Hello everyone.

It's been a while, but here is another chapter of Reaching Reason.

I'm very glad that everyone is enjoying the story for the most part, reading your reviews really fuels my motivation.

As someone with no writing experience past twelfth grade English back in highschool and no real passion for writing, I am honestly surprised at how addicted I am to coming up with ideas for this story. I don't think I've been this passionate about something since I was a child.

As it stands now the story is now much, much more fleshed out in my notes. There are events planned all the way up to an ending that I hope will surprise you. I estimate that at the rate I'm going the story should be about 200-250k words in length. That is my goal.

Also, I will try not to overdo it. The last thing I want is to experience burnout which may lead to a hiatus.

Enough of that, thanks for reading my little message.

I guess we should get going. If we wait any longer Naruto might be late to the academy.

*Revised 10/26/23*

Chapter 3: Crimson Hue

In a worn down apartment deep in the residential district, Naruto Uzumaki could be seen slouched uncomfortably in a wooden chair. His cheek rested against the scratched surface of a table that he'd scavenged from a pile of garbage one day. Next to the boy's head lay an open book with leaves strewn about around it.

The page that the book was opened to described rudimentary ways that one could improve their chakra control and focus. One such way involved using nothing but your chakra to stick a leaf onto different parts of the body.

Naruto suddenly let out a groan of discomfort and turned his head over in order to let the other side of his face take some torment from the hard tabletop. Unfortunately, this action caused the book to be evicted from its perch atop the table and in an act of revenge, it slammed onto the floor with a loud bang.

Naruto shot out of the chair, his hand already retrieving a kunai. He held the blade in front of him horizontally, and lowered his stance into a defensive position.

"Who's there?!" he yelled, his eyes darting around the apartment wildly.

Eventually his gaze landed on the now closed book that lay on the floor.

"..Heh, It was just a book. I pulled a kunai on a damn book." He sighed and bent down to retrieve the culprit.

As soon as his fingers touched the rough leather spine of the tome, he froze. His eyes locked onto the second to last word in the title; 'Beginner's Guide to Chakra: Academy Edition'.

Whipping his head in the direction of the window, he found that the sun was already well on its way towards the middle of the sky.

He threw the book back onto the table, sending leaves flying around his kitchen.

'I'm going to be late, I have to get going!'

He grabbed one of the five remaining ration bars out of the cabinet, tore into the wrapper and bit into it as he rushed out of the door.

He took a deep breath as a circular building entered his vision. The sight of students of various years filtering into the building filled him with relief.

'Good, I made it in time. It wouldn't do me any good to be late on my first day,' he thought as he wiped the crumbs of his breakfast off of his mouth.

Naruto casually strolled up to the building entrance where a line had formed in front of a gray haired Chunin. The man was collecting waivers and documents from the parents of children who were enrolling for the first time.

The kid in front of him hugged his parents, then anxiously pushed open the doors before disappearing inside.

The Chunin scribbled something onto his clipboard and called out to the next person in line.

Naruto stepped forward.

The gray haired man took one glance at him then looked back at his clipboard. His eyes scanned its contents for a moment then he shook his head.

"You need a parent's signature to join the academy, try again next year. Next!" The Chunin waved forward the next person in line.

Before he could protest, another man with a brown ponytail and a scar across his face exited the building.

"Hold on, Mizuki. He might be the one the Hokage told us about." The man looked from Mizuki to Naruto. "What's your name?"

Naruto shifted on his feet. 'The Hokage personally told them I'd be joining the academy?'

"I am Naruto Uzumaki," he said, looking the brown haired man in the eyes.

The man gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and nodded. "Perfect, the Hokage told us that you'd be here. My name is Iruka Umino, I'll be your teacher for the next six years. You can go on inside and look for room 21C, I'll be there shortly after all new students are accounted for!"

Naruto nodded and pushed open the door to the academy. The cool air in the building enveloped him, causing goosebumps to rise on his skin.

'21C.. All these rooms are in the tens.. must be on the second floor,' he thought, heading towards the stairs.

The classroom was buzzing with conversation between aspiring ninja. Some expressed their excitement at the prospect. Others spoke of their nervousness in an attempt to find solace in those who relate.

A few could not care less about their situation, even despised it.

