Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Reflection of Oneself ❯ Reflections ( Chapter 19 )

[ P - Pre-Teen ]

The Reflection of Oneself

Chapter 19: Reflections

Reflection.

What do you see when you look in the mirror? This world is so full of people who wear masks, hiding there true from the rest of the humanity. Can you truthfully look in the mirror and tell yourself that the person you are looking at is really you?

We hide ours, afraid of our reflections. It doesn't matter whether we are tall or short, fat or skinny, ugly or beautiful, kind or cruel - we are people who inherently seem to loathe ourselves. We break our mirrors and give ourselves bad luck. We are people who put on costumes, pretending to be something we are not.

What hides inside your heart of hearts? Is it a gentle soul, a monstrous beast or all those petty wolves in sheep's clothing? If you are not who you say you are, admit it to yourself. The more you hide, the more you hurt and the more you hurt the others around you.

My reflection…

I may not be proud with what I se, but hey! It's the next best thing in recognizing the person who's looking back at me!

Inside Nanikato's Mind:

“Hey Haruki! I think you killed him!”

“Urusai! I did not kill him, Nikkou - look, he's still breathing!”

The inside of Nanikato's head was pandemonium. The boy in question currently lay unconscious; the shock that was the bombshell of having eight visitors was enough to send his poor tormented noodle for a loop, effectively rendering him cataleptic. And while he was busy recovering in the blissful darkness that was LaLa Land, the aforementioned brothers were causing a ruckus in his mindscape.

The first was the blonde wearing the green yukata, who was obviously known as Haruki, had two thin locks of dark brown hair that drooped down and framed his strong, whisker mark face. The second, who was Nikkou, wore a yellow yukata; his blonde hair cropped short and sported a ring of gold pigment around his sky blue eyes.

“Would you to mind calming down? This is no time for hysterics.”

The others looked in the direction the blonde with the voice of a schoolmarm and glared.

“Shut up Kitai!”

The third, known as Kitai, was dressed in a pale violet yukata, his whiskered cheek drawn in a pinched expression. He blue eyes, which seemed impossibly large behind the round spectacles he wore, had a single sickle-shaped lock of gray hair that fell into his face were the rest of the sunshine blonde was tied back at the nape of his neck.

“Yeah! Perhaps it was your ugly face that caused him to have a heart attack nii-san!”

Kitai harrumphed crossing his arms. “You know your calling yourself ugly too.”

“Am not! Hakumei and I are the best looking one's here!”

“Hell yeah! You got that right Raimei!”

Blonde's four and five respectively gave each other a high five. The one known as Raimei wore an orange yukata while his accomplice, Hakumei, wore an indigo yukata. They had scraggly mops of blonde hair that looked t if the tips had been dipped in mauve paint. But whilst that pair laughed, another boy who looked almost just like them, his yukata dyed red, had his back turned from the rest of them as if trying to ignore their presences.

“Humph…”

“Wahoo! And the crowd go wild!” Raimei, Hakumei and yet another blonde, this one wearing brown yukata and feathers in his hair, clasped hands and began jumping up and down as they cheered giddily.

He growled. “Not funny guys.”

“Oh, but it is Ryoku-niisan!” the feather-haired blonde laughed. “It's not everyday that `Mr. Serious' speaks more than two whole words!”

“Urusai fly-boy!”

“Thank you, thank you! I can just see the headlines now `The Great Kyuuzano Takamaru Conquers Beastly Brother'. I'll be famous baby! Yeah!”

And apparently that pair, as much as the latter liked to get on the former's nerves, were known as Ryoku and Takamaru. And whilst the serious one chased the laughing one - well… the loudest one - hoping to get a chance to pound his fool brain into the ground, the last of their little group had slipped past their bickering and had bent down next to the still unconscious Nanikato.

Leaning forward, this blonde who was wearing a light blue yukata, peered down at the youngest of them all and smiled, a quivering smiling. And reaching out a trembling hand, he placed it upon his younger brother's head and felt the boy stir towards wakefulness.

“Ah… ano… I think he's w-waking up!”

The chaos suddenly came to an abrupt halt and each of the already recognized boys came to stand or kneel next to their tremulous younger brother and gaze down at the one that was still unconscious. As they watched, Nanikato whimpered softly and twitched.

“Good job Koko.”

The blonde, now known as Koko, blushed so hard his face looked as though it was on fire due to its crimson hue. And as soon as it looked like he was going to faint, Koko suddenly faded and disappeared. The other boys looked at the boy he had been and then shrugged, knowing that he'd show up again soon enough. But then a couple of snickers could be heard and everyone groaned exasperatedly.

Smiling a pair of identical devious grins, Raimei and Hakumei pushed their brothers, older and younger, out of the way. Then Hakumei turned back to them and squinted happily till his eyes had become upturned U's.

“I think you might want to back up. This isn't going to be pretty…”

Haruko scowled. “This better not be anything bad.”

“Oh, of course not nii-san!” Raimei smirked.

Beware the smirk…

Nanikato, who had, for a moment, been thankful that the noise had finally stopped pounding in his head the to intensity of a gong, could feel a finger prodding him in the side. Annoying at it was, he didn't want to wake up because if the noise had stopped, then he knew it would only be worse if he were awake. But alas, it seemed as though his body wasn't going to cooperate with him. He could feel his eyelids beginning to flicker restlessly and consciousness slowly expelling him from his sanctuary - if you could really call this consciousness, after all.

