Here's chapter 2, sorry for the delay! To answer a review left on chapter 1, I haven't decided on a pairing yet, so that's why I haven't tagged one, sorry. I do know that there will be one eventually, however, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy!

"Karasu Uchiha, welcome to the Leaf!"

"Hakage-sama-"

"Please, call me Sarutobi in private. Your father and I were like brothers," the kage turned to the youth and smiled. He had just seen some remarkable combat for a boy so young. "Karasu, I saw that battle… Where did you learn to fight like that?" Sarutobi had never seen a boy so young fight so well, with the exception of Itachi Uchiha.

"Would you mind if I sat down, sir? Fighting like that takes a lot out of me, I can't keep it up for long," the boy, Sarutobi now noticed, looked dead on his feet. He was dripping in sweat and looked to be nursing a headache.

"Yes, of course," he motioned for the wicker chair in front of his desk.

"I trained in the Hidden Cloud under the Raikage. He trained me as a favor for my father. I your started when I was six and was awarded genin-status by him in secret just recently," he wiped the sweat from his brow quickly. "My father… He sent me here a week ago… He said some men were looking to kill him and my mother…"

"He told me in our letters," the kage sighed, grief clearly on his face. "The men who killed your father… They are very dangerous shinobi, men who, individually, would be difficult to take down with a whole ANBU squad. Working together, they are a terrible force, one we hope to never fight," the Hokage let that sink in. "On another note, welcome to the Leaf! Graduation at the academy is tomorrow, so I'll let you be off. Be there at 10:00 am, sharp. You'll be assigned your team then."

"Thank you, Sarutobi-sama," Kara said with a bow.

"Come see me tomorrow, when you can."

Kara answered with a nod and left, hoping to find the training ground where he had fought Kakashi.

"First up is group eight: Hinata Hyuuga! Kiba Inuzuka! Shiba Aburame!"

Kiba, happy he wasn't paired with Sasuke or Naruto, jumped onto his deck and howled in victory.

"Quiet down Kiba!"

"Yeah, you're almost as bad as Naruto!"

"Hey! I resent that!"

"Up next: Group nine! Sakura Haruno! Miku Asaki! Susano Asaki!"

Sakura glanced over in disdain at the twins. Why couldn't it have been Sasuke?

"Up next, group ten!" Iruka loved doing this, the look on these children's faces when they didn't get paired with who they wanted was priceless. "Ino Yamanaka! Shikamaru Nara! Choji Akimichi!"

"Ugh, what a drag…"

"You know, I don't care too for being put with you ei-"

"And finally, group 7; I've saved you guys for last!" He took one last look at the semi-controlled environment. "Naruto Uzumaki!" A grin broke out on the ninja's face. "Sasuke Uchiha!"

"Ugh, I'm with Sas-"

"And Karasu Uchiha!"

Silence.

"Hello, cousin," Kara's body flickered next to Sasuke, almost causing him to fall out of his seat. "I'm Kara," He finished with a smile.

"Y-You're… cousin?" Sasuke didn't quite know how to respond to this. His family was dead, wiped off the face of the world, wasn't it? It was only supposed to him and Itachi!

"Yes!" Kara turned to the orange-clad boy two seats over. "And I assume you're Naruto, yes?" He asked with a grin, the boy clearly unsure of how to react.

I thought all the Uchihas were dead! "Uhhhhhh," Naruto was at a loss for words. "I'm Naruto!"

"Nice to meet you both, I'm sure we'll make a great team," Kara assured with a smile before turning his attention back to the Chunin in charge of the class. The teacher hadn't continued though; they were all staring at him. Oh lord, so what if I'm one of the few remaining of an all but extinct clan?

Sasuke was "staring" as well, but for a completely different reason: he was sizing him up. The speed with which he appeared next to him was inhuman, especially for a Genin.

"Well, I've got to get going, I'll meet you guys on the training ground when we meet tomorrow!"

"Sarutobi-san, you assigned me to the same squad as the nine-tails?" Karasu stated more than asked, a smile on his face.

"Is that a problem? You must know a ninja can't always choose who they must work-"

"Not at all, sir. I was just wondering why," Karasu stated, now pacing the office with a grin. He seemed to have a bit of a bounce to his step, even. "Does it have anything to do with my sharingan? Madara was known to be the only one capable of controlling him with my clan's gift. From what I hear, Itachi may have been able to, but putting him on the team may have the opposite effect; I hear he's part of some group of missing-nin. Definitely shady."

