AN: This story is now rated M. I had SO MUCH trouble deciding whether or not to post this. For one, it's fucking LONG, it will have three parts. Second reason is because this story hits home for me. I don't want to seem like I have a mary-sue, since in a way, the female character officially introduced here went through something I did as well. BUT, I didn't have ANY other chapters that go in depth with both Ken and Kiyoshi's. That last chapter...it was bad. I really didn't do the brothers justice, but the problem is that the other stories I have written for them are all pretty dark and explicit. The same goes for Hitomi.

Just me know if you want me to continue please. I am extremely hesitant with this chapter.

DISCLAIMER: No...I don't own Naruto, but if I did Hinata would be holding Sasuke's hand and Sakura would be fucking kissing Naruto. BLAH!

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Kiyoshi's Story: The Pacifist Part I

...

In the world of a shinobi, there was no tolerance for weakness. It's either kill or be killed, and if one were the former, than survival was a sure thing. No one ever said Uchiha Kiyoshi was an orthodox ninja, though. In fact, he was gentler than his own mother…besides his temper, actually. Just get rid of his short temper and he would be the most gentle shinobi who had ever walked the land. It's not a fact he's proud of, however.

His tiny clan was filled with skilled ninjas, probably some of the strongest in Konoha. His older brother, Hajime, had to be the strongest out of all them, stronger than their own father. He was a prodigy among prodigies and a natural born leader. His older sister, Hitomi, was considerably weaker than Haji, but skilled enough to be on par with jonin level shinobis. Not only that, but she had been personally trained by the Hokage himself; he was the only one that could help her with her chakra control, so she had inherited his kage bunshin skill from him. Her sensei was none other than Rock Lee, a master Taijutsu user, and a perfect match for someone as handicapped with chakra as she was.

Because of her two sensei's, Hitomi was able to flourish.

Kiyoshi's younger twin brother, Uchiha Ken, was considered to be a genius. The silent twin was exceptional with kenjutsu, having easily mastered the art with the help of their father and older brother, as well as being highly skilled with ninjutsu. Being a lightning element, Ken mastered chidori and had learned several ways on which to use it with little chakra to spare. Not only that but he was level-headed, and fast.

There were many who would rather not face Ken in battle.

Then there was the youngest Uchiha of all, Toshiro.

At the age twelve Shiro's power and skill could be compared to that of Hajime when he was that age; in fact the eldest sibling had stated that Shiro will no doubt be superior to him in just a few years. He was the only one in the sibling bunch that held the byakugan…Hitomi didn't count, since she couldn't activate either doujutsus. The little runt already mastered the gentle fist and was even stronger than their mother, and was on par with Neji-ojiisan. He had exceptional chakra control, and was an extremely great strategist, which only improved once he was teamed with Shikamaru-san. His little brother's intelligence was so great, that he was even recommended by the Hokage to be promoted to ANBU, but Shiro never was. (Kiyoshi wondered if Hokage-sama's cuts and burns had something to do with tousan. Ever since he made that little suggestion, Naruto couldn't look into tousan's eyes for weeks). The only problem Toshiro had was his poor leadership skills and that the fact that he's so damn shy.

While Kiyoshi preferred not to harm, Shiro couldn't even look at someone straight in the eye without turning red.

But, he was incredibly strong, that much was obvious.

And while he was also considered a genius, Kiyoshi lacked what his siblings didn't; fearlessness. They were all brave. He was a pussy.

There were no doubts on that simple fact.

Kiyoshi couldn't kill anyone; just the thought of driving a kunai into someone's hand made him pale. Violence, blood, fights…he couldn't handle any of it. Sure, he fought with his brother a lot, but they were play fights, and all in good competition, but they were never being serious. When it comes down to it, Kiyoshi knew he would rather let someone beat the hell out of him before settling a single finger on them.

He did, after all, have super strength.

He didn't know what drove him to become a fighter in the first place—no, that was a lie.

That day a while back, at the park. Seeing his brother's life being squeezed out of him was what made Yoshi think that, yes, he needed to protect his family. He needed to become like tousan so that he wouldn't have to rely on him anymore. Yoshi wanted his family to depend on him as well! He'd rather die than let anything harm them.

However, that was before Sakura-sensei had taught him how to perfectly mold his chakra for his benefit. He had never fought—actually fought—someone before. There were spars and training, but that's about it. He really had no idea just how fucked up and pathetic he was.