And it was as his eyes opened; he found himself only a nose away from two very bright, smiley faces.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

He bolted upright, scrambling away like a crab on his arms and legs. That only served the purpose of crash into someone else, causing him to bolt to his feet, crashing into more people as he tried to flee in panic. He was doubtless that Sasuke-sensei would laugh at him if he ever found out what a ninny he was being right now, but that didn't matter at all.

“Raimei! Hakumei! Honestly, did you have to wake him up like that?”

Nanikato turned in the speaker's direction and watched as the boy dressed in orange flipped the bespectacled boy the middle finger. “Bite me, Kitai!”

“Where?”

The orange boy gaped and was about to comment when Nanikato finally snapped.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE!?”

His voice echoed off the walls, reverberating off the bars of the cage and into the space beyond. A howl of sinister laughter ensued, caused the nine boys to cluster to together in fright.

“You know,” one of the blondes, said. “Your alter ego gives me the creeps…”

Nanikato snorted. “Tell me about it. You don't live with him.”

As soon as his darkness's laughter died away, the youngest blonde separated himself quickly from the group and eyed them suspiciously. “And what are you doing here? In my head?”

The green boy frowned. “Don't you remember? We're you brothers.”

“I don't care if you're Kami-sama himself! What are you doing here!?”

They feel silent for a moment, having not expected Nanikato to react so harshly to them being here. But what does one expect when they trespass in someone else's mind?

The indigo boy tried a nervous smile.

“We've come for a family powwow?”

Nanikato crossed his arms defiantly. “If that's so, why now after all this time?”

The eight boys looked at each other, looking for help. Then green boy grinned sheepishly. “Umm… well… do you have any idea how much red tape there was restricting us from coming?” he waved his arms exaggeratedly. “Loads I tell ya!”

“Then answer me this question?” the youngest blonde demanded. “How come you're all the same age as me if you all died before I was `born'?”

“Easy! All souls get to choose the age that they appear as. Old people get to look young again, and babies get to look older. As for why we have such `developed personalities', well when a soul whose living body die before they're born or before they're first two years get to grow up instantly.”

The small group split up, forming a circle and leaving a space open, just for me.

Nanikato looked at them incredulously, massaging his throbbing temples. “What's this suppose to be? A group therapy session?”

The blonde in the yellow chuckled. “You could say that.”

“Really?”

The sarcasm in his voice was palpable. The boy nodded, ignoring his cynicism and leaned across his brother to give the empty stop an affectionate pat. Nanikato sighed, rolling his eyes and chewing on a length of his blonde hair. When he realized that they weren't going to leave, he decided to get it over with and seating himself between the green boy and blue boy.

A full circle.

Inwardly though, he was happy that they were here. And even more confused. He had always wanted meet his family - to know who he was - but this was almost too surreal. He couldn't help it, really. He just felt… well, cheated.

“Well… were should we start?” the green boy asked, without really asking at all. “My name is Haruki, Number One.”

The yellow boy smiled. “I'm Nikkou, Number Three.”

“I am Kitai, Number Eight.” the purple boy nodded.

The orange and the indigo clad boys stood. “I'm Raimei, Number Five! And this is my twin Hakumei, Number Six!”

“I am Ryoku, Number Two,” the red boy said next.

The brown boy smirked “I'm Takamaru, Number Four.”

It stopped there and Nanikato turned to look at the blue, who had reappeared and who appeared to have swallowed his own tongue. Raising an eyebrow, he inclined a hand to his nervous, newly found brother.

“H-hi… I'm K-Koko, Number S-Seven. P-p-pleased to meet you.”

Then they were all looking at him. “Nani?”

Haruko smiled.

“Aren't you going to introduce yourself too?”

Nanikato banged his head on the floor, sweatdropping. “You mean to tell me you came here and you don't even know what my name is!?”

His brothers had the decency to flush embarrassedly.

“Fine. My name is Nanikato, and I'm Number Nine.”

There was another wave of silence, allowing the youngest blonde to fidget uncomfortably under the intense stares of his eight brothers - it was almost as bad as enduring one of Sasuke-sensei or Tayuya-oneesama's megawatt death glares.

“Sooooo… Otouto, what can you do?”

That question in turn turned out to very extensive, as all of his brothers began to tell him what is what that they could do. Apparently even in death, they could do the things they could in life, pestering all the unfortunate people who had gone to heaven, giving them no peace.

As it turned out, Harukicould manipulate plant life. Because of Orochimaru's pervious experiments, Kabuto had decided to embalm his first clone with the Shodaime Hokage's DNA, giving him the ability to use Mokuton, the Wood Element. As a demonstration, the eldest blonde grew a massive apple tree in the middle of the chamber.

For Nikkou, he seemed to have been created as a prototype for another secondary element - Hiton, the Light Element. Since it was known that the secondary elements were so rare, why not try to create one of the ones not yet seen in humans? This allowed the bright boy to manipulate light, gave him heat vision and permitted him to demonstrate his powers by shooting laser beams from his eyes at anyone who snickered at him.

