《Out of Foxes to Give》


 Naruto and Hospitals

    Through my many years of living there were times when I had inevitably come to dislike some things. As of now, I''m adding hospitals to the ever expanding list.


    And unholy monstrosities.


    I think, after a week and a half, of simply waking up and crying a bit that I had gotten all of the sense of loss out of my immediate system. Sure, the death of my parents was definitely still present in my mind. Can''t forget it even if I tried, but I feel as if I need to move on.


    My parents gave their lives for me. Despite not catching more than a blurry glimpse at them, I took in everything that I could remember.


    Spikey blonde hair. Blue eyes. Fast as shit. That''s dad.


    Red hair.  A fan of chains, and hopefully not whips. Can give birth and continue on like it was a breeze. Mom was definitely cooler in my books.


    Sadly, that was all the information I could put to them. It wasn''t much, but I took what I could get. I would make my parents proud. After I had gotten out of my depressed fugue, I swore that their deaths wouldn''t be in vain.


    A bold statement for child not even two weeks old.


    I may not have a perfectly controllable bladder, or a superpower that has been apparent, or an all powerful cheat that manifests in my time of need, or parents¡­ gosh, when I look at it, I honestly don''t have much. However, there is one thing that sets me apart from the average child!


    That is, whatever that weird, scary specter thing gave me! A knife! A specter knife!


    A knife I have no idea how to use, or if it will even come out of me!


    My prospects are pretty barren, actually.


    Still, now that I have a chance to not wallow in pity for myself, and that the craziness of my birth waa out of the way, I have some time to reflect. Like the fact that that specter thing looked kind of familiar. Where had I seen it before?


    Try as I might, the familiarity was there, but I couldn''t grasp where I had seen it. From my past life? I''m not too sure. There''s also the possibility that I had seen it briefly when I died, and the image had been seared into my brain.


    That''s¡­ actually quite morbid¡­


    Another question for me to finally ask when I am set free from the bounds of my vocal capabilities. When that happens this world shall be mine! Or I''d finally be able to talk to people. Honestly, I''d settle for either at this point.


    That being said, being a fully matured mind in a baby is not a fun experience. Zero out of ten. Would not recommend.


    It really is not the best. You can''t control swallowing, peeing, defecating, keeping your food down, your arms and legs have literally zero muscle. The things I take for granted are honestly a baby''s hardest tasks. Really, I can barely do anything.


    How do reincarnation novels make this sound so easy!


    Random omnipotent being, please give me god mode!


    When neither heaven or hell moved to support my wants, I fell back into trying to keep myself occupied. Which was either counting the ceiling tiles, two hundred and seventy three, or trying to call on my specter knife. The ceiling tiles were winning based only on the virtue that they are visible.


    Wait! Visible! Vision!


    I have an idea!


    However, the world simply didn''t want my idea happening as two people walked into my room. Or the baby housing room at the hospital. The nurses basically just shoved a bunch of babies into one room, and I''m fairly certain that most of them here were orphans like me.


    I''m blaming unholy monstrosities, and ticking off another reason why I hate them.


    Still, I had a job to do. To watch over the babies and make sure that they''re all ok! I would not be the hero they wanted, but the hero they needed! If only my parents could see me now.


    That was why when the two men shuffled into the room, I had stopped all thoughts on testing things out. They seemed suspicious. And familiar. Why was there so many familiar things to me? Is it my baby brain confusing me, or some other reincarnation shenanigans?


    Ugh, why isn''t there a manual or something!


    The two men walked through the aisles of babies, ignoring my inner monologue, and stopped only when they were near my crib. They were watching me, whispering in their language.


    I stilled. Did they know? What did they know? One of them was saying my name, but I couldn''t understand. They continued speaking while I tried to make out some features with my new and improved ultra baby vision.


    Recommended range of visual acuity is eight to twelve inches.


    They were standing much further than that, so ultra baby vision was not in the question. Instead I was forced to try and make sense of the blurs they were.


    One of them wore long, flowing cloth. A white cloak that hung over his shoulders. He wore something red underneath that. A dress? Was he actually a woman? There was a hat as well following the red and white color scheme, but honestly it was just a weirdly angular one.


    It was annoyingly familiar. I was beginning to sense a theme.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    The other man was harder to pin down. He was a predominantly wearing something brown. Or beige? Somewhere around there. He also had some red on. Were they a couple? Matching colors would fit. Maybe going to adopt me?


    Still, the thing that made this man so distinctive was the long, disorganized white hair he had. I had nearly thought he was the specter coming back for his misplaced knife.


    Then the man walked into my ultra baby vision range. Fool! I have you right where I want you!


    His face was surprisingly smooth looking. A tad square shaped and not really a looker, but I would say he wasn''t too bad. Solid brown eyes glanced me up and down as I too sought to understand who he was. Most peculiarly, two red lines trailed from the bottom of his eyes and down his cheeks like ever present tear streaks. His mouth was wide and thin, reminding me of a frog.


    Somehow, frog didn''t seem to fit him. Toad, maybe? I can definitely see him with warts.


    Now that he was closer, I could also figure out what exactly he was wearing. It was definitely a greenish-beige karate gi of some kind that was rolled up on his forearms and shins. On top was a red, sleeveless sort of jacket that had two yellow circles above where his pectorals would be. Underneath that was an even weirder piece of fishnet that I chose to ignore. His fetishes were none of my business, anyways.


    The pieces of attire that drew the most of my attention, though. Was the fact that he wore a set of guards that were strapped to the back of each hand. They too followed his greenish-beige color scheme. On his feet were a pair of wooden, Japanese getas that looked absolutely horrendous to walk on. However, the most striking was the armored headband that he wore fit with Japanese kanji.


    It was all so utterly familiar. I had seen this man before. I knew him somehow. Did he also reincarnate?


    I had too little information about where I was, and what exactly was going on. How did I know this man? Why was he smiling at me?


    Did he know that I reincarnated? Was that why he was here? To spy on me.


    He spoke, whether he addressed me or not I never knew. Seconds later, I did catch how my name was said several times as I caught that his voice rose several octaves. Okay, baby speech.


    Naive! I am not just your regular baby, annoyingly-familiar man! I am an ultra baby! And you have stepped inside my absolute area of vision! I can see as clear as a slightly below average person in here. Your demise is certain.


    Of course, all I said were warbles that seemed to cheer to man up, and his smile brightened considerably. He turned back to the lady that was still standing outside my ultra baby vision range as I sighed. I really wanted to learn how to talk again.


    Sadly, baby tongues are fairly horrible at making anything other than crying or bubbles. Useful, but not really.


    The two didn''t seem to notice my sudden spur of melancholy as they continued to speak in hushed whispers. They seemed quite sad as well as they sometimes looked towards me before turning away. I caught my name several times, and a few words that I was for sure were names, all of which I filed away for further reference.


    Minato, Kushina, Hiruzen, Jiraiya. The first two didn''t really set off alarms in my head, but the second two. Those were a headache.


    Jiraiya. I remember that name for someone from Japanese folklore. He¡­ all I can remember is that he rode a toad, fell in love with some slug and fought a snake. Was that the tale? I''m fairly sure that''s his tale. Did this Jiraiya guy have toad powers?


    It would fit with all the superpowers I had seen before.


    Hiruzen was the more headache inducing of the two. I felt like I should know his name. There was emotions attached to it, too. Sadness? Loss? I couldn''t really tell anything beside the headache.


    When the couple finally left, I was left to slowly crinkle out my disordered thoughts. I now have names that I can work with. Two of them sound familiar, and the other two I draw up blanks. I set a mental note to find out about toad powers whenever I can actually speak.


    Now was not the time to dilly dally by looking for nonexistent clues, I had a specter knife to finally put to use!


    I thought back to how I felt when the specter appeared. This was all about vision. Visualize that the specter was once again in front of you. Scared. Confused. A little chilly. There!


    Chilliness? I felt something tug inside me like a leaf that was suddenly caught in an updraft. An odd feeling, but helpful.


    Okay, so chilliness. Is it cold? Cold like ice? No, that is further away form the correct feeling for some reason. Cold. Cold?


    Cold like a steel blade! Yes! That''s it! A chilling blade, its edge resting precariously against your neck like the hand of death ready to reap.


    The tug in my gut grew stronger as I zeroed in on the image of a scythe that placidly hung on my neck. However, I couldn''t get further. There was something I was missing.


    What else was there? The specter was chilly like the ever present lure of death, but what else? Translucent? No, not quite. I''m on the right rack. It seemed to be apparent to me, but it never really drew much attention other than look menacing. Illusive, perhaps? Still not right.


    Maybe, unseen! Right, that''s it! Death cannot be found; it finds you. That''s it!


    I bubbled a happy cheer as the tug turned into an internal hurricane, mental trees and illusory brush were thrown about by my whims as if to serve my chaotic purpose, and I almost wondered if my body was even fit to handle that. Then the feeling stopped suddenly a loud pop echoed in my ears.


    I flinched and then something landed on me. It wasn''t heavy at all, though. Kind of reminded my of a cold pillow.


    When I opened my eyes, I saw that a pillow was a vast understatement. On top of me was the knife that the specter had thrown at me.


    Its length was a little bit less than me, about eight to ten inches for the blade while the hilt added another ten. I was reminded of a ceremonial knife by the look of it as it held no guard.


    The single edged blade was akin to a slice of moonlight. Whatever it was made out of refused to pick a stable color as it was translucent like glass for a moment then dulled to dark, almost midnight, black the next. The smooth white handle of the knife was a work of art, and I couldn''t even see the seams to how the wood carried the blade. It was as if the metal and wood were one and the same. The black inscriptions carved on the handle made even less sense now that I actually got to look at them.


    Nonetheless, it was beautiful.


    I marveled over the weapon. I finally had something other than my name, and ability to count ceiling tiles, to make my parents proud. I still had so much to do, and other things to find out.


    I had little time before the next session of nurses came in to feed us, so that gave me plenty of food for thought. Like why everything was familiar. How sharp is this knife? Is there anything more than it just being a pretty little staby device?


    Most importantly, how does a less than two week old baby smuggle a knife?

 Naruto and Kidnappings

had been a kidnapping had happened, but no one was there because I tripped the alarm. They had been preoccupied with the seen threat, me, and completely missed the kidnapping! Or had I been the only one taken?

 Naruto and Stupidity

    Lightning release: Lightning Beam Jutsu!(Raiton: Raikou Kousen no Jutsu)." I heard someone scream out loud before the technique hit me. Idly, I consider telling them that they sound like an idiot yelling out the name of their attack.


    pi?atas.


    Twitching Limb Jutsu(Hikuhiku Eda no Jutsu) with a Current Transfer Jutsu(Nagare Isou no Jutsu)."


    Lightning Chakra I have grafted to the edge. Makes it flow really nicely in the air. Now, Kumo-nin don''t really think of the Twitching Limb Jutsu other than as a capturing Jutsu. Idiots, I say. If applied to yourself, sure it''ll cause pain and maybe a lapse in nerve action, but for a brief second you can-"


    slowed. Time ticking into agonizingly long seconds.

 Naruto and Perception

    so much more.


    slow.


    my winds to curve around the blade.


    never hit me now.


    spun faster by a few seconds. Nausea settled into my throat as I felt myself gag. Someone was screaming nearby, but it still sounded distant.


    and avenge a good man. Turning around while trying not to think of happy thoughts, I faced my crucified victim. He flinched when my eyes landed on him.