'It's too noisy, everyone here is so loud. I hope I can graduate as fast as Itachi so I don't need to deal with this for four whole years,' A young raven haired girl thought to herself as she rested her cheek in the palm of her hand.

Sasuki Uchiha's first day at the academy wasn't going the way she'd hoped it would. She thought it would be action packed, informative, and most of all; quiet. She tried to remain inconspicuous by sitting in the far corner of the room, but to her ire, the boys in the class kept stealing glances at her anyways.

Looking out the window to her left, she sighed and idly began to adjust the bandages on her arms before checking over the rest of her attire. She wore a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol emblazoned proudly on the back and plain gray pants.

After confirming that her clothes were still pristine, her mind drifted to her training.

'I need to ask Itachi if he can train with me again..' She thought back to their previous session. 'That boy Itachi spoke of.. I wonder if he will be here.'

Catching something in her peripheral vision and she directed her gaze forward once again. What she saw was a grinning, brown haired boy wearing a long sleeved shirt and shorts with red triangles on his face.

The boy extended his hand and spoke entirely too loud for how close he was.

"Hey! I'm Kiba Inuzuka. What do you say we have lunch together later, Sasuki Uchiha right?"

Sasuki, along with the other boys in the classroom, stared at Kiba incredulously. 'Is he being serious? He's the loudest one here, no thanks.'

Just as she was about to respond, the door to the classroom opened and in walked the crimson haired boy that had just invaded her thoughts moments ago. She watched as he looked around the room, probably trying to find a place to sit.

'It's him, Naruto Uzumaki.' She watched his eyes stop their roaming when he spotted the two empty seats beside her.

Kiba, now realizing that Sasuki was no longer paying attention to him, followed her eyes to Naruto who was leisurely walking up the stairs with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

"So you like that guy huh? I bet he's nothin' special, I'm probably way stronger than him," he said, glaring at Naruto.

Sasuki scoffed and folded her arms.

"No, I don't really like anybody. Especially loud people who invade my personal space."

Kiba returned his gaze to Sasuki with a raised brow.

"Really? Coulda fooled me with the way you were staring at him." He looked back to Naruto who was now only a few feet away. "Hey you, what's your relationship with Sasuki?"

Naruto blinked at the random question.

"My relationship with who?"

Kiba pointed to the raven haired Uchiha who was now glaring at the unruly boy.

"Her! Do you two know each other?" he asked suspiciously.

Cerulean met Onyx for the second time and Naruto frowned when Sasuki looked away.

"No, I've never spoken with her in my life," he said, still staring at the Uchiha.

Kiba's expression shifted into a smile and he extended his hand.

"Heh, well don't get any funny ideas, new guy. Kiba Inuzuka."

Naruto looked at the offered limb for a few seconds then looked Kiba in the eyes.

He accepted the handshake with a firm grip. "Naruto Uzumaki."

The door opened again, revealing two more newcomers. The first was a long and dark haired girl with pearly white eyes. She was dressed in a white robe with loose sleeves and a gray apron around her waist. The second was a slightly taller dark haired kid. He wore a hoodie with a high collar that covered his mouth and glasses over his eyes.

Kiba took one look at the white-eyed girl and was instantly enthralled.

"Sorry guys, gotta go!" he said before darting down the stairs, knocking over anyone in his path.

Upon reaching the new object of his adoration, he began his spiel.

"Hey! I'm Kiba Inuzuka, what do you say we-"

The white eyed girl held up a pale hand.

"No, now move out of my way."

Kiba's mouth hung open in shock at the blunt denial, but he refused to give up.

"...I just wanted to know if you wanted to have lunch together, what's your name?"

"Hinata Hyuuga. Now move, final warning." The veins near her eyes bulged slightly and she spread her feet further apart, shifting her stance.

Clenching his teeth, Kiba stomped up the stairs and sat back in his seat in the middle of the room.

The classroom erupted in whispers and gossip at the cold display Hinata put on.

One kid nudged his friend. "Hey, I heard she forced her own sister to be her servant for her whole life.."

"Wow, that's so cruel. Who would even do that?" another boy responded.

"I don't know, but I'd stay away from her if I were you," said a young girl.

Naruto and Sasuki watched the Hyuuga heir as she ascended the stairs and found herself a seat far from Kiba.