Kitai, whom it turned out had been the splicing of Naruto-niisan's DNA with Kabuto's DNA, possessed their creator's old blood powers. After having chosen what to do with all the others, there had only been two clones left that hadn't had any changes done, who were himself and Nanikato. In the end, Kabuto had chosen to give himself a son and to leave Nanikato the way he was. Too bad Kitai had been the third to die.

Raimei and Hakumei turned out to actually be twins, or as close as they could get, which was much more then the others. Once again using DNA foreign source, the twins, much to Nanikato's shock, possessed the kekkei genkai that had belonged to Tayuya-oneesama's parasite teammates, Sakon and Ukon. They demonstrated their talent by joining together, Hakumei's head sticking out of Raimai's back.

Ryoku had super strength. Having been on the receiving end of the Godaime Hokage's chakra enforced strength; Kabuto had augmented his DNA to cause his muscles to be naturally reinforced with chakra without affecting his natural flow and balance. This allowed the muscle of the family to lift impossible amounts of weight without the use of his chakra.

And Takamaru, in Nanikato's opinion, had the coolest powers of all. The boy had feathers in his hair for a reason - because his DNA had been spliced with that of a falcon. With the ability to grow himself a pair of wings and see great distances, farther then the rest of them put together, or even turn into his animal form ass he wanted.

Nanikato couldn't help but be jealous - he had always wanted to fly.

As for Koko, he had the ability to disappear and walk through walls. His DNA was given a loophole, allowing it to… stretch. Unfortunately for the timid boy, his power was not under his control. It seemed that whenever he got really nervous, embarrassed or another strong emotion ran rampant, he would disappear or drop through whatever objecting he was currently sitting or standing on. The others had deducted that Koko's timidness was most likely the product of a side effect.

“Well…” Nanikato finally said when it was his turn. “From what Sasuke-sensei says, Kabuto-san didn't do anything to me. My development was natural, unobstructed by any augmentations. He also believes that was why you died - because your bodies were forced to adapt to a far more intense evolution. Naruto-niisan told me that he tried to help us all, but you seemed to trickle though his fingers when he moved on to the next…”

Koko's eyes widened. “Y- you m-met onii-sama!?”

“And you haven't?”

“Not yet.” Haruko replied. “Onii-sama stayed earthbound in order to protect us, like you said. Even though you survived, he stayed until he was certain that you could protect yourself. But no, we haven't met him yet. He's currently still residing among the newly arrived spirits.”

“Oh…” Nanikato shrugged. He was happy at least that Naruto-niisan had made it to heaven all right. From what Sasuke-sensei had told him about Naruto's life, he deserved it. “Okay then. Anyway, I wasn't given any extra powers, but I developed some. I think it's due to being a clone that it happened. I can see ghosts.”

Ryoku snorted.

“When I'm not here.”

That shut the older brother up.

“When I'm conscious, I can see natural spirit energies, spirit auras and earthbound sprits. I also have the ability to use nature chakra, but it tends to makes me intoxicated. I've also met Shinigami-sama.”

His brother's gasped in unison. Kitai proceeded to take his glasses off, give them a good cleaning and then put them back on. The bespectacled blonde looked at him in shock.

“Shinigami-sama? Impossible!”

Nanikato shock his head. “Nope. I had to meet him in order to get his blessing.”

“His blessing?” Nikkou asked. “For what!?”

The youngest blonde help up his right arm and allowed them to see the tattoo around his wrist. “This gives me his permission to summon earthbound spirits to my aid. If they agree, any ghost with unfinished business can be brought back to life like one of the summoning beasts. When either they or I run out of chakra, they are dismissed. So far, I have three such spirits agreeing to the contract.”

Takamaru cursed. “Kisama! What I wouldn't give to be an earthbound ghost right now!”

But the others were quiet, deathly so. Harukiand Kitai were staring at each other with grim expressions. Seeing those, Nanikato couldn't help but feel the dread begin to well up in his stomach and the bile begin to rise in his throat.

“Umm… you guys came for a reason other then this, right?”

His brothers had the decency to look guilty.

Kitai nodded, straitening his glasses. “Yes. It came to my attention that you were in danger. You see... there will come a time when you will have to face your maker. If you thought Orochimaru was a danger, then you haven't seen what lies behind Kabuto-san's mask. You having the power to affect the dead only makes things worse.”

“How do you know this?”

“I am, after all, Kabuto-san's son.” the purple clad boy replied. “One of things he gave to me was, although unintentional, was bits and pieces of an even greater plot. It was though his bloodline, which I received, that allowed this. He created us with an even darker purpose in mind. He wanted us all to live because together we could have had the ability to resurrect the dead…”

“But I can't resurrect the dead!”

“You may not have that power now, but who's to say you won't receive it later? If Kabuto-san gets his hands on you again, he'll be sure that you do. We would be the first he would make you resurrect, so that he could have our powers under his command and Orochimaru has simply a stepping stone towards his ultimate goal.”

Nanikato shuddered. He didn't like the sounds of this at all. His brothers looked frightened and he knew his own expression was a reflection of their own.

“And what's this ultimate goal?”

Kitai opened his mouth to talk, but then the walls around them suddenly began to rumble, causing Koko to scream and disappear. The whole world that was his inner mind was being to fade around them; turning so bright you'd think Nikkou had turned on the sun.

“What's happening!?” he cried, feeling himself drop down into a spinning vortex - like someone had just flushed the mental toilet.

