The Day Before...

"It's been about two and a half years..."

"Indeed."

I walked through the massive gates with my master. But as soon as I stepped through them, my steps hastened, until I was running. I dropped my knapsack on the ground, thudding loudly, and leapt in to the air, feet landing firmly on a tank about twenty metres above. It gave me a perfect view of the whole of Konoha, from the gates all the way to the rocky cliff with our Hokage's faces carved in to it.

"Alright!" I exclaimed, stretching my arms out like I was trying to embrace my village. In my time away with Pervy Sage I had grown quite a bit. I felt different – not just taller, but stronger, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well. I was determined more than ever to bring Sasuke back. This wasn't the only change though – while away I had completely destroyed my trademark orange and blue outfit, to the point where it wasn't even clothing, just ripped material. I had swapped this for a new orange and black track suit, one that was more form fitting and didn't get so hot. Even though I had changed a lot, my village didn't look like it had at all, and I was glad for that.

"I missed this place! It hasn't changed one bit!"

But even as I said this I noticed the new addition to the cliff side. It was a more feminine face that the rest and had a recognizable diamond shaped crest on the faces forehead.

"Eh?! So they've added Tsunade's ugly old mug to mountain! Ha!" I laughed, but on the inside I was beginning to dream about when I would finally have my face carved eternally in stone. Hokage was still a long way away, and I had to focus on more pressing matters, like dragging Sasuke's sorry ass home.

"You've grown a lot, haven't you Naruto." A deep, familiar voice said from behind me. I turned around, and saw Kakashi-Sensei sitting on a roof. He still looked the same as always; silvery hair sticking up everywhere, face covered except for his right eye, and wearing typical shinobi attire. He had his Icha Icha book in one hand and looked as though he were in the middle of reading it. Yup, nothing had changed at all.

"Yo!" he stuck his hand up in a sort of salute.

"Kakashi-sensei! You haven't changed at all!" I greeted him with much enthusiasm, but it was weird to have him tell me that I've grown a lot, even if I knew it myself. I jumped and landed next to him. I suddenly remembered something.

"Wait! Oh yeah! Hey! Hey! I have a present for you Kakashi-sensei!" I reached in to my pouch, and saw my sensei look at me curiously. I pulled out a book, and his eyes widened.

"Whaaat?! You... H-How... Th... This is..."

"This is the latest in the Icha Icha series after three years. It's really boring but you'll still like it, I think!" I grinned at my sensei, and he took the book and turned it over in his hands slowly, then grinned at me.

"Thanks Naruto!"

"No problem!" I leapt off the side of the building, sensei close behind me. Now that I was finally back in Konoha, it was time for the ultimate homecoming gift!

"Right! Next stop, straight to Ichiraku ramen!" I took off, leaving Jiraiya and Kakashi in the dust behind me, as I ran in the direction of the ramen shop. I stopped suddenly, seeing two figures in front of me. One belonged to an older woman with two blonde pony tails hanging down her back, while the other was a smaller, slimmer frame with a head of short, pink hair. The girl turned around, staring at me curiously.

"Sa... Sakura-chan?" I said, surprised at seeing her already. She tipped her head to one side, taking in my outfit, and then my face, recognition hitting her.

"Eh? Naruto?" She pointed at me, voice full of scepticism. She gave me a strange look that I didn't understand. "How do I look? Do I look more like a woman now?"

She seemed taller. She had begun to fill out around her hips, and a little around her chest, I noticed before quickly averting my eyes. I respected Sakura-chan way too much to look at her like that. She had changed, I could tell, but not all that much physically. I gave her my famous, flashy grin.

"You look fine! You haven't changed at all!" I heard Kakashi sigh when I said this and Sakura's cute pout turned in to a flaming scorn for a second. Then she glanced up at me, a look of shock on her face.

"You've... You've gotten taller than me?!" Disbelief coated her tone. I glanced at my body then at her, raising my hand to compare our heights. I was a few inches taller than her.