Naruto finally took his seat next to the bored looking Uchiha. 'A Hyuuga. She looks like she holds herself highly. Those other students spoke of her condemning her own sister to be her servant.. Curious.'

The hooded boy that entered the room at the same time as Hinata wordlessly headed up the stairs. He ended up in the corner where Naruto and Sasuki were, then took the aisle seat next to Naruto.

The trio simply sat there in silence, a stark contrast with the rest of the class.

'At least they aren't loud,' Sasuki thought, glancing at the strange boys to her side.

The door to the classroom opened for a third time and in walked a smiling Iruka.

"Quiet down class, we will begin with introductions. I am Iruka Umino, and if you haven't heard, I'll be your sensei for the next six years."

A brown haired boy raised his hand.

Iruka pointed to the boy. "Yes?"

"U-Um, you said six years? I heard that the standard academy courses lasted four years.."

Murmers spread throughout the classroom.

Iruka nodded in confirmation.

"That's right. Fortunately or unfortunately for you all, depending on how you see it, the Hokage has decided that the academy duration should be extended for better instilment of Shinobi principals."

Several students groaned in disapproval.

Iruka leaned against the chalkboard, making sure to look at each student individually.

"There are a few things that you all should know before we begin. For one, this is not an ordinary school. All of you are here to learn how to be shinobi. The profession isn't going to be a lax one. You will be asked to do things that will terrify you, and you will see things that you will be unable to forget." He paused for a moment to let the information sink in. "I thought it would be important to tell you all the truth about being a shinobi. This is not a game. I urge each of you to evaluate why you're here. If you decide to stay, that's on you."

He picked up a piece of chalk and began to draw a map of the elemental nations on the chalkboard.

"I will learn who each of you are in time, but for now let's begin. We have a lot of information to cover. We will start with the Warring States Period, I suggest you take notes." He cleared his throat. "Before the formation of the Hidden Villages, countries would hire various ninja clans as mercenaries to.."

Naruto sighed and leaned back in his chair. 'History? I already know about all of this.. I knew this was a waste of time.'

Looking out the window past Sasuki who scrambled to find her notebook, he chewed on Iruka's words. 'Being a shinobi.. If I don't seriously try I may actually die.. Is this really what I want to do?'

".. and so that concludes the Warring States Period. Tomorrow, we will begin with the formation of the Hidden Villages." Iruka picked up the eraser and wiped the chalkboard clean. "To finish off the day we will have our first group sparring session. Everyone, follow me outside."

The entire class stood and followed Iruka to the training ground behind the academy. There was a series of posts to practice Taijutsu, and targets for ranged weapons. In the very center of the field was a circle about ten feet in diameter.

"Alright everyone, these matches will be chosen at random. You do not need to win in order to receive points, this is just a baseline test to see where everyone stands. Since there is an odd number of students, one of you will have to fight two matches."

He looked at his clipboard and scanned the names. "Right, the first match will be…"

Naruto spaced out at the call of two random names he didn't recognize. He watched as they threw sloppy punches at each other until Iruka called the match. He decided to observe the rest of his classmates when the next two names were called.

A pink haired girl was being comforted by a blond haired girl, presumably about her upcoming turn to spar. A boy with spiky hair in a pony tail was laying on the ground with his hands behind his head and his eyes closed. Next to the sleeping boy was a chubby kid furiously eating potato chips. The boy with the red triangles on his face from before was watching the fights intently, clearly impatient for his turn.

Directly to his sides were the odd boy from earlier with the glasses and Itachi's sister.

He watched Sasuki stand there with her arms crossed and came to a realization. 'There are a lot of clan kids in this class. A Hyuuga, Uchiha, Inuzuka, and an Akimichi I believe. Maybe even more.'

"...match is Naruto Uzumaki versus Hinata Hyuuga. The winner of this match will also fight in the next one. Both of you please make your way into the ring and make the sign of confrontation."

He blinked at the call of his name and looked at Hinata who was already heading to the circle. Cracking his neck, he did the same.

The expressionless children stood opposite each other and held up the sign of confrontation, awaiting the signal from their sensei.

Iruka looked from Naruto to Hinata. "Remember, non-lethal moves only. You are only aiming to win the spar, not kill your classmate. Begin!"

Naruto stood still and watched Hinata make a hand sign.

"Byakugan!" she yelled and the veins near her eyes bulged.

