Light sobs serenaded his ears as Taiga awoke. His first thought as he blinked was that he had gone blind, but eventually, he realized that as opposed to being blind, he was simply in a dark room. Pain wracked his body as he looked around. "What's going on?" He said out loud. He walked around, and eventually stubbed his toe. He screamed in pain and rolled around angrily. "Dammit!" He hissed. "What the hell is going on!" Taiga heard the sobs cease from his yelling. "Who's out there! You don't have to stop crying! I'm not angry at you, I just stubbed my toe!"

Sniffling was heard.

"Look…" Taiga sighed, then he opened his eyes in realization. "Oh, oh yeah!" Before he could begin to say something else, light filled the room. He was blinded by the light and heard the door creak open. He attempted to reach for his chakra but felt nothing as rough hands grabbed him and the other child out of the room.

After a few minutes, he was thrust to the ground.

"Rise." A deep voice called out.

Taiga wearily forced himself up, then looked up to stare into the eyes of the patriarch of the Kaguya clan.

"F-father." Taiga turned to look at the trembling Kimimaro, who he finally noticed was covered in a horrific number of bruises. Taiga's face twisted in shock, then hatred as he remembered the fact that Kimimaro had a decent healing factor comparable to Naruto's with the Kyuubi.

"I like that fierce look, boy, you may in fact be a Kaguya after all." The patriarch smirked at Taiga, then frowned. "I was happy that my son has achieved his true potential, but I can no longer allow him his freedom, at his age, I already began to conspire against my father.

"N-no…" Kimimaro said, trembling, "I…I don't…"

The man ignored his son as he turned to Taiga. "Taiga, your mother is my sister, the eldest of my sisters, I noticed you had amazing skill, though, I was disappointed to see such subpar taijutsu, relying on agility, and wily movements, instead of using the strength your blood should afford you makes you an embarrassment to the Kaguya."

"Get to the point," Taiga muttered. A clansman smacked him hard in the face, but the patriarch laughed.

"You're a spirited horse, but you'll break-in time, you are a tool for our clan, just like my son, and you'll learn that soon enough." He turned to a clansman, "Bring Rennei."

…

Rennei rushed over, trembling with nervousness as she looked at the bloodied and bruised Taiga, then up at her patriarch and eldest brother.

"Rennei." He began.

"K-Kaguya-sama." The patriarch of the Kaguya clan, upon becoming the leader of the clan, lost their name, they were only to be known as Kaguya, leader of the clan. Kaguya. "You called me?"

"Taiga has satisfied me with his skill and his mettle. Unlike my sniveling son, he maintained his pride."

"Th-thank you!" Rennei smiled and bowed. She went to grab Taiga's hand.

As they left the room, Taiga heard Rennei's excited chatter. "You did it! You have been accepted by the clan leader!"

Taiga looked up at Rennei, his face twisted in disbelief. "What if had been me?" He asked quietly.

Rennei looked at Taiga, "what do you mean?"

"What if one of those children who died, was me?" He asked.

Rennei frowned, "it was why your mother approved of your training so that such an eventuality would not pass." She gave off a confused stare, "bloodshed is part of the Kaguya clan's livelihood, perhaps your master, Raiga, did not instill that in you."

Taiga couldn't believe what he was hearing, her words, actions, and demeanor felt so… stilted, odd, wrong, the same woman who changed his diaper, dotted over him, and stood at his bedside whenever he got sick nonchalantly brushed over the fact that he, and children like him, were forced to kill each other.

"This is the village of the mist, before an incident 10 years ago, Kirigakure's ninja academy would have two children pair up, learn each other's strengths, weaknesses, and past, have them grow up and grow stronger together in the academy, for 3 years they would know and care for each other, then, to graduate, they must kill one another." She frowned, "a ninja must deaden their heart, even to their best friend, and put the orders of their superior over everything else. The Kaguya clan never partook in such an action, because we already have our culling ceremony, only the children who survive after hardening their hearts deserve to continue on, and they, like you, are now considered adults in our clan." She smiled at Taiga, whose face was inscrutable as he looked down in thought. "Your mother was pleased with your performance, let me take you to her."