"Oh yeah, I guess I have!" I beamed; maybe Sakura-chan would acknowledge my feelings for her and go on a proper date with me. But I knew this would never happen – she was too caught up in her own feelings for Sasuke.

"Naruto niichan!"A nasally voice called out to me. I followed the source of the sound, and found a naked, dark-haired woman posing very scandalously, wisps of smoke covering the most private areas. Pervy Sages eyes almost popped out of his skull. With a poof, the jutsu disappeared.

Konohamaru stood in front of me and a very disappointed Jiraiya, holding his thumb up enthusiastically. "How was that? A real drool of a jutsu, wasn't it?!"

I sniggered, shaking my head at how much he had grown. "Konohamaru, I'm sorry but I'm not a kid anymore. From now on, you shouldn't use that jutsu either." My tone was serious, and from the look on Konohamaru's face, he was taken aback by my words. Everyone was silent around me for a moment.

"Such jutsu is now mediocre, Konohamaru! Behold! The new perverted ninjutsu I've been developing! Here we go!" I was about to show off my new ninjutsu, when Sakura-chan screamed that I was an idiot and before I could react, I was being hurled to the ground. In a daze, she grabbed me by my collar and shook me.

"I was wrong! You haven't changed one bit! I haven't seen you for two years and within two minutes you jump straight into that?! What about that wonderful feeling of respect I had for you just now?! As if I could feel sad that I wasn't grown up like you!"

I was still dazed and confused by all this, but grinned anyway. I was home.

"Hey, hey, Sakura, calm down. Konohamaru here's terrified." Kakashi said, revealing the cowering boy behind him.

"Right... the nostalgia ends here though. Kakashi." Lady Tsunade turned to our sensei. Sakura stopped throttling me, and we both turned to gawk at the copy-ninja.

"From now on, the two of you will come with me on team-related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi," he held out his hand, turning it over to us, and we caught sight of the all-too familiar bells. "Well, first I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed. The rules are the same as when I first met you two. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells!"

We grinned at our former teacher. I was keen to show off my progress, and because I wasn't able to get a bell the first time, I was even more determined than ever. Konohamaru ran off yelling that he was going to let everyone know that the hero of our village had returned. Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade waved us goodbye, saying they had important business to discuss, and headed in the direction of her office. Kakashi began to make his way to the training ground, us in tow.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a cloaked figure standing in the shadows of the trees. I turned my head to focus on the curious figure, but it had disappeared. I glanced around; sure that someone had just been standing there a second ago.

"Naruto! Hurry up!" Sakura-chan called out to me. I scratched my head, still feeling as though I were being watched, but shrugged it off as nothing and ran after Kakashi and Sakura-chan.

Present

A cool, damp feeling on my forehead caused me to stir awake. My head throbbed painfully, and my entire body felt as though it were on fire. But at least I could feel pain – that was a good sign. My eyes felt like someone had held them over a pit of boiling lava, but regardless I willed them open. My vision was clouded, but I could just faintly see someone standing over me. My eyes adjusted to the dark room, and Uncle Itachi was leaning over me, dampening my forehead with a wet cloth. I couldn't remember how I had gotten there, or who had brought me to this unidentifiable place. The last thing I remembered was a bright, dazzling light and a burning sensation, like a hundred suns had exploded all over my skin. I could recall a girl with pale eyes, slight hints of lavender glinting off them, and a blonde, top-heavy woman talking to me and asking me questions. Her name was Tsunade. The raven-haired girl named Hinata was hitting me with her palms, but I felt no pain. After that it was just a blur.

I opened my mouth to speak but Uncle shook his head, wiping the gleam of constant sweat from my forehead.

"Don't speak just yet please Emiko. You were badly burnt all over your body, I managed to deflect most of the damage, but you still need to give yourself time to heal."