 Naruto and Minds

    My knife, now somehow much larger than even the mountains in the background, in all of its beautiful glory, impaled itself not into the island but into the world.


    dead.


    soul?" Snarling tones echoed out into the world. It waved a clawed paw around in the direction of the large black scar. "That is wrong. Your very being is wrong! You think death marks those easily? You reek of the stench of death when you clearly breathe and live as a facsimile of a living being. What are you if not an abomination?"


    couple sets of eyes, the same ones I had seen on the brown eyed man who had kidnapped me were there along with ones that I couldn''t quite recognize. I had a feeling that some samurai had looked at me with these very same eyes. There were nubs of some kind budding up around my shoulders and hips, and I felt like I could swivel them to some degree.


    mean to¡­ It was an-"

 Naruto and Socialization

    everything.


    somewhat figured how to give myself a brief boost by infusing Chakra into my muscles. Even if it was more like an instinctive desire to go faster, and practically flooding my muscles with as much Chakra as I could before it got painful. It bruised them like hell, and probably tore them to pieces from my abysmal control, but I was basically fudging the procedure together from memories of a supposedly fantasy story. My huge reserves of Chakra didn''t help at all.


    splitting myself into both physical and spiritual Chakra halves was a tad unsettling.


    anything and everything in order to make sure she was safe. Or my being safe.


    asked for them." I learned that the Hy¨±ga clan had it in their minds that meat was only to be used for celebratory occasions for them.


    needed to save Hiruzen. Because, after all, I needed to fight a monster in the form of a human and save the old man. Or did I even need to do that anymore? Did I even want to? This world slowly making me question how rational I needed to be.


    world?


    so much easier.


    awkward.


    rest. During the heat of battle, it wasn''t too hard to move on and forget, but after was when I truly understood how callous I was in my actions. Being reincarnated is not as great as it sounds. Identity crisis is one thing, but a whole moral upheaval is entirely different.


    not turned them off until she passed out.


    ¨±nin that I had veritably slaughtered causes me to involuntarily shiver. If I was going to continue down this road, I needed to set some rules for myself to follow, or else I might lose who I am under all the blood on my hands.


    Ky¨±bi to carry me through.


    malice shoved down your veins then someone decided that you needed to have your blood replaced with acid as well.


    eaten alive.


    completely different beast entirely. While I disapproved of her leaving them active all of the time, once they entered her sphere of sight the wolves were either in the palm of her hand, or dead.


    straight to the center of the pack. Then I watched as her steps fumbled together in a way I knew signified her getting tired.


    easily.


    exactly did you call me during the fight earlier? I trust you enough to tell me the truth right?"


    shit.

 Interlude 1 - Silver-Haired Anbu

    A silver blur raced through the trees with Chakra enhanced speed. The branches barely rustled as they deftly tore through the treetops with each successive hop. Only the light shifting of leaves, and the brief flash of silver hair signaled of anyone passing by.


    When the figure had traveled several hundred miles, keeping up his ridiculous pace, they finally tired, and stopped for a break. Their figure basically materialized next to a nearby creek as they hurriedly gathered their things. A water bottle sunk into the river to begin refilling. A couple rations pills were taken and consumed even when it was stated that they were a horrible substitute for any meaningful meal. Only when they finished checking and re-checking their equipment did the figure stop and take a moment to be still.


    The person was revealed to be a teen around the age of eighteen. A spiky fringe of silver hair stuck out from the dog mask that covered their face. Their figure was lean with purposeful muscles that set off warning to anyone who knew what to look for, that he was dangerous. Though, the short, straight edged blade could certainly prove the point more.


    The teen wore long a black undershirt that stretched all the way to his equally black gloves. His pants were in a similar color scheme, but were held close to his ankles by thick, ink colored wraps. Sandals in, you guessed it, black ordained their feet.


    They wore armor as well. A grey, sleeveless, leather vest hung from thick straps on their shoulders, and matched the grey vambraces that covered their forearms.


    Anyone who knew of him would certainly plead that they didn''t. As the teenager was part of Konohagakure''s most feared assassination unit: the Anbu.


    They were ghosts with skill unmatched by any Shinobi, and were ruthless in carrying out their orders. If death had a face, then most Shinobi from any village would say the Konoha''s Anbu were most likely it. They had come to know the fear that even a single member of the Anbu wrought.


    And this Anbu was furious.


    Kakashi Hatake, or Kakashi of the Sharingan as is the name he is coming to be feared by, was a man, or teenager, on a mission. He had stopped several times during his journey due to exhausting his Chakra reserves if only to speed up his travel. One visible eye burned as he hadn''t even slept a wink since he had heard the news.


    Naruto Uzumaki, the nine-tails Jinch¨±riki, had been somehow kidnapped along with some heiress from the Hy¨±ga clan. Honestly, Kakashi didn''t really care about her too much, but he had orders to bring them both back. Though, those orders came long after he had departed.


    All Kakashi knew was that he had failed his mentor. In the back of his mind he noted that he had broke another promise. No one else took the kidnapping of Naruto harder than him, well, maybe the Hokage, but the man was too preoccupied with other matters to physically respond.


    He had asked to be assigned to watch Naruto sooner, but, as an Anbu, his orders were absolute. And he was supposed to be protecting the Hokage right now with all the tension between the Kumo-Konoha peace treaties. Kakashi told them all to go screw themselves before he left to find his mentor''s only child.


    He had been told that the treaty was actually going along quite well as Kumogakure had kept pushing for peace. Though, Kakashi knew it was only to stop retaliation from kidnapping one of Konoha''s most vaunted clansmen. The Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was rather reluctant in finally accepting.


    Kakashi had little to no experience in politics, but he was smart enough to tell when the Hokage was backed into a corner. The enraged Hy¨±ga clan really didn''t help, and Kakashi could only glean some second hand information that the clan leader had been on house arrest from trying to detain and torture a Kumogakure foreign dignitary. As the choices were between losing relationships with one of the main clans, or starting a war that Konoha''s still greatly wounded forces couldn''t hope to survive. The Hokage was most definitely backed into a corner.


    Kakashi decided then and there that he would never become Hokage. Too much stress.


    To make matters worse, Kumo had just gained access to another tailed beast in the form of Naruto. From information, they had already gotten two of them, but if they gathered a third then they would effectively be the most powerful village in the entire Elemental Nations.


    Of course, that was only one of the reasons why Kakashi had been after Naruto.


    Kakashi, getting up from his small rest, quickly packed up his gear before running his hands through a series of signs. A thrum of Chakra spread through his body, and he molded it to fit his needs. His palms smacked into the ground as symbols spread out from the impact.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Suddenly, a loud pop echoed in the quiet forest as smoke was conjured as a side effect of imperfect Chakra control. Still, Kakashi''s Jutsu didn''t need perfect control as the cloud cleared to reveal his helpers.


    Dogs of all species and size huddled around the teenage Anbu. They all were wearing matching vests that had a face-shaped design squared promptly on the back. some even wore headbands with Konoha''s symbol proudly on display, a leaf that looked more like a spiral.


    "Have you found any of their scents?" Kakashi asked, his voice level. He was always calm even when broiling mad.


    A small pug, sitting on a larger dog''s head, snapped up into attention. "We found traces, but probably not the best to go on¡­"


    "What is it then, Pakkun?" Kakashi queried. He wasn''t in the mood to play word games, and his voice probably cracked out harder than it should have. Or it was puberty. Kakashi despised puberty.


    "It''s¡­" the pug, Pakkun, paused before sighing. "We all found the trail; it wasn''t actually hard to track. They moved along a well known merchant route from the Land of Tea of all places, so we basically just followed the road. My guess is some fresh Ch¨±nin, or extremely incompetent J¨­nin."


    Kakashi nodded, this is what he liked to hear. Something easy, where retrieving Naruto wouldn''t be too much of a hassle. Then cynicism hit, "What''s the bad news then?"


    Kakashi almost felt his heart stop when Pakkun didn''t speak for a bit. It didn''t actually stop, Kakashi had trained to do that himself, but he certainly felt like he gained a year or two of stress in the silence.


    "Around the border of the Lightning Country and the Fire Country there were¡­ oddities."


    Kakashi motioned to continue. He loved his summons, he truly did, but right now he wanted to strangle Pakkun for taking so long.


    "Naruto-boy''s scent basically was everywhere when we found the place." Pakkun started, pointing a small, furry paw at two other dogs. "They said it was like he was blown up and scattered several times over, and, from all the blood we scented as his, it was a fairly reasonable guess. That is until we found the bodies."


    "Pakkun, I''m going to ask you this just once." Kakashi interrupted, taking a moment to pinch the bridge of his nose. He was the picture of calm and collected. Or as close to he could get without killing someone. "Explain things faster."


    "Right, sorry boss. Anyways, there were quite a few bodies of samurai that we suppose were guarding the merchant caravan, but there were four bodies of Kumo-nin. One in particular, ''One-slash'' Onikaze. A B-ranked J¨­nin known for one of the fastest close-combat attacks, and a particular dislike for the Hy¨±ga, in general.


    Kakashi pursed his lips at the new information, and at why someone would think that ¡®Onikaze¡¯ was a viable name for anyone. The fact that there were four dead Kumo-nin was a plus in his books concerning the kidnapping. However, that led to why there were samurai even fighting them, or how Naruto and that Hy¨±ga girl had escaped. The dead J¨­nin was just another tick of information that didn''t quite sit well with him.


    Three year olds and samurai alone could not have handled a J¨­nin by themselves. Especially, if that one was ranked pretty high up in the bingo books. Kakashi had even heard of this man who had an almost impossible-to-dodge attack at close quarters.


    It all was spelling a rather uncomfortable tale.


    "Did you find any traces of Naruto or a Hy¨±ga nearby?" Kakashi had an idea of what was going on, but he would like his gut to be wrong.


    Pakkun solemnly nodded. "Yes, many actually, but they suddenly disappear on and off like they are suddenly getting better at hiding. We used traces of Chakra in the air to track Naruto-boy''s pretty distinct Jinch¨±riki Chakra all the way here. Now, however, it''s like he suddenly doesn''t have Chakra then does. The traces are too hard to follow."


    Kakashi''s gut feeling hit harder as a horrible thought came over him. "Did you find any traces of someone else with them?"


    The dog summon nodded once more, this time even it appeared to be having the same terrifying feeling. "Yes, we found quite a bit of someone else''s trace when we were checking the bodies of the Kumo-nin. It was actually rather similar to Naruto-boy''s, but¡­"


    "Pakkun." Kakashi''s eyes narrowed underneath his mask.


    "Sorry, sorry, it was just that I had scented something that I could only describe as wrong."


    "Explain."


    Pakkun didn''t look like he wanted to explain. The dogs that Pakkun had pointed to either were also whining loudly in compliant. Kakashi had a headache as he was putting his thoughts together.


    This situation had only happened one other time.


    "Orochimaru¡­" Kakashi growled, losing a slight bit of his cool.


    His dog summons were one of the peak tracking summons, and he had been once tasked to find the recent traitor Sannin, Orochimaru. It was only about a year of so ago when the Hokage had discovered the insane man''s bloodline research; though, finding that out when said man was elbows deep in someone else''s chest cavity was certainly not a pleasant thing.