…

Taiga stared at the golden sunset before him, he had a lot on his mind. The feelings of sickness onset by the bloodshed he witnessed had already begun to abate, perhaps a mix of desensitization from his life as Hector, and the shift in his thinking born from being a Kaguya. Eventually, he couldn't stand to look any longer, and he began to run, anything to get rid of his feelings of pain and self-loathing.

"Oi!" His thoughts were cut short by the grim visage of his teacher, Raiga. The Swordsman of the Mist looked at the child with an appraising eye, "I heard from your mother that you performed adequately against the other children, but…" And he gave off a wry smile, "she was disappointed that you did not overpower them with strength and ferocity, and incensed that you did not take a single life."

"She said very much the same thing," Taiga replied, before turning to continue to run into the forest.

"And where are you going?" Raiga asked, "you can't hope to run away if that's what you're thinking. From what I know about the Kaguya clan, they hate the idea of anyone with their blood leaving their control, they'd chase you to the ends of the earth."

Taiga shook his head, "no, I'm not running away, I need to clear my head."

"You're the weirdest brat I've ever seen, most Kaguya brats simply revel in the bloodshed, and most kids who aren't Kaguya would be sobbing messes, or dead on the floor after that, you're desperately trying to keep yourself from being either."

"I didn't know the great swordsman of the mist was also a psychologist…" Taiga said as he began to run up a tree. Raiga kept pace with little effort, he watched as Taiga ran towards branches strong enough to hold his weight, and looked to see the boy stare out over the Clan Compound. "This is my home, I was born here, but… I don't like it… I don't want to be anyone's tool."

Raiga burst out laughing, "you're a shinobi, you are a tool, born a tool, and will die a tool when you get older, you'll meet a tool, hopefully with a better-looking face than yours, then the two of you will bear a ton of tiny little tools and the cycle will continue, this is the life of a shinobi, the hypocrisy of our existence." He giggled, tears brimming as he continued, "I remember every single person I've killed, assassinated, murdered, tears stream down as I remember them, but all I feel is empty because I know one day a knife will be on my throat and I'll lack the strength, drive, or resolve to survive." He flicked the child on the forehead. "So stop overthinking your life, brat, if you hate this so much, amass so much power that no one can hurt you anymore."

Taiga nodded fiercely. "...Okay…"

…

The air hummed with the sound of swinging blades, a light whooshing sound, reminiscent of rushing winds and the humming flap of a hummingbird. In the center of this maelstrom of steel and wind, the 6-year-old Taiga Gobetsu-Kaguya ducked as a blade aiming to decapitate him barely missed his neck. The boy applied chakra to his legs and leapt back, sailing several feet backward as a second sword thrust at where his face used to be. As he got some distance, he threw several shurikens at his opponent. Raiga smirked, deflecting the blades with simple wrist flicks before he charged forward. Taiga pulled out twin short swords, the blades were wide and flat, each blade being two-and-a-half feet in length, and 3 inches wide and half an inch at its thickest portion, the blades were single-edged and shaped like sharp rhombuses. He flipped his blades and got into a defensive stance. Raiga's blades sparked with electricity as he swung his blades. Taiga's blades raised, blocking the attacks. Lightning sparked as Raiga's swords smashed into Taiga's blades.

"You've gotten better," Raiga grinned as he watched Taiga, whose limbs shook in exertion. Taiga gripped his blades, tightly and unleashed an overhead swing with the first sword. Raiga blocked it, only to be blown back by the heavy weight of the blade, which threw off his second strike, allowing Taiga to block the blow. "I'm honestly surprised." Taiga continued, "despite being at a disadvantage you can still throw me off like this."