“Your body is waking up!” he heard Harukiyell, the eldest boy's voice growing distant.

“But what's going to happen!?”

But the voices of his brothers were going too distant to hear and the light was only growing stronger.

“Be strong otouto, and remember - never give up hope!”

-.ooOoo.-

Fifty Miles From Konoha:

The sun was just beginning to rise on the horizon when Nanikato stirred to sluggish wakefulness, his eyelids fluttering. Opening his eyes, the young blonde groaned softly and rolled over. Or at least tried to. Struggling to sit up, he craned his neck till became painful, trying to make out where he was. His breathing quickened as he panicked slightly, recalling the events prior to his blackout and what had happened during that time until now, whenever now was.

His brothers… he had met his brothers. Although he was filled with joy, he was filled with dread. Kabuto-san - kind, concerned Kabuto-san, was the real villain here. If someone else had told him that, he would have laughed. Sure, the man worked for Orochimaru, but he had never appeared to be a real villain. But thinking about Kabuto got him thinking about…

`Sasuke-sensei? Tayuya-oneesama?'

Managing to sit upright, Nanikato surveyed his dimly lit surrounding. From what he could make out, he was laying on a bed of tree bows under the cover of a waterproof canvas that stretched between four trees. Pooled around his waist, which had wrapped around him for warmth, a thick downy blanket. Taking a deep breath, he focused on his chakra, trying to bring it out.

Unfortunately, his chakra remained unresponsive. Looking over his left shoulder and down at his hand which were bound behind his back, he noticed that there was a pair of glowing bands locked around his wrists.

Chakra cuffs.

`Shimata…' he cursed inwardly, knowing that he only had one option left.

Slowly focusing on and drawing in the nature chakra that surrounded him, he allowed just enough of it to filter into his eyes to enhancing their `blessed' capabilities. As soon as they were activated, he felt a warm flush come to his cheeks, as though he had just partaken in a cup of sake. Following the spiritual pull, he turned his head to the right and spotted the two adults that had been previously in question, laying a few feet away.

He sighed a momentary breath of relief. They were still very much alive, but their bodies were still subjected to the white-eyed man's paralysis jutsu. On top of that, they, like he, were chakra cuffed. Glancing about, he could not sense their captors anywhere nearby. But they were ANBU, and that meant they could very well be standing next to him without his knowing.

Nervous and frustrated, Nanikato tossed his head to the side, hopping to catch a lock of hair in his mouth to chew on, which he found he did on a regular basis when nervous.

But nothing happened.

He tried again, but still nothing happened. Growing annoyed, he shook his head to and fro. That when he realized with growing horror that his hair was missing…

“MY HAIR!! THOSE GODDAMN BASTARDS CUT MY HAIR!!”

Nanikato screamed bloody murder as he began to struggle and trash like crazy, wanting nothing more then to tear the bastard that had cut his hair limb from limb. Although he was anything but vain, the young blonde had loved the length of his hair. In his opinion, it had even him a rugged and mysterious quality - the one that Tayuya-oneesama called “badass”.

Then another feeling of overwhelming rage washed over him. He could remember exactly how Naruto-niisan had looked, especially his hair, which was short and styled into spiky mop.

`That bastard!' he thought. `He cut my hair so I'd look ever more like nii-san! What next? Will he try to get me to playing dress up with all of Naruto's old cloths!? Grrr! I hate him, I hate him - I hate him!'

Without wasting anymore time, the blonde fight his restraints with earnest. And that was how they found him. The boy had completely twisted himself into a knot, having partial contorted his body. He was bent backwards like a bridge - nearly in half - one leg through his bound arms. He had tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks and his face had turned red due to the fact that he had forcibly dislocating his both his shoulders to allow more room to move. He was literately struggling like a rabid animal with its hind leg caught in a poacher's snare.

His four-person audience stared at him in shock. They had been eating breakfast and packing up camp at the same moment the youngest of they're three captives started screaming. Since their encampment and the `captive's quarters' were only situated a distance of twenty apart, protected by a tight ring of genjutsu and containment jutsus, they had been on the scene in seconds. Knowing Sasuke and Tayuya, one could never be too cautious just in case the two traitors somehow found a way to free themselves from Neji's paralysis technique.

Two days ago, after their catch of the morning had been rounded up, it had taken a couple of hours and a few medical jutsus before Lee and Tenten had regained consciousness. The initial reaction from the pair concerning the identity of Kabuto's little Frankenstein had been nothing less then catastrophic - or at least in Neji and Tenten's opinion. Lee had immediately started about the Fires of Youth and `amazing resurrection of Naruto-kun'.

And shockingly, Iruka had joined in.

From then to now, the four ANBU had been discussing what they were going to do about `Naruto'. All but two of the blonde's adversaries on the elder's council had died within the last thirteen years, leaving only the decrepit fossils Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu (the pair of bigots just seemed too stubborn to die and had dozens of younger ninja gunning to see that they died `peacefully' in their sleep). But with those two on their last leg, thankfully most of the newer portion of the council consisted of people who had loved or regarded Naruto in a kinder light - two of them being former Hokage, Tsunade and Jiraiya.

“What are you doing!?” the other three winced as Iruka suddenly leaped into his patented `Mother Hen' mode. “Are you trying to cripple yourself? Naruto! Please stop!”

