Naruto

"Ah! Why didn't somebody wake me up!?" Naruto's voice echoes through the room like a screeching sea bird.

"No way! They forgot to wake me up!" He shoots up out of bed and goes crashing downstairs. He looks around and he sees Tsunami preparing breakfast for them.

"Where are they?" Naruto half-shouted that his sensei had ditched him.

Tsunami stopped cutting the fish when she turned her head to Naruto. "Your sensei told me to let you sleep since you were tired" she explained kindly smiling at the redhead. Naruto sighed in annoyance and just decided to leave before something could happen. He quickly wears his sandals and goes to the front of the door.

"See ya!" Naruto waves to Tsunami

Naruto takes off on the trees, he watches carefully ahead for anything out of the ordinary.

As he leaps through the trees, it becomes obvious that Naruto's heavy training has paid off. He picks up the pace a little, his eyes flicking around, as though searching for something.

Then, his eyes focus on something down on the ground. "Whoa, hey, what's that!?"

He frowned, crouching down to examine the deep wounds. Naruto glances up, and there are similar marks on the surrounding trees. "Those marks were made by the same weapon." He murmured under his breath.

His gaze hardens, the gears in his brain working, now that the cobwebs are gone. "They...lead back towards the house."

"Could it be...did Gato send thugs to take out Tazuna's family!?"

The House

Back at the house, from outside, Tsunami's voice could be heard, "Inari, could you give me a hand here?! Inari?!"

"Be right there, Mother," Inari's voice was heard! Behind the house, two men approached the dwelling, one was tall, one short, the tall one was shirtless, with bandages circling his abdominals, and a hakama on his lower half. He had tattoos all over his torso, had scars on his face, and an eyepatch over his right eye.

The short one still had both eyes, which never seemed to blink, two long teardrop tattoos directly below his eyes, and he was covered completely from head to toe. Both of them carried swords, that they seemed to like using if the gleam in their eyes were any indication.

The wall and door were suddenly cut apart from the outside. The tall one, the more homicidal one apparently did the cutting, such a waste of energy came to a stray thought from Naruto. Tsunami turned, looking frightened, and cringed back from the men entering her home through the wall. The short one, the one in charge spoke first, "So, you're Tazuna's daughter," he guessed, "you'll have to come with us, now."

There was a crash, and Inari enters the room, "Mother!"

"No," Tsunami yells, voice full of panic, "don't come out here! Runaway, hurry!"

"Don't move," the tall one yelled, then turned to his companion, "should we grab this one too?"

"No, Gato asked for just one hostage," the short one stated, he was definitely in charge.

The tall one was happy with this news, turning toward Inari pulling his sword up, about to draw, "Alright, then let's waste him!".

Inari felt his heart beating on his throat like a bell nonstop, his hands trembling like leaf, his throat felt dry like a desert. Would this be his end? He found himself asking. But then he remembered the promise he had made to his father and Naruto.

I won't be a coward anymore

Taking all the courage he could muster, he ran to grab a knife in the kitchen. He ran as fast as his legs could take him. The man chased him in the kitchen, Inari turned around with his knife in his hands, holding it tightly in front of his chest, his eyes showing fear and courage. His hands shaking slightly.

Inari saw the man grinning in front of him with an evil smug on his face, his tongue licking his lips. "Once I'm done with you. I will have a very good time with your mother" he said his right hand touching around his thighs.

Inari felt a cold shiver through his body, No, No. Inari screamed in his head before rushing towards the thug aimlessly, his knife forward, ready to pierce his chest. The thug just smiled and made himself ready to slice him in two.

Then he suddenly felt a bitingly cold gust of wind rush past his body at about the height of his neck. In his field of vision, he saw the back of an adolescent boy in a long coat, in his right hand was an O-katana held in the follow-through position as if he had just, cut something, giving a flick of his wrist, the boy flung the tall one's blood off, then deliberately, in slow-motion began returning the blade to its sheathe. When he reached the homing position, the boy clicked the blade home, and the tall one's vision went dark.

The short one was stunned at the speed of the attack because it occurred within the blink of an eye. One blink and Tazuna's daughter was cowed on the floor, the second blink and the O-katana appeared in her hand, the third blink, she is gone from her position. The short one hears the click and turns just in time to see his partner's head roll forward off his neck. Shorty looks around, but the little boy is nowhere to be seen as if he was never there, to begin with, but that can't be true, right?