During Sakura's first team genin mission, a couple of missing-nin took them by surprise. He was the only one those two weren't flanking, so he tried get one of them from behind.

Kiyoshi had raised his gloved fist, ready to use his chakra filled hand to damage the man's brain, but…he froze.

He stopped breathing, actually.

Yoshi didn't remember much after his initial shock, but the bloody images he had seen as a child flash throughout his thoughts, and causing those same wounds to a human being seemed so wrong to him—he couldn't harm those men, even if they were trying to kill his loved ones. And that made it all the worse.

When he heard a blood curling screams, Kiyoshi forced himself to look up.

His very own brother had his sword through one of the man's rib area, twisting the blade. He didn't care that he was causing the man tremendous pain. Ken simply smirked and dug the weapon deeper. By now, Kiyoshi knew his brother more than likely tore the lungs apart. That man was drowning in his very own blood…no…he was dead already. He had stopped moving, but Ken continued!

Didn't he realize what the hell he was doing?!

There was so much fucking blood!

Seeing that missing-nin, limp, motionless, but colored with red made Kiyoshi's stomach turn. But he couldn't look away! He wanted to heal him—make his death see, less grotesque. What the hell!? Why did seeing so much blood affect him? Ken kept twisting, and twisting, and tearing, and smiling!

The older twin eventually puked, and passed out.

When he came to, Yoshi realized he was in the hospital. The first eyes he had seen were that of his worried father.

He flinched away, and closed his eyes.

He didn't feel like looking at him.

The few next realizations processing in his mind made him all the more numb. Or angry. He didn't know.

His brother was a sadist—mentally unstable and just all around bitter and angry.

And he was a pathetic ninja who feared blood and death, something common in a shinobi's life.

Go figure.

0000

The dark night was filled an icy bite that seemed to tear through the three shinobis as they made their way to former Akatsuki member's hideout just on the border on the Land of Snow. Despite how freezing it was at the moment, they could do nothing about it but bear through it all. This was an A-ranked mission; they couldn't afford to be held down.

The smallest of the three, a female, cursed under her breath as a small twig slapped across her numb cheeks. For some reason, that little scratch on her face hurt more than any other punch she had received in her life. Her grey eyes turned to her right, and then to her left to stare at her two partners. Who are both fire elements and therefore could easily warm up in this kind of situation. She cursed again, this time for being a wind instead of fire. She scowled, jealous of the Uchiha boys flanking on either side.

All three jumped down onto the snow filled ground as the hideout came into view. The girl gritted her teeth at the impact; she was wearing a standard issue chuuin sandals, the ice digging between her toes made her want to scream at the heavens for even agreeing to this sort of thing.

She didn't have to come, but her best friends were, so she wanted to be by their side.

Now she could honestly care less if they end up seriously injured.

She just wanted to go home!

"Will you be quiet, Seiko," Kiyoshi whispered under his breath. He looked at her over his shoulder, sending her a slight frown, before turning his dark eyes towards the cave not too far from them. "Do you want them to hear your whimpering?"

Said girl huffed, eyes narrowing into angry slits. "Easy for you to say, you little—"

"Enough," Ken lightly shoved her head as he walked past her to stand near his brother.

She opened her mouth to say something, or even punch both brothers, but she kept it in, knowing that any kind of small mistake could end up compromising the mission. So, she pouted, but silently leaned against the icy boulder with them.

Fukushima Seiko made sure her chakra was hidden just as well as the two Uchiha. She bit her blue, cold, lips at the thought of entering the unknown and dark cave. The sandy blonde knew the plan well enough, but she wasn't like these two. Despite Kiyoshi being a complete hot head, and Ken practically being unstable since that incident a month ago, they're both highly intelligent ninjas. Some of whom should never be trifled with. She had been scared of them at first, and was never two steps away from Sakura-sensei, but as she got to know them they changed her for the better.

But still…even if she did improve greatly since their genin days, Seiko knew there was no possible way for her to even think of accomplishing such a task without their help. She was skilled with genjutsu, but what the hell will that do if one of missing-nin could easily see through her rouse.

"You remember the plan, right?" Kiyoshi whispered.

It was strange seeing him so serious. He rarely was. But, when he needed to be, the guy could be such a great leader.

Seiko grunted in affirmation.

"Great. Remember Seiko, you place a genjutsu on their hideout, and make sure it's strong enough. We have to capture the leader for us to be finished. Ken, once she placed the genjutsu, you make sure it will last, then you carefully go inside and see where they're hiding. Don't kill unless absolutely need to. We just need the leader, got it?"