The blonde snapped viciously at the hand Iruka stretched out to stop him, trying to bite the man's fingers off. The older man jerked his hand back quickly, looking at the boy as if he had been scalded.

“Naruto! Please quit acting this!”

“Fuck you!” Nanikato snarled, struggling harder. “I am not Naruto!”

Neji, Tenten and Lee watched the struggle with wide eyes. The blonde had managed to get his other leg though his arms, brings said arms whipping up to collide with Iruka's chin. While the brunette stumbled backwards, the boy himself stumbled to the closest tree and rammed his right shoulder against it. There was sickening pop that signified that his shoulder had been relocated and then he let loose a string of obscenities that would've made even Tayuya blush!

Nanikato growled, ramming his left shoulder against the tree and relocating it. As soon as his shoulders were back in place, they begun to go numb, the effects of his accelerated healing already kicking in. But the struggle to bring his hands from behind his back to in front of himself had exhausted the boy, not to mention that barmy ANBU nutcase was still calling him Naruto!

But still Iruka wasn't giving up. He knelt down in front of the boy and took hold of the blonde by his whiskered cheeks, shaking him roughly.

“Just listen to yourself! You're talking crazy!” his teammates gapped, shocked at how violent their commander was when distraught. “I can't believe that you honestly accept that bullshit as true! Don't you realize that they've just been you since the beginning for their own sick purposes? It's Orochimaru's way of laughing in our faces - lording his control over you against all who love you! Yet you obey their every command by traipsing around in the company of your own killer, for Kami's sake! Please Naruto, you have to believe me!”

The older man was sobbing now, having drawn the startled boy into a smothering embrace. For a split second, blonde remained froze, unable to process anything as his mind temporarily short-circuited due to the massive amounts of stress he was being force to endure.

As soon as consciousness rebooted, which was an instant later, he opened his mouth wide and sunk his fangs deeply into his captor's unprotected bicep.

Iruka screamed in pain as Nanikato's teeth dug deeply into the flesh of his arm, drawing blood. Reflexes taking over, he flung the boy away, who was caught and restrained by Lee. The blonde gagged, sitting out the blood that had gotten into his mouth. He scowled at Iruka.

“Have you lost your mind? How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not - ”

The next thing he knew, he had been slapped across the face.

Hard.

Nanikato trembled, his hand shaking in disbelief as raised it to touch the blistery mark that covered the right side of his face. It was hot, tingling in pain that hissed and burned. His shock was so thick that it hung over him like a veil, protecting him from words the man who had just slapped him continued to spew. He trembled harder, feeling his insides turn to ice.

He felt the man holding him let go, and he took a step forward, glaring a glare that caused not only the current bane of his existence to flinch, but the other three ANBU as well.

“Now you listen to me ANBU-san, and you listen good,” the he hissed quietly. “Naruto is dead. His blood was stolen and used as the template for nine clones, I myself being one of them. We were created whole with the wave of a magic wand, but we grew to the age that our predecessor died at. My brothers were not as fortunate as I, for they were the true experiments of Kabuto's twisted mind. Each one of us was an individual. We possess our own souls. You will not be able to miraculously get back the little brother that you lost if you `rehabilitate' me because we are not the same person.”

Iruka opened his mouth again to protest but Nanikato cut him off, the temperature dropping at least ten degrees. When he continued, the blonde's voice was even more frigid.

Furthermore, I'll remind you that Sasuke-sensei and Tayuya-oneesama are as precious to me as Naruto-niisan was for you and I don't care what you have to say. I know that by saying these things, they cut you deeply, but they are things that must be said. It has been thirteen years and you still haven't given yourself the chance to heal. In that aspect, you are in ways, exactly like Sasuke-sensei.” Iruka cringed again. “Some wounds are so deep that we are unable to forget them; unable to forgive. We are the slaves of inner pains and desires, those which are the reflections of oneself.”

Neji shivered. Everything he said hit nerves. If this boy really wasn't Naruto, then he sure had inherited the former blonde's ability to make impromptu, fundamental speeches.

“We heal our hurts and move on, or else we'd waste away. Do you think our precious people don't want to see us pain, pursuing our self-destruction? Where would it get us? Nowhere. We'd end up dying bitter and alone - so far gone that wouldn't be a hope of ever coming back.”

Tenten blinked. “How…” she asked. “How come you're so wise?”

He looked at her, his head cocking to the side as he expressed amusement at her question.

“I was taught psychology by a medic-nin.” he replied dryly. “I have Kabuto-san to thank for that. If there was one good thing he was skilled at other then healing physical wounds, it was studying the mind. Whilst he taught me how to read, write and speak, he also taught me about the world and the workings of the human mind. I am much smarter then you give me credit for, and I think you did the same with nii-san too.”

Nanikato turned his back on them. There was a pause, silence momentarily filling the gap until he turned to face them again.

“I will come with you without struggle, but you will not harm my precious people. Should Sasuke-sensei or Tayuya-oneesama die, I will make you pay. It doesn't matter whether you have me bound and gagged or unconscious because I'll find a way.”

He staggered over to Sasuke's side and sat down next to his unconscious sensei. Willing out a touch of nature chakra, he leaned over the man and touched his fingertips against Tayuya's purple, swollen cheek. The seven colored chakra swirled a moment, healing the ugly wound on his big sister's face. When he was finished, he leaned back against a tree, his sighed resignedly.