    As for that mission, halfway through the hunt, the snake bastard had developed something that not only confused his ninken''s senses, but also made them actively find the scent extremely wrong like it was as if a corpse had come back to life or something.


    "There''s a possibility it''s him, boss." Pakkun supplied, unhelpfully.


    Kakashi ground his teeth. There was little he couldn''t do. He was a genius, after all, but the snake Sannin could easily manhandle him like an adult fighting a toddler. However, if that man had Naruto¡­


    Kakashi sighed, his tension falling to a more relaxed posture. He really needed a break. Maybe he should try those books that he was recommended?


    He pressed his mask closer to his face. That would be for later.


    Now, though, he had a duty to fulfill. "Do you know where they might be heading towards?"


    "Yeah that''s easy," Pakkun bragged, puffing out his small chest. "If they stay on track, then they should be headed towards the Wind Country."


    Kakashi dipped his head in thought. If he was Orochimaru, and said man had taken the children, then why would he go to a place where Konoha was allied with? Was it a false lead?


    Or was something else there?


    "Thank you, Pakkun. I''ll take it from here till I need you guys again." Kakashi had a lead, and he would be relentless.


    The dogs then went up in smoke as the Jutsu sent them back. He wasn''t too sure where they went, but Kakashi would find out later.


    With a place in mind, and a rested body, the silver haired Anbu got on towards Wind Country. He would even go so far as to request to see if their allies in Sunagakure could help. It would certainly spurn the feelings of them being partners, too.


    Hell, he felt like he should be a politician from that thought alone.


    He had failed in saving his most precious friends once, but he won''t fail in saving his mentor''s son. He won''t lose another family.


    There was a reason why they sent him to be the tracker. And Kakashi was either going to be leading the children home, or leading the Hy¨±ga into the war against Kumogakure.


    =====?=====


    So here''s a link to the map of the Elemental Nations that I''m using. In case that helps stir some geographical bone...


    https://www.deviantart.com/xshadowrebirthx/art/Elemental-Nations-Geographical-Map-317422439

 Naruto and Confrontation

    fast. My specter could track him, but I was beginning to have second thoughts about this confrontation. Maybe I had gotten a little cocky from dismantling a pair of weakened and stupid Ch¨±nin. This guy was definitely at least J¨­nin, and dangerously cautious. Two things that didn''t bode well for four year old, untrained children.


    Genjutsu. If anything that made him even more dangerous.


    obviously not out to get me, and you''re not kidnapping the girl, so that''s why I have spared you so far." The Shinobi announced with a smirk as if he had put together the entire situation.


    Shinobi!"


    I am four. It was nice meeting you misunderstood Shinobi-san." I quipped, feeling a bit better about the situation. He didn''t seem too bad, and anyone who is worried about Hinata cannot be too bad.


    really are short!"


    barely a walk in the park. "Wait, calm down, Hy¨±ga-chan! I surrender!"

 Naruto and Interrogations

    Suspiciously little.


    will you do to me if I don''t?" He didn''t look too worried.


    scared kids."


    are you?"


    ever a good idea when you''re trying to evade their sights?"


    not start a fight."


    wrong to ask for help."


    fix this like I had with everything else.

 Naruto and Teachers

    seemed great. We were even making great time on getting back home!


    <div>


    shouldn''t have turned the last corner.


    lie.


    Now." Itsuki commanded, and I never thought I would hear him speak our names. Sure, he knew them, but he always called us kids. Whatever was happening was serious.

 Naruto and Running

    pure luck that we dodged the first attack.


    Sensei. I''m just following orders to retrieve one of the Seven Swords of the Mist; Kabutowari would serve better in the hands of someone who is loyal to the village instead of some filthy traitor."


    coward."


    sad.


    Water Shield Jutsu(Mizu Tate no Jutsu)!"


    Water release: Water Hydra Jutsu(Suiton: Mizu Hidora no Jutsu)!" Katsura yelled over the rush of a typhoon that centered around him. Three heads of the liquid beast slammed into Itsuki''s position with a boom of force. From how he weight of each head had to be several tons, at least.


    finally beat you. I will go back to Kirigakure a hero, hoisted up on laurels by our Mizukage! But don''t worry, when I''m done with you I''ll hunt down those stupid brats that you were traveling with, and then you can lead them to the afterlife!"

 Naruto and Deception

    filthy treehugger could actually dodge that." The corpse laughed as it rose to stand on the surface of the water. "I have to give you props. Was it something Sensei taught you?"


    hated remembering their faces.


    Water release: Hiding in the Mist Jutsu(Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu)! You''re at my mercy now, brat!"


    needed to fix this. The answer came to me faster than I thought it would. It was in the form of Nuibari. It had somehow produced these wires, and I was sure that it would at least help.


    unbearable. The anguish was mind numbing. And Katsura''s laugh was annoying.


    burned orange.

 Naruto and Morality

angry, and I don''t think it mattered what was around me. I wanted to break something.


    crack as the two collided.


    beautiful.


    village behind me?"


    am afraid. Afraid to lose everything that I have bled for."

 Naruto and Medicare

    bloodbath you had just waded through." The man deadpanned, face falling into a stern frown. "I don''t want to know what you Shinobi want, but we normal folk don''t want to get involved with your business."


    liberal use of the Transformation Jutsu to hide all the blood, to hopefully last us to Fire Country. If I wasn''t slightly apprehensive about getting lost on my way then I would''ve already left yet, but I still needed to know the lay of where I was.


    not take the obvious awesome weapon as recompense for my struggles.


    Kyoka-chan here can watch over him while you and I go and do the hard work, sound alright?"


    leaf you to know to leave a message for where you''ll be, okay?"

 Naruto and Expectations

    what are you two looking for exactly?" A voice behind us said, appearing from nowhere.


    nowhere near as proficient as Hinata in using swords, I was still trained by a man who claimed to have been part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. That being said, there was no hesitation in my movements, and even though I made it a rule to not kill when someone was already beaten, that didn''t mean that I wasn''t prepared to take a life in the heat of the moment.


    down.


    strays into his base?"


    certainly didn''t want to be caught up in some plot that bet thousands of lives.


    something. I had no idea what that soemthing was, nor if these writings helped guide the Chakra like handsigns, but I wanted to test everything right now. This was perhaps the most interesting thing -besides ninja magic- that I had found in this new life.


    ¨±injutsu that goes into making it, but you can ask Orochimaru-sama about it if you want."


    F¨±injutsu, right?"


    ¨±yga compound when they froze me in place after I had taken their scrolls.


    ¨±injutsu was now something that I was marking up in order from my book of stuff to learn.


    magnitude of Chakra being concentrated within them.


    obscene thing I had ever heard.


    physical seared itself into being along Kimimaro''s path. The beam of energy drilled through the area, sending gouts of dust into the air.


    cracked back into the area from where it had been denied with a chorus of falling rock.


    touched it. I felt like I understood something that I couldn''t quite get a grasp of, but I could understand the gist of it. Something was killing J¨±go, however, he was regenerating faster than whatever it was that was killing him did so. This then caused the surrounding cells to take control of the dead ones as if to offset the load in some form of false reanimation. He then would change due to those reanimated cells being so pliable, but the reanimated cells in his brain would send him into delirium as dead cells running an organism wasn''t the most conducive for mental health.


    certain that the theme revolved around death, but I could feasibly test out my theories.


    not human about the thing in general. If I was to continue using it, then I needed to learn how it worked exactly. I had no want to end up like J¨±go for not really taking the time to understand what was wrong with my abilities.

 Naruto and Misunderstandings

    really getting on my nerves at this point, too.


    desperately needed to fix it.


    hell are you thinking?!" He yelled, his single arm trying to pull me behind him as he glared at Kakashi.


    seconds turned to minutes.


    slow again.


    dared to fight in front of me.


    human from before.


    wrong. The only thing that conflicted that was that everything felt so right.


    me. Slowly, I realized that this was me, and that everything was exactly as it should be.


    only human, after all.


    Tears, a part of me answered. For some reason, I didn''t really like her having tears. Those weren''t supposed to be there... I needed to fix this.

 Naruto and Explanations

    Except all he reached for was an empty waistband.


    not a matter of talking, Naruto." Kakashi stated clearly, but he still hadn''t moved. If he had, then my specter would have seen right through him. I still needed to make time to really examine its new and disturbing looks, too.


    definitely a matter that can be talked through."


    alien, to put it in a word. There were certain parts that I could easily remember, but, for the most of it, everything was a blur of intent and instinct.


    not commit any form of kidnapping."


    Nope! I''m making a inference based on observation, and past knowledge." I answered easily, finding myself quite at home with the aggression directed at me. "You see, Itsuki couldn''t have kidnapped this Rin girl or whoever. He specifically told us that he left Kiri due to disagreeing with their teaching methods." I explained, holding up a purposeful finger. "Itsuki''s morals would be in direct conflict with the idea to kidnap some girl, so he''s either been framed by someone else in the higher ups of Kiri. Or Kiri needed a scapegoat for whatever that was, and they simply added it to his file after he left the village. I am more partial to the first bit as Itsuki is apprehensive at telling us the details. As such, they must have some form of leverage over him to keep him quiet instead of telling the truth."


    Nine-tails Jinch¨±riki for crying out loud, why the hell is he not treated like some damn hero, huh? Are all your civilians some kind of brain deficient idiots with a death wish?"


    ¨±riki makes it sound like there are more, but that can''t mean anything, right?" I mean, I knew that there was that demon inside Gaara, but that wasn''t some giant demonic fox. A terrifying thought hit me. "There are more, aren''t there? More creatures with powers similar to mine, I mean."


    Lightning release by copying what those Kumo-nin had done before. By the time we had figured out that Hinata was some kind of genius herself, everyone had forgotten about asking me about that little fiasco in the previous town. Still, I wasn''t too hurt with not explaining myself as I really didn''t know what it was either.

 Interlude 2 - The Kind Crow

    awesome it was, and they got scared!"


    Damn it! When did it all go wrong?"


    not a good idea."


    genius. Having mastered the Sharingan at seven, and then unlocked another form afterwards that gave him increased abilities as well as new Jutsu, he was a force to be reckoned with. Even without his Sharingan, Shisui was the one that taught Itachi all he knew.


    ran at the mere rumor that Shisui was even around. If there was ever a time that Itachi had seen Shisui pressed in a fight, then it was when the two of them spared while Shisui was blindfolded as well as his arms and legs having been bound together. The fight was still in his cousin''s favor.


    would complete it.

 Naruto and Trust

    nothing. That the more I learned, and began to put together, the less I actually knew.


    weapons.


    monster as the leader of it all, it''s no wonder we have been labeled as the ''Bloody Mist''."


    Jinch¨±riki." The wounded man paused to look back in the direction of our camp. "Ever since he took the mantle of Mizukage, times in Kirigakure had gotten much more¡­"


    too lightly. Many Shinobi villages follow a creed of ''the strongest reigns'', but Kiri seemed to take this to another level." His eyes drooped low. "If you were seen as weak, you were killed. If you lost, you were killed. If you had a bloodline, your entire family was massacred¡­ No, violent was not a word to describe what horrors we went through. It was insanity."


    believe in you, Naruto."


