Chapter.8

Jacob closed his eyes, letting the greenery fade into black. With one less sense to cloud his mind, he could almost feel his chakra burning. Right now it was barely at a simmer, but with the right prod he could bring it to full force.. However, such a energy consuming action would hardly benefit him right now. He was merely training. Granted it was his first day at the academy, but he was in need of some special training. Seeing so many painfully familiar faces was wrecking havoc on his emotions. As such, there was no cause to over-exert himself at his sibling's expense.

Breathing in slowly, Jacob formed the necessary hand seals, allowing a small amount of the chakra to float into use. Next to him he heard a satisfying "poof". Another moment later, he opened his purple eyes, allowing them to rest on...

"Daniel?" He shouted. Shock and fear were visible on his face for an instant before his mask of indifference settled. The shadow clone smiled at him.

"Are you that surprised? You haven't had enough chakra for a human being for quite some time. It's not unusual you mucked up a serious jutsu like Kage Bunshin." The clone explained. Jacob noted he looked to smug for naive Dan.

"I didn't. You're me."

"I hope not."

"Your tongue is too sharp for Dan."

The clone smiled. "But of course." Jacob nodded.

"In that case, I have some unorthodox training for us." The redhead nodded to his clone. The gray haired boy tensed.

"Considering the memories this place holds..." Jacob trailed off. Before his clone knew what had happened, his creator was down on his knees, trailing delicate fingers over his midsection. The clone coughed into his hand, refusing to look at the tears streaming down Jacob's face.

The clone smiled softly, the subtle emotion looking out of place on Daniel's face.

"I'm to test your psychological control, aren't I? The clone asked. Jacob nodded, stiffly standing up and walking away.

"Make me mad." Jacob clarified, even though he was looking away. The blotched clone ignored Jacob swipe a hand over his eyes.

Instead he focused downward, on the curious stomach that had so shocked Jacob. It was true he was wearing the same clothes as the actual Jacob, a black sleeveless shirt with ninja-length gray pants. However, on his stomach, there was an achingly familiar spiral pattern. Absently the grayhead noted the color's similarity to blood.

"I suppose this is a good start." He muttered dispassionately. Jacob turned around slowly.

"Whenever you're ready." Jacob's voice was like ice.

Sasuke growled at some unsuspecting animal. He always trained on Saturdays, always. I mean, damn. It's not as if he had a life, or even a social life. So every Saturady without fail (not to mention every other day) he was somewhere in the forest, training by himself.

Only last year had the academy started creating teams, so the Uchiha boy was quite used to training on his own. Therefore, he rarely trained on the public grounds, choosing to sweat further away from curious eyes. The poor boy never felt comfortable in front of people, except perhaps his roommates, which was completely illogical. They had only been here for two days.

Sasuke, for reasons unknown, especially to himself, hated his roommates with a passion. Curious, because the pale boy rarely had a passion for anything. When he was five, his family had died in a fire a friend of the family Kakashi had become his guardian nothing had retained it's flavor. He couldn't' find a Hokage-forsaken thing that kept his interest. If excellence hadn't already been a habit by that time in his life, his grades in school would have plummeted. Luckily Kakashi had suggested the ninja academy of his hometown. The gray haired man had already taught him the basic jutsus, so he easily made Genin class.

To think someone who hadn't been raised in Konoha (and make no mistake, no one was accepted into the ninja academy of Konoha unless they had serious connections) could be elevated to Chuunin status! Sasuke wanted to pound someone at the very thought. Even he wasn't a Chuunin yet.

He supposed that was the appeal of his new roommates. The fan boy couldn't grasp why the boys had been allowed into the academy, let alone be forced on him. He wanted to know how they had earned that honor. The knew, must know, so much more than him. And he hated them for it.

He still didn't know exactly why.

"The Sharingan gets you hot, doesn't it?" A voice spat. Sasuke halted mid jump and landed gracefully between trees. That voice sounded suspiciously like the older boy- Daniel wasn't it? However, judging by the sounds, he wasn't alone.

'Training?' Sasuke crouched down and stalked his way towards the noises. As he got closer, the words became too distinguishable for comfort.

"What would baa-chan think, eh?" The voice Sasuke had identified as Daniel taunted. However, even though Sasuke didn't understand the workings of normal people, he was pretty certain something wasn't right with the older boy. He had never heard any of the Umuinos to be so vicious.

The pale boy heard an angry grunt, confirming his theory that there were two people in the clearing.