Ken snorted. "Don't patronize me, pacifist; I'm not stupid."

It happened so fast, Seiko didn't have time to blink.

One minute he was looking over the boulder, the next second, he was in his brother's face. Kiyoshi glared at Ken as if he were the enemy. The deep scowl on his lips was something Seiko had never seen on him. But then again, they were both acting strange lately. That didn't help the sudden dread swirling in her stomach as she stared up at two most important people in her life.

She raised a pale hand to rest on Yoshi's shoulder—to calm him down—but he slapped her hand away just as soon as she touched him. For some reason it made her eyes sting.

"I'm being serious, Ken," Kiyoshi whispered angrily. "The tables have been turned here; I have to watch your back because you're so goddamn unpredictable."

The harsh shove the younger twin gave to his brother did not deter Kiyoshi's anger. It only seemed to enhance it.

"You're fucked up. You've been itching to kill—I know you. Ken, don't do anything that would screw us over just for your sick needs. Got it?" When Ken didn't respond, Kiyoshi sucked the air between his teeth in agitation and punched the boulder behind his brother, making it slightly crumble in the process. "Do. You. Understand?"

What was going on with them?

There were a few beats of tense silence before Ken answered, "Yeah."

The muscles ticking in his jaw was sure sign of his repressed rage. Suddenly, Seiko didn't have such a good feeling about this whole thing. This had to be the first time the two weren't in perfect synch. They were the perfect duo! Anything thrown at them, they could handle with such ease that it just wasn't even funny.

Seeing them like this terrified her. Did she miss something? Was there more since that incident than she thought?

"Yoshi-kun," Seiko winced once his angry, red eyes were directed at her. That had to be the first time she seen him activate the sharingan. It was…very scary.

The older Uchiha's whole body softened at his friend's worried gaze. His bloody eyes went back to their usual obsidian color. Smirking slightly, Kiyoshi placed his gloved hand on Seiko's blonde head.

"It's okay; you don't need to worry yourself, alright?" The fifteen's year old grin widen further. It hurt. "We'll get out of this no problem. You just gotta listen and make sure this dickhead doesn't screw up."

Seiko hesitantly nodded, but she could detect the lie on his face. It made her want to cry.

Her lighter shade of grey eyes was on Ken's stony face. She was reluctant to speak to him when he was like that. If he was already unpredictable before that incident, how worse was he now? The last time she tried to approach him when he was like this she received a less than gentle shove. She had always been used to physical harm, but receiving those blows from the people she cared about was like a knife twisting her heart.

She was scared of the younger twin for awhile after that violent outburst.

What would happen now?

Seiko slowly reached out for his hand. She hesitated a bit before gently grabbing his hand. When he didn't lash out, she took that as sure sign to go further. "Ken, let's go."

With her free hand she gently pushed Kiyoshi so she stood in front of Ken. Now with both hands on his, Seiko pulled him from behind the boulder and turned his back to his brother. They didn't need to look at each other for the moment that much she knew.

"Seiko, wait," the girl paused at the sound of Kiyoshi's worried tone. "When you feel something is going wrong, or if any of you are in danger, contact me through the microphone in your ear. Medical nins are trained to stay behind on the battle field, so just say anything when you need help."

She needed that—that reassurance. The tension between the brothers was palpable even before they left for this mission a few days ago. It just wasn't this strong. But Yoshi knew her. He knew that she would have panicked, and instead of Ken or him ruining the mission, it would be her. She never did too well with stressful situations or the dark for that matter, and she was entering the very thing that could trigger both and the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

Seiko loved Ken like a brother, but Kiyoshi would always stand by her no matter what. He was that kind of person. Ken was not. He did not like coddling people, especially her. She had gone through a lot; she should have toughen up, according to him, but she's just a frighten girl. His tough love had made her strong though, so he wasn't completely heartless.

Though she felt sorry for Naomi-chan; the sweet girl got the asshole as a stalker.

Wait…why was she thinking this? The mission, damnit—the mission.

Closing her eyes, Seiko sighed. "Yeah," she muttered softly. "Thanks, Yoshi-kun." She opened her wide eyes and gently tugged Ken towards the snow-covered cave. "Come on, Ken-kun."

"Hn."

They disappeared before Yoshi's eyes. His smiling fading, he glanced down toward the white ground and held onto his stomach.