"Thank Kami-sama, I'm only going to have to do it once," the boy said turning to Short-stack, The whole time he is speaking, the boy is walking over to Short-round, who is so terrified he does not even have the presence of mind to run, as he looks at the boy's Ice blue eyes looking down at him as he was a mere insect that held no value whatsoever.

The body of the short-one fell over dead, with a huge gash across his chest almost splitting him into two pieces. His blood leaking around the floor like rain. Naruto looked down at him in disgust and spit at his corpse.

Naruto's serious face changed to a softer one as he turned to look at Tsunami and Inari.

"Oh, Kami-sama," Naruto exclaimed, "Thankfully I was right on time," he said smiling. Naruto made ten clones of his own, and said, "clean this mess up, please," he said gesturing to the corpses.

Suddenly he felt arms around him, he looked down at Inari hugging him for dear life, crying his eyes out holding his clothes tightly almost afraid that Naruto would disappear if he left him.

"You're alright now Irani," he said smiling and rubbing his hair. Tsunami looked relieved of what had happened and was trying to hold back tears.

"Don't worry Inari, they won't hurt you" Naruto said gently and Inari slowly moved his hands away and started wiping tears away from his face with his hand.

Naruto turned to look at Tsunami. "I have to go now, my clones will stay here for protection" Tsunami just nodded her head and Naruto grabbed a kunai from his bag and kneeled at Inari's level and reached out for him to grab it.

"Take it and protect your mother," Naruto said and Inari glanced at the kunai and his eyes turned to look at Naruto again. His face turned serious and nodded his head before grabbing the kunai. Naruto smiled and left to reach the bridge.

Bridge

Sasuke jumped back and looked around to see where the masked ninja was. The fog was too thick, he could hardly see beyond one meter in front of him. His eyes looking around and hoping that Kakashi-sensei wasn't having a hard time against Zabuza. He remembered the talk he had with his sensei three days ago. And hoped his Sensei would live to keep his promise.

Eventually, the day turned to night and Kakashi found himself looking up and staring at the multitude of bright and shiny stars on Tazuna's porch. Kakashi loved looking at the stars. He found it even more spiritually enlightening than meditation.

It was some time after dinner that Sasuke also entered the porch and approached Kakashi. Always one for charity, Kakashi started the conversation.

"Wonderful night out isn't it?"

"Yea..." Sasuke said hesitantly. He was trying to find the right words for the question but wasn't doing so well. He wasn't looking at the stars; he had something else on his mind. "Would you... I mean, can you tell me how you got your... I have the right to know... I mean... can't you tell me?"

"How I got my Sharingan?"

Sasuke nodded, slightly embarrassed at his own nervousness. He was an Uchiha, damn it! He shouldn't get embarrassed.

Still, Kakashi ignored his vulnerable look and focused on the question. "Hmm... It's a long and complicated story that I haven't really told many people except Naruto and a few others ... but if anyone has a right to know, you do... Do you mind a long story?"

Sasuke considered for a minute before shaking his head. "I want to understand..."

Kakashi nodded and did one of his eye-smiles. "My lessons on empathy are finally catching on. Well, where to start... I guess I'll explain my team first."

Sasuke nodded for him to continue and prepared to imagine himself in Kakashi's shoes.

"My Sensei, at the time was none other than the Fourth Hokage. I hope I don't have to tell you how much I looked up to him. When he fought, his speed was untraceable, even after I got the Sharingan. He had several Jutsu that allowed him instant teleportation. He could make more Shadow Clones than Naruto currently can and each could use his numerous Jutsu. One touch from his Technique meant death. He was that kind of guy. My goal was to be a true Ninja and for me, Sensei embodied that. A giant fox was really just his worst possible opponent.

"The girl on my team was called Rin and she'd been training to be a medical ninja. Originally, I didn't appreciate her enough. Because she was a medical ninja, she was fairly useless in a fight and got captured by enemies more than once. The first time, our sensei managed to save her. The second time... Despite her seriousness in Medic Ninja training, she was a fangirl most of the time and I ignored her like you ignore Sakura. I never felt I had time to respond to her confessions. I figured that romance came after my goal.

