Hello, everyone. I'm back again! I've been busy with lots of projects and things, but I'm back now, and summer vacation should allow me to update more often. Sorry for the late update, I had most of this chapter done ages ago, I just didn't have time to finish it. Anyway, onto reviews!

Buterflypuss: Thanks! Just something small like saying "good chapter" is nice to hear. So don't be afraid to just take a few seconds and say nice or something like that. It means the world to me!

Average Joh, ob1292: You're right. Tsuneo doesn't have Earth or Water affinities… yet. It will be explained why Tsuneo will get Mokuton.

Double Nightmare Chapter 9: In Memorium

"It all started six years ago…

-Flashback-

Tsuneo was walking around a bit after training. On days like these when he didn't feel like going "home," he would wander around, or go to one of the few places he was allowed. The Uchiha compound. Not many would expect that the Uchiha would let someone with a reputation such as his enter the compound so freely. While Fugaku was opposed to him being there, as it reflected badly on the clan's already less than stellar reputation, Mikoto didn't mind, and was actually many times glad to have him around. He was one of Sasuke's few friends, and Itachi also seemed to get along with Tsuneo rather well.

Tsuneo walked into the compound, already knowing where to go. He found himself greeted with a smile and a pat on the head by Mikoto, which made him frown a bit in annoyance. However, with the beaming smile on the Uchiha Matriarch's face, he couldn't help but smile a bit in return. Anyone who looked at the exchange might think they were family, and he certainly felt like she was more of a mother than Kushina. He noticed, however, when he was walking through the Compound, that many of the Uchiha seemed to be on edge. Even Mikoto seemed a bit off. Fugaku, he didn't really know. He rarely interacted with the man, since it was obvious he didn't want the jinchuuriki here. But to go against Mikoto was to go against the Shinigami itself. It just wasn't smart. He had also noticed that Itachi was even more tense than the others. What exactly was going on? He walked up to Itachi and asked in a hushed tone,

"Why is everyone so on edge lately? It's kind of strange." At the question, Itachi seemed to become even more wary, and a hint of sadness seemed to take place in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly Tsuneo questioned if he had imagined it.

"I'm not sure, maybe they're just worried about you being here." It wasn't really a lie, but Tsuneo wasn't quite convinced. While many Uchiha didn't like him being at the compound as often as he was, they were never quite this bad. Seeing how Itachi looked rather off now that he had mentioned the atmosphere shift, he decided to forgo more questions and look for Sasuke. He had met Sasuke one day by the river near the compound, and they had become quick friends. In a way, Tsuneo understood how Sasuke felt, who was always in his brother's shadow. He and his brother were always compared to his sisters during training. Sometimes, Minato and Kushina would ask why they couldn't be "perfect" like their siblings. At the time that hurt. Badly. But now, it was just some stupid remark by their parents that showed just how blind they were, to say such things to their own sons, not realizing the rift it created, and the hatred it stirred up.

Not for the sisters, no, for they had no part in it. Even if they never took a hard effort to be friendly with Naruto and Tsuneo, they weren't hurtful in the way their parents were. They just followed their parent's example. And at that age, who could blame them? At a young age, many children just want to impress their parents and be like them. Naruto had after a while rid himself of his hatred for his parents, stating that he would prove to them that he had no need for hatred, and he would rise above it. Tsuneo, however, wasn't so quick to forgive. He still hated his parents to this day, he sometimes wished that they were killed on the day of the sealing, but he always stopped that train of thought, knowing that such thinking would get him nowhere. He also realised that if he and his siblings had grown up without Minato and Kushina, they might have been a lot worse off. All four of them might have been ostracised to an even larger extent. He wouldn't do that to his sisters or his brother.

Even after all of this, he couldn't bring himself to hate Mito and Naruko. His brother, was one of the only people he could truly trust. Despite not showing it, he honestly cared about his brother, and would always support him. Naruto wanted to bring peace to the war-torn Elemental Nations, and he would help. Tsuneo didn't believe in such a goal, he was far from a noble or righteous person. But if it was what Naruto wanted, then he would do everything in his power to make it happen. He admired his brother for his patience. Naruto was not one to hold petty grudges,

either. Tsuneo, however, had no illusions that he was like his brother. He hated waiting, and was not one to easily let go of something like that, no matter how small.