This feeling in the pit of his gut…what was it?

0000

It was no secret that Uchiha Sasuke was disappointed in his son, Kiyoshi. The boy knew that fact from the moment Ibiki told the man that his own son was labeled as a pacifist. That was the price for having hemophobia as well as thanatophobia. He saw that narrowed, calculating look his father had sent him, but it didn't affect him as much as it should have. Every single one of his siblings idolized tousan—they all wanted to be just like him. Strong. Brave. You know all that bullshit.

Not Kiyoshi.

He didn't know why, but being just like tousan seemed so wrong to him. He also wasn't sure in what sense, but when he thought too hard on it, his mind would just freeze. It was as if his brain was telling him to stop thinking. I want to protect you. It sounded crazy, even to him, but that's the feeling he gets whenever he thought of how he wanted to be nothing like him.

Why, though?

Maybe he wanted to be different. Unlike his siblings, he didn't want to be considered powerful through Sasuke's eyes; instead, he would rather like to be like his mother. Kaachan was gentle, soft spoken, and just an all around great person. She's innocent, despite all that has happened in her life, his mother was still able to retain some sort pureness that most shinobi lacked. And he wanted that. He couldn't be sure if his mother killed, but he's almost positive if she's put into that kind of situation, kaachan wouldn't like to take a life.

But she had no other choice.

He did. And his choice—his ninja way—was to never take a life, only heal and give life back.

But again, why?

He has been questioning his beliefs ever since Ken had been attack a month ago. His brother was, once again, where all Konoha's rage was directed at. He knew somewhere in his mind that something was going on with Ken that day, but he shook it off. That brat could take care of himself—he enjoyed taking lives, unlike him. However, the damaged done to Ken was more than Kiyoshi had expected, and he only had himself to blame. But…if he had just listened to his twin telepathy crap, maybe there might have been a chance he could have saved his brother from all that pain.

If Kiyoshi wasn't such a hemophobic, Ken wouldn't be the way he was now!

There was so much fucking tension between the two. Hell, the tension between Yoshi and Sasuke was even more so. He didn't know why, but he blamed his dad. There had to be a reason Konoha hated them so damn much! They had never done anything wrong, so why target the kids? He wasn't fucking stupid; he had noticed the way a lot of people stare at his dad, the way they look at them. Hatred and fear was palpable enough to feel even as a naïve child. And even then he knew all that rage was somehow connected to tousan.

Kiyoshi guessed it didn't matter.

Whatever happened in his past with Konoha, Sasuke will tell them. Whatever it was, Kiyoshi knew it had something to do with tousan's brother, Itachi. Tousan talked about him a lot, and every time he did the elder twin always caught that sadness swimming in his eyes.

Haji knew everything, but he was reluctant to spill the beans. "Just…be patient, alright?" He had said. "Tousan is not willing to tell you anything for a reason, but he will. Trust me."

His parents were criminals…how the hell was he supposed to be patient?!

Kiyoshi avoided his father since Ken's attack. He didn't know why, but just looking at him made his vision blurry and his stomach began to turn in an uncomfortable way. He didn't know why he acted that way, nor did he know exactly why he blamed tousan for the way Ken turned out. But he knew it was his fault.

It was his fault Kiyoshi turned out this way as well.

His mind refused to travel any further on the matter again, and he was thankful. Something was telling him that acknowledging a certain fact would make him weaker—he didn't want that.

Kiyoshi shook his head. He needed to stop thinking and concentrate on the mission at hand.

Hokage-sama offered Sakura-sensei's team a certain mission. Yoshi had no idea why Naruto recommended them. They were no trackers, nor were they a tactical team. Some considered them to be the brawn. They were subtle in their attacks, of course; a well thought out plan and being clandestine was still a major factor on how they work, but in the end, they were a close combat group. It would have been better if Naruto-sama had chosen Hana-sensei's group instead. Now her team was full of smartasses and could capture the leader with little problem.

They were a tactical group, it only made sense.

Kiba's son, Misaki, not only had the nose and dog to sniff out the target, but had the brains as well. Shikamaru's son, Akihiko, was the level-head genius that could conjure up several plans in less than two seconds. Then there was Chouji's daughter, Tsubaki, who had the perfect chakra control and intelligence to secretly conjure up whatever illusion she wanted to confuse the hell out of said target, or knock them out right then and there.