This room was different to where we had stayed before. There was no natural light filtering in the room, and the only source of light was from a small, flickering candle in the corner of the room. It smelt musty, like it hadn't been used in years. A dresser stood in the corner, a mirror hung above it. On the dressers were various items; a comb, a kunai holster, a blue forehead protector with the same symbol that the girl named Hinata wore engraved on it, the material old and torn, and a few photo frames. The first was a picture of a very young boy and what I assumed was his father. The next was the same boy, about ten years older, standing with another boy who looked a few years younger than the older boy. Their arms were slung together over their shoulders and they beamed at the camera. The next was of the same boy, but this time he looked as though he were about my age, standing close next to a woman with beautiful golden hair who looked very tired but smiled anyway, holding a slightly bloody infant who he stared at with utmost adoration. I gasped quietly, realizing that the boy in the photos was my father, and the last photo was him and my mother at my birth. Itachi glanced in the direction I was gazing at, and seeing the pictures, he smiled at me, his face morphing into that of the young boy with my father. I realized the boy in the second frame was him and my father.

I sat up a little, and reached for the glass of water on the bedside table. Uncle placed the cloth back in a bowl full of water on the bedside table. The sleeve of his cloak rid up, and I caught sight of burns covering his arms and hands. I reached out and gripped his hand gently when he tried to pull his sleeves down more. I felt horrible. Uncle had rescued me from the blast, but had suffered from what looked like major burns, at my expense. Not only that, but this whole situation was my fault. If I hadn't been so reckless and disobeyed uncle by stealing that jutsu, I wouldn't have done this to my body and we would be on our way to wherever uncle had intended for us to go.

"Please... please uncle, l-let me heal you." My voice was shaky as I gripped his sleeve tighter. He placed his hand on top of mine, clutching it loosely. I stared up at my uncle. His pale face gave away the fact that he was tired and exhausted, and his bloodshot eyes looked as though he hadn't slept in days, which he probably hadn't. Although he wasn't related to my father by blood, he still reminded me a lot of him. He had raised me from the day my mother died, and guarded me with his life when people came looking for my deceased mother and I. The only family I had left, the only person in this world who I could trust and rely on, the only person who actually knew of my existence, was standing before me. If he were to... because of me... I wouldn't be able to live with myself. I would be all alone in a world where I knew no one.

A single tear slid down my cheek, before falling on to uncle's hand. His gaze softened and he squeezed my hand softly, before nodding at me and sitting in the chair next to my bed. I placed my other hand on top of his. I smiled faintly and closed my eyes, breathing slowly. Inhale, exhale. Concentrating on the pull of the energy was a simple task, like blinking, because it was all I knew, all I felt for as long as I can remember. I understood what uncle had meant when he told me about the true nature of my body. It was like... I had this gravity inside my gut, and now I knew it was because energy was naturally drawn to me, as a moth is drawn to light. By siphoning the energy around me, I was able to filter it through his chakra points. I focused all of my chakra into the palm of my right hand, the hand that was on top of uncle's cold one. I released natural energy back into uncle Itachi's form, giving more chakra to his organs, and replenishing his health slowly. It was a steady process but necessary for the body to heal completely, cell by cell. If this was all I could do to repay uncle for the countless times he protected me and took care of me then I would do it all a thousand times more and still be smiling. He even aligned with the Akatsuki to protect me from them – so they would never know about the daughter of the great Shisui Uchiha, and whatever Kekkei tōta mother's lineage possessed. It tired me greatly, but it was worth it. Just to see my uncle survive, and not leave my side, was all I could wish for. My hands trembled gently. The room was completely silent, and I suspected it was probably night time by now.

"Uncle, will you tell me a story? It would help me stay alert and pass the time. Your burns are serious, and will probably take a while to heal."

Uncle smiled at me. He hadn't known my mother for long, but my favourite stories were the ones that mother told about her and father and their adventures together, and uncle had heard them many times before she died and knew them as well as I did.