    F¨±injutsu, a part of my mind supplied. "This is a seal that prevents me from speaking secrets. Almost every Shinobi village uses some form of them to prevent intelligence gathering, but mine are a little more restricted. I can''t talk about the village secrets, give names and¡­ see some people. The seal would release a lethal poison on both me and those who have the sister seals, that were made alongside it, if I did so."


    happy.


    to kill. It was like I had only lived for the goals I wanted to accomplish, and everything else was just background noise.


    worrying.

 Naruto and Complications

    who this is, Anbu-san?!" Itsuki retorted before cutting down a few errant spears of wood. "Do all you Konoha Anbu just attack before really saying anything?!"


    Friends shouldn''t try to kill each other!"


    what?" Itsuki was understandably confused since he didn''t know what I saw. Even the wooden spears slowed in their assault on us.


    weird.


    nothing.


    happened here?


    what this Danz¨­ guy wants¡­ isn''t it?" He realized, and everyone''s eyes bugged out in startled realization.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.Kinoe shut down all our hopes with another shake of his head. "I know that Danz¨­-sama would have already used the tool he has recently gained to usurp their wills. Right now, it matters not if she gets home or not."


    fire.

 Naruto and Confusion

    happened here?" Itsuki was the first of us to speak. Rightfully so, none of us had the answer to him.


    not the time to be having this argument." Kakashi grumbled.


    strong, but no matter the ability I just couldn''t ease my worries.


    can''t leave.


    last plans that crossed my mind.


    abhorred it so much that to this day I still saw the faces of those four Shinobi in my head. However, oddly, the guilt had long passed.


    much worse than actually feeling guilty, but maybe that is just my previous world influencing me.


    die. There would always be bad memeories with death with emphasis around myself.


    disappear. From what I hear, having no Chakra means you''re dead, kid."


    I''m fine; there''s really no need to worry."


    ¨­ guy''s plan?


    something. There was some other clue that I couldn''t see just yet, and the only problem was that I couldn''t figure out just what was happening. However, Itsuki''s words had planted a seed of worry that spurned my specter in one specific direction. To the large Hy¨±ga estate.


    fire as well.


    not find Hinata somewhere in here. To desperately hope that no matter how may dead I found, there would be no trace of my friend.


    not as I had planned.


    rage. An all-consuming, blank rage that was directed to whoever dared to hurt my friend. I had no idea if I was prone to peace back before I died, but there was something about my irrational anger that said something about my personality. That, despite how peaceful of an area I lived in my past life, I had a side that wished to savage those who have just wronged me.


    none of it.


    running away¡­"


    couldn''t move another step towards the Uchiha.


    very same needle that Hinata was carrying before she was kidnapped by Itachi.


    hell is going on Hiruzen?"

 Naruto and Bugs

    My mind was a mush of rage and juxtaposing clarity that seemed to want to fight but also run away. I wanted nothing more than to give up to the impulses of the Ky¨±bi¡¯s Chakra, but the still sensible parts of me reminded me of the eleven Anbu still watching Itachi and I.


    With my current skill and strength, I was fairly confident in taking one or two J¨­nin with a fair bit of trouble. I could try to use my knife and try to make my specter physical again, but there were too many unknowns to let that thing take control of my actions again. That meant I now only had a limited number of things I could theoretically do in this situation.


    In the building silence, my eyes automatically fell to Itachi. His swirling red eyes were transfixed to the enemies surrounding us, but, for a second, I felt his gaze land on me.


    Honestly, besides understanding him to be some type of overprotective brother, I knew little about the Uchiha named Itachi. I didn¡¯t even know Sasuke had a brother until I saw the small boy clinging to Itachi¡¯s back, but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things. The only things on my mind were: where¡¯s Hinata, what the hell is even going on and how do I get out of this?


    However, in the brief window that Itachi¡¯s eyes landed on me, I knew exactly what he was going to do. And, while I would probably do similar in his position, I absolutely hated him for it.


    ¡°Uzumaki-san, take my brother and-¡±


    ¡°Shut up,¡± I growled, sending a glare over to the Anbu that held Hinata¡¯s Nuibari. ¡°You¡¯re not going to get rid of me before explaining whatever the hell is going on.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this, Itachi? Are you seriously asking for help from some unknown child?¡± The Anbu who first spoke sneered once more. I had to forcibly restrain the small flash of irrational anger that spread through my system before I could listen to him speak again. ¡°Oh how the mighty have fallen! First that traitor, Shisui, and now you; both regarded as geniuses of the Uchiha clan, but now are just weaklings!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call him that!¡± Itachi yelled, startling both me and the Anbu at the sudden emotions that twisted on the teen¡¯s face. It was the second time I saw him so emotional besides when he promised to tell me everything.


    I could practically taste the anger and sorrow that beld off the older Uchiha, and I could only assume that whoever this Shisui was, he meant quite a bit to Itachi. And that something had definitely happened to this guy as well. However, this information meant little to me in the way of understanding my situation.


    They kept talking about the Uchiha, but what about the Hy¨±ga¡¯s? Where did they fit into all this conspiracy? Were they allied with the red-eyed clan, or were they a separate problem?


    No, I knew that Hinata¡¯s family were definitely connected to whatever was happening. With even the Anbu after the small Sasuke, that meant something had happened that made them directly opposed to the Hokage. The bodies of the Anbu at the Hy¨±ga villas also made it seem that whatever happened to the Uchiha¡¯s probably coincided with the Hy¨±ga¡¯s.


    With my mind halfway on trying to understand what was going on, I didn¡¯t even notice as a small weight settle in my arms. My knees buckled slightly at the unexpected happenings, and I was forced to huff loudly as the weight thrashed in my arms for a second.


    ¡°Big brother!¡± The weight cried, and I felt my heart leap into my throat.


    When had they moved? My eyes widened as I stared at the small Sasuke trying to worm his way back into Itachi¡¯s arms. By reflex I had unknowingly wrapped the small boy tighter into my arms as if to keep him safe. I blamed Itsuki somehow.


    I glared over at Itachi who stood in front of me, his face somehow finding the muscles to give me an apologetic smile. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Uzumaki-san, fighting while trying to protect Sasuke would be hard, so please run away while I take care of these guys, okay?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± My face curled into impotent anger, and, while I could hate him, I could do nothing but respect someone willing to protect someone special. ¡°Fine¡­ but when you get back, I want to know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Keeping up my frown, I noticed that none of the Shinobi had even begun to follow our conversation, nor had even noticed that Itachi had moved from his original spot. All their eyes were locked on the spot that he was supposed to be in.


    Giving the older Uchiha one last glare, he smiled once more and held a finger in from of his pursed lips in the signal for silence. I already knew Genjutsu was some form of bullshit, but this guy really wanted me truly up the technique into some new kind of special. Though, he also made me trust him even less with his proficient display of illusions.


    Still, the faster I got Sasuke out of the fight, the sooner I could come back and beat some answers out of the guy holding Nuibari no matter if Itachi won or not. I knew Itachi was strong, but I disliked not having answers of my own.


    However, being surrounded wasn¡¯t the best option for my abilities. I knew I had a talent for ambush tactics with my teleportation trick, but with that many enemies I was just asking to be stabbed before I could pull off more than one or two attacks. There was no way of truly relying on the Ky¨±bi¡¯s Chakra whenever I couldn¡¯t split, either. The power it gave me was a huge multiplier on my abilities, but my current abilities were still too low for the effect to let me overwhelm the numbers presented to me.


    So, I ran as fast as I could out of there with the intent of coming back later. My legs carried the two of us out of the area as fast as possible, darting past houses and burning establishments with ease. I kept one eye peeled for any enemy who could have found us, but, for the most part, we were enemy free.


    The mind-numbing anger that had been building up early was slipping away, too. I half expected the flaring irrationality to be the work of the Ky¨±bi, and as we slowly gained ground, I realized that I was right. Though there was still an undercurrent of pure rage at Hinata¡¯s situation, it was manageable behind the rationality that I should be careful.


    I knew that I had only taken care of those two J¨­nin level Shinobi by catching them off guard or some exploit that I took advantage of. They were weak enough to finish off for my toddler body, but now I couldn¡¯t really rely on that many exploits to be had on so many enemies without serious injury.


    As such, it wasn¡¯t that I was running away. This was just a tactical retreat, and as long as Sasuke didn¡¯t get in the way we could be just fine.


    ¡°Let me go!¡± If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Sasuke was currently thrashing around in my arms, and forcing me to use some extra Chakra to keep him from running away I would already be rushing back to fight.


    The small child really wasn¡¯t giving up that easily even after a couple minutes of running. The only problem was the fact that his slender arms really shouldn¡¯t contain that much strength, and I had to struggle not to accidentally drop him.


    ¡°Big brother! Help!¡± I felt my great patience really being strained by the child as Sasuke wasn¡¯t making this any better.


    With the black-haired boy yelling as loud as he could, I was half tempted to strangle him in the effort to be more sneaky. Him constantly giving away our position really wasn¡¯t helping the fact that I wanted to get him to safety, and I was forced to run in the effort to shake off any would-be pursuers.


    And I knew that there would be Shinobi on our tail even if I couldn¡¯t immediately spot them. This was a village run by those superpowered assassins, so there had to be someone sneaking after us with all the yelling Sasuke was getting off. It was also around the time that I crossed another burning building that I got annoyed by the child who was making it very apparent he wasn¡¯t going to shut up soon.


    ¡°Listen here you, shut up.¡± I groused, panting slightly from the exertion. ¡°Can¡¯t you see that your brother is trying to save you, and I can¡¯t go back and help him if you keep yelling.¡±


    ¡°Liar!¡± Sasuke accused instantly.


    It was also around this time that I felt that Sasuke was definitely a perfect hostage; the kid probably was a pain and a half to save, so agreeing to demands was probably the easier of the two options. Still, my opinions of the viability of Sasuke¡¯s abilities as a hostage aside, I needed him to be quiet.


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Mustering up the last dregs of my patience, I gave a small glare at the child hanging in my arms. His deep, black eyes met mine with a sort of innocence that I wasn¡¯t used to seeing. ¡°I am not a liar.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what a liar would say!¡± Sasuke shot back, and I felt my hand twitch. What is this schoolhouse argument?


    I sighed to myself for even getting caught up in arguing with a child. ¡°Look, the faster you quiet down that faster we can go back to your brother, but we need to find a safe place to hide first.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to listen to someone who was bullying my big brother!¡±


    ¡°Bullying?¡± I really wasn¡¯t cut out to talk with kids. Why couldn¡¯t everyone be like Hinata; kind, polite and a great listener. ¡°I just punched him once!¡±


    ¡°Na, na, na! I¡¯m not listening!¡±


    ¡°Okay, fine!¡± I was fed up with dealing with kids at this point. Instead I just focused running, and decided I would split to look at Itachi in a couple more minutes.


    In the little fights I had been in, Shinobi fights were settled in instants at some times, but the ones that dragged on would cause the most damages. Since I was hearing a severe lack of explosions behind me, I could only guess that Itachi was being overwhelmed or was dishing out the punishment. Personally, I wasn¡¯t sure what exactly I found to be the better option.


    ¡°No, stop that, Naruto.¡± I said to myself. ¡°We need Itachi to tell us everything, yeah¡­¡±


    For a few silent minutes, I let my resolve to save Itachi if need be sink in. I wasn¡¯t confident in fighting all those Anbu, but if he actually beat them all, then I would need to tread carefully around the teen. Sasuke was also a bargaining chip that could be useful, but using a child to get Itachi to listen to me would probably make my situation worse. Still, it was an option that I would pursue so long as Hinata was in danger.


