Chapter 6

Regular talking- Ramen

Thinking or Flashbacks/ Taijutsu- Ramen

Seals/ Kenjutsu - Explosive seal/ Basic Split

Jutsu - Hiraishin

Bijuu - Kit

Gods - Ramen

Uzushiogakure- 1 Year Later

A clash of metal against metal rung throughout the training ground as two people were viscously clashing blades against one another.

Kyouko Uzumaki was currently sparring with her son Yukio Uzumaki, in a not so deadly spar of swords.

They both held long rods of metal, shaped to be swords but none of the cutting power behind a real sword. THey both swung the metal rods at each other trying to get past each other's guards for the past 30 minutes.

Yukio cleaved his blade upwards. "Kenjutsu:Basic Split!" The metal rod cleaved upwards giving Kyouko nearly no time to retaliate. She could only watch as the metal rod incoming towards her face as she hastily tried to block it with her own bastardized sword. Yukio's blade shot up with so much strength that it displaced the air molecules, creating a vacuum that acted as a metaphorical blade. The vacuum cleaved everything not durable in half with the power of a vacuum leaving a large gash in the ground and air.

When his blade met with his mother's, the blade cracked with the force from the blade, forcing Kyouko to drop her blade. SHe called off the spar. Yukio gasped and grinned. He had finally beaten his mother in a kenjutsu spar.

Kyouko called him over to sit next to her for a short break.

It was an eventful past year. After learning what Yukio's elemental affinity was Kyouko went to extreme lengths to teach him how to have near perfect control over the element.

Yukio had been exceptionally good with control over Suiton Jutsu's. His control over water was somewhat impeccable, surprising even Kyouko at the level of control that Yukio possessed over the element.

Yukio now easily had reserves for mid chunin, and his chakra density was amazing. The sheer density of his chakra created craters in the ground where Kyouko had Yukio draw out his chakra.

The young boy advanced incredibly during the one year Kyouko had trained him. The island was closed off only to them after she had discovered the intruders that had lurked around Uzu. The seals that she had put up had prevented other parties from entering the grounds of Uzu, but that also meant that Kyouko and Yukio had to stay inside the island at all costs.

Yukio had upped his kenjutsu training taking in the art of the blade like a fish to water. The raven haired boy mastered techniques that Kyouko considered moderate in weeks of nonstop training.

As Yukio sat next to Kyouko for a little rest, she smiled at tired little face. "Yukio," She spoke. "Do you think about what you want to do in your life? Do you have a goal in life which you want to achieve?"

Yukio looked at his mother with a confused glance. "What are you talking about Kaa-chan?"

Kyouko smiled sadly. "Yukio, someday I'm not going to be in the world of the living. I'm going to have to to leave you whether I like it or not. I just… I just want you to know what you want to do after I'm gone. "

Yukio looked mortified. "Kaa-chan! Don't leave me!"

Kyouko laughed. "Come on Sochi! Forget about what I said. Now are you done resting?"

Yukio tilted his head to the side. "Yeah, why?"

Kyouko grinned. "Taijutsu training~"

Yukio paled as he ducked under the wide kick Kyouko swiped over his head. He quickly retaliated kick aimed his mother's head as she was finished with her kick. As soon as he launched his kick, Kyouko dodged. Yukio and Kyouko both jumped back and faced each other.

Yukio narrowed his eyes, as Kyouko smiled with mirth at the young child. Slow breeze blew through the field that they were sparring on. As if someone shot an invisible pistol, Yukio shot off trying to hit his mother. Kyouko quickly brought up her arms in a guard.

Yukio noted of this and quickly shifted his footing while appearing in front of her. "Hakai Sudhansu- " Yukio started. Kyouko shifted her legs in case of a powerful attack that was going her way, unconsciously sending chakra to her legs and arms for impact. "Kaijo Rashomon."

Yukio hooked his legs behind behind Kyouko's guard forcing it down with the centripetal force of spinning kick. Kyouko grinned. She had known that he was going for that move, but no matter what she did, she couldn't strengthen her arms enough from the combined force of chakra and force. A knee came up following the leg pushing down her guard which was about to hit Kyouko in the face. Before the Knee could hit her, she bent her body back making Yukio's knee hit nothing.