"Well, let's start with the one about the boy with the special eyes, the golden girl and destiny..."

I smiled – this was my most favourite, and saddest story.

"One day, there was a boy who was sent to deliver an important letter from the Hokage to the Raikage in the Land of Lightning. It was a treaty declaring a truce, due to the unimaginable number of shinobi lost during the third great shinobi war. This boy was only twelve years old, yet he was already taking part in S and B-rank missions, and graduated top of his year at the Academy. He was a skilled user of the sharingan, and not one to be underestimated. Anyone who had the pleasure of witnessing him at work knew this. While on his travels, he happened to stop by a river to refill his canteen. He heard a lot of commotion going on around the corner, and being the curious boy he was, he peeped around the corner to see what was causing all the noise. What he saw was horrible. It was a family and their travelling home – a big, spacious hut on wheels. It was decorated brightly – painted a vivid yellow and covered in banners and glittering crystals. He silently moved closer, hiding behind trees to get a better view. They were all clustered on the ground, huddled together closely. A woman, her older son who appeared to be a good few years older than the boy, and a young girl about the same age as him, who all looked upon what was unfolding in front of them helplessly. They all wore long white robes, with a pale yellow sun on the back. Another small huddle of about four men were shouting aggressively, crowded in a circle around a thrashing figure. They were kicking and beating the form on the ground, and when they dispersed he saw it was a man around the same age as that boy's father. The young boy was completely enraged with anger, but contained himself – a good shinobi was one who endures, is what he told himself, though how difficult, he must be patient and not compromise his location. Although he couldn't see their faces as they were covered by plain black masks, the menacing look in the eyes of the four shinobi – he had seen that look many times. They intended to kill the family. For what purpose, was unknown to him in that instance. He inched even closer, until he was just beside the campsite. The family were right in front of him, and the other group were on the far side. The man's flowing white robes were stained with blood, and he writhed in pain on the ground, before shakily getting to his feet. The man began to make the seals for a jutsu, but was swiftly interrupted with a blow to the stomach by one of the bandits, and dropped to his knees, clutching his stomach. He called out to his family, who looked up with teary eyes, saying that everything would be alright. The man met the boy's eyes and he shook his head when the hidden ninja tried to advance, nevertheless smiled brightly. One, who appeared to be the leader, stepped closer behind the kneeling man, and yanked something from his hip pouch. It was a kunai. Before anybody could react, he stood directly behind the father and slashed across his neck in one sharp motion. His wife and daughter screamed at him to stop, but it was too late. The son, shaking with rage, charged at the men, tugging at something concealed within his robes. He withdrew a long katana, and bravely slashed at the men surrounding his father, causing them to disperse. One of the men engaged in a sword fight with the boy, who was quite adept in his swordsmanship, and very quick on his feet. He slashed and swerved and countered every strike, but the hidden boy knew that he would not be able to keep up the rouse for much longer. He would have to intervene now, before it was too late.

