Author's Note: Wow, so I have had the worst luck this week.
First my car gets stuck in the snow (making me ten minutes late for class... embarrassing -.-)
Then my check engine light comes on, and no matter what we do, it still doesn't turn off, so I have no idea what's wrong with my car. :(
Luckily I made it home without it blowing up or anything, hahaha.
Then, to cheer myself up, I was going to play some Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 on XBOX 360, but guess what? My XBOX screws up and now it doesn't work. Gah!
So, reviews for this chapter would definitely cheer me up. :)
Thank you Angel42497 and BlackRose723 for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome! :D

Six: The Kiseigan Revealed

"Toshiro!" Hana screamed from the sidelines. She stood in front of Mr. Akiyama with a kunai clutched in her hand, since she was now the only one guarding him. Her eyes widened in shock at the white-haired boy's wound. Luckily, Toshiro managed to position his body in a way that caused the knife to strike his shoulder, rather than any vital areas.

Toshiro, though wincing through the pain, wasted no time in landing a punch to the face of the man who had injured him. As his fist connected, the man lost grip of Nikko's arm, allowing the redhead to stumble to the ground.

Not wanting to kill the man I had held captive before I could ask them a few questions, I used the kunai in my hand to stab through his hand until the blade was lodged in the rocky earth. The man screamed in intense pain as blood trickled from his wound and reddened the brown earth. I didn't look back at him before rushing to Nikko's side and carrying him to safety.

After I had returned Nikko to Hana's side, I prepared to help Toshiro as well, but I stopped when I saw him. His normally blue eyes glowed bright green, and his body moved with such speed that I could not help but stare in amazement. The blows he landed on the man's body did not appear to be fatal, but Toshiro pressed with two fingers on each of the man's pressure points. The man, unable to keep up with the boy, fell to the ground and pleaded for him to stop.

Toshiro performed a few back handsprings to quickly create some distance, pulling the kunai from his shoulder once he resumed a ready stance. He then formed a few hand seals before saying quietly to himself, "Chakra Parasite Jutsu."

His eyes pulsed rhythmically from a bright glowing green to a dimmer green as he held his concentration. The man he had attacked was now writhing on the ground, gasping and whimpering. So this is the power of the Kiseigan…

"W-what are you doing to me?" The man cried in a shaky voice.

"Earlier, I punctured your vital chakra points, causing your own chakra to leak from your body," Toshiro explained as he remained completely focused and stoic, "Right now, I'm slowly absorbing that chakra into my own body."

"So," I heard another voice utter from a distance. Averting my gaze, I noticed that it was the other twin, with a badly bleeding hand and a crazed look in his eyes. "This must be the Isami boy, then."

I sprinted to Toshiro's side, ready to defend him in case of another attack. I wondered to myself how they had known about Toshiro, and I quickly decided that no matter how they learned about him, it probably wasn't for a good purpose. "What are you after?" I calmly demanded.

The bloody man dashed to his brother's side, and quickly threw him over his shoulder. He grinned and said, "Don't worry, we've already found what we're after," before ascending to the treetops and escaping.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Found what they're after?

Glancing at Toshiro, I noticed that his eyes were no longer glowing brightly and that they had returned to their normal ocean color. I quickly moved my eyes to Toshiro's shoulder, and I was surprised to see that his wound was almost completely healed. Of course, I thought to myself, he used the extra chakra that he absorbed and concentrated it in his shoulder, allowing for an accelerated recovery. Since he didn't have to worry about using up all the foreign chakra, he was able to use all of it to heal his wound. Another amazing use of the Isami clan's kekkei genkai. To have such control over his jutsu at such a young age… it's incredible.

"Is everyone alright?" I finally asked, breaking the silence.

There were no complaints, so I exhaled in relief before glaring toward Nikko. "What were you thinking?" I exclaimed, resting my hands on my hips.

"I just wanted to help," the boy replied, crossing his arms defiantly over his chest.

"You could have gotten killed!" I struggled to keep myself from yelling. Nikko was quickly becoming nothing more than a liability to the team, and I was quickly losing patience.

"But I didn't, I'm fine," Nikko insisted, rolling his eyes.

"Toshiro threw himself in front of that man's attack to save you. If he hadn't sacrificed himself for your well-being, you would have certainly been killed."

"I never asked anyone to save me."

"But that's what teammates do, Nikko. They help each other out. They don't go off getting themselves into trouble and causing problems for the rest of the team."

"I'm fine, really, Kaeda Sensei," Toshiro interjected.

