The students filed out of the classroom and went their separate ways. It had been a week since Sasuke had mastered Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu. The weekly spars had just ended. The Uchiha was as disappointed as his rival that there was no 'Uchiha-Uzumaki II' as Kōta had dubbed Naruto and Sasuke's fights. Sasuke was still pleased with his performance. He was in first place overall with twenty-six points. Unfortunately, Naruto and the Hyūga girl were close behind with twenty-one points. The Uchiha would never deny that he disliked the pair, but he respected and was grateful for them. They were more skilled than he would ever admit and pushed Sasuke to greater and greater heights.

Sasuke headed for the shuriken training area behind the Academy. There was someone waiting for him there. He stifled a groan when he recognized Haruno Sakura leaning against a training log. There was a part of his brain telling him to just leave. He couldn't stand his 'fangirls' and Sakura was the most vocal of the horde. Worse, she didn't even come from a traditional clan. Her family was civilian. Sasuke admitted that the Haruno family did have a point in their favor; they were bankers.

"Sasuke-kun, I have a favor to ask you." Sakura smiled sweetly.

The Uchiha kept a comfortable distance. "I'm in a good mood so I'll listen."

Sakura brightened immediately. He had spoken to her! "I want you to train me."

"Hn."

The pinkette pretended that the verbal shrug was a 'why' and simply continued. "I can't stand losing to that stuttering Hyūga bitch!"

Sakura suddenly realized what she had said and bit her lip. She hadn't been planning on saying anything like she had just done.

Her outburst caught Sasuke's attention. The need to be the best was driving her forward and he could respect that. "Did you ask me because you think I'm the strongest in the class or because you are a fangirl?"

Sakura surprised Sasuke again. "It's a bit of both to be honest. No point in lying. You're clearly the best and if anyone has way to counter the not-so-Gentle Fist, it's your clan."

It was an open secret that Sasuke was developing into quite the Uchiha supremacist. The fangirls always used complimenting his clan in shallow attempts to get Sasuke's attention. Sasuke realized Sakura's attempt to approach him was grounded in the desire to surpass her rival. The Uchiha could appreciate that desire. He saw the same emotion in Sakura's eyes that he knew his own eyes possessed. They both despised their rivals while giving them a level of grudging respect.

"Alright, let's get started."

It took a moment for Sakura to process what Sasuke had just said. "Thank you, Sasuke. Don't hold back, the china doll certainly won't."

Sasuke laughed. He'd have to remember that one for later. "Show me your taijutsu stance."

Sakura suddenly felt like a rabbit being circled by a bird of prey. "Sakura, your stance is too narrow. No wonder, Hinata can knock you over so easy."

Sakura changed her stance per Sasuke's orders. The pink haired girl knew better than to kid herself into thinking they were suggestions. "Better now, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke nodded. "Much better, now attack me."

"How hard are you going to strike back?"

The raven haired genius arched an eyebrow. He had to admit that the girl was smarter than he thought. "Hard enough."

The number two kunoichi launched herself at her tutor and was soundly trounced in seconds. She got back up and tried again. The result remained the same. After three more attempts, she was exhausted.

"I certainly can't fault your drive." Sasuke smirked at the painting girl. "You need a lot of work. Endurance is your big problem. Also, if you want to beat a Jukken fighter, you need to dodge."

There was a fire in her eyes. "What are we waiting for? Let's keep working!"

No, he definitely couldn't fault her drive.

"Kiba, you are one of my best friends, but I have to say this. What the hell are you even talking about?"

Naruto pointed with his chopsticks. Kiba simply shrugged. "I'm just saying that we should prank the teme."

It was tempting it really was. There were only four problems: Kō, Hiashi, Hizashi and Hinata. "You're talking about making him drink dog piss. I'd prank him, but I don't want Fugaku and half the military police kicking down my door for killing Sasuke. Don't get me wrong, he's a complete bastard. I just don't think that's a good idea."

Kiba stuffed his face with ramen for a minute. "God, does being in the Hyūga compound drain all fun away?"

"It's the ultimate goal of the council, but father and Hiashi-sama are trying to stop them." A new voice joined the conversation. Neji sat down next to Naruto and ordered some beef ramen and tea.

Naruto patted Neji on the back. "Let me guess, the council tried to ban happiness again?"

The Branch House prodigy chuckled. "Yes. Anyway, what's this about pranking Sasuke?"

