failed to support him. He hit the ground hard and saw Shisui in the distance. He had failed to kill Itachi. And now, he would join his brother. As this thought passed through his mind, his vision faded.

Read and review. As I said, I am retrying the story and hopefully it will turn out a bit better this time, even if it is an OC story.