"I doubt Tsunade-hime would remember." A voice deadpanned. If Sasuke hadn't spent years doing the same thing, he probably wouldn't have recognized the sound of suppressed anger. In fact, he was starting to recognize what sort of training was taking place. He recalled doing something similar on occasion; he would bait himself, testing the limits of his ability to keep his anger in check.

"You think? I'm sure she'd be upset you wanted to end the Uchiha clan." The psedo-Daniel mocked. Sasuke stiffened. Now he recognized the other voice, it belonged to Jacob. That was the one Sasuke hated. However now he had a new worry. How did these brothers play into his family's destruction?

Sasuke tightened his fists until his knuckles turned even whiter than they were (if that was possible). He had always suspected that the death of his entire clan hadn't been an accident, regardless of what Kakashi told him. His family had too many enemies and too much power to fall victim to a fire. Even if it was during the middle of the night. If this was the family at fault, then he had some duties as an Uchiha. Even if he hated the obligations his name placed on him.

"That's not true." The second voice hissed. Sasuke blinked. That voice sounded so odd, it was almost unrecognizable as Jacob's. Stealthily the fan child moved closer. He had to observe every detail of what was happening now.

"But it is. If you hadn't been there, he wouldn't have stepped in front of the kunai. the one you could have survived. The one you deserved. You killed Obi!" Sasuke narrowed his eyes at this.

It was apparent that Jacob and Daniel were not the people responsible for the near extinction of his clan they knew far too much about it. No one outside his family could know that name. It belonged to Obiton Uchiha. He was the son of Sasuke's namesake and credited as the founding father of the clan. Only four people should know his name; Kakashi, Akane, Sakura and himself. More importantly, how could Jacob have interacted with him?

It was utterly impossible. The man had been dead for near 300 years. It was as if the boys didn't follow the normal rules of time, as if they had slipped by the proverbial gatekeeper to the moral world and were playing a little hopscotch. Shocked by his own poetic nostalgic, Saske placed all his information in the file 'Unlikely to be solved tonight, or any time soon for that matter'. He decided to ignore the whole thing for now in favor of keeping his full attention on spying.

He was close to them now, only a twtnty meters away, meaning he must be extra cautious.

Sasuke blinked. Somehow Obiton Uchiha's mention angered Jacob. Sasuke filed his away into 'blackmail', a notoriously think file it should be noted. Not to mention well-worn.

Finally Sasuke was near enough to see the brothers, but he must have missed Jacob's response. Judging by his clenched fists and narrowed eyes, it had been violent. Violent enough to scare away the hyperactive grayhead.

"Kuse." Sasuke muttered in a fit of anger. The only boy left standing twitched at the sound, and Sasuke almost swore again. The redhead threw his hands together.

Jacob glared at the space where the Bunshin-gone-wrong had been. As far as he was concerned, mentioning Obi-chan was the last straw. Taunting him with the dear boy was something he simply couldn't handle. Unfortunately, he had popped his training partner with a half-formed Rasengan. Not a good way to waste chakra, and now he had none left.

Jacob shrugged at least he knew the only thing that could make him lose control wasn't likely to be mentioned. No one except the Uchiha's would remember him.

Jacob rephrased that thought. Judging by the suspicion the usually lazy Shikamaru held for him, the Nara knew something. However, even if he did remember Naruto from his past life, it would be impossible to recognize him now.

Satisfied his training had been a success, he decided to start for home. He exhaled slowly, exhausted. Even though he had only been dodging until the final punch, he was worn out. He was about to dispel his own genjutsu when he heard something. Just to his left a few leaves rustled, and he heard someone swear softly. Jacob kept his features reasonably flat, but he knew that voice. It belonged to Sasuke Uchiha. Jacob flung his hands together anyway. So long as he was quiet, even an underdeveloped Sharingan user wouldn't be able to hear him.

The jutsu would be just as difficult to understand. The genjutsu he was about to dispel utilized a miniscule amout of chakra, making it near impossible to detect using even the most advanced doujutsu. It was extremely high level, near the skill level of an ANBU captain. It made sense, because the illusionary spell required much more chakra manipulation that chakra itself.

"Kai." Jacob muttered, knowing he didn't need to say a thing but liking the habit of it.

Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan eyes when the redhead disappeared, but all he could see was a fox disappearing into the brush.

"Shit!" This time he swore loudly.

But now he was beginning to wonder if the other boy might deserve his Chuunin status.