He activated his special eye, and seeing the temporary distraction as a good diversion, seized his opportunity. He rushed out of the bushes at the nearest bandit, who was approaching the sobbing, broken family. With great speed the boy leapt over the golden heads of the older woman and her near identical daughter, and then sliced at the advancing killer before the crook could fully grasp the situation. He quickly fell to his knees. The young girl glanced at their saviour with a newfound hope, and upon finding child, lost that hope instantly. She did not know who this boy was, but taking on a small band of felons was not possible for him, considering their skill and his lack of... brawn. But the boy did not stop with the one bandit. The other two who had seen his surprise attack began advancing towards the family from different directions, assuming that he would not be able to counter both of them. They threw a hail of kunai from opposite directions, aimed at the vulnerable woman and daughter. The young boy's hands moved at an incomprehensible speed, and it was like he completely vanished. For the daughter, the life-threatening situation caused time to move slowly for her, as though the entire world had stopped spinning at its usual rate and was only gradually relaying present events millisecond by millisecond. Typical of the young boy to flee, she thought, and she didn't blame him. Nobody would help a family of strangers if it meant they're life. Nobody was that selfless, or that stupid. The girl's bright blue eyes widened as the kunai floated through the air, inching closer and closer. She closed her eyes, ready to meet her end. She was only eleven, but would gladly die to protect her family's secrets, which was what the men were after. She heard a sound like lightning striking metal a hundred times all at once. She opened her eyes and found she was still alive, and could feel no pain whatsoever. Time had gained its proper bearings. The volley of kunai had been deflected, and the boy stood in his exact spot he was in a moment ago, kunai in hand and crouched low, head down. The two shinobi stared at the boy in amazement, and the boy looked up with his remarkable eyes so the two could get a glimpse of their demise. Seeing the sharingan, they gasped, and the boy smirked, shifting his weigh to his right leg. The girl blinked and the boy disappeared from sight in a puff of smoke. The two men glanced around, a terrified look on their masked faces. The girl shook her head in disbelief – how could he vanish without a trace? And then she saw him. The boy poked the tip of his kunai in to the base of the bandit's skull, holding his two kunai on an angle so they could reach the back of the men's neck. The girl gazed at him in awe, and in her mind took back all the doubt she had held for him.

At that moment she heard a piercing cry of pain, and saw her brother fall to the ground, a kunai sticking from his chest. She screamed his name over and over again, and her mother had to restrain her from running to his unmoving body. The young boy, also having seen this, swiftly used the butt of his kunai to hit a pressure point on each of their necks, causing them to collapse to the ground, unconscious for the moment, but alive. The shinobi who had killed the older boy simply laughed cruelly, and kicked the motionless boy. The leader who had killed the father strolled over to his partner. The saviour remained close to the woman and her daughter, protecting them and shielding them from whatever would come next. He waited.

Without warning, the leader hastily made hand seals for a jutsu. He smacked his palm on the earth, and suddenly razor-sharp spikes stuck out from the ground like tombstones anticipating death. The boy, expecting his elemental attack, quickly took hold of the woman and her daughter's robes, and yanked them to safety, a tall tree that obscured them from view. He left them there with specific instructions – stay put so he could finish this quickly. He rushed out to engage the two shinobi in combat, but they were gone. He glanced around with his sharingan, but found no one. Suddenly, a shattering scream echoed through the air. The boy's form flickered and he was suddenly where he had left the two. The shinobi were standing over a body, and the screams were coming from the girl who kneeled next to her bleeding mother. The boy cursed himself for leaving them alone. The evil men hadn't noticed his presence yet and one had his hand raised, yielding a kunai, ready to strike the hysterical girl. In two rapid movements, they fell to the ground; they're body still twitching from the electric current he had applied to the bloody blade just seconds before he ended their life. It was a quick and near painless death, much more than they ever deserved. The small girl shook with sobs; her whole body trembled with fear of what would have happened if the boy had appeared a second later, and anger that he hadn't been there sooner to save the life of her mother. The boy went to the girl and gently lifted her into his arms. He completely blamed himself for what had happened to her family. If he had only been stronger, if he had only been there sooner, he would have been able to save everyone. He vowed right then and there, while cradling her shivering body against his that he would do whatever it took to save her, to keep her safe. Even if it meant giving up his life for her, he would gladly do so. He figured that whatever this girl and her family possessed was very important, and most likely very powerful. He didn't know why he felt so bizarrely compelled to keep this unspoken promise. Maybe it was because of her circumstances, but he felt it was much more than that. He felt like it was destiny in the making. He wanted to take her away from the horrific scene, and she insisted that he do so. They stopped by her home and she revealed to him the secret compartment in their home that they would have died protecting. Inside was a medium-sized chest, secured by a combination lock. She shoved the chest in a large knapsack, along with some keepsake items. They heard a cackle behind them, and abruptly they were seized in a stone room with smooth walls. Because there was no difference in their masks, he had stupidly assumed that the two who had killed the girl's mother were the leader and his closest partner, but it wasn't. The other two shinobi were just a decoy, to get the young pair to drop their guard and expose the location of what they had been pursuing. That's why they hadn't killed the girl instantly – she was the only person now who knew how to access the wooden box of secrets. The devious men licked their lips in impatience. Now was the time to act.