"The third teammate was named Obito Uchiha and he acted like a black-haired Naruto. He'd never known his parents and was bullied by all of his cousins for being the dead last in our Genin class. I always beat him in spars, so I never thought of him as my equal. He hoped he'd get an edge on me once he unlocked his Sharingan, but despite all of his efforts, he couldn't get even a single tomoe in our first two years as a team. I should mention that he had a crush on Rin.

"At the time, we were in the middle of the war and people got promoted quickly, often lacking the skills for the job. That desperation took almost as many lives as the war itself, but it was needed to keep the village afloat. It was my second year on my team when I became Jōnin, primarily for my tracking skills, though my combat was still lacking. Due to a lack of manpower, we were sent on an important mission while our Sensei joined the front lines.

"Around halfway into the mission, we encountered some patrolling Stone Ninja. Three Chūnin I believe, though they may have been stronger. We clashed a bit in the greenery, but they gained the upper hand and captured Rin, taking off with her. I wanted to follow the rules and continue on the mission since it could've ended the war, but Obito went off to save Rin instead."

"Why didn't you help rescue Rin?" Sasuke suddenly glared. "Aren't those who abandon their teammates' trash?"

"They are. Now I know. I told you this 'cause I don't want you to use my method of realization." Kakashi responded sadly.

"Anyway, after thinking about it for a while, I did go back and rescue Obito and Rin. I managed a surprise attack on one of the Chūnin who was about to kill Obito, but that hadn't been enough to assure victory. The second Chūnin knew a very effective Hiding in the Camouflage Jutsu and he stabbed my eye out before I knew what was happening. We couldn't track his movements until Obito finally unlocked his own Sharingan.

"We ran into the cave where Rin was being held hostage and defeated the third Chūnin through teamwork, but in his dying moments, he called for reinforcements and managed to bring the cave down on top of us. I was about to get crushed by a boulder but..."

It was then that Kakashi finally paused and Sasuke was let out of his trance. A single tear seemed to be dripping down from Kakashi's one visible eye and his arms were hovering over his chest as if he wanted to hug himself. After about a second, Kakashi seemed to relax and he managed an eye smile.

"I was about to get crushed by a boulder, but Obito sacrificed himself to push me out of the way... In the end, half of Obito's body was crushed by rocks. He knew he wouldn't make it and knew the Stone's reinforcements were coming. He offered me his remaining Sharingan eye to replace my stabbed one and he told me to protect Rin at all costs.

"With the Sharingan, I managed to hold off the reinforcements for several minutes... Just before we got overwhelmed, Rin threw one of the Hokage's Flying Thunder God kunai at the enemy and Sensei teleported over to see what was wrong. He rescued us.

"I told this story to the council when I got back and I was allowed to keep my new eye. The main reason I wanted to be your Sensei was so that I could repay my debt to Obito. Sorry for not telling you."

The two sat silently under the moonlight.

"Do you... hate me for this eye? Will you forgive me for having it? In the end, I guess it works out... I can teach you some of what I know about it..." Kakashi said, hesitantly. "... But do you hate me for it..."

Sasuke thought long and hard about what he'd heard. Kakashi really had lived an amazing life. The idea that a non-Uchiha had a Sharingan eye, disgusted the rest. You could almost feel the sentimental value the eye held for Kakashi and the existence of another Sharingan welder was definitely very practical... but the whole situation rubbed some part of Sasuke the wrong way.

Choosing to ignore that part for the more practical answer, Sasuke admitted, "No. I don't think I do hate you for it... But you better show me how to use it when the time comes."

Kakashi eye-smiled in response. It felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"I will."

Sasuke saw the masked ninja rush towards him, Sasuke used his kunai in time to block her blow but then she did something he had never seen or even heard before. She used her free left hand to do hand signs. Sasuke's eyes widened and before he knew it, mirrors made of ice surrounded him from every direction, creating like a cage made of mirrors with no chance of escape. His eyes roaming around to see any escape.

He gritted his teeth tightly and saw the reflection of the masked man in every single mirror around him.

"You better surrender, you have no chance against me, once I use this technique" the masked man stated as a matter of fact like she was stating a simple truth that he should accept.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Surrender! Don't make me laugh" he shouted and his eyes looking around for any kind of opening. The mirrors were very close to each other leaving small gaps to run outside, but he knew the enemy wouldn't just let him run outside.

