It was a dark night.
Two pairs of eyes stared in the darkness.
Both had sensed the presence that night.
The dark presence that intended to destroy their village.
The village that had cast them out.
The village that hated them for their eyes.
Through the hate, they met, and by becoming friends, they had survived.


“Bishi? I’m scared. What if the bandits see us and we get killed?” came the voice of a small girl. Her white eyes looked so innocent.

“Shhh. They might hear you, and then, they’ll kill us both. And don’t call me Bishi.” He said hotly, his red eyes flaring in anger. The bush they were hiding in wasn’t providing much cover, and they both knew it.

“S..Sorry.” Came the small voice. It was hard not calling him that. Bishamon sounded so mean and evil to the girl, and Bishi sounded nicer anyway.

“No, its okay. It won’t really matter. Either way we’ll die. Either the bandits find us and kill us, or we starve to death.”

The girl started to cry softly, as the boy tried to comfort her.

Suddenly, the sky was filled with fire as the bandits started ravaging their village. Screams of terror could be heard as the bandits killed any who weren’t already dead. It was a horrible sight. The village that they spent their whole life in was burning. Though they hated the village for casting them out, they couldn’t help but be sad. Some people had helped them and brought them food.

“Bishi?”

“Yes?” the boy responded.

“Do you think mother and father made it out alive?”

“Tsukiko, I don’t know and I don’t care, really. They didn’t help us when we needed them most.”

“Yes, I suppose your right.”

As soon as the words left the girls lips, the bandits yells of evil satisfaction turned into screams of fear. Something was fighting the bandits. As the children watched, water came out of seemingly nowhere, and the shapes of people could be seen fighting. They didn’t fight like normal townspeople, but more like trained fighters. The bandits started retreating and the fire was being put out.

“Listen, we gotta get out of here. There is someone stronger than the bandits, and I don’t want to be their prisoner.” The boy whispered.

The girl nodded her reply, but as soon as they were about to run, hands grabbed them both.

“AAHmph.” The girl screamed, but was muffled by a big hand.

“Did ya get ‘im?” Said a very deep voice from behind the girl.

“Yeah. I got the brat right here. He’s a feisty one. Are you sure you want to take them to Konoha?” A feminine voice said a little to the right of the girl.

“Yes. They’ll be safer and fit right in there.” The man replied.

“Well, it doesn’t look like they’re gonna come willingly.”

“You know what to do.

And to the children, everything went black.

As Bishimon’s eyes opened, he was suddenly hit with the memories of the previous night, causing him to sit straight up. He quickly rolled off the bed he had been sleeping on and hid beneath it for cover, as he surveyed his surroundings. It looked like a comfortable room. It was simple, and not to flashy. Certainly unthreatening, anyway.

The only problem with the room was that there was another bed in the room. It was unoccupied and looked like no one had slept in it for quite a while. He decided it was safe and came out from his hiding place, only look up into the eyes of a strange woman.

“Hey, you’re awake.”

The woman was wearing a white t-shirt beneath a fishnet top with a small leather jacket and khaki shorts.

Bishimon jumped back in fright. It just wasn’t natural she was there when no one was in the room before.

“Hey, calm down kid.” Her voice was sharp and a little threatening.

“I..I.. I’m p.. perfectly c..calm.” He replied shakily.

“Right. Whatever. Ya hungry?” She said.

“N..No. I mean yes.” Came the scared reply. He was really embarrassed at himself. He was almost 12, and here he was, scared of a woman. “I should be more of a man, especially in front of this woman.” He thought to himself.

“Who are you, anyway?” The boy demanded, a hint of bravery now in his voice.

“The name’s Fukushira Ayame. You can call me Ayame, though.” Came the reply. “Who are ya, kid?”


“That’s none of your business!” The boy retorted. “I don’t know if you’re a friend or an enemy! Where am I anyway?”

“Hmph.” She muttered, while handing him a bowl of rice. “An enemy wouldn’t feed you and take care of you while you were passed out, now would they?”

“You still didn’t tell me where I am.”

“Whatever. You’re in the Fire country, in a new village called Konoha. Better get used to it, ‘cause you might be here a while.”

The boy’s eyes flared with anger at the last comment. Ayame noticed his eyes for the first time. They were blood red, with a single tailed dot surrounding his pupil.

“His eyes are almost exactly like Hitomi’s eyes.” She thought to herself.

“Hey, you got some weird eyes there, kid.” She finally said out loud.

“What’s it to ya.” He replied coldly.