Taiga backed up and inspected the numerous scratches on the surface of his blade, watching as the scratches and cracks disappeared as he sheathed one blade. Taiga's swords were made of chakra metal, allowing him to channel his nature chakra into the sword. His natural affinity was earth, so he used it to increase the density and toughness of the blade. A protective coat of earth covered the blade, hardened by Taiga's impressive chakra reserves, for a child, as he charged forward. He wielded the blade in his left hand while his right hand began to weave 1-handed signs. He took in a deep breath and spit out a long needle-shaped blast of water. Raiga blocked the blow only for a fist-sized blast of water to explode at the point of contact. Taiga slammed his blade into the ground, causing it to crack as his earth nature chakra sent several stones flying towards the Swordsman of the Mist. Lightning nature chakra exploded out from Raiga, which blew back the child of the Kaguya and Gobetsu. Taiga tumbled across the training field and landed heavily on his back.

"Damn… that was a fun little workout, you're better with the sword than the standard Genin," Raiga smirked as he sheathed his legendary blades.

Taiga said nothing as he sheathed his sword and began to heal his wounds.

Raiga smirked, "you're such an odd kid, learning genjutsu, healing jutsu, and fuinjutsu alongside your taijutsu, kenjutsu, and ninjutsu. A Jack of All Trades is a master of none, your kenjutsu and taijutsu are decent, but you lack the skill and technical control, which is only born from practice and more training, I feel like you'd have been even more skilled by now if you just focused on one thing."

"I need to be this good at everything." Taiga said, "I haven't awakened either bloodline." He stood up, his skin was now unblemished. He then smirked, "also, healing jutsu toughens bones, muscle, and skin from exercise and microdamage."

"Hmm, well, I'm heading out on a mission, so I'll pair you with a member of the Seven Swordsmen tomorrow, look forward to it."

Taiga nodded as his sensei left. 'Raiga is interesting.' He thought, 'He dies in the series though, but… just like others did before, can I change his fate? Do I want to?' He walked back towards the Kaguya clan's main pavilion, 'Do these people deserve redemption?' The Kaguya clan could only be described as a monstrous people. Sometimes, when Taiga heard clansmen boast about their atrocities off and on the battlefield, he felt intense bloodlust rising up from him. Whenever the clansmen saw him, they'd laugh, stating that their words got 'the mutt' excited. Taiga had no illusions to his power, even middling members of the clan were more powerful than him, so fighting them out of anger or disgust was a surefire way to get killed. He made his way across the pavilion, eventually reaching a deep part of the chambers. Down a massive red hallway, two men stood guard behind massive double doors.

Taiga held his hands together, his chakra gently flared, hands moving gently as he made his genjutsu. "Uma (horse), Tora (tiger), Inu (Dog), Ushi(Ox)". He took in a deep breath as he peeked over at the Kaguya clansmen. They were still talking to each other. They were tasked with keeping all who attempted to walk down the hall away. Anyone who was noticed would be cut down without question or explanation unless it was the Clan Head and his entourage. If they noticed Taiga, they would swiftly move in and kill him. Taiga let out a deep breath and walked down the hallway, the guards made no movement to stop him, eventually, he found his way between them, yet they still ignored him as they had their conversation.

"I heard things have been getting worse for the other bloodlines." One clan member said.

"Serves them right, they laughed and whispered when we were relegated to the outskirts of the village, now they're suffering under the chopping block, I heard the head of the Yuki clan was detained, there's reason to believe her daughter didn't actually die in a mission but is a missing-nin."

"The Yuki clan? Their head was that frigid bitch, Korinako, right? I remember, she and her retainers came here, trying to hide, but our leader remembered how they executed one of our elite clansmen, all because he had some fun with one of their retainer's daughters."

"I remember that he was castrated with ice blades and left to bleed out in the middle of the village, the Mizukage stepped in or else we would have slaughtered the Yuki clan, then they have the audacity to come to us for help?" The clansmen laughed. "Frigid, arrogant, stupid assholes who think their beauty and 'decorum' can save them in any situation, they were the Mizukage's biggest allies when he started cracking down on the clans, and now, look at them, makes me wish Kaguya-sama let us have a taste of her."