She darted towards him shooting her right hand forwards in a series of jabs.

Naruto swatted as many of the jabs away as he could, only taking a couple of hits.

After batting away one final jab aimed at his shoulder, he saw an opening in her guard.

Quickly capitalizing on the opportunity, he launched a punch at her side.

His fist was caught with Hinata's left arm. Still having a free hand, he launched another attack.

Acting quickly, Hinata used her right hand to jab various points on the captured limb before backflipping away from the incoming fist.

Naruto looked as his arm hung limply at his side.

'What did she do to me? I can't move it..' He looked back up to his opponent with narrowed eyes. 'She only seems to be attacking with her right hand and she blocked my attacks with her left.'

Naruto was the one to rush forward this time in an attempt to catch her off guard.

He feigned a punch to the left side causing her to bring up her guard. His fist opened and he grabbed her arm instead.

With a grunt of exertion, he lifted his leg in a low kick to her right side to to test his theory.

Hinata grit her teeth as she watched the attack. 'I can't block it.. If I do, it might act up again..'

The kick made contact and she let out a gasp of pain.

Naruto let go of her arm and tried to make distance only to find that his leg was stuck.

Hinata glared at the redhead boy, taking a hit like that from a nobody was an embarrassment to the Hyuuga clan. She held his leg with her left arm and jabbed dozens of seemingly random points on his leg with her right before shoving it away, throwing him off balance.

Naruto fell to the dirt, clutching his now useless arm and leg. Red welts started to appear across both limbs.

Hinata patted her shoulder and smirked down at the boy.

"I closed most of the chakra points in your arm and leg. You won't be able to stand or mold chakra for the rest of the day. The match is over, sensei."

Iruka walked over to Naruto with a neutral face.

"The winner is Hinata Hyuuga due to disabling her opponent. Naruto, are you alright?"

Not recieving an answer, he looked at Hinata and spoke sternly.

"Hinata, get back over here and reopen his chakra points. We're all from the leaf village, there should be no hostility between us."

Hinata huffed. "Hm, fine. I can barely see chakra points still, so no guarantee I'll be able to reopen them all."

Naruto could feel his chakra boiling. It always responded to his anger like this. Normally he would force himself to calm down, because he found that he only got more angry when his chakra behaved like this.

This time he let the familiar heat wash over him.

His arm and leg made sickening popping sounds, as if someone cracked their knuckles. He winced at each pop.

He forced his leg to function through the pain and shakily came to a stand.

His blue eyes now had a slit down the middle and he glared daggers at Hinata.

Hinata gasped as she watched a massive amount of chakra force his chakra points open, nearly destroying them in the process.

"I-Impossible.. You shouldn't even be able to move your leg, let alone stand," she spoke in a whisper.

She looked up to his face and flinched at the expression, seeing a different set of eyes in place of Naruto's. 'That look on his face, just like father.. I hate it!'

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. 'This is pointless. The match is over.'

He opened his eyes again and extended his fingers to form the sign of reconciliation.

Hinata looked at the outstretched appendage with disgust. She merely brushing her fingers with his and returned to the circle for the next match.

Iruka jotted something down before calling the next name.

"The next match will be Sasuki Uchiha versus Hinata Hyuuga. Sasuki, please come forward and make the sign of confrontation."

Sasuki watched the fight with interest and the call of her name started for the ring.

A hand grabbed her wrist, stopping her. Following the arm with her eyes she saw that it was Naruto who stopped her. She raised a thin, dark brow in confusion.

Naruto spoke quietly so as to not let anyone else hear.

"She attacks with her right hand and defends with her left. You can exploit that." He let her go and put his hands back into his pockets.

Nodding slowly at the information, she continued towards the ring.

White eyes stared into onyx and Hinata smirked.

"I would say let's see who's eyes are superior, but you don't even have the Sharingan do you? What a pity."

Sasuki growled at the insult. "I don't need the Sharingan to win this spar, Hyuuga."

Hinata's smirk grew wider and she activated her Byakugan.

Iruka sighed at the banter but watched intently anyways.

"Begin!"

Both children flew into action, they met in the center in a flurry of blows.

Sasuki tilted her head to the left, then to the right to evade the quick jabs.

After batting away an attack that left Hinata overextended, she decided to launch a counterattack of her own.