“Meh, its just that someone else I know has eyes exactly like those.” She stated.

“Someone else like me?” he thought to himself. Maybe that person could help them. Then he remembered something.

“Where’s Tsukiko?” the boy suddenly demanded.

“Who? Oh, right. The little girl Kiyoshi picked up, with the white eyes, right?”

“Yes! Where is she? I must see her. I gotta make sure she’s okay!” The boy said urgently.

“Well, we can head over to his hut soon enough, but you’ll see her before then.” She said calmly.

“What? Why? I gotta make sure she’s okay so we can leave.”

“That’s not happening. “

The boy’s eyes got really big when she said that.

“LET ME SEE HER!” he demanded loudly. “What is more important than making sure your only friend is okay?”

“Our master wants to see you. Both of you.” She responded. “He thinks you would make exceptional ninja.”

“Ninja? That’s what you are? Well, that’s just great. I survive bandits to just to be taken by ninjas.”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Came the response.
The conversation continued like this for quite a while, until Ayame looked out the window.

“Crap, We’re late for the meeting. Umm..I know! Kid, get on my back.”

“What?”

“Just do it. But be warned, you’re about to go the fastest you’ve ever been in your life.” She then proceeded to grab him and swing him onto her back.

“No way I’m doing this! Let me DAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” And with that, Ayame started running.
It really was the fastest he’d ever been. He had no idea it was possible to be this fast, but many things he thought were true would be proven wrong before this whole ordeal was over.

As Ayame and Bishimon, tore through the village, something was happening to Bishimon. He simply started to enjoy the speed.He stopped screaming, and started laughing uncontrollably. There was no other reaction possible. It was truly the most fun he had ever had.

As Ayame increased the speed, she realized Bishimon seemed to anticipate what turns she was about to make and would adjust. This was something she would tell her Sensei and master about. It was just too unusual not to.

After they ran for about 5 minutes, they came upon a large building. It was quite tall, and looked fairly welcoming. As they approached the entrance, a guard said:

“Your late.”

“I know that!” She spat out. It was clear she didn’t like the man.

“Get in, before you end up missing the whole meeting.”

She was about to give the guard a piece of her mind when the door opened behind the guard. A huge man in a black cloak*, black pants, and a simple ninja shirt**, walked forward. He looked rather scary to Bishimon with his all black clothes, but a smile played on his lips as he said:

“Hey Ayame, where ya been?”

“You should know Kiyoshi. I’ve been watchin’ a brat just like you.” She said, clearly annoyed.

“Well now, don’t yell at me just because you got here late.” He laughed. “you were arguin’ with ‘im all mornin’, weren’t ya?”

There came no reply.

The big man called Kiyoshi motioned for them to follow him as he entered the building.

“Come on. Eiji-sensei is waiting for us.”

Ayame and Bishimon followed up a flight of stairs, but Bishimon stayed silent. The man looked huge and threatening, and after all, he seemed to know everything they had done.

“So, kid, ya had a good ride?” The big man said jokingly.

Bishimon remained silent. He wanted to act tough and manly, even though he enjoyed the ride. He felt safe and relaxed when near the man. He just met Kiyoshi, and already he felt like Kiyoshi was a father to him.

“Fine. Be that way. But you won’t make many friends if you don’t talk.” Kiyoshi said.

“So, Kiyoshi, how late am I?” Ayame said, trying to start a real conversation.

“Well, he already used his jutsu to find the potential of the girl, and she tested much higher than expected. He offered her a chance to become a ninja, and…”

Bishimon suddenly became alert as he herd mention of a girl, but kept silent as to hear what else had happened.

“…she said she would become a kuniochi, but only if your kid wanted to become a ninja, too.”

“Hmm...” responded Ayame as they neared the top of the stairs. She secretly wanted the boy to be a ninja. He had a lot of potential, and if he turned out anything like her former student, Hitomi, he would become VERY powerful.

As they climbed the last step, they arrived in a round room with pillars on the edges. There were several adults, as well as a man that looked to be in his 40’s. He was wearing a long, blood red robe that covered everything but his forearms, which were covered in scars. Bishimon figured the man had many more scars all over his body, even though he couldn’t see them. All the people in the room were standing, including a small girl beside the blood-robe man.

“Tsukiko!” Bishimon exclaimed. She was clothed differently than when he had last seen her. He suddenly noticed he too was no longer was wearing rags. He ran toward her, giving her a hug, then looking at the man, bowed, and said formally:

“I am sorry for disturbing you. We both have nothing but gratitude in our hearts for your kindness, and though we have nothing repay you with, we give our utmost thanks. Please if there is any way we can repay you, please tell us.”

