„Aaaaa..."

„Come on, try at least one more time..."

„Aaaaa..."

„...to focus..."

„...choooo."

„...you on the target. Bless you," Kakashi said, looking at me with a tired expression.

I sniffled and nodded slowly. Damn. Actually, I had thought the cold was long gone, but apparently, something had remained after all. Well, I would still be able to deal with that.

Sighing, I wiped my sweaty face with my sleeve and took a deep breath before I let Raitonchakra flow through my legs again and ran towards the silver-haired man. Quick as a flash, he had pushed up his headband and presented me with his Sharingan. Abruptly I stopped directly in front of him.

No...that was not fair. With that, he could see my every move...except for.

„Don't give in now Tora...just because of the Sharingan."

Just?! That was easy for him to say. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

„You're forgetting that there's another Uchiha alive besides Sasuke...and just in case...if you ever run into him...which I hope under no circumstances..."

„Do you want me to be prepared... I got it...", I said impatiently, but my counterpart shook his head.

„Then you will be able to attack him in the best way. Because he won't see you coming...so again...attack me. And for real this time."

A grin flitted on my lips, and I made myself invisible.

Breathing heavily, I sat in the grass. Training with Kakashi was really exhausting, especially since the jonin didn't let me take a break to breathe. But he was right about that. In a real fight, the opponents would also give nothing to each other. In addition, it was necessary to improve my endurance, because in my opinion it was still very lacking. I had to become better, in order to be able to assert myself one day against my father.

He should see that I was no longer the small, weak Tora, who ran away from home with ten, but who was now on the best way to a real ninja... Shikamaru was already Chunin, which also included my desired goal. I almost became one too...only...yeah...why not, really?

„Kakashi-Sensei?", I asked.

„Hmm...what did you say?"

As if he had woken up from a dream, he looked at me. His eyes still seem slightly absent, and I suppressed a grin.

„Why wasn't I actually made a chunin after all?"

He raised an eyebrow, and a slight worry line began to grace his forehead.

„Why do you want to know?"

„Because it's important to me sensei," I replied unapologetically.

A sigh escaped the tall ninja and he dropped down next to me in the tall grass, leaning back a bit and looking at me seriously.

„They feel you can't be trusted, not only because of your past, but also your father's actions. If it were up to me, you'd be a chunin by now. And I know that we can all trust you, although sometimes you withdraw a little too much."

Seriously, he looked me in the eye.

„You should be more open with others ... then they will trust you too, I can promise you that. Don't always retreat into your shell."

„You must be saying that Sensei," it escaped me, but at the same moment his gaze sharpened, and I lowered my head, suspecting I had made a mistake.

„This is you we're talking about, not me. You want to get better, but that doesn't just include physical strength. Got it?"

I nodded.

„Little one ... try to take my words to heart. You don't have to come right out and say that you once were or are the intangible," he continued in a slightly softer tone. I screwed up my face but nodded afterwards.

„I'll try ... can't promise anything, though."

Kakashi straightened up and raised his hand.

„If you're already resisting it inside, you shouldn't even start ... but one day you'll know I was right, and it will be when it's too late."

Then he was gone, leaving me behind.

Some time later, I made my way back to the village. Kakashi's words were still buzzing around in my head. Was he right? Should I really approach the others more? But at the same time, I liked to be left alone, to be by myself...it was maddening. Why couldn't he understand me? Shikamaru would see it differently or at least be able to understand.

He was always annoyed by other people anyway.

But now that he had become a chunin, he would have to deal with them more often than he would have liked. I laughed to myself. This was going to be fun, but I wasn't going to bring it up to him. I could safely leave that to Naruto.

The fact that they did not want to make me a chunin because of my past I understood, but the other reason, because of my father's deeds, I could not and would not understand. What did I have to do with it? It was not fair that the children were measured because of the deeds of their parents. Some character traits were heritable, but ultimately a bullshit to put everything on it.

And above all, father had treated me very badly.

Kakashi had told me that someone must have helped him with his escape, who it had been, they had not yet found out, but it must have been a person from outside. He had killed two guards during his escape and had thus officially become a Nuke-Nin by the judgment of the Hokage. For me, only more disconcerting.

That meant he was running around free somewhere out there and could, if I left Konoha alone, simply attack. This fact was the sole reason why I had asked Kakashi to train me. Genma was currently on a mission, which was partly about following the trail of my father. Which relieved me on the one hand, but also frightened me. Especially for Genma's health.

Hopefully the mission would go well, and they could bring father back to prison. Although sometimes, as crazy as it sounded, I tried to understand his actions. Why he had done all this to me, or to Genma? Why had he divided our family?

Soon I would reach my 14th year and when I looked back on the last months, I could say that a lot had changed. Above all in the positive. Depressing for me was still the death of Hiruzen Sarutobi, which made especially my nights to the day.

Often, I had sneaked out of the village at night and sat down at the forest lake to think. Once Genma had caught me at it. With the exception of my father, that had been the worst trouble of my life. It was all well and good that Genma cared about me ... but then again, I wasn't that helpless.

My invisibility was a big bonus in many things, especially when it came to running away, then no one could catch me. At least that hadn't happened yet, and I hoped it would stay that way.

„Whoever you are, you're not from Konoha."

I looked up.

Hadn't that been Asumas voice just now?

„Asuma, Kurenai I haven't seen you in a long time," a cool, dark voice put in and instantly all the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. There was something about it I didn't like. Especially what was said.

I hurriedly made myself invisible, suppressed the chakra and always ran after the voices.

At the forest border a long road went along, beside it a clear river bubbled. Directly on this small road stood two ninjas in long black cloaks, on which there were many small red clouds. Their heads were covered with straw hats, so their faces were unrecognizable. An eerie silence reigned between them and the two Konoha-Nins, broken only by the cheerful murmur of the river.

Frozen in place, I sat on the tree diagonally above Kurenai and Asuma, looking down at the two strangers, not knowing what to do. My hands clung to the thick branch, shaky and sweaty. Somehow, the two of them intimidated me completely. Even though I couldn't see much, the sheer aura was enough.

When the smaller of the two reached for his strange hat and took it off, the little bell on it rang softly. Spellbound, my gaze followed the movement of his hand. His fingernails had a purple nail polish. Which man wore something like that? Or did it have a special meaning, just like the ring on his finger?

As Kurenai and Asuma sucked in a startled breath, I looked up as well.

Pale skin, coupled with black hair, a cold expression, and ... blood-red eyes ... I paused. This could not be. It was downright impossible. And yet I saw it now before me.

A Kekkei Genkai, which only the members of the Uchiha carried.

The Sharingan.