Her strikes flew in an efficient, calculated manner that Hinata valiantly tried to dodge or block with only her left hand.

To her credit, only two hits made it through.

It was enough though as Hinata winced from the pain that exploded from her side where Naruto had kicked her before.

Sasuki's eyes widened as she saw her chance to finish the spar.

Remembering Naruto's words, she launched more attacks to her right side and a firm kick to Hinata's chest.

Hinata was sent out of the ring clutching her stomach. She glared daggers at Sasuki who simply smirked in return.

Iruka quickly jotted things onto his clipboard. "Winner is Sasuki Uchiha by being the last one remaining in the ring."

"Hah, told you. Guess the Sharingan would be superior if I can beat you even without it," Sasuki taunted.

"Tch, whatever." Hinata said, returning to the rest of the students.

Iruka shook his head at the display and continued.

"The next match is.."

"Alright class, that's everything I have for today. Some of you are already very talented, and all of you have potential. Some of you need more work than others, but that's okay. We've only just begun. That's all, you can go," Iruka said, smiling at the students who beamed at the praise.

Sasuki turned to look for Naruto to ask why he had helped her only to her surprise, he was already gone.

Shrugging, she began her trek to the Uchiha clan compound.

'I can't wait to tell mother, father, and bog brother about my first day!' she thought.

However, during her walk, a chill crept up her spine. Something just seemed.. off.

She picked up the pace, nearly breaking into a sprint. Soon the familiar walls of the Uchiha compound greeted her and filled her with relief. What was odd was the fact that there were no guards at the entrance like there normally was.

'Huh, weird. Must be a clan meeting right now or something,' she thought as she ran through the quiet, vacant streets.

As she rounded the corner and closed in on her home, her feet stepped in something wet.

Then the smell hit her, causing her to gag and her eyes to water. She pinched her nose in order to keep from vomiting and looked up.

The street was littered with dead Uchiha.

They all had kunai deeply embedded into various vital points. They had been butchered quickly and efficiently, clearly putting up little resistance. At the end of the street she spotted two familiar looking corpses.

Just this morning they had greeted her kindly.

She ran past many lifeless bodies, only looking at two that belonged to people she once held dear.

When she got closer, she saw that they were still in each others lifeless arms. Even in death they embraced.

"A-Aunti? Uncle? What is this?" her voice shook as she tried to make sense of what she saw.

Her attention was torn from the bloodied form of her beloved aunt and uncle when a scream and a grunt came from her house followed by three thuds.

She didn't even feel her feet rapidly taking her to the source of the noise.

She slammed open the door to her house and darted inside, not even bothering to take off her shoes, and ran up the stairs. She stood in front of the closed door to her mother and father's room and she hesitated. Whoever did this had to be on the other side of that door.

She was scared. Scared of what that scream meant. Scared of what she saw outside. Scared of what might happen to her.

Shaking her head, she tried to remain calm. Bringing up a quivering hand, she opened the door slowly, cringing when its creaking echoed throughout the room that lie ahead.

The horrible scene that she'd experienced in the street below was nothing compared to what greeted her now.

Itachi had his throat cut, his dull eyes staring blankly ahead into the ceiling. His ANBU uniform was tattered and his own blade was shoved in his heart. Her fathers head and his body were separated. His neck still spurted fluid occasionally and his eyes were missing from their sockets. His face was stricken with tears of blood.

But it was her mother who she couldn't take her eyes off of.

Her once exuberant eyes were now lifeless as they stared directly into her own like a doll, unmoving, unblinking. Her mouth was held open in a perpetual scream of agony. She did not die painlessly as evident by the various wounds that marred her once flawless body.

"Oh Sasuki, you always were a naïve runt." A familiar voice spoke from the shadows.

She subconsciously took a heavy step back, then another.

"W-Who's there! I'll.. I'll kill you for this!" she screamed, shakily drawing a kunai.

A raspy chuckle filled the room and shook her to her core. The speaker stepped forward into the moonlight that entered the room from the windows.

Her heartbeat quickened and her grip on the weapon tightened as more and more of the figure was illuminated. Why couldn't she remember who this was? She heard this voice before.. many times in fact.

Two fully matured Sharingan glowed in the darkness just as the person's was revealed to her.

"C-Cousin Shisui? You.. you did this?"

Her mind shattered. She tried to make sense of it all, she tried.