    Then, as only my footfalls smacked loudly against the hard earth below, I realized that my unwilling charge had been strangely silent for the past while. In fact, he hadn¡¯t been moving for awhile as well.


    Skidding to a halt, I frowned as I looked over the boy to see if there was anything wrong with him. I noticed the small, black beetles that crawled over him immediately, and I froze as I realized that those beetles were on me as well. They were so small that I didn¡¯t even notice as that skittered over my skin till I finally took notice.


    I batted away the insects with a slightly groaning stomach. While I wasn¡¯t scared of bugs, being swarmed like this was definitely a feeling that wasn¡¯t pleasant. Something about the bugs didn¡¯t sit well with me, though. It was like I was missing some important factor that was at the tip of my tongue, and I could only distract my mind by batting away another couple beetles.


    Were they poisoned? It would explain why Sasuke wasn¡¯t responding while my regeneration might have saved me from the effects. And if they were poisoned then what Shinobi used bugs to attack?


    Stilling as a chill traveled down my spine as I realized that we were currently under attack, I immediately split in the hopes to find our aggressor. As the world around us opened up into clarity, I realized a couple of rather terrifying things. The beetles were somehow eating the Chakra right off of Sasuke, but since mine had disappeared they were now being drawn to the kid. Most worryingly, Sasuke was running out of Chakra fast.


    My specter swirled around to find whoever was attacking us, and I hurriedly batted the beetles away with a sort of frantic fervor. I had no idea if our attacker was trying to drain the child dry, but Sasuke wasn¡¯t getting any better as his Chakra was being eaten. Luckily, the dark-haired child was still breathing fine.


    However, as it looked like the bugs were not letting up on their feeding frenzy, I grew a little panicked. My eyes darted around as my specter continued to look for this hidden attacker. Eventually, I realized that the Shinobi doing this was disturbingly hidden from my senses, and that my spectral Byakugan were not covering the amount of ground that I needed.


    Then, between the scents of smoke and fire, I smelt something that was oddly similar to a sweet smelling flower mixed with the rotten wood. My specter shot in the direction of the scent before I could even imagine myself moving.


    However, my physical body wasn¡¯t being idle, either, and I ran towards the closest building that looked like a store. I found what I was looking for a couple minutes later. Frantically, I grabbed the handle, trying to pry open the clearly locked doors.


    Knuckles white and panicked, I knew that the wooden door wasn¡¯t coming open after a few more tries. My eyes shot around, falling on Sasuke for a second only for my breath to get caught in my throat. I didn¡¯t need my spectral vision to see the fact that Sasuke was having trouble breathing now.


    While it was partly my fault that the beetles had abandoned me for him, I couldn¡¯t do anything without recalling my specter. The very same specter that was trying to find our elusive attacker, so, with renewed fervor, I began bashing a fist against the door.


    My knuckles ached and bled, but the door didn¡¯t give even under my relentless assault. My head swirled with thoughts as I tried to save the innocent child who was wrapped up in something he had no right to be in. However, I paused as I looked around for a minute, finding that they had a small window that was near the ground level. A very smashable looking window that I proceeded to throw rocks at.


    The clear pane of glass shattered with a loud ring as a couple rocks found their marks, showering the ground with shards. There were still a couple pieces of sharp protrusions still in the window, but I could care less about those as I shot a foot to clear most of the ones in my way.


    Forcing my way into the store, I found what I had been looking for with a sigh of relief. Grabbing a good amount of water bottles, I raced out the way I came, nicking my burdened arms along some of the more persistent shards of glass.


    I found Sasuke breathing becoming shallower and shallower, and hurriedly threw most of the water over the areas where the beetles were feasting on. The small, black insects polluted the runoff that trickled off of the young Uchiha¡¯s body. A tentative sigh of relief came over me as Sasuke trembled, grumbling over as if he had just been asleep minutes earlier.


    My heart hammered in my chest as I looked over the boy for a little bit. When I found that the beetles had been purged for the most part, I removed my jacket and drenched it in water.


    ¡°Sasuke, Sasuke¡­¡± I shook the boy softly, afraid of any lingering damage. As if to spite my worries, the boy just sleepily grumbled, slapping my hands away in his delirium. ¡°Come on, wake up.¡±


    Groaning, the boy finally cracked open his eyes to find mine. Of course, the situation was ruined when he huffed and turned away from me without a word.


    I sighed, realizing that he was fine. ¡°Alright, Sasuke, can you do me a favor and stand in that smoke over there?¡± Making sure that the disgruntled Uchiha saw my finger pointing to the smoldering building nearby, I handed him my drenched jacket.


    ¡°Keep that over your mouth and nose, and try not to be near areas of a lot of smoke.¡± I ordered as the boy continued to pout.


    As of now, I was way past the point of tolerance for the kid. Maybe it was the fact that we looked about the same age physically, but the uncooperation of Sasuke was truly driving me up a wall. I was going to have a talk with Itachi after this, because this amount of dependency on his brother was just not healthy.


    However, before I could press the child more on going into the smoke to get rid of the insects, my specter found one of the Anbu from before hiding out on one of the rooftops at a pretty far distance. I was almost appalled at the distance between the three of us as it seemed like he was being too cautious for children like us.


    Was he like that naturally, or did he know something? Could it be that I gave off something that set is Shinobi senses on overdrive? Was there such a thing as Shinobi senses on overdrive?


    Still, all my worries were warranted as another more visible cloud of those beetles round the corner towards us. The writhing mass of black swarmed our direction in a way that horribly grossed me out.


    Sasuke followed my eyes a little, and yelped in fear as he found the cloud that would give any child insectophobia. However, instead of running away like I expected him to, the boy just stood there, frozen as if glued to the ground.


    It was around this time that I was growing very annoyed with the young Uchiha. He was certainly nothing like he was depicted in the original, and this overreliance on his big brother was annoying. Though, I think I would have prefered a competent annoyance rather than someone who was basically deadweight at this point.


    Maybe it was spending so much time with Hinata¡¯s odd maturity, or maybe it was Itsuki¡¯s constant calm that made me like this, but I could barely suppress a growl as I ripped the stunned Sasuke from his spot before the cloud of insects caught up to us. Basically dragging him at this point, I forced the two of us into the smoldering building. Sasuke immediately began coughing as he stupidly ran into a cloud of lingering smog, but I pushed my wet jacket over his nostrils and mouth before he could complain.


    While it took a little bit of struggling, I finally got the Uchiha to crawl in an area with more smoke. And just in time, too, as the cloud of insects came swarming into the building. The squirming mass of black fell victim to the smoke as parts of it sagged to the floor, however, some of was still able to find a path for the rest of the swarm to enter.


    As the room gradually filled with both buzzing beetle and heavy smog, I found that our target was making his way to us slowly. I unsheathed the sword at my hip, readying myself for what I was about to do.


    ¡°I may regret this, but for now¡­¡± I rasped as I laid under a cloud of smoke. The insects were slowly making their way to me, but I would be gone before they truly swarmed me. With another huff, I turned to the area where the young Sasuke was hopefully staying.


    The swarm would find their way through our makeshift defenses sooner or later, and I wasn¡¯t sure how to protect Sasuke while fighting an opponent at the same time. Little as I cared to admit, this opponent could hide from far away and pepper us with swarms of insects till we dropped. Risking Sasuke¡¯s life was an option, but it wasn¡¯t the right one for me.


    Still, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was the smoke getting to my lungs somehow but my tongue tasted like sour ash in my mouth. Then I was gone, disappearing like I never even existed for a moment.


    My eyes rapidly focused as I rematerialized behind the cloaked Anbu. For a split second, I had a chance to take in his form as I hesitated on his unprotected back.


    The man couldn¡¯t have been older than his mid-twenties. A large, dark cloak hung over his body in a way that concealed every discernible feature of him. The only thing I was able to find was the fact that it flared at his neck till it covered his nose.


    Just as easily as my hesitance came, I squashed it as I imagined Sasuke sitting within a cloud of darkness, listening to the insects that would eat him alive just a small distance away. My gut clenched as my sword dug its gory path through the Shinobi before he could even respond. I gagged as I felt the feedback of muscle and sinew being cleaved out of the way of the blade, and I wanted to throw up then and there as I felt something writhing along the blade within the man.


    Blood and insects spilled from my stab, and I could only fall along with the extra weight on my sword. The two of us collided with the ground with a disgusting splash, spraying red fluid and mashed insect in the air. Beetles began to buzz and swarm over the limp body of the Anbu, but I cared little for it as I turned over and expelled the contents of my stomach.


    As much as I resolved myself, as much as I prepared to kill, the circumstances just weren¡¯t quite like the first time I committed murder. This was well and truly a time when I wasn¡¯t as exhausted as I had been; where I had complete coherence to my actions, and squashed my hesitation.


    I didn¡¯t hate the Shinobi like I did those who conspired to remove Hinata¡¯s eyes. He and I were just enemies on different sides, separated by the veil of combat. While I could understand the necessity of my actions, that didn¡¯t mean I had to enjoy it. Even when my stomach finally complied to silence.


    Still, one thing was bugging me as I stared down at the death that was a product of unwarranted conflict.


    That Anbu was weak as hell.


    In fact, with all the build up to him, I had expected to get in a fight for my life against this strong opponent. Now, it may have been the fact that my sneak attack was simply too good, but Itachi had easily seen through me without the hesitance in my actions and had dealt with my blow accordingly. Itsuki had stated several times over that Anbu were on another level, too. The ease at which the enemy before me was killed set off all kinds of signals in my head.


    Idly, I tensed, waiting for some retaliatory attack to come, but now matter how long I waited there was nothing to be found. Something was decently off about the whole thing. However, I couldn¡¯t put together exactly what even as I returned back to the smoldering building that held a cowering child.


    Luckily, Sasuke had heeded my warning of staying still, and I had found the child easily. It was a little odd that he was now quiet, though. If anything, it helped me immensely as my mind was whirring too hard to have to deal with the boy¡¯s complaints.


    Now all I had was more questions and a big brother to find.

 Naruto and Eavesdropping

    never get lost. I''m taking you to a friend who can watch you while I go make sure that your idiot of a brother is safe."


    have to listen to me!"


    not." I ground out, suppressing a wince as Sasuke visibly flinched away from me. "My parents are dead, and right now I''m focusing on trying to get you back to your own family before finding my friend. If you would so kindly shut up, then I would actually be able to think past your incessant babble."


    had to be a Monday, I was sure.


    madness needs to be stopped." The man said, his voice desperate and hoarse. For some reason, the odd thing that was attached to him made his words hollow. It wasn''t that I could see through any act that he might have been pulling, but just something set all my instincts on high.


    deserve to be torn from their very roots!"


    Shinobi."


    civil war, or give us some semblance of peace after the whole Anbu fiasco with the Hy¨±ga compound. We''re lucky enough that the main house doesn''t care much for the branch houses -as insensitive as that sounds. As the talks will most likely need me, I''ll be one of the guards for the Hokage. And, since we''re trying to keep this as non lethal as possible, I suggest Ch¨­za and Inoichi come along as well."


    could do. As for the hostage situation, one of the Anbu had reported to me that he had captured Itachi as an even better hostage. Though, going back to your confidence issue," He leaned in, speaking in a whisper, "Need I remind you what happened to the still missing Uzumaki child?"