Seiko had enough control and power to use a genjutsu, but it wouldn't last long. That was why both Ken and Kiyoshi agreed to the former's sharingan power to make the illusion last. His otouto wasn't very good with genjutsu, but he learned enough from Hajime on how to make it worthwhile. And well…he has gotten stronger.

Realizing the connection, Kiyoshi cursed

Of course! Why the hell didn't he see this earlier? Naruto-sama wanted someone capable of breaking genjutsu with little trouble. The leader of the group was well known for having a sharingan and using that single eye for an advantage, but he wasn't an Uchiha. He lacked full control than what the rightful blood could do. And the sharingan's genjutsu were powerful.

Kiyoshi was great with his doujutsu, and could easily see through a rouse, Ken could not. He lacked the chakra control to break illusions by himself, but then again, the only time he was under genjutsu was during training with tousan and Haji-nii. They're both really great with genjutsu.

He had broken the illusion easy enough, but still struggled a bit. Everything was different now.

So…this was different. A foe user sharingan was practically useless against an actual Uchiha. There was no way Ken could be beaten easily. It was full proof. There was no way this mission would fail. Naruto-sama knew this as well.

Pft…and tousan calls him an idiot.

Kiyoshi blew out of his mouth after all that thinking and fell against the boulder. He ignored the way the snow melted into his clothes; he was almost positive his skin was tearing apart right about now. It wasn't important any way. He was worried. More about Seiko than Ken now, at least. She was his best friend, and was someone he would do anything for. When they had first met, he noticed the way her eyes always darted away from him and Ken, and only focused on the ground, the sky, and Sakura-sensei.

She would freeze up whenever he had to approach her, or spar.

At first, he thought she was pathetic. He never did voice that out loud; Ken did that for him. But it wasn't pathetic in a bad way, but more…how should he put this…sad? It wasn't quite right, but he felt sorry for her. She was scared of everything and didn't allow anyone to break through her walls.

After founding out why she was like that in the first place changed his perspective. He protected her. She wanted to changed, so he helped. She wanted to become strong, so he trained with her. Now, three years later, Seiko was considered family in the Uchiha household. It didn't help that she practically lived there, but that was mostly his kaachan and neechan forcing her to sleepover.

"We need more girls around," Hitomi says. "She's like the sister I always wanted."

Kiyoshi never mentioned how she was actually only using Seiko, but his sister could be pretty scary when backed talked. Sure, he's way stronger than her, but Hitomi had that thing that all females have that turn them into raging monsters every month. Yeah, unlike Hajime or Ken, he kisses ass. Hitomi was protective of Toshiro, so he didn't count. Did that make him a wuss, though? Maybe.

Psh…whatever.

How hell did he end up talking about periods?

Smirking, Kiyoshi leaned his head against the large rock. "Damn, I'm weird."

Maybe his mind was drifting because Ken and Seiko were taking so long. It shouldn't have taken more than five minutes to placed a genjutsu and just silently kidnap the leader. Unless the genjutsu wasn't strong enough, but that was what Ken was for?

He honestly did not know if the mission had been compromised, and it left him a bit anxious. Kiyoshi hated the unknown, just as much as he hated death and blood…which could all go hand to hand if one were to think about it. The dark. The unknown. Death…blood. They were all the same.

He was worthless.

Like…the worst ninja in the history of ninjas. Yeah, he became a jonin when he turned fourteen, but no matter how strong he was physically, mentally was where his weakness lied. This was not something he could handle.

Ken knew it, tousan knew it.

The only one who had encouraged him further was Seiko. She was the only one he had told how he felt. But then again, she was the only one he truly trusted and felt comfortable around…besides his family at least. But even then, Seiko gave him a level of understanding that not even Ken could manage, and that helped him out a lot. It made him feel better about himself.

After what happened to Ken, he avoided her. He did not deserve to hear her aggressive words, her encouraging smile or her torrid eyes. He let his otouto get hurt when Kiyoshi knew he could have prevented that from happening.

It pissed him off so much. That was why he was so damn tense around Ken. His brother walked on a very thin line, and it was all Kiyoshi's fault. What made things worse, he was being so damn passive-aggressive towards Seiko and she only accepted it all. Usually, his friend would mess up his beautiful hair and laugh all the while. No…she knew something was wrong with him once she had seen him again. Seiko would never hold anger towards him, he knew this all too well.