The man looked at them expressionlessly and suddenly started to make hand signs.

“Hey! What are you doing…”

Bishimon was blinded from the light that flashed from the man.

As Bishimon regained his eyesight, the first thing he saw was the scarred man staring at him strangely.

“There must be some mistake…” The man mumbled. He formed the hand signs again, as Bishimon just stood there because he was still recovering.
“Ow! That hurt!” Bishimon exclaimed. “What did you do that for?”

“Impossible…” Said the man, surprised at the results. “No one ever has scored so highly with my chakra control testing jutsu. You are truly an amazing boy.”

“Sir,” Bishimon started. “Thank you for you hospitality, but me and the girl must leave. We are very grateful for what you have done, and we wish to repay you, but…”

“You wish to repay us?”

“Yes sir.”

“Would you do what we ask of you?”

“Yes sir. We can work hard and…”

“Do you understand what you have just said? You have sealed your fate. To pay for your lives that we spared, you will become ninja!”

The children’s expressions changed from those of solemnity to shock. This was the complete opposite of what they were expecting. They were prepared to work for the rest of their lives. And besides, how could children be ninja? They were just normal kids.

The rest of the people in the room cheered, and gathered around them, welcoming them to their group, the Hidden Leaves.

The tutoring had begun the morning after the children had become ninja. Much to their delight, they were tutored together and were allowed to go where they wished, as long as they stayed within the village. The tutor was an old man with weird, white-spiked hair and a bad back, but on his back he carried a huge sword. Samehada*, he called it. The tutor was a tad bid gruff, but gentle when the need arose. He said he was a traveller without a name, but everyone in the village called him Sensei. There were a few rumors that he once was a member of a clan with a name of Hatake, but it was just a rumor.


Bishimon loved training, especially chakra control, and took it upon himself to never fail the man’s expectations. Tsukiko too enjoyed training, and always did her best. The old man taught them many things, as well as the names of their eyes that they possessed, the Sharingan and Byakugan . Occasionally Ayame and Kiyoshi would visit the children in between missions to see their progress, and they were pleased to see them advancing this quickly.

The training went on for a few months until the old man made an announcement.

“Bishimon, Tsukiko, you have progressed well.”

“Thank you, Sensei.” They said in unison.

“The time is coming for you to become true ninja and become apprentices of other ninja. You have already learned all that I can really teach you. The rest you must learn from experience and other ninja.”

Tsukiko’s eyes grew big. She was shy around new people, and she liked the old man and his polite speech. After she had met him, she decided to be very formal, always. Bishimon remained expressionless, although he was saddened inside that he would not be trained by the man anymore. He had taken a liking to the old man. It was almost impossible not to.

Three figures The children could not see the three figures behind them, but the old man could sense their presence. He knew them well, for they were Ayame, Kiyoshi, and the blood-robed man, Eiji. He remembered when he gave Ayame and Kiyoshi the test, and when he had given it to Eiji and his partner, Ryu. He remembered farther back, when he took the test from the greatest ninja that ever lived, the Sage of the Six Paths. He sat there for a second, reminiscing about the past, when he snapped into the present.

“Bishimon, Tsukiko, as your final test, and final lesson, you will take the bell test. Retrieve these two bells. You may even kill me.” The children saw two jingling bells in his hands. They knew that they would make their sensei proud of them.

As they stared at the bells, the old man poofed away, and the children jumped up and got on their guard.

“Go!” They heard him say.

“Tsukiko, find him using your Byakugan.” Bishimon said as he activated his Sharingan. There was two dots around his pupils now. He had trained for them, and he had received them. He would need to use every ounce of strength he had if he wanted to pass.

“Right.” came the reply. Tsukiko was very skilled with the Byakugan, and she even knew how to hit chakra points inside his body. Bishimon had no doubt they would win.

“Found him!” She pointed a little to the right.

“Good. I’ll take the left, you take the right. We’ll corner him and take the bells. If one of us can distract him long enough for the other to grab the bells, we have it in the bag. Let’s go!” he whispered.

They snuck around either side of him, and waited for the right moment to strike. Sensei was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. As they crept silently closer to him, Tsukiko noticed something wrong with his chakra. It just wasn’t normal. She quickly threw a kunai and what they thought was Sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“Shadow clones.” Bishimon muttered under his breath. That was Sensei’s favorite trick. “Where is he?” he said aloud. He looked at Tsukiko, but she wasn’t there. It wasn’t like her to disappear like that. He looked around for her, looking for any sign of her presence.