    Shikaku''s ideas are quite sound."


    must watch your back, my friend."

 Naruto and Conspiracy

    no patrols.


    something.


    had to be something here.


    missing-nin, within their secret lair. And considering that it took me literally charging straight through a floor to find, that had to mean something.


    seldom an occurrence. Still, it begged the question of where exactly Jiraiya had been before and after I had been kidnapped.


    sleazy taking up the once grim continence. "Of course, there are things that don''t get old no matter how many times I see them. Hehehe¡­"


    here?" The woman looked around a bit as if frightened I might appear at any moment before flinching at the stare Itsuki gave her. "I mean, what happens if Danz¨­ gets another pawn?"


    and we can safely assume he''ll try to do something?"


    and Naruto is as skilled as you have said he was, we can deal with Danz¨­ just fine. Besides, this is why I have an informant within his supposed group, after all."


    Euphoric, maybe." Hizashi smiled, happily reminiscing as Jiraiya sighed and made his way over to the crying Neji.


    my child''s life on a probably."


    something. I didn''t actually know what it was. There was Chakra being inserted into the ink, running along the lines that connected like a circuit in motion. All I could gather was that the lines and orientation were what input what the actual thing did while the Chakra ran inside it like electricity.


    disconcerting. I had never really paid attention to anything other than the exact scent of the Chakra, but now that I knew that something was amiss, I could only continually see things wrong with the blonde-haired man.


    I can find." He tapped the side of his head. "I''m guessing it''s a Genjutsu or something, but quite frankly, I''m as confused as you are. He came to me one day asking to help him, and has been my source for quite a few of inner workings on this so called ''Root.''"


    should be impossible¡­ Genjutsu works by invading another''s Chakra system with your own, but it never gets further than affecting a few nerves. Doing something as complex as rewriting memories¡­ That''s just not possible."


    They were testing me. My reactions, my findings, they know them all. I¡­ I think that they were testing their own ability through me. My memory blocks always seemed to be tripped these days."


    wrong with the Uchihas.


    hated myself more for following the trio when they asked me to come along.

 Naruto and Unease

    Sasuke noticed something was wrong with the way I acted now.


    tenuous stay. Of course, I don''t think my apologies would mean much, but I give you them anyways. Oh, but where are my manners, let me introduce you to someone who has been dying to meet you."


    is safe." The Hy¨±ga said, brushing off the matter of his daughter''s captivity like it mattered little to him. The spike of terror that ran down my spine as he turned to Danz¨­ was something that chilled me to the bone. "More importantly, Danz¨­-sama, do you perhaps want to speak with this¡­ boy, alone?"


    snap under the pressure.


    bullshit. I don''t believe a thing you''ve said, and I sure as hell ain''t gonna give you the Ky¨±bi. You may think you''re playing this village like a board game, but you''ve got another thing coming, buddy."


    lives like it was nothing. And then he had the audacity to go and lie about the whole thing to a child!


    Danz¨­? Did you see his eye?"


    Where is Sasuke?" He asked again, turning away from the open cell. However, I don''t think there was a need to tell him the answer. Itachi just stood there, staring at me with some unknown deliberation happening behind his eyes.


    did. I trusted you when you had taken my best friend from me, I trusted you to give me answers, and I even brought your brother back to his parents safely¡­ Just, give me answers, please."

 Naruto and Resolutions

    knew that the buildings in my inner world crumbled, pieces that were once barely holding together were falling into the lake below.


    many. I was only a child still, and that disconnect from my once adult body was still a slight ghost in my movements. It was getting better. Chakra certainly helped smoothed over the transition, but all I had going for me was my knife and the fact that I had more Chakra than I knew how to deal with.


    used it.


    nothing to me.


    trembled as I pushed into it, forcing my strength from my feet to my hips then finishing at the tip of my fingers.


    crack as Nuibari flew. Then a thud.


    not deserve this."


    couldn''t happen to her, I promised then and there. It still didn''t stop my mouth from tasting like ash.


    kept cracking as I tried to strengthen it the best I could.


    hoped it was regular wind.


    jumped. It rose up into the sky, twisting in a way that seemed too athletic for its size before rushing down faster than any meteorite, slamming its two pronged weapon into the ground with all the power of a category ten earthquake.


    insane as all these guys.

 Naruto and Chaos

    stupid. Instead, they used the vulnerabilities present in the wielders of such superhuman powers, their humanity.


    horrible knowing just how many corpses we had passed. More often than not, I found that they were Anbu, or more accurately, the Anbu that looked too young to be anywhere near as experienced as they should have been.


    had to be crazy, I decided.


    pointless. So many lost lives that I had been a part of was just beyond what I thought my homecoming would be.


    chaos.


    death. I was trying to balance the guilt on my shoulders and move on, but I just couldn''t take my eyes away from the whole thing.


    needed to move. I needed to do something. So, I stepped forwards, finding Itachi watching me with one eye and scanning the battlefield with the other. Plans to run away were long gone. This was madness, but no one deserved this. "I-I''ll go to Kakashi and Itsuki. You''re faster on your own."


    could have been stopped.


    not the time to argue."


    definitely the time to argue!" Itsuki yelled, blocking a barrage of kunai by swinging the axehead of Kabutowari in front of him. "Jiraiya-san told me not to tell the kid if he arrived!"


    chilled me to my core.

 Naruto and Tails

    pleaded to be let out. It screamed alongside the fire that burned in my veins, giving more and more strength to my call.


    were moving slower, and yet I felt that my acclimation to my newfound strength was taking eons.


    didn''t want to tell you, kid." He said, forcing a smile. I knew how much pain just a smidge of the Chakra wracked him with, and the fact that I had no idea how long my hand was in his thigh only increased my worry.


    plenty to give. The fox''s energy was overpowering my already overpowered jutsu to form the image in my head.


    entirely different. The sheer distance it covered and the amount of Chakra that filled it were something that I was sure no other Shinobi could fathom.


    everywhere now. Heat and red tongues scorched everything in their path as Shinobi tried to nail their opponents, but they were only serving to get in my way. Several red flowers washed over my form as I neared closer, letting my orange and red Chakra shell drink in their heat. All I felt was the tickle of warmth that wrapped around me.


    almost there. Practically feeling the power of every thrust of the strange black spears that charged at the Hokage, and tasting the breath of the traitor who started this all. He never noticed me.


    screamed louder than the roar of war around me.


    needed to move. Needed to save my friend, but I couldn''t.


    smashing into his thigh.


    much worse. I heard something snap several times before the something in his leg gave way to my smaller fist. Things were being pushed aside, twisting in a fashion that didn''t feel too comfortable. Sill, I had to give it to the man, Danz¨­ didn''t even expel so much as a pained groan as I flopped to his feet.


    stupid... evil villain stereotypes, huh?"


    stupid?"


    child way in over his head."


    Naruto."


    still a warzone. I was exhausted, injured, still reeling in both external and internal pain, but as Hinata spared me a smile, I felt rather ready to continue. It won''t take long, after all.

 Naruto and Failure

    My back pressed into a sturdy broken stump, course bark grinding through my ruined clothes. Erratic breathing filled my lungs, and I curled further into my cover as several kunai and shuriken sailed overhead or hit the other side with a heavy thunk. Shouts and dulled echoes thundered in my ears, flooding my head with the sounds of rushing blood and mayhem.


    It was moments like these that let me truly understand what a cheat I was.


    Despite my exhaustion, several injuries that covered my body, and the fact that I was only five years old, I was still capable of continuing to fight in some degree. In fact, the immediate problems brought about by my overuse of the Ky¨±bi¡¯s Chakra were settling faster than I expected, and I was able to finally speak with clarity without fear of choking on Chakra. Of course, the fact that my right hand was currently out of commission for awhile was something I didn¡¯t like to dwell upon too much. Kakashi and Itachi being around to pick up my slack also was better left unsaid.


    However, it goes to show just how strong the man who used the odd black spears and Inoichi were to contend with all three of us for so long. Kakashi had taken to fighting the man with spiky black hair, dancing around his swishing strikes while making sure to keep the man on his toes with well timed kunai. Itachi, on the other hand, was doing something funky with Inoichi as the blonde-haired man was sometimes throwing his ranged weaponry at random things.


    All that was left for me to do was try to pitch in wherever I was needed.


    Though, the constant pokes on my bad arm also told me of two kids who I had been saddled with since the start of the fight. One was an angel who was using Nuibari to its full potential again, spearing through enemy Shinobi with precise strikes. The other was a brat.


    ¡°Sasuke, for the last time, stop poking me.¡± I said, turning to glare at the five-year old Uchiha. ¡°This is a very serious warzone, and I¡¯m trying to keep us all safe.¡±


    Sasuke, being the cheeky little brat he was, looted several kunai and shuriken around us to begin chucking at almost anyone that came by. Most of the time they missed, but sometimes they screwed up fights for both sides. ¡°I¡¯m trying to help too!¡±


    ¡°No, you¡¯re,¡± I winced as a furious squawk came from a nearby Shinobi, a shuriken lodged firmly in his left buttcheek. He turned to charge us only to be met with Nuibari coming in to finish the job. My free hand moved Sasuke to see the aftermath. ¡°See, you¡¯re just causing more problems. Just sit back and let the two of us do this; you¡¯re big brother wants you to sit tight, alright?¡±


    Sasuke pouted, as if we weren¡¯t in the middle of a bloodbath. ¡°I don¡¯t wanna do nothing.¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t wanna have this argument right now¡­¡± I whispered under my breath before turning to Sasuke and forcing him to look at me. He was taking this whole war thing well, but he was still not strong enough to really change anything currently. ¡°Look, Sasuke, you said we were family, right?¡±


    The boy my age nodded, suddenly very serious. To be safe, I warily made note of the battles around us, making sure that none were close enough to suddenly drag us in, and I caught Hinata stealing more swords to start making a field of them with us as the center. My attention was almost torn away as I watched her channel blue sparks from one sword to another, electrocuting an unfortunate Shinobi who thought they were sneaking up behind her.


    I made a mental note to ask Hinata about that later as I focused more on Sasuke. ¡°Then, if we¡¯re family, we need to protect each other. And I can¡¯t really protect you if you¡¯re trying to fight everyone.¡±


    He nodded once more, eyes suddenly finding his feet to be more interesting. Then, I heard his voice, but it was so soft that I knew it was more to himself than to me. ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t wanna be protected anymore¡­¡±


    The sounds of combat were much quieter than I last remembered, but I didn¡¯t turn away from them. Hinata, seeing that Sasuke had suddenly stopped dragging more enemies to us, slowly began to pull back to us to rest.


    ¡°Can you move?¡± My head snapped to Itachi so fast that I felt my wounds ache. And if it wasn¡¯t for the calm smile on the black-haired teen¡¯s face, I would have tried to stab him. Still, he was a welcome distraction from Sasuke¡¯s pity party.


    Easing off the tension, I felt the building Chakra in my veins ebb away from the front of my mind. I focused back to Itachi, eyeing the fact that there wasn an unconscious Inoichi was draped over the teen¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Yeah, I can move; not that fast, but probably enough to get away. Do you really need to take that guy, though?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s needed.¡± Itachi said, not really expanding from there.