Kyouko then rushed through Yukio's undefeated guard and slammed her head onto his head. Yukio reeled back in pain before bringing his arm up in defense against another vicious punch that was aimed at his face. He spun around and kicked as hard as he could. Kyouko slid back from the force of the kick that was presented at her.

Yukio grinned. He shot forward again forcing his knee into the guard of Kyouko. "Hakai Sudhansu- Hakuto!" Kyouko gritted her teeth against the immense force Yukio put behind the blow. He immediately backed off before forming a stance, Kyouko to well recognized. "Si Jianhuran: Hei hui de quantou!" Yukio shot his fist forward in a basic fighting stance that generated force capable of causing winds arise. The same force that ripped his sleeves and connected with Kyouko's guard.

Yukio started again with his second stance. "Si Jianhuran: Jiandao!" Yukio kicked sideways into Kyouko's guard. Kyouko grimaced at the small pain that erupted at her abdomen. "Using Chakra is starting to strain my disease. I have to end this quickly!" Kyouko thought. She quickly formed her own stance. "Hakai Sudhansu: Baeknok!" Kyouko kicked her legs directly perpendicular to the ground and broke Yukio guard, knocking him out.

As Yukio fell to the ground Kyouko caught him and smiled. "He improved so much…" She muttered.

Suddenly a series of horrid coughs erupted from Kyouko's mouth. She covered her mouth with her hand, and when she pulled it away, blood could be seen in her hand. Kyouko eyes hardened. She knew she didn't have long before she died.

She had to get Yukio strong for himself so he could survive in the god forsaken world. She quickly pack up the training equipment before sealing it away and giving the sleeping form of Yukio a piggyback ride.

As she walked she thought about all the fun times she had since raising Yukio. Before, it was a dreary life for Kyouko. Coming from a prestigious house of taijutsu, Kyouko always knew how to defend herself. After the Uzu got attacked, she became a wandering nomad, looking for her little brother.

Flashback

Shivering in the cold, Kyouko could be seen wearing rags and huddled in an alley. Her usually vibrant red hair was so dirtied, one would have thought her hair was brown.

Kyouko's usually vibrant violet eyes were dull and clear malnutrition could be seen facing the girl.

Suddenly Kyouko stood up and sneaked a glance at a store, that held vibrant apples in a basket. She slowly sneaked up to the basket before snatching it away running. The store manager caught sight of her running away with the basket of apples, and screamed profanities at the child for stealing.

Kyouko smiled. She would be having a nice dinner tonight. As she slowed down, she brought out an apple and started eating.

When she finished, she had bumped into a man.

He looked down upon her. He had a long black cloak that covered most of the old man's body. His white hair obviously showed his age as wrinkled skin came even wrinklier. But the most imposing thing about the man was his cold hard glare that seemed to be able to freeze anything it saw.

They were pinwheels. Kyouko stared up at the eyes of the man. The red glow in his eye almost seemed to hypnotize and pull in Kyouko.

Kyouko stared up in horror.

The man spoke. "Who are you child?"

Those four words seemed to snap Kyouko out of her trance. She spoke tentatively. "Kyouko."

The man seemed to contemplate this. "Don't you have family to go to, child?"

Kyouko teared up, but tried to hold them back. Flashes of memories poured into her vision. Her mother screaming at her to run away before being gutted by Iwa teacher looking at her with a kind glance before rushing to the battlefield preparing combat seals in the air. She could see her father, one of the strongest men she ever knew, take on the army of shinobi with his bare hands only to fall to multitudes of lacerations inflicted on him by several Kumo nin.

Kyouko was brought back to the real world, when the old man grunted in an irritated way that signaled her that she was currently wasting the old man's time.

She stuttered. "T-They- I- My family is dead, except for my brother."

The old man frowned. "What is your clan name child?"

Kyouko looked down. "U-Uzumaki."

The old man seemed taken back, and this time seemed to scrutinize Kyouko under a careful eye. His eyes lingered on her hair, which was currently so dirty, that it took a moment for the old man to see the red hair.

The old man spoke again. "This brother of yours, do you know where he is?"

"We got separated at the invasion in Uzu. The Evacuation teams separated us before he went away." Kyouko replied.