Suddenly, there was sounds of a fight and then an anguished scream of pain. Bishimon hurried to where the sounds came from, but as he came to a clearing, all he saw was Tsukiko. She was lying on the ground, blood all around her and flowing from a gash in her side. As he moved closer, she coughed up blood.

“Tsukiko!” He screamed. He ran to the dying body. How could Sensei do this? He had never even gotten close to hurting either of them, and Sensei promised he never would. He went into shock. He just stood there. His mind went blank. Through the shock he could just barely hear her say,
“Foolish child.”

Suddenly, Bishimon was hit with reality. The horrible scene was gone, and he was looking into the eyes of Tsukiko, who was bending over him.

“Bishimon, what happened? You suddenly started screaming my name, and then you passed out.”

“Genjutsu.” Came the frustrated response. He got up hotly, and started thinking. He should have seen through it with his Sharingan. Not only was it a weak genjutsu, but he had worked specifically on genjutsu in his training. It can be really frustrating when you work on something really hard, only for it to fail when it really matters.

As the two stood there, Bishimon’s eyes showed intense determination. An idea had popped into his mind. It was unrefined and really over-the-top, but it might work.

“Tsukiko. Where is Sensei?”

She scanned around with her Byakugan, locating him quickly.

“Over there, reading one of those pervy books that he likes.”

“Perfect.” Bishimon said. “Tsukiko. I want you to get him to move through that small grove of trees. One he is on the other side, retreat. I don’t want you caught up in this.”

“Is he going to use that jutsu?” Tsukiko thought. “Bishi, be careful.”

“Hn.” He grunted in response. She always gave him a hard time when he was going to use his special jutsu.

Tsukiko ran off, putting the plan in motion. She ran toward him and started to use her technique, Gentle Fist. It worked beautifully. She attacked him unrelentlessly, forcing him to jump bacl. He moved right into the desired location. Tsukiko backed off as he neared the edge of the trees.

“What are those kids up to?” Sensei thought as he jumped backwards into the clearing.

“Fire Style! Fire Ball Jutsu!” Yelled Bishimon. A giant fire ball came right at the old man.

“Crap! I can’t dodge it!”
The fireball collided with the old man, shooting him several feet in the air. The power of that ninjutsu was impressive and he had to give him that. He recovered and looked straight into Bishimon’s eyes. The boy had something in his hands.

“What is that?” The old man thought. “Hey, Bishimon. What do you have in your hands?”

The boy smiled evilly. He waved something in the air. What was it?

“My book!! Give it back!” Sensei exclaimed. When did he get that?

All he got in response was more evil smiling. The boy set the book on a tree stump, and started weaving hand signs.

“Fire Style.” Bishimon started. “Tinder Jutsu!” A small burst of flame came from Bishimon’s mouth, catching the book, and then the stump on fire.

“No!!!!” Sensei fell to his knees, knowing that he’d have to spend money and probably travel to the Ogre country to find a replacement for his adult novel.

“Bishimon, release him. I got the bells.”

“Okay. I don’t need to waste more chakra on making the genjutsu last longer, anyway.”

Wait, genjutsu?

As Sensei got up, both his students smiled at him. Both had bells in their hands and happy expressions. As the old man got up, he reached into his pocket, and to his relief, felt the familiar cover of his favorite book.

“Bishimon, Tsukiko, you have shown much determination, good teamwork, and have great potential…"

As sensei continued his congratulating farewell speech, three adult ninja walked silently behind them. Their proud smiles were priceless as they looked on the prodigy’s that were now eligible to be taken as apprentices. They remembered when they passed their test with much more difficulty, and that only a few months before, the children had been homeless beggars, hated for their eyes that were now granting them success in their new life.

“…and now, here is your ninja headband. On it is the symbol of the Hidden Leaves group to which you belong. Wear it with pride. You are now official ninja!”
The three adults behind the children clapped, startling them. The children turned around quickly and looked into the faces of the ones that would shape their future.

::::::::::::::::Meanwhile::::::::::::::::
"What happened here? The whole village is destroyed! My family! Did they survive?"

A man with jet black hair and equally black eyes looked on the burned village, his hometown. He had family there.

"I must report what happened here and the results of my mission!"