"That woman was 50!" The other man hissed, "who'd want to mess with an old bag like her."

"Doesn't look a day over 30." The clansmen grinned, "I'd have loved to see her cold face melt in pleasu-"

Taiga tuned out their conversation as he finished picking the lock into the room. As light entered the darkroom, Taiga saw a cage made out of roughly cut wood and steel beams. Standing inside the cage was a child who stood almost a head taller than Taiga. The boy had white hair and teal eyes, his face solemn and expressionless as he turned to face Taiga. Taiga looked at the boy for a few seconds. "Hey there, pokey, how's life?" He broke into a sardonic grin.

The boy, Kimimaro, smiled in return and spoke, "life is currently shit, thank you for asking."

"That's the spirit, let's fix that for a bit." Taiga walked over to the cage. "Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage." Kimimaro marveled as Taiga sunk into the ground like it was water, utilizing the jutsu, the younger boy 'swam' to the bottom of the cage.

As he neared Kimimaro, the ground beneath the bone-user softened, eventually it liquified, sinking him under. Kimimaro hated the suffocating feeling of the earth, but a hand grabbed his own, and eventually, the two of them pulled out. Taiga turned back to the cage and made some more hand signs. "Demonic Illusion: False Surroundings Technique." The empty cage was replaced with an illusion of Kimimaro. "Okay." Taiga began. "Now we can go."

"Might it fail?" Kimimaro asked.

"It hasn't failed just yet, so probably no. Are you alright?"

Kimimaro nodded, "we… we went to battle again yesterday, the Mizukage has been sending us on more and more dangerous missions, most of the clansmen think this is good, but less of us return each fight, and father is starting to get worried."

Taiga nodded. The Bloodline Purges in Kirigakure always sounded like they started around the same time the revolt by the Kaguya clan occurred. "Well, we don't need to worry about that for a bit." They ran towards a clearing, upon reaching it, Taiga unfurled a scroll, revealing two bento boxes. He handed one box to Kimimaro, who took it and began to eat with gusto. Taiga just smiled sadly at the boy. Eventually, he handed the second box over, and Kimimaro ate that too. Kimimaro was starved of sunlight and food by the leader of the Kaguya clan, despite that, he was still one of the strongest individuals in the clan, his skin was tougher than stone, and his bones were stronger than steel. Taiga had asked Kimimaro to show him a bone, and he realized that the bone's strength lay not just in the material of the bone, but in its density. Human bones aren't normally completely solid through and through, but the structure of Kimimaro's bones was a bit different, chakra filled them, rapidly growing, thickening, and filling the more hollow, spongy bits of the bone. Normal human bones, pound per pound, were tougher than steel, but human bones were normally brittle due to their structure, Kimimaro's bones were denser than steel, and the bones themselves, the structure of the bones were tougher than that of normal bones even without the change in density.

"You have a unique way of observing my power." Kimimaro noted, "normally, other members of the clan look at me with fear, hatred, or envy, but you don't act like that at all."

Taiga snorted, he scratched his platinum-blond hair, "I mean, I kind of think your power is cool, and I'd love to have that power, but, having your power is like having a huge amount of chakra, or a dojutsu, it's a natural gift, it would be petty of me to hate or resent you for it." He took out a water skin and handed it over. "Besides, your power requires an insane amount of caloric intake, your asshole dad is starving you cause he's scared you'd take over the clan, your healing abilities would have kept you alive, but a mix of lack of sunlight and starvation would have caused… terrible diseases." Taiga shrugged, "If the same thing happened to me, we'd both be locked in here, so… in a way, I'm glad everyone thinks I'm mediocre."

"I don't think you are mediocre, I think you are a true friend." Kimimaro smiled.

Taiga smiled back, "thanks, you too." He tapped Kimimaro's shoulder. "You know…" He began, "as I told you once before, we can try to run, it'd be a few hours before they could try to find us, if we get a boat ride, we can make our way out of the village. I don't think I can do it by myself, not yet, but you're pretty strong, with my versatility and your strength, we can get out of here, even if they give chase."