Daniel smiled softly.

"So you want a story?" He asked politely, his voice completely level. Mogei nodded, her eyes a little starry. She was only seven, why was this Genin being so serious to her? No one had ever treated her that way, without pulling that baby-talk nonsense. Mogei grinned. He must be attracted to her! Her marvelous good looks really were superior to all those childish kunoichi! So Mogei decided to be nice to him, even if she wasn't interested.

"Please." She said politely, using her most mature face. Hanobi rolled her eyes. Noah's eyes shown brightly, and he hugged his teammates. Mogei blushed, a grin appearing on her face as well. Noah-kun was so cool! Daniel looked a little amused, and gestured for the children to gather around him.

"Alright. I'll tell you a story that's been passed down in my family for hunderads of years now."

"What? That's crazy!" Hanobi shouted. Noah shook his head and pointed towards Daniel once he had the girls attention. Daniel nodded to his little brother.

"I know it sounds odd, but you have to trust me." Daniel said. Noah watched his teammates face for looks of disbelief. Luckily both children were young enough to believe him. Noah grasped Mogei's hand as Daniel started to speak.

"Alright. At one time-"

"-once upon a time, right?" Mogei corrected.

"Maybe. Once up a time, there were three brothers. A Raccoon, a fox and a hedgehog." Daniel ticked off on his fingers.

Noah scrunched his nose at this, and pouted.

"And the hedgehog was, or course, the most important." Daniel corrected, and Noah preened. Mogei giggled.

"And they lived together in their house. Together, they fought off snakes, weasels, and all manner of evil creatures. Welcome home Sasuke." Daniel muttered, and Sasuke climbed out of the shadows. If it was anyone but Sasuke, a casual observer would call his demeanor pouty. But, as every good Sasuke fanatic knows, Uchihas don't pout. Eventually he slumped down on his futon, lending one ear to Daniel's story.

"So the three brothers were quite powerful. Yet it should be remembered, the brothers didn't really live alone." Mogie leaned forward as Daniels' voice drifted off.

"You see, during the beginning of their lives, the brother's father left them a"

"Fire demon. A very ancient, dangerous fire demon." Jacob interrupted. Daniel jumped a little, and glanced guiltily at the floor. Noah walked over to take Jacob's hand, but the eldest brother barely tolerated it. Mogei didn't notice, she was too excited. Hanobi watched the brothers will blank eyes.

"Finally a villain! He lived with the brothers?" Mogei asked. Jacob answered this.

"He was sealed in the fireplace. If not for the brother's constant watch, he woudl have escaped."

"That wasn't very nice of their dad. Why didn't he stay to help them?" Hanobi asked. Daniel seamlessly resumed his story.

"It does seem like it, but their father lost his life to trap the fire demon. I don't think he meant for it to be cruel." Noah sniffed at Daniel's explanation and pulled Jacob with him towards the other brother in the completely silence that followed. Daniel continued.

"So everything was perfect. Or really, it wasn't perfect, but it was okay. And sometimes it seemed perfect. That was enough." Daniel grinned at this, and Noah settled in his lap. Jacob curled up behind his older brother, ignoring the look he was getting from Sasuke.

"Until one day, of course. The brothers hadn't left their house for quite some time, and they were tired. And while they were arguing-"

"- the demon escaped." Sasuke deadpanned. Daniel looked a little surprised the blackhaired boy was willing to be caught interested in something like this.

"And the brothers had to chase it. Along the way, they met lots of cool people, and sometimes they became traveling companions."

"Like who?" Mogei asked. Daniel paused, at a loss. Noah made a sound that was a cross between a click and chirp. Daniel's grin returned, his good mood restored.

"Of course. A dolphin. They met a dolphin, and old toad, a slug, a-"

"-a beautiful red-eyed wolf." Jacob added. Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. He was their best friend. And I think the fox wanted to take him as his wife." Daniel quipped, and Jacob grumbled. Mogei just looked confused.

"Aren't they both boys?" She asked. Jacob cut in again.

"One of them was a fox, and the other was a wolf. If they were still in love then, what does gender matter?" He said. Mogei didn't look convinced though, so Jacob added, "Besides, anything can happen in a fairy tale." Which was convincing to everyone but Sasuke.

Noah tugged on Daniel's sleave and signed,

Shika Daniel smacked his head.

"How could I forget. They also knew a dear. A lazy, genius dear." They eldest finished with an undignified snicker.