The next day, the children headed for the large building where they would receive their new Sensei’s and their first mission. As the children approached the building, they were joined by Kiyoshi and Ayame who were headed there to receive a mission from Eiji. As they walked, they talked about the bell test and how they had passed.
As they walked, Bishimon noticed something. He was getting stared at. Not like the stares he was used to, the stares of hate, but more like stares of hunger. As he looked closer at the staring people, he noticed they were all girls, about his age. He whispered to Kiyoshi:

“Hey, Kiyoshi, why are girls staring at me?”

Kiyoshi looked around for a second, and took in the situation immediately. He tapped Ayame on the shoulder and whispered the situation to her. She nodded and kept walking with Tsukiko.

“Okay, kid.” Kiyoshi whispered. “You know the bandits that destroyed your village?” Bishimon’s eyes grew big as he said this. “Are nothing compared to fangirls.”

“Fangirls? What are they and what do they want with me?”

“You haven’t hit puberty yet, have you? Just believe me, don’t get caught. Consider this a bonus mission. The objective: keep all your clothes on ya and in one piece. See ya!”

And with that, Kiyoshi poofed away, leaving a now battle ready Bishimon standing in the middle of the street, fangirls surrounding him everywhere.

“Hi! Whats your name? I’m Natsumi! Let’s go out. I love you. Marry Me!” exclaimed one pink haired girl.

“Wait, what???” Bishimon said, shocked at the horror of fangirls.

“Yeah, pinky here is really stupid.” A blond said from behind the pink haired girl. “You obviously love me more.”

“Hold on now. I don’t even know any of you and…”

“He’s mine!!!!” A really fat girl yelled.

“No way! He clearly likes my luscious curves more!” A bald girl-who really looked like a boy, and was probably some Yaoi/cross-dresser yelled.

Cat fights started all over. It was the most horrifying think Bishimon had ever witnessed next to the burning of his village. He activated his Sharingan and got in a battle ready stance, for several of them had started moving toward him. He could see their dark intentions, and their hatred for one another. He also spotted Kiyoshi, snickering in a tree several yards away. “I’ve gotta get out of here.” Bishimon thought to himself. If his Sharingan hadn’t been awakened years before when it had helped him fight off a wild dog that was trying to take his food, it would have been awakened now. He looked around searching for a way of escape, when he was suddenly jumped from behind and flattened from the really fat girl that had claimed ownership of him. He could hear his spine cracking as the girl tried to roll off of him so she could see his “beautiful face”. Years later, he would still remember the pain of almost being crushed to death whenever he was about to be attacked from behind.

As he got up, the fangirls started to rush at him. If it weren’t for the Sharingan and his training under Sensei, he would’ve never made it more than 5 seconds. He tried to get away, but more and more seemed to come after him. He gathered some chakra in his feet and jumped in the air to get a better view. As he looked around, he saw two boys his age, a blond and a kid with dark red hair, looking at him. The blond yelled something, which, though Bishimon was too far away to hear them, he was able to read his lips with the Sharingan. He said they were coming to help.

As Bishimon descended, he could hear screams of delight. The girls noticed he was coming down and they thought it was cute that he was so “jumpy”. He could see the two boys running toward the group weaving hand signs. He watched the hand signs with his Sharingan. He might be able to reproduce the jutsu and it might come in handy next time. The as the two neared the group, they both finished their hand signs. The red-head came to a stop and sat on the ground with his hands in a strange sign. A sealing pattern came from him and enveloped the girls who were too busy looking at the hot new guy to notice they were under a jutsu. The blond waited for all the girls to be enveloped in the jutsu before he disappeared.

The blond boy suddenly appeared beside Bishimon, descending with him. He then pushed Bishimon out from above the deranged fangirls and the sealing pattern. Bishimon flipped backwards and landed on his feet a few yards away from the red head’s jutsu. The red head looked up and nodded in his direction. He wove one last hand sign and got up, holding the hand sign. He walked toward Bishimon, weaving his way through the crowd of over reacting tweens. The girls, much to Bishimon’s surprise, didn’t move a muscle. The blond landed in the middle of them and started knocking them out, kind of like Tsukiko’s gentle fist, but he always hit the same spot, in the middle of the right shoulder. As the last immobilized fangirl dropped, the redhead released his jutsu. He started to breathe heavily and sat down. The blond walked over to them and sat down.

“Mission successful, Masaru.” The blond said.

“Like I would fail.” The redhead Masaru said. “Sora would have been more suited to stopping people in their tracks, though.”