Kimimaro shook his head, "I… I can't do it. Not… I hate him." He looked at Taiga, "I hate him so much, but…he's all I have, the clan is all I have. Everyone outside the clan, they hate us, they hate us Taiga, they hate and fear us, so much, they would kill me if they had the chance" He allowed a bone to tear through his skin slightly before slowly retracting it. "As long as I have this, I'll always be considered a freak, considered hated, weird."

"Not when I'm here." Taiga said, "I don't think you're weird, and I know we can find more people. We c-"

A loud scream filled the air. Taiga and Kimimaro looked at each other and nodded as they ran towards the scream. They came across a group of 7 Kiri ninjas, all using naginata, a type of polearm weapon. They all wore masks, signifying that they were anbu of Kirigakure.

"With this, the Kaguya clan will have no choice but to act." One of them removed their mask, revealing a beautiful woman with straight black hair and angelic features. Her skin was fair and smooth, without blemish from the top of her head to her gentle, elegant jawline. Her nose was small and curved slightly, giving her a youthful appearance, and her lips were a luscious pink that drew the eyes to them. Taiga's first thoughts were that this woman was the most beautiful person he'd ever seen, and his second thoughts were that they had walked into something very dangerous.

"I hear them running here now." Another person said. "The Kaguya clan will not forgive 'Kirigakure' for killing one of their own." Taiga could distinctively make out the female voices of the Kiri nin as they laughed. Then he watched in shock as one of them formed a clone out of water. The others turned to leave.

"The Kaguya will see a Kirigakure anbu murder their ally, then they will turn on Kiri, in that distraction, we'll save our matriarch."

"Where do we flee?" A ninja asked.

"To Kumo, they desire powerful warriors and powerful bloodlines, and their village, while cruel to the outside, is kind to their people."

A twig snapped. Taiga turned to Kimimaro and winced when he saw the bones sprouting from the boy.

The shinobi of the Yuki clan turned towards them immediately.

"Shit!" He hissed. He made the hand seals. Ram, Snake, Tiger. "Mist Servant Technique!" Dozens of clones sprouted from the earth of shifting shapes and sizes.

"Kumo nin?!" One of the ninjas shouted.

"Kimimaro, we've got to…" Taiga was too late as Kimimaro charged into the field.

"It's the Kaguya's bone demon!" A ninja roared. Taiga watched in shock as the beautiful woman put her hands together and a mass of ice rose from the ground. Kimimaro crashed through it, rage and fear on his face.

"How dare you!" He screamed out, "you dare, you dare, you'll use my clan?! My people?! After all of your arrogance?! We aren't your slaves! I will not be used by you and let my clan die!"

The Yuki nin turned to each other. "We can't let you live then." One of them said. She launched forward a barrage of kunai. Kimimaro's bones sprouted from his body, deflecting the kunai, he pulled out several of them, making a spear as long as the enemies' nagatana. He charged forward and began to attack them. Bones sprouted from his ribcage, his back, his shoulders, knees, and thighs, acting like armor that protected him from long slashing attacks.

The first shinobi struck him with a rapid set of swipes. Kimimaro dodged the movements with expert skill before spinning around and deflecting the attack of another Yuki clan user. Several clones of ice sprouted into the air and brought down icy senbon, many of which pierced into Kimimaro's hardened skin. His bones deflected the rest as he roared in anger and charged towards the ice-user. 5 of the masked women attacked Kimimaro, coming to the aide of their apparent leader.

"Hmm… you must be the so-called 'mutt' of the Kaguya." A woman with a pleasant sing-songy voice said. Her mask had the symbol of the Hidden Mist, and the marlins were shaped like that of a cat. "I must say, you and the Kagaya heir over there are such cute little kids, it's a shame you aren't any older, and I'm not any younger."