The old man held a calculating glimmer in his eye.

He turned his back from Kyouko and walked away. "Make sure to look where you are going child."

Kyouko shivered. The aura the man was excluding just screamed danger.

Kyouko trudged on into the night.

End

Kyouko frowned.

As she trudged through the marshy island, she relieved some of her old memories.

The terrain of the land slowly changed from a marshy swamp to a smoother ground terrain. The vegetation of the land grew fuller with more plant life filling up the land of Uzu.

Yukio mumbled in his sleep as he clung onto Kyouko's robes.

When she reached the little shack they had created once Kyouko decided to settle in Uzu for a while, she set Yukio on a makeshift bed. Before reaching for a small bottle. Producing to two small pills, she popped them in her mouth. Than she sat down and sighed. She pulled out a scroll, placing it in some of Yukio's bags. Inserting her chakra into the seal, she pulled out a piece of paper and started writing.

The paintbrush quickly filling in the empty spaces that was the scroll. The ink fluently flowing from the scroll, she had finished whatever she wa going to be writing on the scroll.

But she hoped that it didn't have to come to this.

By the sunlight, two shinobi could be seen hiding in the natural foliage of the border of the famed Uzushiogakure.

"Do you have the deactivation matrix?" A dull question was whispered through the mask of a ninja wearing a blank NE mask.

A single nod confirmed the ninja's position at Uzu.

His hands formed a seal and a flash of chakra reverberated through the air.. The seals all across Uzu fell for a brief moment, before patching up again, as if it never happened.

The Two ninja were gone.

Kumo ninja, frowned at this. Yugito quickly motioned the two shinobi behind her with quick ANBU hand signals.

They too vanished into the open gates of Uzu.

As Kyouko finished up her scroll, she placed it into the small bag labeled Yukio. She sat by the resting form of Yukio, who currently had a little drool going down by his cheek. His black hair tousled and long without a haircut for nearly two years. One could almost mistake him for a female, if not the fact that his hair stuck up and gave him a small feral look.

Kyouko smiled softly as she stared at the peaceful looking form of Yukio. A small snore made Kyouko giggle a little bit, before giving his forehead a light peck before moving to the campfire to get dinner ready.

Than she had felt it. A small burst of chakra that had disrupted the Uzu containment and defense seals. The shields were down.

She frowned. Red seals glowed on her skin lighting up the slowly growing dark sky. As it notified Kyouko of intruders in Uzu.

The two ninja met up at the front gate of Uzu, before finding the seal that controlled the island defense systems. A quick Raiton jutsu disabled the seals and eventually opened up the fields.

Instantly a battalion of Ninja appeared at the gates of Uzu. Ten more ninja all ready for combat had rushed into the lands of Uzu to get their priority target.

As ANBU hand signals went up they all shot off into the darkness.

A few seconds later, a few Kumo shinobi appeared. They also vanished into the night.

Kyouko hurried back to the little cottage. Yukio was stills sleeping in his little cot snoring away. She gently picked him up and took the scroll that had held their items. She stepped out of the cottage, before lighting up the cottage with a quick Katon jutsu and left.

Dashing through the woods, with the swift rhythm of his mother's running, Yukio slowly came to. He groggily wiped his eyes as he blinked out the crusts in his he gained his senses, he noticed that his mother was carrying him while dashing through the woods of Uzu.

Yukio frowned. Something felt wrong. The atmosphere seemed like it was charged with a certain energy.

Kyouko felt Yukio wake up and slowly settled down in a stealthy way to not draw much attention, not that it would help in any way. Kyouko had a feeling whichever village sent the ninja after her and her son, they were going to be very good.

She lept onto the highest branch on a tree and set Yukio down.

Yukio automatically clung to the tree using the Tree walking exercise before looking at confusion at his mother. "Kaa-chan?" He questioned, tilting his head as he looked at Kyouko with worry.

Kyouko panted slightly as she ruffled Yukio's head. "Go, and hide. I will come back for you, but if they find you, they will try to take you away, so I will draw them away from you. Try to meet up at the shore line of the island at the site where we entered the village."