"Why.. why would you do it?!"

The smirk on Shisui's face vanished as he turned to look at the corpse of his best friend.

"Why? You wouldn't even begin to understand why even if I told you. I've done all I set out to accomplish, you aren't even worth killing." He closed his eyes. "But.. I can't have you telling everyone about this now can I?"

Sasuki watched in horror as Shisui slowly opened his eyes revealing a strange looking Sharingan. Blood streamed steadily from his eyes and nose.

Onyx met crimson and she watched Shisui mouth a word that she couldn't quite decipher.

Then, nothing.

Her racing mind came to a screeching halt. The kunai she was clutching simply slipped out of her grip. There were no longer any thoughts running rampant. The gravity and severity of what was happening around her simply didn't matter at the moment. She forgot why she was even here in the first place.

She was completely at ease.

Her eyelids felt heavy and she felt herself wavering on her feet. But she didn't care.

She didn't even feel herself falling or hitting the blood soaked floor with a thud.

Her consciousness waned, and she watching absently as Shisui went into a coughing fit. He hacked something up, then collapsed next to her dead brother.

A strange figure emerged from the ground just as her eyes closed.

Beep… beep… beep.

Sasuki woke to a rhythmic noise assaulting her eardrums. Her head throbbed with each infuriating beep. In an effort to distract herself from the noise, she tried focusing on the consistent rise and fall of her chest.

Grunting in annoyance when that failed, she blearily opened her pale eyelids only to see pure white. She hissed in pain at the intensity of the light and simply kept her eyes shut.

"What happened?" she whispered to herself.

As if some cruel god was listening to her, the vivid memories resurfaced in her mind. The stench, the blood, her family. It all came back in an instant. It replayed like a terrible movie over and over again.

The beeping of the machines meant to monitor her vitals grew more erratic, though she paid that no mind.

She could only picture the last thing she remembered.

Shisui collapsing next to her dead brother.

A guttural scream tore out of her throat and tears spilled in torrents down her cheeks. She noticed several nurses barge into the room and try to console her, but none of that mattered.

She felt a sharp pain in her arm and her vision began blurring once again.

Naruto leaned back in his chair in the back of the classroom and sighed.

Students were still filtering into the room every few minutes. Soon, Iruka would arrive and begin the lesson.

Turning to look out the window, he frowned when he saw the empty seat where Sasuki once sat. She hadn't come to class for two weeks now.

He wasn't a fool, he'd heard what happened.

–Flashback–

On one of his usual trips through the heart of the village, Naruto noticed something different about the villagers. Instead of the snide remarks they usually tended to mutter behind his back, they were busy talking amongst themselves about some tragedy.

Shrugging, he kept walking.

Tragedies happened every day, whatever happened probably wasn't special. He kept eavesdropping on their conversations out of curiosity anyways.

"Didn't you hear? The entire Uchiha clan was killed in a single night!"

Naruto paused, his blue eyes wide in shock.

'The Uchiha clan? Gone in a single night? That's impossible.. The Uchiha clan is one of the strongest clans in the village.' He kept listening.

"W-What seriously?! No one survived? Who could have done such a thing?"

"Well there was one survivor, Sasuki Uchiha, but.. Well, apparently she's really messed up. As for who could have done it, I overheard a couple of ninja mention the name Shisui Uchiha. Apparently his body was the only one that wasn't found."

"Wow.. poor girl. That's terrible."

Naruto's mind immediately pictured Itachi and Sasuki. Shoving his hands into his pocket, he resumed walking.

'A tragedy indeed..'

–Flashback End–

'I wonder if she will ever be back.. I don't think I would be if I were her.'

Footsteps grew louder behind him, someone was approaching. Thinking that it was the glasses boy, Naruto paid it no mind.

Until Sasuki sat quietly in her chair.

'She.. she's here. The last remaining Uchiha.' He observed her out of the corner of his eye.

Kiba ran up the stairs and stopped when he reached Naruto and Sasuki.

"Hey Sasuki, wanna eat lunch today? You haven't been to the academy lately, I think we have some catching up to do. What do ya say?" he said with a wink.

Sasuki simply stared ahead as if she heard nothing. 'Shisui.. they didn't find his body. But I saw him die. There is no one left.. and I am the last Uchiha.' She clenched her fists. 'I hate this.. I need to do something. If I'm left with my thoughts forever I'm going to..'