Snapping away from his thoughts, he saw Sasuke burst into the room and start animatedly talking to Itachi about his training. It brought a smile to his face that Sasuke was unaffected by the tense atmosphere. Like always, Sasuke asked Itachi if he could help him with his training. Usually Itachi would refuse, but this time, he smiled almost wistfully, and accepted. Something was definitely up. While Itachi was usually too busy to help Sasuke, he did it occasionally. But to see Itachi seem so sad with Sasuke talking to him was unnatural. He knew that no one would talk to him of all people about it. If it were important enough for him to know, Mikoto would tell him. Right?

Knowing the atmosphere was still tense, Tsuneo decided to leave and hopefully escape the gloom. He might usually seem very somber, but that was usually around those he disliked. He put up such a front in hopes they wouldn't bother him. Sometimes, it worked. Other times, it didn't. Telling Mikoto that he had to go somewhere, he didn't miss the sad smile Mikoto sent his way, but he didn't comment on it as she told him to be careful. She always told him this when he left. But this time, it felt more foreboding. Shaking off the shiver he felt go down his spine, he left.

-Later That Night-

Tsuneo had been wandering around all day, not really sure what to do. He didn't feel like talking to anyone today, really. And he was feeling too lazy to train. As he was about to just walk home and turn in for the night, he felt a spike of chakra and another chill. Normally, he would just ignore it. But, it came from the Uchiha Compound. And he recognized the signature. He sprinted toward the compound as fast as he could. He slammed into it, and his eyes widened in horror.

Bodies. Bodies everywhere. Making a silent prayer that Mikoto, Sasuke and Itachi were alright, he went toward their part of the Compound. He was about to break down the door, but carefully opened it instead. What if the assassin was still here? He peeked through the door, his doujutsu active already. He looked around, and tears almost instantly streamed down his face. Mikoto was there her eyes wide. Next to her, Itachi. His eyes widened as well when he saw the sword in Itachi's hand was poking through the other side of her stomach. Overcome with sadness and rage, he, unconsciously using Kurama's chakra, picked up a stray kunai and rushed toward Itachi. Itachi turned around just as Tsuneo closed in on him. He managed to drop his sword and jump out of the way, but not before getting a shallow cut on his side. Tsuneo, who had had his eyes closed until now, felt a squelch, and opened his eyes. This time, he nearly broke down. In front of him, was Mikoto, his kunai buried into her chest. He quickly pulled it out, but the damage was done.

"Mikoto!" He yelled, trying to catch her as she fell, but failing. Her eyes slowly closed, as she muttered a few last words to him. However, in his sobbing and pain, he could not hear her. Tsuneo watched as the life drained from her eyes. He looked down, his body shaking. One of the only people who cared about him, killed because he was reckless. He should have bided his time, waited until Itachi was in a better position to be caught off guard. Then, he could have forced him to flee and gotten Mikoto to a hospital. But Tsuneo attacked without thinking when he saw what happened. And because of it, any chance of saving his mother figure was gone forever.

He turned to Itachi. His doujutsu was still active, his eyes blood red and sclera black like a void. The fury in his eyes was clear. He sped towards Itachi again, but this time, the Sharingan user was ready, and he jumped to the side. Tsuneo almost tripped, but quickly turned around. He moved to the side to avoid a blow from Itachi's tanto, still managing to get stabbed in the shoulder. Pain ripped through his body, but despite all of his instincts telling him to run, his heart told him to kill this traitor right here and now. With all of his strength, he brought up his kunai and aimed for the Sharingan user's heart. However, due to blood loss and disorientation, only managed to stab Itachi in the shoulder.

Itachi's eyes were wide that Tsuneo was still able to try to kill him. It was true he had tried to avoid hitting him in any fatal areas, but to be able to handle that amount of pain was no mean feat. However, before he could knock Tsuneo out and remove his kunai from his own shoulder, Tsuneo's eyes seemed to glow with ethereal power, and lines passed up through his kunai and into Itachi's wound. Itachi noticed with shock that his chakra was leaving him. Tsuneo had a grip on his right hand to keep him from moving, and Itachi's left arm was in no position to try to remove the pale boy's kunai from his shoulder. When the markings receded,Tsuneo's eyes fluttered, before he passed out. Itachi removed his tanto from Tsuneo's unconscious body, feeling exhausted from Tsuneo somehow draining his chakra, and looked at the sky. He needed to leave. He got up and prayed that Tsuneo would be alright, but before he could get going, he heard a small voice.

"Nii-san, what happened? Who did this?" Sasuke sounded incredibly scared, but that would only be natural finding both his parents dead in their room, his brother that he admired and loved more than anyone else, standing over his friend, who was passed out on the floor, bleeding. Someone older or less attached to either side would immediately know who the culprit was. But Sasuke's innocence and love for his brother immediately dismissed the possibility that Itachi could ever hurt their parents and his friend.