And he had tried to bluntly say, "Fuck off," because, and he did not know how much he stressed to say this, he did not deserve any amount of her love. If he told her that he had been too much of a coward to go look out for his brother her opinion of him would change.

And why the fuck not?

He wanted that, didn't he? The teenage boy did not want love or forgiveness or understanding, all of those things Seiko would no doubt hand him without hesitation. But he was scared. It wasn't like he would be alone if he did lose her as a friend. Still…he'd rather keep her ignorant than see disdain burn in her grey eyes.

Or he was just being fucking dramatic, who fucking knew.

Kiyoshi took a deep breath, and then closed his eyes.

He forced his mind to go blank as his sharp ears listened for any disturbance.

So far, only silence dominated the moonless night.

Then he heard static noises.

"Kiyoshi!"

The surprisingly loud cry made the Uchiha jump. He immediately grabbed his bearings and grabbed onto his walkie-talkie. "Hello?"

"Please—" Seiko's plea was cut short as a screech broke through her lips.

He started panicking. "Seiko? What the hell is going on? Where's Ken? What's wrong?!" His ears were only met with more yelling. It felt like they were bleeding.

She stopped screaming now, but it only seemed to make the pain worse.

"Seiko?"

"Shh!" She was whispering. And through her cracked voice, he could detect the panic in her tone. "Hurry. They have Ken, and…and…"

"And?"

There were a few beats of silence. "Just come. I managed to escape, but barely. Yoshi-kun…that man…he's stronger than we thought."

What the hell? How was that possible? There was no possible way that a non Uchiha could out match an actual one when it comes to the sharingan. Ken, especially…now more than ever. Something wasn't adding up here.

"I'm coming!"

Kiyoshi got up from the snow and set out towards the hideout. A certain feeling had started invading his body. He wasn't sure what it was, but he lusted for destruction. For revenge. If something were to happen to his brother…he couldn't handle that.

"Hurr—"

Seiko was cut off.

"Seiko?" Kiyoshi had tried contacting her multiple times, but it was obvious that her microphone had broken.

Fuck!

"Fuck." Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!

This was not happening! His teammates—his best friends—were not going to die! He wouldn't allow that. No harm, or pain, or death, or blood, would mar them. Not if he had anything to say about it.

Kiyoshi stopped at the entrance of the dark cave. His torrid thoughts were now replaced by doubts. Starring into the abyss, he cringed as the screeches that no doubt belonged to Ken and Seiko, scratched and clawed at his ears. He closed his eyes and forced his heart to calm the fuck down. The heavy breathing continued, though, and nothing would stop it. He knew what lied in there. Whether he was to suck it up and face it, or run away was his choice.

But hearing that faint echo of his name ringed through his body. Seiko needed him. His brother needed him. He was their only shot at survival at this moment. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

The Uchiha took a deep breath and stepped into the unknown.

0000

He dreamed of everything.

They were eating on the green grass.

Seiko was laughing at him again. He smirked. Ken complained.

His friend grabbed his chin, and with her lightly tanned finger, she wiped the crumbs off his cheek. For some reason his face felt hot.

Ken smirked. He frowned.

It was a happy moment, eating at their training spot. Twelve. Naïve. Weak. Innocent.

He wished it were still true.

The image suddenly changed.

This time Seiko was not grinning. Her face was bloodied and bruised. She was crying out on the street. When she saw him, she ran away. It hurt. That fear. What did he do wrong? His eyes began stinging.

He was at the hospital. His little brother was staring blankly at the ceiling. Empty. Lifeless. Bitter! Angry! Crazy!

The scars on his face were signs. That ugly scar just above his right eye…it was meant for his eye. His slightly burned chin, it was meant for his other eye. His cut up lips, it was meant to keep him quiet. That scar on his shoulder, it was meant for his neck. He should be dead.

Maybe he was.

"You're okay, Ken."

He wasn't.

"I'll protect you from now on."

Kiyoshi mentally laughed.

"I'm sorry."

It was too late.

It became dark. He was seeing himself through a cracked window. It was hard to see, but he could tell he was smiling at himself. It was a sick, twisted smile. It kept secrets. What did he want? Why were his eyes so damn bloody?!

His reflection began laughing.

And laughing. And laughing.

And screeching.

And clawing at his face.

Kiyoshi felt the world suck him up. He felt light headed.

He threw up, and blacked out.

AN: So...what did you think? BTW, I wasn't a huge Neji fan, but I did respect him as an improved character, so I'll make a chapter just for him.