The leader made his jutsu seals and the pen began to tighten, the walls and ceiling coming together to become one again, and they wouldn't stop for the likes of two helpless children. Then the walls suddenly exploded with a bright flash. The boy stood with the girl behind him, his hand glowing with electrical energy. The boy stepped forward, just as another wall shot up from the ground and divided him from the girl he sought to guard with his life, stretching around and over his head, further than he could see. It was a giant, thick, rock enclosure around the girl. The partner created seals quickly before the boy had time to react; he had deactivated his sharingan, meaning he probably ran out of chakra with that last defence. He finally showing his ninjutsu – the ground beneath the boy turned to sludge around him and he was swallowed up by the water-injected dirt that would suck away his chakra if he tried any jutsu. It would be impossible for a mere child, even a formidable enemy who proves the greatness of the Uchiha clan, but still a mere child, to escape from this situation. They grinned menacingly – they had fallen right into their trap. By separating the two they could easily incapacitated this threat, snatch up the girl and leave the boy wondering endlessly what had befallen the unfortunate. The girl on the other side of the thick wall was afraid. She didn't want to be apart from the boy whose name she had hadn't even learnt yet. Her mother had died believing that her only daughter, last surviving member of their legacy, would live on and be protected by a boy with special eyes. This is what was predicted, what was foretold for the future. It was unbearable for her, but she also had to think about the treasures she gripped tightly in her left hand. The girl stepped back from the wall and placed her knapsack on the ground by her feet, hidden within her robes. She made the seals for the one jutsu she knew – a very dangerous ninjutsu not to be underestimated, yet took great toll on the user. Her clan's unimaginable kinjutsu was what had led it to its destruction. Not from other clans, or other nations were they to discover the power of their sacred jutsu, but because no others knew except one clan. And that clan craved their extermination. It was always men that wore black masks and black attire, as though they were shadows. One by one, her clan had been picked off, like fleas that were an annoyance to the coat of their very existence. They were merciless, and that was apparent. She had to do all she could to protect her treasures – and more importantly – the boy who needed her right now, as much as she needed him. She held her hand out to the sky as she used the energy absorbing jutsu that would draw out any light and focus it at her fingertips. When it formed a flaming, blinding ball she focused it to the shape of a narrow blade and pushed it outwards, in the direction of the wall that separated her from destiny. The jutsu blistered her fingers and blinded her eyes and the sheer force of the impact was enough to blast her and the treasures through the air, but surprisingly enough the rest of her body hadn't been badly scorched as much as her fingers. She prayed with all her heart that she hadn't hurt the nameless hope. But it was the complete opposite. She had created a massive fissure in the vast wall, and slowly but surely, it began to crumble; pieces of the divider falling like oversized, gravel snowflakes as if it were winter.