Neji looked at the boy, certain now that he wasn't Naruto at all. “If you are not Naruto, then who are you?”

He fixed the Hyuuga with a bright blue stare. “I am Kyuuzano Nanikato; creation of Yakushi Kabuto, clone of Uzumaki Naruto and brother to Haruki, Nikkou, Kitai, Raimei, Hakumei, Ryoku, Takamaru and Koko. I am the adoptive brother of Mateki no Tayuya and protégé of Uchiha Sasuke. I am me and I belong to myself.”

-.ooOoo.-

Konohagakure no Sato, Three Days Later:

Dawn slowly approached the mountains overlooking Konohagakure, bathing it in a soft slivery blue light. It caressed the still mostly sleeping village and alerting all on duty shinobi that their graveyard shifts were nearly over. With the coming day, things would change. It was a change that had not been seen for many years, not since he died, and it would sweep over them all and transform their lives forever.

Of the people changed, there were two that would experience it beyond all others.

So it was in the home and in the large attic bedroom that belong to one of those two, that the only sound to be heard was the unrelenting tick of an alarm clock and the soft intake of breath coming from the sleeping figure, buried under a mountain of thick quilts, on the bed.

The alarm clock, sitting poised on the edge of the nightstand table, was beginning to twitching giddily, preparing itself happily for the morning wakeup call. If possible, the hands began to tick faster, making their way around its face towards the designated time to ring.

…5

…4

…3

…2

…

The poor alarm clock began to weep piteously as a pale arm shot out from under the covers and smashed it on the head, effectively turning it off just before it could ring. For a moment afterwards, the silence returned. It was pure, perfect, serene and lovely in its serenity. It was -

“Time to get up, Koinu-chan! Time's a wasting!”

It was to end all too soon.

The door to the attic bedroom was thrown open with a bang, revealing a young man in his mid twenties, a roguish grin smeared across his irritatingly cheery face. He strode into the room and as he loomed over the bed, a small hole appeared in the sea of fabric and a single dark eye could be seen.

“Go away.”

The voice belonging to the eye was venomous, as toxic as a deadly viper primed to strike.

“No can do kiddo!” the man laughed, then allowed gravity to take control, collapsing onto the bed.

A shrill scream and frenzied barking followed. He rolled around a few times, crushing the occupants hidden within. Then pushing the laughing lout off the bed, a young girl, no older then eleven poked her tousled head out of the covers.

“I'll make you pay for that Kiba-ojisan!”

She flung the mass of quilts aside, flinging herself upon her downed uncle with fists at the ready. The pair tussled around on the floor for a moment before the young man let out a yelp of pain, jumping to his feet with his hands clasped over his posterior. Looking down, he scowled playfully at the little beast that had bitten his bottom.

“Did you really have to do that Yukimaru?” he asked, feigning injury.

The black and white puppy at his feet barked haughtily, brandishing the scrap of fabric he had torn from the man's pants as if to say `What do you think, baka?'

“Ooh! You're such a fearsome attack beast, now aren't you boy? Protecting our little lady from the dreaded fanboys?”

The puppy barked in affirmation, turning his tail and pouncing into his young companion's arms.

Inuzuka Toboe grumbled irritably, tossing Yukimaru back onto the bed as she rubbed the sandman's dust from her eyes. Popping the kinks out of her back, she began combing the knots out of her waist length, wild silvery hair. When she was done, she glared at her still grinning uncle, the red tattoos stretching as her cheeks puffed.

“Do you mind ji-san? Privacy please! I need to get dressed!”

Kiba laughed, allowing the girl to hustle him out of her room.

“Just don't try to go back to sleep Koinu-chan, or I'll sic Akamaru on you.”

Toboe stopped, her lip curling into a sneer. “I'd like to see him try.” she retorted. “With that bummed leg of his, the most I'd get is a smothering under his bulk.”

The older man frowned, pouting. “Toboe-chan…”

She sighed.

“You know I love the big brute. Why wouldn't I when he's Yuki-kun's grandsire? But please get out.”

His dark eyes become teary pools and the aforementioned pouting lip began quivering. “What about me Koinu-chan!”

Her face inflamed angrily, the tattoos vanishing. “I said out! Out, out, out!”

She slammed the door in his howling face. `Let him laugh…' she thought, turning and marching back to her bed. Flopping down next to her lounging puppy, she reached out and gave him a quick scratch behind the ears. Sighing, she rolled off the bed and hunted for her comb, intent on properly getting the knots out of her hair.

“Such is the horror of having a shower before bed,” she muttered, pulling her nightgown over her head and tossing it onto the bed, conveniently onto Yukimaru, who yapped indignantly.

Standing before her full-length mirror, she proceeded to get dressed. In her opinion, she wasn't anything stellar to look at or perhaps that was only because she was currently ten years old, turning eleven in three months. She wall tall for her age, standing a half a head taller then most of the boys. If she had the chance to change one thing about her appearance, it would have been her height. Her willowy, fragile looking figure that made her stick out among the rest of the Inuzuka clan, who were known for having strong, solid builds.

She hated sticking out.