Kiba paid Old Man Ichiraku for the ramen before leaning back and nodding 'sup' to Neji. "He's a teme."

Neji rolled his eyes. "We've established that. What's his latest offense against nature?"

A customer three seats down jumped when Naruto slammed his empty bowl down. "He called Hinata-chan worthless."

Neji's Byakugan activated on its own accord. The genius's natural big brother instincts were now fully active. "That bastard! Oh, we are going to make him miserable."

Naruto and Kiba spoke in unison. "Welcome to the club."

Sakura was exhausted, filthy and bruised in more places than she could count. Her parents practically ran her over when she came in the door.

"Sakura-chan! Where have you been? Why are you so beat up?" Her mother was almost frantic.

"We were worried about you dear." Her father was almost calm.

Sakura took a deep breath and tried to contain her excitement. She failed and released her inner fangirl. She squealed. "I've been training with Sasuke-kun!"

Her parents were stunned into silence. "The son of the Uchiha Clan head?"

Sakura nodded happily as thoughts of being connected to the most powerful clan in the village danced in her parents' minds.

Sakura's mother practically dragged her daughter to the kitchen table. "You need to eat."

A plate practically materialized in front of the young girl. Her father sat down next to his daughter. He was very curious about this training. Sakura wasn't exactly trying to hide her bruises.

"What were you working on?

Sakura downed the rice. "Dodging. My taijutsu can't compete with the Hyūga's Jukken. I hate to admit it, but China Doll has been beating me in all our spars."

"China Doll?" Sakura's equally pink haired mother asked from the pantry.

"The infuriatingly fragile looking Hyūga heiress." Sakura blew her bangs out from in front of her eyes. "She's in first place among all the aspiring kunoichi. I have her beat in academics, but she is far and away the best at taijutsu. That bloodline limit of hers doesn't hurt either."

Her father grasped her hand. "Honey, you should be very proud of yourself. Think about it. The only person really competing with you is the heiress of one of Konoha's major clans. She's someone who has been training since she could walk."

"I still want to beat her! I can't stand how fake she is!" The Harunos exchanged worried glances. "Hinata keeps going on about how she isn't any good with Jukken. Then she turns around and taunts me about how she tries harder against her three year old sister! And that annoying Naruto that follows her around like a stray dog is even worse!"

The young girl wasn't sure if the exhaustion was bringing these feelings to the forefront or if something distant was drawing them forth. Sakura suddenly felt cold.

Naruto sneezed while finishing his homework. He slid his History of the Shinobi System worksheet into his backpack. Kō had been asleep for a few hours already. Evidently, his proctor was working him to the bone. Naruto had never heard of 'Yamato' before, but he must be pretty hard core. It would be a new experience for Naruto when his nii-san started going on missions. Naruto was looking forward to hearing about the missions. The blond was also realistic enough to be worried for Kō.

Naruto brutally suppressed the melancholy thoughts and flopped into bed. The boy lay silently for several minutes staring at the ceiling. There was something new preventing him from sleeping. Naruto never told anyone, but occasionally he would have trouble sleeping. Most of the time it was healthy excitement on big days such as birthdays. Other times, he would have a nagging fear that his life with Kō and the Hyūgas was a cruel dream and he would wake up huddling for warmth in some alley.

Those horrible nights weren't the worst however. Occasionally, he felt something ancient and angry slithering in his gut. Naruto couldn't describe the feeling very well. All the Uzumaki knew was that it horrified him.

MANGEKYŌ SHARINGAN!

Naruto shot up and glanced around the room fearfully. Where the hell did that come from? The boy gulped and clutched a practice kunai. He grasped for the lamp and nearly knocked it over in his furtive attempts to turn it on.

Naruto huddled under the light and was truly afraid.

Mikoto sat quietly with her husband. She had always loved moments like this. Fugaku was required to be a stern man in public. He was, after all, the head of the Military Police and the Uchiha Clan. In the private moments he shared with his wife; he was actually a soft and passionate man. Mikoto loved listening to her husband act like a little child when he spoke of his sons. Their marriage had been arranged but it defied many of the pitfalls such marriages usually had.

"I wish there was another way, my love." She rested her head on his shoulder.

Fugaku embraced his wife and kissed her on the top of her head. "As do I, but the Path has been set."