The boy, who had been struggling against darkness, trying to find a grip on anything but never reaching one, who had held his breath but couldn't stop the sludge from entering his nose and every other place in his body and weighing him down even further to the bottom, if there even were an end to this unfathomable dread, felt the mud above him heat rapidly, then solidify. This was good, believe it or not; if something is frozen, then it can be shattered. The clay around him was hardened but still soft enough for him to move his arms to a point where he could control his movement, and he pushed his self, swimming upwards against the toughened mud. When he felt the hard rock, he pulled back his hand and applied chakra to it quickly, before the sludge could suck away his chakra, and thrust his curled fist out, hitting the tough clay with his chakra-concentrated hand with a deafening thump, causing a slight tremor around him. Upon impact, the mud above him cracked and was crushed in to smooth powder, making it effortless for him to claw his way up through the sea of soil. As he tunnelled his way up the soil caved in on him, pushing him down and forcing him back into the dark abyss. He fought against it viciously, all the time wondering what had caused the ground to harden to distract him from his waning consciousness. He finally resurfaced and gasped for air, taking in as much as he could to refill his sparse lungs. He shook the dirt from his hair and rubbed his eyes, then let his vision adjust to his surroundings. He was shocked at the state of the area. Small fissures and crevices engraved the land around him, but where, he assumed, he had just been standing, was a long split in the earth, like someone had sliced it with a giant blade. It was obviously the place of impact; he could tell by the debris scattered away from it. He looked around, searching for the girl, or any sign of existence. He saw the two men – they were unmoving, blood escaping from their nose, a telltale sign of serious internal injury. If they were the ones affected by it, then the girl... He heard whimpering coming from behind him. He turned and found the girl among the rubble, one hand clutching her knapsack weakly. He flashed to her side, and then tenderly scooped her up in his arms. She whined softly because of the pain it caused, but when she opened her eyes and met the boys sparkling eyes, she could have almost cried out in joy. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. He smiled, glad that she was safe and almost unharmed.

"I am going to protect you from now on, okay? Or at least until you're old enough to look after yourself. I'm sorry about your family." He said the last part slowly and quietly, not wanting to upset her. He waited for her reply, and was amazed at the silky, tinkling melody that protruded from her lips when she spoke.

"I-It's okay. My family sacrificed their lives to protect our secrets. They did so with pride and honour," the girl's eyes became teary as he carried her away from the damage, and low sobs escaped from her mouth against her will. It was hard. She had known this day would come – it was prophesized – but she hadn't expected it so soon. To lose everything in the space of a few hours... it would be inhuman if she just shrugged it off as nothing, or pretended like she couldn't care less, when really her entire world seemed as though it were crumbling around her. Her only hope, the only person she could trust now, she glanced at the boy through her hazy bright eyes, was this boy. She thought of his family and what they would be like.

"It was actually predicted that my family would die and I would be the only survivor, and that a boy with special eyes would save me. I guess that's you. Would your family be alright with this?" she was anxious for the future. A million questions begged to be asked.

The boy smiled, a little curious about what she had just said. He had felt like it was fate, and apparently, it was. "That won't be a problem. I don't have a family. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father was killed in action."

She was silent – so he was alone. Just like she was now - with no one to love her and watch her grow up. But rather, he had been on his own much longer than she, from the casual way it rolled off his tongue; like a statement, a matter of fact, not an emotionally scarring time in his short life on this world.

"My name is Akemi Hikari."

"Nice to meet you, Akemi. My name is Shisui Uchiha."

Both grinned at each other. It was their first formal introduction, but they felt like they were already friends. With every step towards the unknown, they were distancing themselves physically and mentally from the horrific events that had transpired on that bizarre, fateful day.

The sun had already set over the horizon on my second day back in Konoha when I left Hinata's side, unwillingly, but the nurses, and even Sakura-chan, insisted that she was fine and wouldn't be waking up until the morning. Her father had come by after the explosion, along with many countless citizens and curious shinobi like Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei, but I'm sure they were just on a date and wanted to make it look like they hadn't stumbled upon the scene by accident. Her father scowled at me when he saw his unconscious daughter in my arms, carrying her to the examination room for a busy Sakura-chan. Actually, his eyes more or less popped out of his skull. And then he accused me of causing the explosion and hurting his daughter. I clenched my fists as rage swelled in my chest and ground my teeth to counter it. I gripped my stomach, my fingers digging into the skin beneath my sweatshirt. Something rumbled beneath my hand, like the beast was stirring. I know I have the Kyuubi sealed inside of me, but that didn't mean that he had to treat me like I was nothing but a monster! The villagers... not all of them had acknowledged me yet. I would change that, and everyone would see me as Naruto Uzumaki, not that-kid-with-the-demon-fox. But first, before I could accomplish my dreams of becoming Hokage, I had to bring back Sasuke. Only then, would I even be close to achieving my goal. I grinned, reverting back to my normal self.