Yukio looked anguished. "But Kaa-san…"

Kyouko knelt down to look at Yukio's eyes. His sea green eyes swirled with unknown energy and power that enamored Kyouko the first time she ever saw him. "Hey, Yukio." She said with a sad smile. "Kaa-san will come back I promise."

Yukio looked up with hope. "Promise?"

Kyouko grinned. She stuck out her pinkie and said. "Promise."

Yukio hesitantly took his mother's hand and hooked pinkies with his mother, before dashing off to find a suitable hiding spot.

Kyouko's smile dropped as she pulled out a extremely tattered hitai-ite. A swirling symbol glimmered against the near rusted metal of the hitai-ite of a long forgotten village.

Flashback

"Ne, Arashi-sensei." A young Kyouko asked a man laying down in his hammock. "What should shinobi do?"

With an eyebrow raised, Arashi looked questioningly at his young apprentice. "Why do you want to know?" He spoke with a soft voice.

Kyouko held up a brightly gleaming hitai-ite. She adjusted it's movements shing the newly polished metal of the fore head protector, signifying the great village of Uzu. "I want to know what I should be protecting as a shinobi. What I should be following." She muttered.

Arashi smiled. "It's a good thought to have that." then he muttered. "Granted no one as young as you should be thinking of that yet.". He went on. "When you put that Hitai-ite on your head, it represents that you will be a proud Uzu shinobi. But-" He continued as he saw the questioning stare from his student. "As a shinobi, you should protect the foremost thing that you think is important. Do you know what we Uzumaki treasure the most?"

Kyouko shook her head no.

Arashi ruffled Kyouko's hair making her bright red hair stand up. "It's family. We Uzumaki treasure family above the others. We never leave someone we think as our family behind. Never. Now I'm not telling you how you should think, but I hope I answered your question."

Kyouko smiled. "Yeah, I think that's what I will protect."

End

Kyouko looked sorrowfully at the worn down shinobi hitai-ite. She hadn't worn the hitai-ite since the fall of Uzu, since she had abandoned her family.

Her eyes grew with a strong glint. She tied her hitai-ite around her neck signifying that she was a kunoichi of Uzushiogakure. She whispered quietly. "Hey, Arashi-sensei, guess what. I going to protect my family till my dying breath." Her eyes widened as a silhouette of a man smiling down at her appeared. An invisible hand seemed to pat her on her shoulder.

A single tear fell down Kyouko's cheek as she stared at the place where she had hallucinated the apparition of her sensei.

Quickly wiping away her tear, she flickers out of sight with a shunshin.

The sunset over the hill casting it's final glow of red turning the night into the darkness.

Kyouko didn't slow down as she lept out of the forest and onto the shorelines of Uzu.

She had one goal in mind. Getting the shinobi that had infiltrated the island away from her son .

A kunai flew from a the darkness of the forest and nicked the side of Kyouko's face. Kyouko jumped out of the way as 11 shinobi appeared out of the forest all wearing blank white masks that showed no emotion to Kyouko. One shinobi stepped forward holding a kunai towards Kyouko. "Kyouko Uzumaki. Danzo-sama wants you in Konoha." The shinobi sharp tone cut through the air the shinobi both tried to to stare down at each other.

Kyouko threw a hateful glare at the shinobi. "Never." She hissed out.

The shinobi tensed. "Than where is the other Uzumaki. Your child."

Kyouko glared even harder and excluded heavy killing intent. "You will never touch my child." She threw a kunai at the leader, which he quickly blocked. Three of the shinobi jumped forward as they ran through several seals before shouting, "Katon: Hibashiri!". Jets of Fire spewed out of their mouths which nearly hit Kyouko.

The battlefield was now illuminated with the read and orange flames of of the fires. The air was slowly becoming drier. Kyouko looked around. "Shit!"

Kyouko stifled through some seals before calling out "Suiton:Suikusari no Jutsu" Chains of water erupted from the beach some piercing the shinobi who were caught in the cross fires. The remaining shinobi ran forward unsheathing their tantos, trying to stab into Kyouko.

A clash of steel met with a kunai and sparks rained down upon the earth. A fierce glare was met with a blank mask. Each slash was met with another kunai. Nicks of slash marks would appear on Kyouko as she tried to defend and attack at the same time. Quickly making hand signs she called out : "Suiton: Senko Suru! "and spit out high pressure water streams.