“Yeah, but Sora is with his dad getting deer antlers, and by the time we would get back, well… you know. Anyway, what’s your name?”

“Bishimon. What’s yours?”

“Takahiro, but my friends call me Haru, because of my hair. You can call me Haru.”

“Thanks.” Bishimon said, glad that already he made a friend.

“Hey, you got some wicked eyes there!” Masaru said, fully recovered. He seemed to me the energetic type that said a lot of stupid things.

“It’s a Sharingan, idiot!” Haru said annoyed. “He could take both of us on at the same time and win!”

"Wow, really!” Masaru eyes grew really big.

“Bishimon, let’s go. We might be late.” Kiyoshi said, appearing suddenly behind the kids. “Hey, Takahiro. Nice work. You too Masaru. Excellent use of seals.

“Thanks dad.” Haru said.

“Thanks Haru’s dad.”

“Kiyoshi, your Haru’s dad?” Bishimon said surprised, and then noticing the same blond spiky hair on Kiyoshi.

“Yep. We’re both Namikaze’s.

“And I’m an Uzumaki!” Masaru interrupted. “What’s your full name, anyway?”

“I don’t know. I got kicked out of my village before I can remember anything really, so I never learned my last name.” Bishimon said sadly.

“Oh,sucks to be you. Ow!!” Masaru said insensitively, instantly getting nailed in the head by a fist from Haru.

“Well, actually, I might know your last name, kid.” Kiyoshi said. “We’ll probably find out when we get to the building. I heard a ninja on a long mission just got back. He might know. Come on.”

Bishimon’s expression changed from sad to hopeful. He might have family somewhere that will accept him. He might have someone that would take care of him.

They headed off, saying goodbye to Masaru and Haru, since they were actually on a patrol mission when the fangirl incident occurred. After a while, Kiyoshi tried to start a conversation.

“So, Bishimon, how were the fangirls?”

“You should know. I saw you watching it from that tree back there.”
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“You’re late.” Eiji said.

“We encountered some problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

Kiyoshi snickered, promptly getting slapped by Ayame

“F…Fangirls.” Bishimon said, embarrassed as the room erupted in laughter. Even the usually composed Eiji giggled like a 3 year old. Tsukiko quietly walked over to Bishimon and stood beside him, giving him moral support. The room quieted down after a while, and Eiji, still smiling, started to speak.

“Bishimon, because we had to wait on you, you will have to wait to receive your mission.”

“Yes sir.” Bishimon replied.

“Good. Now, Ryu, please continue telling me the results of your mission.”

A man with jet black hair and coal black eyes stood there. He was tall, good looking, and had an expressionless face. He spoke with a deep voice.

“As you know, I was searching for the Yuuyake, the organization that took Ayame’s apprentice, Hitomi, hostage. I have a few leads which I will share with you privately, but nothing really promising. As I came back I saw that my home village had burned. Are there any survivors you know of?”

“Was your village called Mishigaki?*” Kiyoshi asked.

“Yes actually.” was the reply.

“Then there were two survivors.”

“Who?” He said, slightly excited.

Kiyoshi put his huge hand on Bishimon’s shoulder. Bishimon wondered why there was such a fuss over a few village survivors, even if they were family. After all, family just abandons you if they think there is something wrong with you.

“Your nephew.”

The dark haired man looked at the boy with wonder. The boy looked back with the same expression. Could this be? No, it couldn’t. He had heard the boy ran away. That’s what the villagers had said.

“My nephew? No way.”

“Bishimon here sure looks like you, and he has the Sharingan.”

“Bishimon?” The man looked at the boy and knew it was true. He was almost the exact image of his brother.

“Looks like it’s only you and me now.”

The room was filled with silence. No one could have guessed that the legendary Sharingan user would be related to someone else with the Sharingan. Things like this just don’t happen. There were rumors of small clans having kekki genkei, but nothing as powerful as a dojutsu. Silence returned, until Tsukiko broke it.

“Bishimon, this makes you an Uchiha. You have a family now. I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.” Was all Bishimon could muster. The shock from the news was hard to take in. He felt happy, but wary that it could all be a trick, just like his parent’s love. His uncle could be the same way. What if he would start hating him for something he wasn’t responsible for?

“Well, this is certainly a surprise.” Said Eiji. The whole room was still cloaked in an awkwardness that wouldn’t be easy to remove. “Ryu, as this boy’s uncle, you will be his new sensei. You must train him in the ways of being a ninja.”