Toboe cursed her father, whoever he was, for having past down to her that evil gene. The other thing she wanted was to know who her father was. As she knew was that her mother, Inuzuka Hana had a secret relationship with one of the ninja of the village. They had been in love and would have married after her birth if it hadn't been for the accident…

The reason she had never known her father was because her mother had been wounded in attack that later lead to her dieing while giving birth. Her father was left heartbroken and believing he was doing what was best, he allowed his daughter to be raised by her mother's clan and disappeared from her life forever. Of the few people who knew of his identity, they kept it from her. Tsume-obaasama always said it was his fear of losing her too that had caused him to make his choice and till he overcame those fears, he would continue to remain anonymous.

“Who needs you anyway…” she hissed at her reflection, pulling on a pair of dark blue pants that jounin commonly wore, hemmed to fit her of course. Going to her closest, Toboe donned a long-sleeved shirt - the green with the `stylishly' tailored cuffs.

Grumbling some more, she fetched her jacket - a formfitting beige vest with a fur trimmed hood that she had received from Hinata-san for her birthday last year. After putting that on as well, she slipped on her sandals, wrapped up to mid-calf in bandages and then strapped on her kunai and shuriken pouches. Glancing at her appearance once more, she ran the brush through her hair again and tethered it back with a simple length of black cord and let it fall in a braid down her back.

Turning to Yukimaru, spread her arms and presented herself.

“So how do I look boy?”

The puppy barked appreciatively. `Snazzy darling.'

“Will I survive the fanboys today?”

Yukimaru snorted. `You are kidding, right? Those slobbering fools haven't learned yet and doubt they ever will. But let me bite a few and they'll leave you alone for a while.'

She rolled her eyes.

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. But I doubt getting bitten will keep Kozue away…”

`Why would it? The boy can relate, seeing as he has just as many fans of his own. Besides, he likes you.'

-.ooOoo.-

This morning, like almost every other morning, the silvery predawn light that liked to sneak through his window should have been the first thing to wake him up. Instead, he found himself sitting up on his futon, blinking owlishly in confusion. He didn't know what it had been that had woken him up, but there was no point going back to sleep so he slipped out from under the covers and swaying as he staggered towards he on suite bathroom in order to relieve himself.

After he was done doing his business, he yawned and scrubbed at his eyes. Rubbing his stiff neck, he proceeded to brush his teeth. Popping the paste-covered brush into his mouth, he looked at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and scowled.

The image that scowled back at him was, at first glance, what someone would assume was a little girl rather then an eleven-year-old boy. Hair, although still uncombed, flowed in shoulder length waves of midnight black, accenting an olive skin tone. A pair of wide set, luminescent eyes of a red so rich they reminded you of fresh picked roses, shown out from under thick lashed and sat upon high sculpted cheekbones.

He paused, looking down at slender, girly body and scowled even harder. “Why me?” he bemoaned. “Why did I really have inherit okaa-san's goddess-like figure rather then otou-san's stocky build? This is more torment then any male should have to take!”

Sarutobi Kazue spat the toothpaste distastefully into the sink, rinsed his mouth and returned his toothbrush to the cup he had taken it from.

Stalking back into his bedroom, the attractive boy scooped up a pair of pants from the closest pile of clean cloths, which were black, and covered in multiple utility pockets. Stripping off his nightshirt, Kozue pulled the pants up over his boxers and pulled them taught with a red sash.

“Same old story…” he muttered.

Sighing to himself, Kozue bent over backwards to grab the black t-shirt with mesh sleeves that was draped over his desk chair and pulled it on as well. Retrieving his sandals from their hiding place under his dresser, he plopping down on the bed and pulled the sandals on before doing the same with his kunai and shuriken pouches.

Getting up, the preteen headed for his bedroom door and opened it.

“You mean they actually caught him?”

Kozue froze at the sound of his mother's voice, coming from the study down the hall. The tone in her voice wasn't one he heard very often of late, but when he did, that meant something serious had happened. Shacking himself out of stupor, the raven haired boy slipped out of his room made sure that his footfalls made no sound as he treaded the hardwood floors towards, keeping his presence unknown.

“Yes. I received word from Iruka-san's team last night. They will be returning this afternoon.”

That was Shikamaru-ojisama! What could be so important that the Hokage was here? He stopped next to the door, which was slightly ajar, and listened.

“Other then you, I've only told this information so far to Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama. Those two will be keeping the council under control, especially Homura and Koharu. You know those two - they'd want to keep the Uchiha alive and use him to breed a new Sharingan wielding clan.”

His mother snorted. “That sounds like them, alright. I wouldn't shed a tear if the Sharingan was lost forever - that bloodline has caused far too many problems already as it is.”

“Exactly. But currently there are enough people in high places to make sure that there's an execution. The only way Tsunade-sama would let him live is if she got to personally castrate him first.”

Kozue winced; crossing his legs and was slightly disturbed when his mother laughed at the thought.

“Yeah… he'd deserve it. Tsunade-sama hasn't been the same since that bastard killed Naruto. Personally, I'm just surprised he managed to last this long.”

“Avengers always find a way.”

“Too true.”

The young eavesdropper shivered. He remembered Konohamaru-itoko telling him stories about Naruto, a friend of his whom had died at the hands of the infamous Uchiha when he was only twelve years old - a year older then he was now. The tales of Naruto had given the younger Sarutobi hope and a reason to pray to the gods every night during the warring years between Konoha and Oto.