"Does this story have an ending?" Hanobi asked. Daniel looked a little embarrassed.

"Actually, no." All the children groaned, and Noah looked a little sad. "You see, it's part of my family. It's not really a fairy tale." Daniel tried to explain. Noah signaled

How do you think it should end? Hanobi, a quick study, caught the gist of his signs. She pursed her lips and thought.

"Well, since the problems started with the brothers fighting, it should end with them working together to beat the demon." She proclaimed smartly. Noach's expression brightened, but it fell again when Daniel, Jacob and Sasuke snorted. Curiously, Daniel glared at Sasuke, Sasuke glared at Jacob and Jacob glared at Daniel. Noah sighed, and started leading the girls out. They left quietly, not wanting to get in the middle of a argument. When they were gone Jacob sighed.

"Thank the gods that's over." He tilted his older brother's chin towards his own. "May I?"

Daniel nodded.

"Fine. Only because you need it." He grumbled. "I'm tired too you kn-" Jacob, a little impatient and a lot cranky, cut his brother off with a harsh liplock. Daniel rolled his eyes but was silent otherwise, returning the kiss.

Sasuke, who dreaded awkward social situations more than his brother's nail polish, turned several shades of mortified before finally settling on disturbed. When Jacob made a little humming sound before breaking off with a smack, Sasuke was forced to change that to really, really disturbed. And grossed out. Did he mention scared?
Jacob had the pleased smile of someone who has just finished a very large meal, so he dragged himself to his futon. Daniel made a sound of disgust.

"What where you doing?"

"Mmmmh. Training."

"I figured." Daniel thought for a moment, then smacked his thigh. "Where you training with a Bunshin again?"

"Got it in one. It's not working right anymore. Damn clone looked like you and sounded like me." Jacob grumbled, and started groping around his futon. Noah held up a cylindrical object where he could see it, and the older boy grasped it and flipped it open. "Meh. Thanks No-chan." He muttered, then started to fiddle with his eyes.

Sasuke, who was being dragged kicking and screaming out of the sanctuary of shock, twitched reflectively.

"What. Was. That." He stated. Daniel raises and eyebrow at him. Noah pulled himself under the blankets of his futon, already sensing a conflict.

"Jake's got to take out his contacts. You've heard about those, right?" Daniel explained. Sasuke resisted the urge to smack his forehead, so he smacked Daniel's forehead instead.

"Dobe. I meant your base display of affection!" Sasuke clarified. Jacob was the only other occupant of the room to understand this.

"Me and my brothers share the same chakra. I was low so I borrowed some." Sasuke opened his mouth to argue but the redhead held up his hand. "I am aware transfers don't require such ... intimacy. However it does speed up the process, minimize chakra loss and, to be bluntly honest, I rather enjoy it." Sasuke twitched some more and glanced at Daniel to see his reaction. The grayhead started rummaging around for his pajamas and shrugged.

"Jerk. You should really tell me if you're beating yourself up to get hard off my sexiness."

Jacob sat up at this, sensing the teasing tone. "Hardly. Can I help it if one of the local ninja know I'm gay?"

"You just can't get any action outside family. Pathetic."

Jacob tackled him, sending his freshly perched glasses flying. The wrestling match that ensued was full of shouts and elbows. It altered it's focus to tickling when Noah emerged from his futon.

Sasuke sighed. Somehow those crazy Umuinos made everything okay. They were almost funny.

"-Fudgemuffin! Jake, I think you broke my wrist!"

"Come back here, you little creeper, and I'll break your other one!"

The blackhaired boy, all but forgotten, rolled his eyes and raced for the bathroom. Now way he was going to share it with these freaks.


a/n- (sighs) Yeah, I'm going to keep updating- but I can't promise you when. I'll have to get inspired, or some such. I think I just gave you all massive hintings about what Jake, Dan and No-chan are. I hope. And about the random yaoi- Sorry if that creeps you out. But it'snot incest. Trust me on this one. (sense another hint)

Anyway, thank you to my reviewers! (bows) I know there aren't a lot of you, but you guys rule.

Naino- (Grins) I know the feeling. Signing in is troublesome. I'm glad you like it! (laughs) Yay! Haku is cool

quaehah24- (blushes) Yay! I know it's obnoxiously confusing, I is sorry... (bows) (smirks) As far as your guessing, 'all of the above' would be correct. I plan on explaining that in depth in either the next chapter or the one following it.