Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

This chapter is dedicated to OracleOfTheShadows! Have I told you lately that you're awesome?

Chapter 11

When hearing of a person's past it is always good to know the past before the past. Especially in respect to the Haruno clan. The Haruno's had faced many hardships through the years and overcome them all, but there was one trial that could not be beaten.

Many years ago the Harunos were a respectable clan living in Amegakure. In fact, they were the most well-known and respectable clan in Amegakure. You could ask any random person on the street - ninja or not - and they could tell you exactly who they were.
They were so well known because they had a very special Kekkei Genkei that many coveted and were willing to kill for. It was strange in that only those that possessed it could pass it down from member to member. If you were a member of the clan, but didn'thave the Kekkei Genkei, you couldn't pass it down. The Harunos were being used, kidnapped, and tortured at this time. People would try to gain the ability by marrying into the family and hoping to have a child born with it. Many Harunos were being kidnapped and being forced to use their ability to help do their kidnappers bidding. Painful experiments were used on them to try and steal it from them, but it was quickly discovered to be unstealable.
At this time the leader of the Haruno clan was Tasuku Haruno, and you can imagine the difficulties of leading at such a time. He overcame the difficulties easily after it was discovered the Kekkei Genkei couldn't be stolen from them Harunos. People settled instead to marrying into the family instead and there began to be a time of peace as the Harunos were almost forgotten.
It is well known that peace never lasts long in the ninja world. The third great ninja war came crashing down on the people of Amegakure's heads and during the war ravishing, the Haruno's were rediscovered. War time is always a time of paranoia for people and instead of wanting the ability for themselves they wanted to rid the world of such a dangerous Kekkei Genkei.
Most threats made during the war were forgotten afterwards and the Harunos believed that they had escaped by the skin of their teeth again.
The new head of the clan was a wise but prideful man at that time named Aram. His pride would prove to be they Harunos' downfall. He had two sons the younger, Ruka, wanting nothing to do with leadership and glad he wasn't going to inherit any. He claimed it was just a means for people to blame someone.
One day Aram was going through the reports of the day when a man burst into his room breathless and nearly dead on his feet. He looked to be possessed by something by the way he walked mindlessly into the room without awaiting permission.
"Sir," he said, his voice reminding Aram of a zombiefied man more than anything.
"Yes?" he said disinterestedly, being sure not to let his guard down.
"I was given a note on my way home from a mission and was instructed to hand it to you."
Aram extended his hand and snatched the note from the man's hands.
Dear Haruno Clan Leader, Aram,
I have learned of your Kekkei Genkei and find it as nothing but a threat. So I am simply going to rid the world of it by the end of the month.
Aram sneered at the letter and crumpled it up. Letter's like these were nothing but empty threats.
"Father," he heard his youngest son, Ruka, call from another room before entering. "Father, Mother wants to..." Ruka trailed off as the letter was thrown in his direction. He caught it and uncrumpled it. "What is this?" he asked glancing at it.
"Nothing but another silly threat," Aram answered leaning back in his chair.
"Father, we haven't gotten a threat since the war," Ruka said furrowing his brow at the letter.
"And all of them were never carried out."
"But this one seems different. What are the initials U.M. and the end?"
"Ruka, you're making a big deal out of nothing!" Aram barked.

"I'd hardly say I'm making a big deal out of thi-" The man that had given Aram the note suddenly collapsed and began convulsing on the floor.
"Help!" Ruka shouted. "This man needs help now!"
Elite ninja rushed into the room and dragged the man out while Ruka turned to his father. "Does this still look like nothing to you, Father?"
"It is nothing but a coincidence, boy, now get out of my sight."

Ruka looked as though he would say something, but held his tongue and followed his father's order.

In a few short days the man had died of whatever ailment he had. The only thing the doctors could do was shake their heads in confusion. Whatever it was that had happened to him, the doctors had never seen anything like it before. Ruka tried to convince his father to at least look into the matter of whatever had happened to him, but his father remained stubborn and claimed it was only a coincidence.

Not three days after the man's death all of the doctors that had treated him developed the same sickness. Just as before, they all died. It was clear to Ruka that they had an epidemic on their hands and needed to get help from better doctors. Aram refused the idea of getting help and told Ruka the sickness wouldn't last long.

Ruka was outraged at his own Father's pride and stupidity, so he took his family and sought help in Konoha.

"Father," Aram's oldest son, Tadashi, was saying to Aram after another group had died from the sickness, "I'm just saying that you should consider the possibility that this sickness is a fatal epidemic that could wipe out the Haruno clan. I agree with Ruka, the threat couldn't have been coincidence if the person carrying the note came down with the sickness first."

"Tadashi, not you too," Aram sighed. "Your brother has always been foolish and jumped to conclusions. He was paranoid and thought everyone was trying to rid the world of us."

"Father you must consider, for the good of the clan, that-"

"How dare you tell me how to lead my clan!" Aram shouted. "I believe I have more knowledge and wisdom on how to lead a clan than you or Ruka!"

"Father, that's not what I was saying-"

"Leave my office. Now."

Tadashi sighed and shook his head at his father before leaving.

"It's getting worse," Ruka reported to Hiruzen, the Third Hokage. "Almost half of the clan has died from this disease. All with our Kekkei Genkei, non of the members born with the ability have been affected."

"I know," Hiruzen said rubbing his temples. "I'm afraid I can do nothing unless the head of the clan gives me permission."

"But they're dying!" Ruka shouted. "Why can't you do something when people are dying just because the head of the clan is too foolish and proud to do anything!"

"Ruka calm down-"

"How can I be calm? That's my family that's dying over there!" Ruka continued to shout. "They aren't just some random clan, they're important to me!"

A man burst into the room breathing heavily.

"Report!" Hiruzen commanded.

"Tadashi Haruno has died of the disease as well as his son."

Ruka's shouting stopped instantly. His legs gave way and he collapsed in his chair.

"Baby," Ruka said kneeling in front of his daughter, "Daddy and brother are going to bring the rest of your family home to safety. We'll be back, I promise." He kissed his four year old daughter on her large forehead, kissed his wife, and was out the door with his son in seconds. Aram had died that morning and he was leaving to bring the clan to the safety of Konoha.

Is it just me or are these chapters getting shorter and shorter? I know, I fail.

I don't know about you, but I'm getting a little sick of the phrase Kekkei Genkei. I think it was said about a million times this chapter.

Thank yu to... ChibiVampireQueen, Neko the kawatta cat, CJ122, StephJoann, Anime-Freak-12280, Sakura Kimiko, rainfurr26, Chidori Ai, OracleOfTheShadows, hopefaith11, BloodyGirl, aaaaanndd summergreay.x (log in so I can respond!)! Yu guys are amazing! Really. You're all awesome! And give me the warm fuzzies every time you review and favorite and follow and such :)

Update! I'm changing my pen name to just "The Fuzz" and if the "The Fuzz" is unavailable then... There will be numbers after it or something...

The Fuzz \|/