Naruto watched Sasuki visibly shake with emotion. Looking at Kiba, he shook his head.

"Not now, Kiba. Maybe you should go ask the rest of the students just why she hasn't been in class lately."

"What the- who do you think you are, huh? You think I'm just gonna stand here and-"

He was cut off by some kid who gossiped a little too loudly to his friend, earning the attention of the class.

"Yeah, that's her.. Her whole clan was murdered!"

Kiba blinked at that. 'M-Murdered?' He looked at his feet and frowned.

"I.. I'm sorry. I didn't know." He returned to his seat, leaving a shaking Sasuki.

"Alright class, put all your things away. We are going to have our sparring session now." Iruka said as he wiped a drawing of the chakra system off the chalkboard.

Kiba shot to his feet and sprinted to the training field.

"Yeah! Prepare yourselves, I'm gonna beat you all!"

The rest of the class followed the loud boy outside.

"Like usual, the matches are random. Let's just jump right into it then. Match one will be…"

Naruto stood next to Sasuki and couldn't help but stare at her. She was too much of an anomaly. 'Why was she the only one spared? Is there something special about her? This Shisui Uchiha.. What was he to her? So many curiosities.'

"Next match is Sasuki Uchiha versus Hinata Hyuuga. Both of you come to the ring," called Iruka.

Sasuki walked slowly to the ring looking at the ground. 'I saw him die.. right?'

Hinata walked into the ring with a smug look on her face.

Iruka looked at Sasuki with a concerned look. 'I don't know if I should be making her fight in this state. She barely even looks conscious with the way she keeps looking off into the distance.' He thought back to her last spar with Hinata. 'No.. she will be fine. She's an Uchiha.'

"Begin!"

Neither clan child moved from their position. Sasuki looked like she wasn't even paying attention and Hinata simply stood there with a smug look on her face.

"Hm, the last Uchiha. What a shame.. I suppose the Hyuuga clan is now the strongest clan in the village. This fight will be different from our last, Uchiha." Hinata spat.

Sasuki didn't respond to the jest, instead she looked at the dirt beneath her feet. 'If he's dead… then why does everyone keep saying that he lived?!' She suddenly grabbed her head as it throbbed in pain.

Activating her Byakugan, Hinata darted towards Sasuki, intent on finishing the fight quickly.

She aimed a jab at Sasuke's chest. This would surely irritate her lungs, making it hard to breathe for a couple of hours.

Before she the attack could connect, her hand was caught in a crushing grip. Her bones creaked under the shear force applied to them.

"L-Let me.. Go you worthless-Ahhhhhhh!" She screamed when Sasuki twisted her hand sharply, snapping it into an unnatural position.

Letting go of Hinata's hand, Sasuki glared through raven locks.

What Hinata saw as she clutched her wrist in pain shocked her to her core.

Two single tomoe Sharingan spun aggravatingly as they glared hatefully at her.

She didn't even react to the kick that sent her flying out of the ring.

Iruka looked at Sasuki in disbelief. The previous match they had was nearly a draw, but now she brutally dismantled Hinata.

"..Winner is Sasuki Uchiha due to being the last one remaining in the ring."

Returning back to her place in line, Sasuki looked back at the ground to brood.

Naruto watched Iruka go up to Hinata and talk to her about her wrist.

'She's different, that's for sure. A lot more efficient with her moves. That was over quickly.' He glanced at the raven haired girl that stood next to him again. 'But those eyes.. Was that the Sharingan?'

He turned to watch the next fight, but couldn't stop thinking about the look in her eyes.

A man with purple ringed eyes gazed dispassionately at the cloaked and masked figure that stood before him. His orange hair and cloak with red clouds flowed gracefully with the evening breeze.

"So you got my message after all. You are the one who exterminated the Uchiha clan," spoke the man with a commanding voice.

The masked figure didn't respond.

"The fact that you are here at all means you are interested to some extent. Tell me, what is your name?"

The eye holes of the mask glowed red.

"..Shisui Uchiha. I would like to join your organization," the masked man replied in a raspy voice.

The orange haired man nodded.

"I see.." He reached into his cloak retrieving a red ring with the Kanji for 'Crimson' on it. "Welcome to the Akatsuki, Shisui Uchiha."