    I had my suspicions, though. Inoichi was the only one who seemed to be aware that he was being mind-controlled, but that still didn¡¯t mean he could stop it. However, I did see Itachi¡¯s silent reasoning behind taking him alive.


    It still didn¡¯t sit right with me that we were suddenly sparing one person after tearing through hundreds. Of course, my own need to not be biased and simply kill everyone who got in my way to save Hinata didn¡¯t need to be said. I just had to nod and hope that we weren¡¯t missing something.


    ¡°Naruto-kun¡­¡± Hinata pressed herself into my side, unbothered by the odd look Sasuke was giving me. Itachi just looked over to Kakashi, the silver-haired teen still struggling to put down his opponent. ¡°Are we going home now, Naruto-kun?¡±


    I frowned at her words. Her eyes looked to me, trying to tell me something, but I couldn¡¯t see anything past that. We had a fairly good relationship for ourselves. One might even say we were conjoined at the hip when we were in the woods. However, I was never good at reading people without my specter. Though, I was getting better at finding emotions.


    And for some reason, Hinata reeked of fear.


    My first response was to fix that, pulling my friend in closer as I let Itachi handle protecting us. ¡°I don¡¯t think-¡±


    ¡°Hey! Kiddos, over here!¡± Itsuki yelled at us, charging straight through a few enemies along the way. The smile on his face was infectious with how Hinata had one as well, and I felt that some of her tension was being alleviated.


    The older Shinobi¡¯s smile quickly fell at the sight of Itachi. ¡°What the hell are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Itsuki,¡± I urged, finding that the man was trying to insert himself in between Hinata and Itachi. ¡°I can explain later. Now¡¯s not the time, and, more importantly, what are you doing over here?¡±


    The man laughed, not even turning as Kabutowari warded off a few projectiles. ¡°There¡¯s really not much to do but wait for Jiraiya-san and your old Hokage to finish up. We¡¯re under the impression that whatever Genjutsu he used will wear off as soon as he dies, so cleaning up his actual allies will be faster when he finally croaks.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t.¡± Itachi cut in suddenly.


    ¡°... I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t think I heard you correctly.¡± Itsuki laughed again, trying to stop the frown that was slowly twisting his features. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®it won¡¯t¡¯?¡±


    The Uchiha teen pulled Sasuke in closer, not really liking how aggressive Itsuki had become. I didn¡¯t blame him, either. The older man really could be threatening; especially to someone who brought Hinata into this whole mix. ¡°Kotoamatsukami (Distinguishing Heavenly God) needs the user and the victim to have eye contact and the victim needs to hear the order. Their memories are rewritten to achieve the order.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like a rather insane jutsu¡­ It disregards most of the laws jutsu normally follow. But,¡± Itsuki¡¯s weapon was already trailing slowly behind him, the edge of its axe digging a little into the earth as he eyed Itachi. ¡°Why exactly do you know so much about it, huh? That¡¯s pretty damn suspicious to me.¡±


    ¡°Itsuki, let¡¯s drop it for now.¡± I said, tensing for anything.


    ¡°Drop it?¡± His attention turned to me. ¡°Are you okay in there? That guy kidnapped your friend, remember? Are you really siding with him?¡±


    A sigh escaped me. ¡°I¡¯m not. And I trust him just enough to not stab me in the back all of a sudden, but this is really not the time for this.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡± Kakashi added, breathless, and we all found the teen with several more wounds added to his body. What I paid more attention to was the body slumped over his shoulder.


    My eyebrow rose, it was a good enough distraction, but I could feel the corners of my lips tugging downwards. ¡°You¡¯re taking him alive as well?¡±


    Kakashi nodded silently as Itsuki spoke up. ¡°Don¡¯t let it bother you, kid, he¡¯s the strategist for Konoha last I heard, so taking him for more information on what that maniac was planning would help. Or I think that¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°Itsuki is right.¡± Kakashi said, wincing silently at the fact that he agreed with the older Shinobi.


    My lips were curled into a frown now. I knew they were needed for information, but it just left a sour taste in my mouth after witnessing all this death. They were, in some part, responsible for all this chaos.


    However, I couldn¡¯t voice my bias. They were unneeded in the grand scheme of things. While I fashioned myself intelligent to some degree, I knew my place in the matters pertaining to the more political side of things. Older Shinobi were talking and planning while I was just a useful knife. A particularly powerful and dangerous knife, but a knife nonetheless.


    After all, my only goal had been to save my friend, and with Hinata next to me, that had been accomplished. All that was left was for the Hokage and Jiraiya to finish up on their side.


    I turned, trying to hide my frown from the smiling Hinata. There had to be something in the air with how much she was smiling today. It just seemed unnatural.


    Still, hiding my embarrassment was one thing, but as I turned my features rapidly paled. My body moved for me, shaky steps elevated to something fluid with adrenaline pumping through me.


    Our group acted a couple seconds after I threw myself in front of Sasuke, wincing as a pair of kunai lodged themselves into my upper shoulder and right forearm. Blood was alright coating the weapons as I pulled them out, feeling the familiar itch of regeneration kick in.


    My eyes shot up as our exhausted group stared at the sudden aggressors, and I felt several of them tense to a pause. Despite the dying fires and warcries nearby, it felt like silence reigned between us and them for ages.


    Only a soft whimper from Sasuke broke us from the spell. ¡°M- mommy? Daddy?¡±


    I bit back a comment as I stared at the two of them. Somewhere inside of me knew that they were mind controlled to some degree, but I had hid that in the hopes that Sasuke would be safe. Their aggressive appearances solved many of my questions, though.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Itsuki said, splitting his focus from the two Shinobi to the young Sasuke on the verge of tears.


    There was a silent conversation that traveled between the oldest Shinobi of our group, and I cursed the fact that my body still wasn¡¯t back up to a good enough state to fight well. Instead, I was forced to watch as the tired Kakashi and Itachi shot forwards to fight the Uchiha couple. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Itsuki stood in front of the three of us, carefully watching the idly twitching Hinata. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking, Hinata-chan. Just let those two handle this; I¡¯ll protect you guys this time.¡±


    I was perhaps torn just as much as my white-eyed friend was. We were both used to fighting our way out of trouble by now, and the fact that we were forced to sit on the sidelines while our exhausted teammates struggled, didn¡¯t seem right to us.


    There was a blur of movement as each side clashed with their target. Kakashi locked blades with Sasuke¡¯s dad while Itachi met his mom in combat. Whether the other Uchiha was bothered by that, I couldn¡¯t tell from his expression, but I just knew something was tearing him up on the inside.


    Kakashi was clearly running on fumes. His attacks were without his usual flare, and instead were impossibly fast, straight forward strikes. Anyone could see he was tired. His breathing was turning ragged, yet he pushed on.


    I didn¡¯t even have to look with my specter to know that his arms and legs were running primarily on Chakra reinforcement now. There was a sort of jerkiness to his movements like a puppet with strings that didn¡¯t quite line up correctly. When he struck, his opponent would falter, appearing cowed by the sheer power in each blow, but at the same time, Kakashi couldn''t last much longer with such a tactic.


    Sasuke¡¯s dad was playing a waiting game. Trying to dodge most of the silver-haired Anbu¡¯s attacks, and almost forgetting to send any of his own. For a moment Kakashi seemed like he outclassed the older man. That Kakashi could actually win by virtue of pure skill and determination.


    Then the man¡¯s eyes swirled anew. His pupil pulsed, sending a thin, black circle to surround the first. From that circle expanded three thin curves, almost like blades that reached the edge of his red iris before three black dots formed behind the curve of each blade.


    Kakashi saw the change long before I understood it. The teen went from offensive to defensive in a second as Sasuke¡¯s dad seemed to speed up. Whatever had happened only meant trouble for the teen.


    My gaze quickly shot over to Itachi, wondering if the black-haired teen would be able to assist Kakashi before things became dire. I was greeted to him dancing around his mother, looking for an opening to try to take her down without actually killing her. His attention was focused, and I somewhat understood his hesitance, but right now things were beginning to spiral out of control.


    Sooner or later someone was going to cave in these dire straits. It would either be Kakashi after his strength failed him, or it would be Itachi after he made a mistake. Despite knowing this, all we could do was watch as the people we knew tried their very best to survive.


    ¡°Itsuki¡­¡± I said, watching as the battles around us were slowly losing their momentum. Like this fight, things seemed to be on their final legs. This would be the final conflicts. ¡°Can you go help them?¡±


    The one-armed man flinched, not turning to meet my gaze. ¡°I gotta stay and keep you all safe, you know. That Anbu and bastard should have it all covered.¡±


    As if to dispute his words, Kakashi coughed a glob of blood up in the middle of dodging his opponent¡¯s attacks. In an instant, the silver-haired Anbu was forced to hurriedly stagger away, holding some unseen injury.


    At that same moment, I saw how the older man¡¯s changed eyes were suddenly spinning faster than normal. Whether it meant anything or not, I had no idea, but suddenly Kakashi¡¯s body was littered with dozens of smaller cuts and scrapes. It was as if the Shinobi was put into a storm of razor wire without anyone seeing a thing.


    I felt Itsuki tense next to me, getting ready to jump up and provide his maybe-friend some help. Kakashi himself was still standing against all odds, but the fire in his eyes had dulled somewhat. Itachi was still trying to deal with his own mother, so him helping was a very slim chance.


    However, before anyone had a chance to do anything, Sasuke had somehow found the energy and courage to run past Itsuki and I¡¯s surveillance. The small idiot then jumped in between Kakashi and his father with tears in his eyes.


    ¡°That idiot¡­¡± I groused, casting a glance at the silent Hinata at my side still. Luckily, she had the sense not to do anything crazy, but I was still a bit annoyed at how easily I let Sasuke slip through.


    ¡°Please stop!¡± The boy cried between his heavy tears. ¡°I wanna go home!¡±


    As if Sasuke¡¯s words had stirred something inside his brainwashed father¡¯s head, the man paused directly in front of his son. The boy¡¯s tears halted for a second, and through his blurry eyes, he looked up.


    Then, all pretense of hope fled.


    Instead of a tearful reunion breaking whatever control was forcing the man against his will, Sasuke¡¯s dad raised his katana in order to stab the young boy through his chest. There was no emotion in the movement; just a calm, machine-like display of skill. And in all our shock, the point of the sword was already almost on its target.


    ¡°No!¡± I cursed, placing my knife between my lips to split. Clarity and pain filled my mind as my previous injuries stopped their constant regeneration, and my spector shot off to save Sasuke.


    It was as if the world had slowed to a deathly crawl again. However, this time I wasn¡¯t using my knife to transform into that monstrous form. Everything seemed to be happening too fast for my head to think through why or how they happened.


    One second I was standing next to Hinata, and the next I was already next to Sasuke, trying to pull him out of the sword¡¯s path. It was only being so close that I smelt the unending fear coming from my fellow toddler. Blood and gore had coated my nose long enough that the smell of decay had long since passed the point of fazing me, but the fear coming from Sasuke was something that clogged all my senses for a second.


    We both knew I was too slow to do anything.


    The sword was too fast. Both of us knew that fact, and once that reality set in, I could only watch as the metallic point was already pressing against skin. It was as if the world was slow motion again as a small dribble of blood began to drip from the cut. The blood mirrored the same color as Sasuke¡¯s suddenly red eyes, a small, black tomoe that spun faster than the world seemed to turn inside his red iris.