"Does this bother you?" A slight chuckle leaving the Hokage's lips before he could stop it. He had expected a fight over this, not a rebuttal to his reasoning.

"Not one bit, although I can't promise I'll be able to do what you think I will," Kara let out a yawn, still too tired from his journey to hide it. "I'm going to get some rest, if that's alright, sir?"

This brought yet another chuckle out of Sarutobi. "Of course my boy, get some rest."

The next day found Karasu at training ground three, ready to meet his new squad leader. His leader back in the Hidden Cloud had been a young man by the name of Chuga. He had been quite young for a jonin, only 14, but he had skill to match that of a Cloud ANBU. He had been Kara's best friend, sadly, one that he had to leave without even saying goodbye to.

Karasu brushed his black hair with his fingers and out of his eyes. He had trimmed his red layers in the back last night, and he could now feel the breeze of autumn on the back of his neck. "Ah, Sasuke, you're here!"

"Who are you?" Sasuke dropped from the branches of a tree a few meters to his left. "And how did you notice I was there?" Sasuke, didn't relax at the smile he received, and even tensed at the chuckle.

"Can't fool the Sharingan, I heard you making your way here," Karasu, curious, continued with, "Have you activated your's yet?"

"Activated?" Sasuke was pretty sick of this guy already. Who does this idiot think he is, calling himself my family? Where's he been? "Whatever. Who are you really?"

"I told you yesterday, I'm your cousin," Kara smiled again at him. "I'd like to-"

"Oh, cut the s-"

"Sasuke! Karasu! I'm here!" the blonde ninja came rushing towards them. Nearly falling over himself on the way. "I hope I'm not too late… Am I?"

"No, Naruto, he hasn't shown up yet, so you should be-" The blonde then fell, his foot jammed under a tree root.

"Oh, Naruto, this is going to be a fun team. Now if only our sensei would show up…"

"Looking for me?" the man Karasu fought two days before appeared in front of them, an orange book opened in his left hand. He reads that Icha-Icha trash? "Oh, already taking a nap, Naruto?"

"Uhhhh, no-no sensei!" Naruto quickly pushed himself up, spitting the dirt out of his mouth. "Ewwwwwwww!"

"Naruto, shut up!" Sasuke was already irritated, he just wanted to get this training over with so he didn't have to deal with the boy anymore for the day.

"Now, now, children, we need to begin, try not to fight... yet," Kakashi said with a laugh. "I'm Kakashi, your new sensei. Now, you're not genin yet. I still have to accept you as a team, so you'll be tested today. If you fail, it's back to the academy. Understand?" He let that sink in.

"WHAT? Y-YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"I'm your sensei, of course I can!" Kakashi said with a smile you could see through his mask. "You have to take," He reached down to his pocket and pulled out 3 bells, "these bells from me. Use whatever means necessary to get them. You'll have to be prepared to kill me if you want to get them. Each one of you needs one to stay on this team," he tied them to his pant loop. "You have until lunch, that's 3 hours-"

"Hiyah!" Naruto jumped at him, a clone appearing behind his target.

"Now, now,"Kakashi grabbed the real Naruto's wrist and kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him flying into Sasuke, who would've been able to dodge, had he not still been staring at Karasu. He then brought that same foot up as he turned to kick his clone into non-existence. "I didn't even say 'Start'." Kakashi laughed again, turning from them. "Begin," he disappeared, at least they all thought so, except for Karasu. He had activated his sharingan in anticipation for a fight, so he had seen Kakashi's movements.

"Here," he took off quick, his teammates struggling to catch up to him. He led them through across the small clearing and into the forest, jumping through the branches of trees to catch the man he could just barely see ahead. I can't catch him, he's way too fast. I guess I'm left with only one choice. He reached over his shoulder and drew his ninjatō, the specs of sunlight breaking the leaves overhead glinting off its razor sharp blade. The sunlight caught the tora and the symbol shined brightly as Karasu began to push chakra into the blade, enhancing the golden shine. "Dance of the Firefly!" Tiger, he formed the left-hand half with his only free hand and rose his sword in a forward slash. The fire that left his sword soared towards their target as Kara seemed to melt into it. Release! He materialized out of the flames just behind Kakashi. "I've got you now, sensei," Kara teased as his hand blazed through signs. Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger. "Fire-Lightning Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

I hope you enjoyed! Leave a review.