Distracted by the water streams, the other shinobi did not realize until the end as Kyouko slashed their necks in a clean cut while saying, "Uzumaki Kenjutsu: Air slash!"

The remaining shinobi now battered and bruised breathed hard as he faced Uzumaki Kyouko alone. Kyouko turned to face the final standing shinobi. Manipulating wer water chains once more, she pinned down the shinobi before pressing her blade on the shinobi's neck. She growled out, "Why are you here! Why are you tracking my son!"

The shinobi coughed out before saying, "You shall learn nothing from me."

Kyouko dug her blade further into his neck. "Tell me what you are planning."

The shinobi gasped air as the blade was pressing down on his windpipe. "We will have already gotten your child now. "

Kyouko whipped around as she felt a burst of chakra coming from the far side of the beach. "Yukio!"

Yukio dashed through the beach as he felt the chakra bursts from the other side of the beach. HE hid in the tall dunes of the beach as he worried that his Kaa-san might not come back. "No, She promised to come back. She will be back right?"

In his distress he did not notice the shinobi who was currently searching through the beach for any sign of the young Uzumaki. The Shinobi caught glance of the small child trying to blend in with the dunes to hide himself. If not the shinobi be a sensor, he would have overlooked Yukio hiding in the dunes.

The shinobi silently creeped up behind Yukio, silently noting that the fighting noise had gone down. He had little time to complete his mission. He was about to strike senbon into a pressure point of the child, when the Yukio whirled around and kicked the senbon out of the shinobi's hand.

The shinobi backed up before drawing his blade, and blocked an incoming kunai to his face. Yukio kicks up while spinning almost nailing the ANBU agent in the gut, if the shinobi didn't back up quickly. ANBU agent keeps on dodging while Yukio kept trying to hit the shinobi. The harder Yukio seemed to try, the easier the shinobi dodged him. Soon, Yukio became enraged and fired off one jutsu his mother taught him.

Yukio kicked forward flicking water which turned into thousands of needles while shouting Suiton: Suihou

Thousands of water needles came down on the ANBU shinobi as needles upon needles pierced the body of the shinobi. Yukio looked triumphant as he stared at the slowly bleeding shinobi until he realized on what he had done. He had killed someone.

He stared at shock at the slowly bleeding body of the not noticing the very same shinobi creeping up behind him about to grab his neck.

A sharp cry of "Yukio!" snapped Yukio out of his trance and made him turn around just to see the shinobi creeping up behind him get stabbed through the stomach with a broken tanto. As the shinobi fell to his knees, Kyouko appeared standing behind the shinobi letting go of the tanto she had shoved into the shinobi.

The shinobi collapsed to the ground as he stared at the broken piece of blade sticking out from his torso.

Yukio let go of a breath that he had been holding during the whole ordeal. Kyouko quickly rushed in and grabbed him. Clutching her son's body tightly small tears stemming from her eyes, she slowly rubbed the back of Yukio as small arms hung onto his mother. His trembling body calmed down as Kyouko kept on soothing him down. "Shh." Kyouko whispered. "It's going to be ok."

While the two were hugging, the shinobi slowly choked up on his blood. The red life liquid slowly poured out of his mouth and under his mask as pools of blood appeared under the collapsing body of the shinobi. With his dying breath, he activated a suicide technique.

Kyouko's eyes widened as she realized what the ANBU shinobi was going to do.

Seals appeared all over the body before exploding into pieces. Shards of metal flew out everywhere as the propelling force of the explosions pushed them through the air. Kyouko quickly covered up yukio in a protective cocoon with her body.

In an instant, the explosion was over.

Yukio peaked open his eyes. He sighed. "It's over isn't it Kaa-chan?" No response came. Yukio looked up. A large shrapnel piece was embedded through Kyouko's stomach just centimeters away from hitting yukio.

A blood droplet spilled onto Yukio's Forehead.

Hahaha. Cliff hanger.

Hey guys.

I know it's been a while.

It has been harsh for me for the past few weeks. I had lots of studying to do.

I have had multitudes of projects and it's been hard. But now that the holidays are up, I can probably work more on this story.

Thanks!

Manus Manem Lavat