    Then blood spilled, following along the edge of the sword to drip down into the loose dirt. There was only the sounds of soft breath and crying in my ears for a second.


    ¡°How...¡± I found my words first, trying to wet my suddenly dry mouth.


    Those were the only words anyone could really say for a second as we all stared at the sword impaling not Sasuke but Itachi.


    The Uchiha teen had somehow crossed the distance faster than anyone could perceive, pull Sasuke out of the way and take the fatal blow himself. I looked over at his previous location, trying to find his opponent. As realization hit me, I found no one standing there; only another body to add to the tragedy.


    Emotion choked me for a second, and I turned to find Itachi standing in front of Sasuke, a sword cleanly stabbing through his heart. He seemed almost ethereal in how he refused to die despite the instantly fatal wound.


    ¡°Uzumaki-san, no, Naruto¡­¡± he spoke slowly as if afraid he would trip over his words. Sasuke¡¯s tears and incoherent cries were echoing somewhere in the background. ¡°Run. I will cover your retreat.¡±


    I took a moment to understand what he meant. Not the fact that he wanted us to run away, but the fact that he specifically said ¡®retreat¡¯. It was as if he knew we lost long ago.


    And the damning clapping that echoed from the fringes of our little bubble of conflict only sealed my worst fears.


    Standing with more black clothed Shinobi behind him was the very same maniac who started all this conflict. However, instead of his leg being pulped and unusable, the man seemed to be in the prime of his life. Instead of being dragged back in a body bag by Hiruzen and Jiraiya, the old cripple was looking as if he had just gotten out of a fairly uncomfortable dust patch.


    His robes were now ripped and torn in places, showing that his right arm was completely engulfed in white bandages. Tree branches and sharp brambles constantly snaked out from underneath his bandages, roving over his right side like a miniature, living forest. Though, the most eye-catching was the fact that his right eye was no longer hidden under his false cover, showing the same blood red iris and black shuriken I had seen before.


    ¡°This has been a rather tiring day for everyone.¡± The man spoke, his words hard and without any fake geniality. It was as if this tragedy had torn into him just as much as everyone else. ¡°Please stop this.¡± He raised his voice to the clearing, waiting as the fighting slowly began to ebb away. ¡°Konoha doesn¡¯t need to lose anyone else.¡±


    I felt something snap as I listened to the man, an anger clawed it was out once more. ¡°Oh, shut up you piece of shit! Do you honestly not think of what you have done? Of everything you tore apart in this madness?!¡± I found my eyes trailing to a calmly waiting Itachi and crying Sasuke. ¡°You¡¯re the worst of the worst. You murdered families, killed innocents and ruined a whole village, and for what? What could you possibly gain from this?¡±


    For his part, the man blinked at my words. He looked almost surprised at how much I had to say for a dispute I barely had a day being involved in. However, after a brief moment, the man sighed, his chest heaving with the action.


    ¡°Maybe I overestimated your worth, Naruto. You are a child, after all.¡±


    I frowned. ¡°What are you-¡±


    Pain and fire filled my chest as something cold slipped in between my ribs to stab into my lungs. Blood began to fill my lungs, and suddenly my Chakra refused to move as I was used to. Itachi words about Danzo having a poison that affects Chakra control rang in my mind for a second as noise and anger filled my ears.


    When I turned to see my attacker, I found myself floored and disgusted. Itsuki, Sasuke and Kakashi were all slack jawed in their respective positions as some of them had only started moving a little while ago. And while rage was trying to force my Chakra to my will, I only found myself tripping over my thoughts.


    ¡°H- Hinata...¡± I whispered the name, afraid that somehow I would forget everything about her.


    Hinata had tears in her eyes as she slowly removed the small knife from my chest. My wounds burned as something continued to impede my control, and the taste of iron began to stain the back of my mouth. Red began to leak through my clenched teeth long before I understood what to say.


    ¡°Can¡­¡± Hinata began to speak, slowly backing away from me to closer to Danzo¡¯s side. ¡°Can we go home now, Naruto-kun?¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± My words could come out anymore. I think I was thinking faster than anyone was really moving as I slowly pieced together everything.


    Hinata was taken back a couple days before this coup ever began, and since I was supposedly the equivalence of some weapon of mass destruction, it made sense to get information out of her. It also made sense that they would spare no quarter to get something like me back. Factor in mind control in there, and the answer was rather simple to guess.


    Except¡­ except I didn¡¯t want to acknowledge it.


    ¡°Come on, Hinata. We gotta get out of here.¡± My voice was desperate, low and nearly a whisper.


    I didn¡¯t want to see the obvious truth.


    ¡°Kid¡­¡± I heard Itsuki¡¯s voice somewhere between the pounding of my heart.


    There was a broken laugh that echoed along the silence, and it took a moment for me to realize that it was my own. ¡°I¡¯m here to save you, Hinata. Its dangerous to be over there, so let¡¯s just-¡±


    ¡°Naruto¡­ she¡¯s under his control.¡± Itsuki said. His words were so soft that I felt they might shatter on my ears. However, they still pierced deep enough to stop me from continuing my denial.


    Denial that everything I had done was for nothing.


    My limbs were as numb as my throat now. The world seemed so far away from where I was that I could only seem to take a backseat to everything that happened around me.


    Eyes lolled in their sockets as strength continued to fail me. I saw Kakashi reaching over my shoulder to block a few incoming kunai from hitting me. Itsuki was swinging Kabutowari around, smashing into the ground as the earth around the impact erupted into a wave of earthen spikes. Itachi was slowly walking forward, blood continuing to spill from his mortal wound as he parried every attack sent his way.


    Danzo came into my line of sight again. His hands were blurring together as he wove hand signs faster than I could perceive, and I only caught the end of it as he finished. Suddenly, his chest inflated for a second as he drew in a deep breath before expelling a blast of wind that tore a path towards us, sending a spray of dirt and rocks outwards as it traveled.


    Itsuki appeared in front of us now, his hands slamming into the ground as a series of walls shot up in the path of the destructive wind. It gored straight through several of the walls, landing in the middle of the one in front of Itsuki before finally losing its momentum. Cracks appeared on the earthen barrier as the one-armed man turned to smile at us.


    ¡°Hey, I know you¡¯re a brat, Kakashi, but can you take these kids out of here? It seems we lost this one, so I might as well take a few out before I get out of here.¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± I said faster than I could think. ¡°Not you too.¡±


    The man flinched, turning away to look at the fact that there were several members of Jiraiya¡¯s group running away now. It didn¡¯t take a genius to know that with the reinforcements and their leader supposedly losing, this battle was one they couldn¡¯t win.


    ¡°I told you, kid.¡± Itsuki started again, no longer looking at me anymore. ¡°We¡¯d only be together until I took you guys back to the village. Its good that you¡¯re no longer my problem; I wasn¡¯t cut out to raise brats who gave up in times like these.¡±


    I felt like lightning struck my thoughts. The pity and doubt that had been swirling at the center of them was burning under the fire that was anger. A righteous crusade of anguish and hate fueled my movements now.


    Acid was sinking into my bones as I felt the familiar tinge of orange taint my being. My body was a wreck, and doing something like this might harm something permanently. However, I could only think of one, all-consuming thought at the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to-¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t fight me, Naruto Uzumaki.¡± Fight left me in a second as I listened, and I was left staring at my object of hatred with impotent anger. Yet, I couldn¡¯t muster up an ounce energy to contest him. All I could do was stare as his right eye slowly shut.


    It wasn¡¯t the poison in my veins preventing from doing anything, nor was it the inability to actually provide any strength to my broken body. The blood in my lungs was something that was weighing me down, making it hard to breath correctly, but that wouldn¡¯t stop something as potent as the acid-filled strength. I just couldn¡¯t remember how to fight when it came to him.


    ¡°I guess it was worth it to save today¡¯s order for you.¡± Danzo mused as something in the back of my mind failed to spark again. ¡°You really are every bit as tenacious as described.¡±


    ¡°Kakashi!¡± Itsuki yelled, pulling me out of my spiral of thoughts again. I turned away from Danzo, and suddenly I remembered how to fight. I remembered Itachi telling me about that right eye of his. Kotoamatsukami, part of me said. ¡°Get them out of here now!¡±


    ¡°W- wait! Big brother! Don¡¯t leave him! He¡¯s still okay!¡± Sasuke was still crying, his blood red eyes spinning as he continued to stare at his older brother. Itachi hadn¡¯t turned back around, but from my angle I could see his eyes continually spinning, a three pronged shuriken spinning in his sockets. Injuries began to pile up on the teen as he moved forwards without stopping, and it seemed as if there weren''t dozens of black-clad Shinobi trying to stop him from continuing his march.


    I could only watch again.


    Just like the last time I lost people who I had only learned to care about. Despite growing stronger, no matter how much I changed, everything felt as if I could only stand and watch.


    ¡°Naruto¡­¡± I felt Kakashi¡¯s hand brush against my shoulder, and I turned to find him holding a struggling Sasuke under one of his arms. ¡°We need to run; can you move?¡±


    I could see the strain in the teen¡¯s features. His emotions were normally so hard to read, but now they were easy. This decision was perhaps the hardest one for him today.


    There was another explosion as Itsuki blocked more and more enemies from attacking us. I took Kakashi¡¯s hand during the chaos, and spared a second to see Hinata standing behind the enemies as Danzo tried to get past the increasing number of earth spikes that Itsuki kept sending out.


    ¡°Enough!¡± The man cried, his right arm lashing out as an entire forest seemed to grow from his right side. Hardened brambles struck against Itsuku¡¯s defense, and while they stood for a couple seconds, the constant onslaught tore through in moments.


    In a second, the one-armed man was swept away in the torrent of roving woods, his body becoming lost in the browns and greens of trees. Danzo himself shot forwards, intent on finally getting his hands on me, and I felt myself failing to gain any strength to counter him.


    However, in that moment, a giant, orange skeleton tore through the brambles that came from our enemy. Ethereal bones surrounded Itachi as the teen smashed through whatever resistance that stood in his way, and slammed his skeleton¡¯s hand into Danzo¡¯s unprepared body with a ear-splitting backhand. An echoing crack signaled the collision as the older man¡¯s body bent around the blow before being sent flying out into another part of the clearing.


    For one hopeful second, I thought that he was dead with that one blow, but a sudden emergence of more trees blew that idea out of the water. Instead, I watched at the orange skeleton around Itachi flickered for a second, and the teen coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    ¡°Sasuke¡­¡± Itachi whispered, his voice so quiet we all had to lean in to hear. His brother perked up in Kakashi¡¯s arms, his tears still running down his face. ¡°Remember to eat your vegetables.¡±


    I expected tears to continue coming from Sasuke. My body was hurting enough that I was shedding tears from how much my injuries were being jostled on our way away from the battle, and I flinched at every explosive clash that echoed behind us. Yet, the boy bit down on his lower lip, choosing to just watch his brother fight till we lost sight of them in the surrounding trees.


    However, I was numb for the most part. I felt like I was living a dream again. That everything would make sense when I woke up, and I would smile at the antics of Itsuki again. That I would try to stop Hinata from taking more swords from our opponents as they were getting too heavy to carry. Yet, I knew one part would struck past my numbness.


    I hated the feeling that came with only being able to watch.