He didn't want to have to experience the same pain that his cousin had

Since his father, Asuma, had died before his birth, Kozue always felt that gapping hole where he should have been. To ease the pain, he had always made sure that the important to him were alive and well. It was, after all, the reason his calling as a ninja was that of a medic-nin. He was the first person on either sides of his family to aspire to be a medic, but no one could blame him - they needed all the medics they could get.

“There's something else, isn't there Shikamaru?” his mother asked.

“Unfortunately yes.” Shikamaru-ojisama replied. “While they are able to take out Uchiha Sasuke and Mateki no Tayuya without too many problems, there was one thing that complicates matters. As of the last couple of letters I received from them, it appears the two have a young boy with them.”

Kozue cocked his head to the side in confusion. A boy? What would a couple of killers be doing with a boy?

“What happened?”

“They captured him as well, and mentioned that he's of more importance then the Uchiha. They haven't been too forthcoming, just incase their mail got intercepted, but it seems he is the `secret weapon' that Orochimaru planned to use against us. They say he's also fiercely loyal to both the Uchiha and the genjutsu mistress - apparently they were the one's that saved him from Oto.”

“Damn. Then that means we won't be able to convince him to join us.”

“Never say never Kurenai. While it may be hard, there is still the possibility of to converting him to our side. Having been subjected to Orochimaru's insanity, we should be able to get though to him.”

“That's good to know.”

Taking that as his cue to leave, Kozue continued silently down the hall to the front foyer. Taking his red short-sleeved jacket and medpack off the coat rack, he hastily pulled them. Foregoing the idea of breakfast, the feminine boy opened the front door and burst out into the morning air.

He had to find Toboe-chan.

As the image of the silver haired girl crossed mind, he blush crimson. He slapped himself, knowing that Inuzuka Toboe was never going to like him. She was a shrew through and through, but… he was her friend. Out of all the boys their age, he was the only one she tolerated. Perhaps it was because he didn't hound her like their fanboys/fangirls did, or perhaps it was because they were kindred spirits.

Navigating the quite streets of Konoha, he began to search out all of Toboe-chan's favorite haunts - hopefully before they were late for the academy. That was another thing she was good at. When the young Inuzuka didn't want to be found, she sure knew how to hide. And even though she would sometimes skip class after class, she still topped the pack as their class's alpha female. That was also her problem when it came to the fanboys…

It took him a few hours to find her, but in the end, he always did. Toboe was lounging on the roof of an old abandoned apartment complex in the slums, Yukimaru snoozing by her side. Using his chakra to walk up the wall, he hopped down and landed in front of her. She opened a single large dark eye and scowled.

“It took you long enough,” she muttered, sitting up.

“What are you doing up here?”

She started scratching her puppy behind one ear, not bothering to look at him.

“What do you want Kozue?”

The he glowered at her. “You know, you're supposed to be at the academy right now.”

“So are you, by the way.” she replied, stifling a yawn.

“Only because I came to find you!”

“Does it really matter? I'm going to end up as Rookie of the Year anyway.”

“That still doesn't mean you get to flack off! You should be happy Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama decided not to force children under twelve to participate in the war and Shikamaru-ojisama is backing them up. If it wasn't for them, we'd both have been forced to fight before we were eight!”

Toboe harrumphed. “Go away.”

It was time to use his trump card. “Fine then - have it your way. I just won't I tell you about what I overheard okaa-san and Shikamaru-ojisama talking about this morning.”

The girl perked, in spite of herself, and beckoned for him to join her. Kozue grinned triumphant at his success, sat down next to her and Yukimaru on the roof. She crossed her arms defiantly and then wiped the smirk of his face.

“Okay bishie - spill!”

He wrinkled his nose, but made no protest to the loathed nickname. “News arrived last night that Umino Iruka, Hyuuga Neji, Atsuigane Tenten and Rock Lee are returning from their mission this afternoon.”

Her dark eyes widened and Yukimaru even became interested enough to wake up.

“Was it a success?”

The young Sarutobi nodded. “Yes, and they're bringing three captives back with them.”

“Who?”

He smirked - he had the Inuzuka baited now.

“Well… two of them are Mateki no Tayuya and Uchiha Sasuke.”

Her eyes widened further. “And the other one?”

“Apparently a boy about our age. Do you want to skip out on classes with me and go to wait for their arrival at the gates?”

Toboe suddenly burst into joyous laugher. The fact that he had actually made her laugh was a good sign - he liked the sound of her laughter. She never laughed enough these days, choosing to maintain the upkeep of her morose mask. He was about to comment on it, but the words got lost in his throat as he noticed that her dark eyes taken on a wicked gleam.

“This coming from Mr. Punctuality?” she giggled, rubbing her hands together. “Of course I'll come, you baka! I'd pay big money to watch you get chewed out by your mother for playing hooky!”

“Hey!” he cried. “Some support here!”

Yukimaru barked with laughter, licking his chops.

`Mmm… I always wanted to taste barbequed monkey!'

Kozue glared at the puppy. “I don't know what you're saying Koinu, but I'll get you back!”

Toboe intervened, thankfully, scooping up the annoying little furball and stuffing him into the hood of her vest.

“So, Romeo?” she smirked, watching him blush. “Lead the way!”

-.ooOoo.-

Translations/Original Jutsus

Koinu - Puppy

Kozue - Tree Branches

Bishie, short for Bishounen - Pretty Boy