"...Wow…" That was all Taiga could say as he took out his swords. "Gross!" He applied chakra to his feet and blasted forward. The ninja laughed as she blocked his attack, as Taiga was knocked back, the mist clones charged forward.

"You think mist clones will scare me?" The Yuki ninja laughed as the clones charged forward, passing through her harmlessly, "what can illusions do t…" She gasped in shock when one clone pierced her thigh with enough force to snap the bone.

Her piercing scream distracted the other ninja, who turned to see one of their own disabled by what should have been a fake clone.

"Malla!" One of the Yuki nin rushed forward and stabbed their blade into Taiga, who smirked as he melted into water.

The real Taiga on the other hand landed next to Kimimaro. His hands just finished another jutsu seal. Ox-Boar-Horse, then he clapped his hands. "Genjutsu: Nekohikkakibyo" (Demonic Illusion: Cat Scratch Fever)

Demonic black cats rose from the ground and began to rush towards the ninjas. They attempted to dodge and weave away from the attacks, but then they heard a scream as the black cats scratched and surrounded the injured ninja.

"Alright, we're leaving, now." Taiga grabbed Kimimaro's hand.

"No!" Kimimaro charged forward, "we can take them!"

Taiga groaned, "no we can't, I'm almost out of chakra. And you're almost out too…" Despite Kimimaro's efforts, his bones were shrinking back into his body, and the bone spear he wielded had a few cracks where the chakra had run out and he struck at their weapons a bit too hard. For his part, several of the ninjas sported terrible cuts and bruises.

"Even if we won." Taiga said, "the rest of the clan would arrive, and we'd be in on a world of hurt…"

Kimimaro twisted his face in grief, "but they killed Song!"

Taiga narrowed his eyes, "song?" He looked at the dead clansmen, or… clanswoman on closer inspection. "Oh… oh shit…was she your caretaker?"

"She was my sister!" Kimimaro charged past Taiga. One by one the Yuki nin, realizing they were in a genjutsu, began to disrupt their chakra and break out.

The leader clapped her hands together. "Hijutsu: Makyo Hyoshi! Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals."

"Shit…" Taiga muttered as he was harangued by the other ninja.

"Be a good little boy and die, won't you?! You filthy Kaguya mongrel!"

Taiga smiled brightly, "wow… this is the first time someone hated me for being a Kaguya! Thanks! My own clan barely recognizes me."

"Who are you?!" A voice called. They turned to see members of the Kaguya clan rushing over, battle lust in their eyes.

"Flee!" One of the anbu shouted, they disappeared, leaving their leader, her ice mirror jutsu, Kimimaro, and Taiga.

"Damnit…" Taiga muttered as he was surrounded by clan members. Another fist smashed into his face, knocking him out. "Not again…"

Afterword:

The Kaguya clan is known for their ferocity and cruelty, but even they wouldn't turn on their home without a reason, I'm sure you can feel the parallels between the Kaguya and the Uchiha, both clans that ultimately descend from Kaguya Otsutsuki, Taiga, or Hector, has chosen to avoid destroying himself mentally over the situation he has been thrust into, though he doesn't have the time to contemplate, he's been training nonstop, be it the Kaguya or his teacher, Raiga of the Seven. The Yuki clan, despite their loyalty, feel betrayed, and in order to save their leader, they will use a clan they hate to make a loud noise. Unfortunately Kimimaro is virtually invincible, and since his body is healthy at the moment, he's quite dangerous, imagine a taijutsu version of Itachi Uchiha (as in, the skills and abilities of Itachi, converted to a body and skill in taijutsu, stats wise), and that's Kimimaro without his illness and being starved.

As for the cannon of this story, it contains anime events, but the characterizations will be more akin to that of the manga. So Sasuke will not nearly be the vile pos he can sometimes be made out to be in some fics, and Sakura, while still annoying, won't nearly be at the level the anime made her out to be. There may be some tropes from other fics utilized in this story, but many of them exist only to corroborate and answer some questions I've always had about some of the contrivances in the series.