Mikoto drew her husband in closer. "I know, I know. I just wish we could have been there to dote on our grandchildren."

The Uchiha clan head chuckled. The laugh was twofold. First, he had always thought his wife was adorable when she pouted like that. Second, the loving conversation was completely at odds with the macabre symphony echoing through the District. The screams of his dying clansmen filled the air.

"I think Sasuke and Itachi would have been shocked by how much I would have spoiled my grandchildren." He sighed contentedly at the happy thought and that the noise would never pierce the powerful genjutsu isolating the district. "Welcome home, Itachi."

"Father, mother." Itachi's voice was hollow. Neither side bore any ill will towards the other. They each had their duty and they would fulfill it. Fugaku drew his wife close for one last kiss. Itachi drew his katana and damned himself.

Sasuke jogged home. He stayed at the practice field for a few hours after Sakura had nearly collapsed from exhaustion. The Uchiha was pleasantly surprised by the pink haired girl. Sakura had always struck him as the most annoying of the fangirls. She was way too loud at times. At the beginning of the term, Sasuke had dismissed her as simply cut from the same cloth as Naruto.

Today had changed that opinion. Sakura had chosen to admire him. The Haruno girl gravitated to him because she truly wanted to become stronger. He was noticing similarities that he shared with her. They both possessed an intense rivalry with the Hyūga and her lapdog. Sasuke was strongly considering allying himself with the number two kunoichi.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt very cold. The Uchiha district was unnaturally quiet. Normally, Sasuke would have heard the ruckus at Shig's Tavern by now. Sasuke liked that place. He was still too young to drink, but occasionally one of his clansmen would sneak him in so he could get a bite to eat. The food was really good there.

A presence descended around Sasuke. He looked up nervously and saw a shadowed figure with some kind of weapon perched on a power line.

The figure disappeared faster than Sasuke thought was humanly possible. Sasuke felt the unmistakable sensation of a powerful genjutsu fading away.

Sasuke screamed. The walls of the district were caked with blood and every couple feet there were fires from Grand Fireballs. Dozens of his clansmen littered the ground. Every one of them was killed. The young boy stumbled to one of the corpses. It was Kaori. She was a long retired ninja that always gave Sasuke an extra tomato when he went shopping. Kaori was very old and no longer a threat. Why had she been killed? Sasuke looked numbly over the dead bodies of his family.

Terror overtook him. Father! Mother! Sasuke ran faster than he had ever run. The races against Naruto seemed to be a snail's pace compared to his maddened rush.

"Don't come in Sasuke." The voice on the other side of the door wasn't one of his parents.

Sasuke slid the door open and stepped in despite the voice's command and his own survival instincts. "Father… Mother…"

The door suddenly shut behind them. Sasuke's eyes tried to mimic the door. He had to forget the sight in front of him. He had burn it from his memory. Sasuke couldn't live with the image of his parents' corpses cooling in a pool of their own blood. He couldn't live with the knowledge that his brother had murdered them.

"Why?" Sasuke felt the hot tears running down his face. Their heat was soon replaced by a hot cutting pain. Sasuke grunted as the pain in his shoulder flared. It forced him to open his eyes. Itachi stood there silently with his eyes closed.

"You know why."

The Uchiha brother's minds were both cracking under the fundamental pain they shared in that moment.

"Mangekyō Sharingan." Itachi's eyes finally opened and Sasuke drowned in a sea of pain.

Naruto and Kō both awoke to a world turned upside down. Naruto woke up Kō early and explained what had happened that night. The voice that had spoken of the Mangekyō Sharingan was a major concern, but there was no direct evidence that it was the Kyūbi.

Kō received summons to help with the investigation because of his Byakugan. He departed immediately and Naruto was left to his own devices. The walk with Hinata and Kiba to the Academy was in complete silence. Hinata was frightened by the thought of a ninja powerful and evil enough to butcher almost the entirety of the Uchiha Clan. She walked the entire way to school holding onto Naruto's arm like a life raft.

Class was subdued. The lessons were cut short and counselors were brought in to help the children cope. Ninja life was full of death and almost every Jonin developed some form of eccentricity. Konoha could not risk losing any Academy Students this year. The Hokage and Konoha Council agreed that a large and talented graduating class would minimize the loss of the Uchiha Clan.

The Sandaime Hokage graced the class with his presence. His kind words and grandfatherly nature helped calm many students' nerves. Sarutobi even took questions from the class. Many students were too stunned to ask any questions.