Itachi cursed. He had hoped to be out of the Compound by the time Sasuke got here. But it seemed that Tsuneo stalled him just enough. With a silent apology to his brother, he spoke.

"I will show you." Activating his Mangekyou, he used Tsukuyomi on his brother. As Sasuke screamed, he finally let his tears fall. For his parents who he loved, his brother, and Tsuneo, one of the only people outside his family who saw not a prodigy who brought glory to his clan, but a teen who just wanted to protect his family and help his brother above all else. He hoped that Tsuneo could figure out the reason this had to be done. With his part done, he quickly left the scene and, his tears still falling, left the village. He had never noticed that before Tsuneo's eyes had closed, they had changed to a blue iris with three white tomoe.

-Flashback End-

Tsuneo finished his story, and Yugito was shocked to hear what had happened. Her heart went out to him, and she could see the pain in his eyes when he told of what happened to Mikoto.

"I'm sorry for bringing up such a painful memory." Yugito apologized, but he just waved her off.

"It's alright. This was bound to come up sooner or later anyway. If I hadn't wanted to tell you, I wouldn't have. Besides, it feels nice to get it off my chest a bit." He gave her a small smile. Yugito realised that this was the first time Tsuneo had smiled since she had met him. Another question popped in her head, and she didn't hesitate to let him know what it was.

"So, are you going to chase down Itachi and kill him?" The Namikaze shook his head.

"No." And no more was said about the subject. Tsuneo had found out later about the real reason Itachi killed all of the Uchiha. He had witnessed Jiraiya using the Transparency Technique, and copied it with his Sharingan that he acquired. Apparently, his doujutsu gave him the ability to steal an opponent's chakra and blood and assimilate it into his own, giving him his bloodline if they had one. To steal someone's bloodline required physical contact with a large portion of their blood and chakra. In theory, he could give someone a bloodline he had if he so wished, as well. Though he didn't really need to test it at the moment. However, it also had some drawbacks. Using a bloodline acquired this way took a lot more chakra than if he acquired it naturally, almost as much as if it were an implanted doujutsu. He could only use one bloodline at a time, and he could not switch from bloodlines endlessly. He would have to deactivate an active bloodline, wait at least a minute, if not more, and then activate the next. Activation of a bloodline also took quite a good bit of chakra.

Back to the main point, he had copied Jiraiya's Transparency Technique and used it during a meeting of the Hokage and his advisors. He found out that his "father" had ordered the Uchiha Massacre, as it was dubbed, because of a Coup D'etat planned by the Uchiha. While he agreed that Minato made the right call for the village as Hokage, he didn't take into account that there may have been innocents that night who were slaughtered. Many of the young Uchiha probably knew nothing of the plan to overthrow the Hokage. He had no idea if Mikoto was even in on the idea either, though it seemed unlikely. She was one of the more level-headed of the Uchiha, and was not obsessed with power, unlike many of the other Sharingan users. That was when his hate for Minato reached its peak. He knew that Minato probably tried every other option before turning to massacre, but he still killed many innocents that night, and ruined two brothers' chances for happiness.

Since then, he had grown more distant from Sasuke, rather disappointed that he had become more like his father than his mother or brother. Sasuke hated Itachi and wished to kill him. He understood where Sasuke was coming from, feeling the same thing when he attacked Itachi. However, Sasuke was obsessed with revenge and seemed to care about nothing else. Even neglecting one of the other Uchihas who had survived the Massacre. A child by the name of Akari Uchiha. He was forced to go to the orphanage, since, even if Sasuke wanted to take care of him, which he didn't, Sasuke was too young to take care of another child. He had visited the orphanage a few times, and had to admit, he was glad he didn't go there. It wasn't in the best condition, something he probably should've brought up with the Hokage, but there was no turning back now. Tsuneo looked up to realize that it was getting rather late.

"We should probably go." Tsuneo spoke through the somewhat comfortable silence. Yugito just nodded and stood up. The two walked on in silence, neither of them really the type to small talk. Tsuneo let a silent tear go down his face in memory of Mikoto. He still deeply regretted what he did so stupidly. Sometimes he would have nightmares and hallucinations of the event. More often, they were twisted memories, instead of him rushing in to kill Itachi and missing, he was purposefully stabbing his mother figure in the most damaging and pain-inflicting places possible. Yugito didn't miss her companion's silent grief, but didn't comment on it, not really knowing how to react.

It's been awhile, but hopefully you guys liked it. not much to say, just stay tuned for the next chapter!