There was more silence. The truth was Bishimon didn’t know if he wanted to have family. They rejected him before, would this uncle reject him? How could he know that he wouldn’t abandon him on a mission? Questions like these raced through his mind, confusing him more.

“Well, as this is a special occasion, you will be off duty for the rest of the day to get to know each other. I hope you will learn to care for each other as a family should.”

“Okay.” Ryu said. He wrote on a scroll, and then gave it to Eiji. On the front, it said:
PRIVATE
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
After the day was over and all ninja had gone home, Eiji sat, reading the scroll under the candle light.

“This is not the news I was expecting. This is indeed much, much worse.”

As the newly discovered family of two went to Ryu’s hut, where Bishimon would now be staying, there was silence. Bishimon still hadn’t decided if he wanted to be part of a family, and Ryu wasn’t good at starting a conversation. They both had similar personalities, but it was clear that wasn’t going to be much help. It was near the afternoon now, and most had gone home to eat. They came upon a normal house, with nothing particularly special about it.

This is where you will stay. I don’t care what you do, as long as you don’t get in trouble.”

Silence was the reply. Bishimon entered the house, and took off his ninja shoes. There was nothing fancy about it. There was just a picture of a flower, a few chairs, and some mats. He sat on one of the chairs and stared angrily at his new uncle. He didn’t look anything like his father. B Ryu stared back, with no emotion on his face. This went on for a few minutes before Ryu broke the silence.

“Do you need something?”

“No.”

“Then why are you looking at me like that?”

“I don’t want to stay here.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t need you. I don’t want or need a family. I don’t want you to be my sensei or uncle. I never asked for you or a family!”

“Hmph. You should be thankful for a family. You don’t think about how this affects others, or even me! Your friend with the Byakugan would give probably give both her eyes for just one family member. Did you notice her face when you found out I was your uncle? She looked so sad and lonely. You just stood there. And don’t think I was thrilled when I found you. Why don’t you want a family anyway?” The words Ryu said stung deeply, especially the part about Tsukiko. He hadn’t noticed Tsukiko. He had been too caught up in his own situation when he found out. He never meant to make her feel worse. He put those thoughts aside and anger replaced them.

“You should know why I don’t want a family! It’s your brothers fault were in this mess! If he wouldn’t have hated me and my eyes, I would be gone, with no one to bother! I wish I would have died in the bandit’s attack! ” Bishimon started crying softly as he said this, reflecting on how much better it would be if he were dead. Normally he wasn’t one to cry, but the stress and shock from the day had gotten to him.

Ryu stood there quietly, thinking hard. How would he explain something the boy had believed his whole life? How would he tell his nephew that what he had believed was all wrong? Ryu decided it was best just to say it.

“My brother didn’t do that.”

“Yes he did!” He replied angrily, still crying. “He was the one who beat me so hard my Sharingan activated! I was too young to know how to deactivate it! He didn’t care about me.”

More silence.

“My brother didn’t do any of that. He loved you, even though he never met you. Your mother did too.”
Bishimon was stunned. He sat there, to surprised to speak. He could do no other thing. Getting told that something you believed your whole life was nothing but a misunderstanding isn’t easy to take in. If it was true, how would he live his life, knowing he had hated his parents for absolutely no reason? Could it be a lie? No, his Sharingan would’ve seen through it if it were. Bishimon decided something that would change his whole life. He knew then and there he would repay his parents by accepting his uncle and becoming a ninja.

He wiped the tears with the back of his hand and stood up. He walked over to his uncle and looked him in his once-emotionless eyes. Ryu was crying. His only brother, his twin, had died from a sickness known only to the strongest ninja. Most called it the “chakra virus.” It could only be caught by ninja. There was no known cure and no ninja had ever come out from the coma it brought on. His brother was the only family he had left since “the incident.”

He looked at Bishimon, the only family he had left. He wanted this boy’s acceptance badly. He wanted to be looked up to again. If he could have that, he would be happy.

Then Bishimon did a very unexpected thing. He gave the man a hug. It was the best thing that had happened to him in a long time. He hadn’t been hugged since he said goodbye right before “the incident.”
As the two separated, Bishimon said,

“Come on, uncle Ryu. Let’s get something to eat. I’m hungry.

Ryu looked at the boy and smiled. He wiped the tears away and chuckled.

“Seems like I broke one of Sensei’s ninja rules. Never show emotion.”

They laughed, put their shoes on and left the house. For the first time in a while, the two Uchiha’s were happy. They both had a family.