The night was warm, so warm that I felt the need to remove my jacket. I pulled at the crystal necklace out from under my black shirt. It was weird, but ever since I had arrived at the explosion, just as Sakura-chan and I finished the bell training with Kakashi-sensei, I had felt this weird feeling in my stomach. Like the Nine Tails wouldn't stop moving, like he was anxious about something. Or maybe the seal was weakening. I didn't want to know what would happen if that were the case. I thought about what had happened today. It was crazy, really. I didn't fully understand what the girl was, or what her power was, but it made me feel uneasy. It had hurt kind and gently Hinata, who wanted nothing more than to help the girl. It sounded as though she couldn't control it... that was familiar and I could relate to that. I was determined to keep my promise to Hinata to find this nameless girl. I don't know what had come over me in the hospital, when I saw Hinata hurt again. It was like the preliminaries all over again. Wow, I hadn't thought of that day for months now – while I was training the only day I remembered perfectly, just like it was yesterday, was the day Sasuke left. Not when he left with the four Sound shinobi, but when we truly fought. It was permanently branded into my mind – him telling me I didn't understand, me confessing my bond, and him letting me live. I pushed the memory aside before I had nightmares about it that night, and focused on the day of the preliminaries. To be honest, she kind of inspired me to win. I wanted to beat Neji for her, to prove that we can change our fate, and I did. But hearing about his circumstances outraged me; I couldn't imagine Hinata doing that to her cousin or anyone. I would keep my word to him. Just another promise on my steadily rising list of things to do. I groaned. I really loved making promises, and I intended to keep every single one, but at this rate I wasn't going to be Hokage for a long time. That was fine though – I never went back on my word. I would get Sasuke back, save the branch family, and find this mysterious girl. It wasn't going to be easy, but there were no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. I grimaced when I thought of the last – I had no clue where to begin. She had up and vanished without a trace, not even the ninja dogs could track a scent. Well, it wasn't that they couldn't find a scent, it's just it was everywhere and it completely puzzled the dogs to the point where Kakashi just called them off. Just from the look of Granny Tsunade, one of the legendary Sennin, all torn up and burnt, I could tell it was a powerful explosion. I frowned. Maybe she even had a power that could match mine.

As if the beast could hear me, it moved again, more forcefully. And then I heard a low chuckle in my head, and realised the Kyuubi was laughing.

You have no idea, boy. She will find you, don't you worry about that.

I froze mid-step. The Kyuubi then returned to the pit he had temporarily risen out of to whisper in my mind, his dark chuckle fading to an echo. Okay, now I was even more confused. I wasn't sure if I had heard right, or if I was going crazy. I think I would rather the latter.

I felt it again for the second time since returning home. I turned on my heels, tugging out a kunai from my pouch. The fenced off walkway was utterly void of any sign of life, and the moon made the tall fences cast long shadows. There was no one in sight. I relaxed. I was being totally paranoid, not very ninja of me at all.

"Caw-caw!"

I leapt into the air at the sudden outburst of noise close to my ear. I glanced up to my left and saw a crow standing on the fence next to me, staring at me with its black beady eyes.

I exhaled sharply, muttering, "Stupid fucking crow."

The bird was unmoving, and just continued to stare at me as I walked past. As soon as I was out of the alleyway, I ran home, still feeling as though someone were watching me.

Thoughts? Sorry for the long wait, but you're welcome for the extra long chapter ;) Reviews would be appreciated, but honestly I can't wait to write the next chapter so expect it a little sooner than this one.