Deciding to test something, he made hand signs as fast as possible. "Fire Style: Fireball" he shouted and a large fireball hit the mirror in front of him. Sasuke smiled triumphant, thinking that he destroyed one of the ice mirrors, but to his horror, he saw the mirror looked as intact as before.

"Nice Try," she said emotionlessly before she throws too many Needles from every direction possible. Sasuke's eyes looked around and tried to dodge as many as he could, he jumped to his right. His eyes still seeing her reflection in every mirror.

Sasuke felt his heart beating on his chest like a hammer slamming against his chest, but thankfully he felt no pain whatsoever. He smirked. "I dodged you," he said smiling sure that he had dodged the attack.

"I wouldn't be so sure, look at your right leg," she said pointing towards his right leg. Sasuke looked down to see two needles on his right leg and a few small skin cuts around his legs. Why had no been able to feel it?

He clenched his teeth but to his surprise, he felt no pain, despite knowing his wounds. He breathed heavily and his breath was visible in front of him but Sasuke didn't feel the cold ground, all he could feel was his heart beating in his chest.

Haku moved again and threw even more Needles towards him. Sasuke moved again but he couldn't dodge all of them. His eyes roaming around the mirrors, he knew she couldn't be in all the mirrors at once, he knew she was moving from one mirror to another. He just needed the right moment to catch her and would be over.

Sasuke did a hand sign and two normal clones showed up in front of him. "Right, Left" Sasuke shouted and both of his clones run towards their exit. Sasuke ran in the opposite direction as fast he could but Haku made quick work of the clones and showed up in front of Sasuke and threw needles.

Sasuke falled to the ground, his arms and legs bleeding from the wounds. Clenching his teeth tightly, he opened his eyes and looked at The masked ninja with courage.

"I'm Not Going to LOSE"

Three normal clones showed up in front of the boy guarding him like a shield. Haku attacked again making all the clones disappeared, she decided to move to another mirror to attack again but before she could reach she saw another large fireball rushed towards her direction, as she was moving to another mirror.

Impossible

The fireball didn't reach her but she saw her sleeve had caught on fire.

She saw Sasuke smirking towards her, she felt her anger rising before she attacked again with more needles. But to her surprise, the boy in front of her dodged all of them. She moved again trying to get behind him but she could see his eyes not leaving her, almost like he could see her now. Haku looked at his eyes and could see his eyes had changed.

A Bloodline

Haku went inside the mirror behind the boy but then she heard a shout and her eyes turned to see him finishing his hand signs.

"Fire Style: Shining Star"

The fire was much smaller but Haku just felt this one was much more dangerous.

The jutsu made contact with her mirror and exploded, Sasuke put his hands in front of his eyes to shield himself, the explosion was strong enough and Sasuke smirked seeing that the mirror had been destroyed. He started running towards the exit sure he had the chance but before he could take the step outside, Haku was suddenly in front of him with three needles in each of her hands.

No

A huge slash and Sasuke flew in opposite direction and hit the mirror with his back, Sasuke slowly opened his eyes groaning in pain, a big flesh wound was across his chest and five new needles had pierced his arms, thankfully the wound in his chest wasn't deep enough.

Sasuke opened his eyes and put a hand on his right knee and tried to stand up. His body weakened, breathing heavily his breath visible in front of his face. His chest leaking blood and slowly covering his legs and falling in the frozen concrete.

"You almost had me, but you're not the only one who can use Clones" The masked man stated in front of him inside the mirror he had destroyed. Sasuke could now see the ninja but that wasn't enough to beat her. The masked ninja moved her right hand again but Sasuke felt no pain.

Sasuke felt his knees almost falling, he could hardly keep himself standing, his vision felt fuzzy. He wanted to keep fighting, and now he could feel just how tired he was.

I can't Die Like THIS

Sasuke felt his hands shaking like a leaf, his heart beating slower, his eyes looked in the corner of his eyes and saw two needles sticking in the side of his neck. Sasuke didn't have time to understand what was happening to him.

His eyes started closing and started falling to the ground, with only one thought on his head.

Kaa-chan, Tou-chan. . . . . . Itachi