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "I know, Toshiro," I replied, "but the point I'm trying to make is that I gave specific orders for you all to guard Mr. Akiyama and to refrain from fighting as much as possible. Nikko deliberately disobeyed my orders and charged into a battle that he was greatly outmatched for, causing distress and injury to himself and the rest of the team."

Nikko pursed his lips, averting his narrowed eyes to the ground as he began trudging onward. "Whatever," he groaned, "I get it. I'm a terrible ninja. You don't have to tell me twice."

A pang of guilt attacked my heart. I hadn't meant for him to take my lecture quite that way. I only meant to get him to realize just what his actions had put the team through. I wanted him to learn that his actions not only affect himself, but everyone around him as well. As I watched the redhead sulking along, I sighed and urged everyone else to follow his lead. "Let's go," I breathed, "we're not far from Tanzaku Town."

We reached our destination in a matter of minutes. Mr. Akiyama smiled gratefully and thanked us for our help before turning to search for a busy area to set up shop. I watched as the middle aged man disappeared into the crowd of people before turning to my team. "Mission accomplished. Now let's head back to Konoha."

Since our client was no longer with us, we were able to use the treetops as means for faster transportation. A cool breeze whirled against my skin as I leapt from branch to branch, and I could see through the spaces in between the leaves that the sun was just beginning to set. Since it was getting late, I decided against training my Genin upon return to the village. I figured that their first real mission was eventful enough to sustain them until tomorrow. They deserved a good night's sleep tonight.

When we reached the village gates, I turned to face the group for the last time today. "Congratulations on completing your first mission," I said with a smile, "I'm proud of you. Now, go home, get some sleep, and prepare for some training tomorrow. I'm going to have to submit the report for our mission tomorrow morning, so we'll meet at the training field around noon. Sound good?"

My Genin nodded, so I dismissed them. As they started to walk away, however, I placed my hand on Nikko's shoulder. "Hold on a second, Nikko. I want to talk to you."

Nikko's eyes were still focused on the ground in front of him. "You going to tell me all the ways that I'm a horrible ninja?" He asked softly, a hint of sarcasm in his whiny little voice.

I smirked. "Dramatic, as usual."

I urged him to follow me as I began plodding down the village streets, heading toward Nikko's house. "Nikko," I began, "I may have been a tad harsh on you back there, but the reason I acted that way was because when I saw that man about to plunge that kunai into your chest… well… I was terrified."

Nikko's big brown eyes lifted to mine. They were softest that I had ever seen them. "You were?"

"Of course," I replied, "You guys are my students. I never want to see you get hurt. I only want to see you get stronger and become great ninja. And you can't get stronger if you're dead."

Nikko let out a small, unintentional laugh.

"There's something I want you to know, Nikko," I continued after a brief silence.

"What's that?" he asked.

"When I was your age, I was just like you," I sighed as I remembered the way I used to be. Over-confident, but all talk with no natural talent whatsoever. I got into a lot of trouble, and I made a lot of mistakes, all of which I regret and know I could have prevented had I just tried a little harder.

"Really?" Nikko furrowed his eyebrows in disbelief, "You were really like me?"

I nodded. "It came to a point where I was sick of being just a screw up. Through vicious training regimens, I pushed myself hard until I was so tired that I couldn't even speak. People didn't think that I could do it. They didn't think that I could change. But their doubts only fueled my fire even more, making me want to work harder and become even stronger. I wanted to prove them wrong so badly, but most of all, I wanted to prove to myself that I could be something more."

"Is that really true?" Nikko wondered aloud.

"Of course," I responded, "after years of intense training, my taijutsu was stronger, quicker, and more powerful than most Jonin, and I had mastered a variety of advanced ninjutsu. The Chunin exam would be the test of all my hard work. In the third round, I was chosen to fight against Kazu Yamazaki, the "genius" of our year. Everyone in the stands cheered for Kazu. They were sure that he was going to win."

"What happened?"

I smirked. "My jutsu was too powerful for him to handle. My movements were too fast for him to track. He was on the ground in a matter of minutes, and I hadn't even broken a sweat."

Nikko's jaw dropped in amazement. "Wow…"

"That moment changed me for good," I continued, "I was no longer the slacker who messed everything up."

We reached Nikko's house, and before I let him climb the porch steps, I kneeled down until I was at his level. I smiled. "If you work hard, then I'm positive that you can do it too. I know you can achieve greatness, Nikko."

Nikko's lips formed a small smile before he spun around to race up the stairs and open the doorknob. Before closing the door, he turned toward me and said, "Thanks, Kaeda Sensei."

Feeling accomplished. I turned on my heel and began heading for home.