Sakura Haruno was not one of them. "Hokage-sama?" The Hokage acknowledged her. "The military police were almost exclusively Uchiha. Who is heading the investigation?"

The Hokage nodded. "An excellent question, Sakura-chan. I am personally overseeing the investigation. ANBU and members of the Hyūga, Inuzuka, and Yamanaka Clans will be assisting because of their clan specialties. I can tell that you have another question, young Sakura."

The pink haired girl gave voice to her deepest fears. It was the question everyone in the class wanted to ask. She knew many of the other fangirls thought Sasuke's condition was terrifying. Their childish fear was nothing next to the soul crushing pain Sakura was experiencing.

"How is Sasuke-kun, Hokage-sama?"

The class perked up at the question as they were all eager to hear the answer. "Sasuke-kun is recovering from the wounds he suffered. I am not permitting visitors at this time. His condition is delicate and he must be debriefed as soon as possible."

Iruka and Mizuki dismissed the class after the Hokage said his goodbyes and departed. Kiba, Hinata and Naruto lingered in the classroom.

"I… I can't believe th… the Uchiha are g… gone… They w… were one of the s…strongest clans in Konoha…" Hinata stared at her desk. Naruto grabbed her hand to comfort her. He knew what his best friend was thinking. Hinata was scared that the same thing could happen to her clan.

"Sasuke's still alive. The clan is still around…" Hinata was too focused on the tragedy of the previous night to blush at the physical contact. Naruto's attempt to cheer up Hinata was cut short.

"Why didn't you help the Uchiha?" The voice was so accusing that it took the trio a moment to recognize it.

"What… what are you t..talking about, Sakura-san?" Hinata looked up nervously.

Sakura glared and pointed at the pale eyed girl. "You Hyūga were so quick to take advantage of the Fire. Maybe you decided to sit out the Massacre because you knew it would help you even more!"

Naruto really didn't like Sakura's tone. "Look, Haruno. I know you are upset about what happened to Sasuke, but do not talk to Hinata-chan like that. I didn't sleep last night and I'm really not in the mood for your issues with my best friend."

"Oh shut up, you worthless guard mutt! You were probably up all night dancing that your better was probably de…"

Sakura's rant was cut off by a slap. All sound fled from the classroom. Naruto sat wide eyed at the show of emotion. Kiba, who had been growling at Sakura for her insults towards his pack, suddenly found it impossible to make a sound.

"Haruno Sakura, I know you dislike me. I can endure that. You will not insult my family nor will you disrespect Naruto-kun in such a manner."

Bitter tears fell and Sakura stormed out. Naruto and Kiba's jaws hit the floor.

Kiba excused himself muttering. "She's scarier than mom when angry!"

Hinata buried her face in her arms. "I… I made a huge m…mistake Naruto-kun. H…how could I do s…say such… horrible things."

The stunned blond rubbed his friends back. Naruto could hear her tears. "You didn't say anything wrong, Hinata-chan. All you did was defend me and your family. I'm glad you consider me important enough to defend like that."

Hinata couldn't bring herself to tell Naruto how truly important he was to her. "I.. hit her."

She didn't see Naruto shrug his shoulders. "She deserved it."

Hinata looked up and took comfort in Naruto's kind smile. "If you say so, Naruto-kun."

"Let's get out of here. Tell you what, I'll get you a cinnamon roll." Naruto felt better when he say a ghost of a smile on Hinata's lips. "Hey, Hinata-chan, I hope I never make you that mad. I bet that tone would have sent the temes on the Council running."

Hinata blushed slightly. I don't think I could ever be angry with you. "Ok, Naruto-kun."

Author's Notes: The onslaught of chapters continues. I think I might actually be a robot.

But I have an announcement/request/plea… (which is the real reason for this chapter truth be told)

I need a beta! Holy god, I didn't realize the number of typos I made in the earlier chapters! This won't be like Chains of the Kindred where I have four(!) Betas. I'll be taking at least one, probably two volunteers. Be warned, I don't plan on lessoning the insane pace I've set with this story. I'm having so much fun with this, I'm beginning to doubt if it's healthy! Contact me via PM if you want to volunteer to be overworked my beta. Again, I won't be slowing the pace until class starts back up in a few weeks. So, prepare to have an onslaught unleashed upon your inbox.