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Tsukiko walked slowly down the streets. It was nearly night time, and the stores had started to turn on their lights. It would’ve been a pretty sight, and would have brought a peaceful feeling to anyone, but not Tsukiko. She had felt nothing but jealousy and anger since the event earlier that day.

It’s not fair! Her inner voice screamed. Why does he get a family, the thing I want most, and I don’t? He didn’t even look grateful! Why does this happen to me?

She continued walking down the street, holding back the tears that were soon to flow. She started breaking into a run, hiding her tear streaked face. It’s just not fair! She thought, over and over again. Why me? Why does the person I’m closest to get it, but doesn’t want it? Why couldn’t I get it? Why couldn’t I just have died in the fire, like the rest of my family? I would’ve been happy.

She ran and ran, heading for her favorite spot, a huge old tree, just outside of town in the forest. She was blinded by her tears, and tripped. She got up and kept running. She left the road and ran on the grass. She approached the tree, still crying, and stumbled on its roots, which were sticking out of the ground. She plopped down, leaning against the tree. It’s not fair! The words rang in her head. She couldn’t contain herself any longer. She started sobbing, her body shook with the sadness and anger.

“It’s not fair.” She whispered to herself. “It’s not fair!” She said louder. “It’s not fair!” She said at normal talking level. “It’s not fair” She continued to say, increasing the volume. It grew louder and louder until she was screaming.

“IT’S NOT FAIR!!!”

She stopped screaming, and broke into more sobs. She looked up for a minute and saw a shadow move on the other side of the tree. She immediately was on the alert. She was a ninja after all, and wouldn’t be caught off guard. The shadow moved again.

“Hello.” Said a teen who’s head came into view from behind the tree. The boy had long, black hair, and kind looking eyes. His skin was tanned, and his presence seemed regal. He smiled at her in a kind, warm, friendly way. “I’m Mamoru.”

She looked at him like he was crazy. What kind of person just tells you their name as soon as they meet you? Still, it made her feel a little better. He seemed nice, and had a Hidden Leaf headband around his neck.

“What’s your name?” He said, still smiling.

“Ts…Tsukiko.” She said through the retreating tears.

“Are you okay? You look like there’s no tomorrow.” There was concern in his voice. Real concern. She felt safe and like she could trust him.

“I’ve been better.” She said, her spirits lifting. She shivered. The wind was picking up and it was becoming cold. Night was almost here, and there was a half-moon in the sky.

“You look cold. Are you hungry?”

“No, I’m fine.” She replied. Her stomach rumbled, and she blushed. “Actually, I could eat.”

Mamoru laughed a little, and his smile grew wider. “I know a good Sushi restaurant. That is, if you want to go.”

Tsukiko looked at him. He seemed nice, and she was really hungry. The cold was getting to her too.

“Sure.” She said smiling. There was something about him that made him seem trustworthy. He seemed so calm and happy, and he made Tsukiko feel comfortable. They talked as they walked, and soon were having a really good conversation. Tsukiko felt her troubles melt away, and let herself forget all her sadness. They arrived at the shop and ate. She noticed he had good manners and seemed to know a lot about everything.

They finished and they sat in the restaurant. Tsukiko told him all about what she was going through, because without the whole story, nothing made sense, but before she could finish, the shop had to close. They walked outside, toward the houses. It was a calm night, and the wind had gone down. They were just arriving at her house when she got to the part where Bishimon found out about his uncle. She started breaking down again. All those emotions rushed back to her. All the anger, jealousy, and feelings of unfairness destroyed the pleasant feelings she had just a few minutes ago.

She was crying harder than ever now. She cried and cried and couldn’t stop. Her knees started to buckle, and then something happened that had never happened before, Mamoru grabbed her and hugged her. His arms were strong and she felt safe. She cried into his shoulder. She began to feel better again. The hug felt nice.

“Shhhhh. It’s going to be okay.” He whispered. “Someday, you’re going to remember your life, and see all the ways things worked together. You’ll remember everything, and, trust me, you won’t want to change a thing.”

His words repeated themselves in her ears. It’s going to be okay. She started to believe it. She started to pull away, and Mamoru released her.

“Thank you.” She said, the tears leaving. “You don’t know how much better you made me feel.”

He turned and started to walk away, but stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“I’m sure we’ll meet again.” He smiled, then disappeared.

Tsukiko turned and smiled. That was the nicest she had felt in a long time. She entered her house, took off her shoes got ready to sleep. She fell asleep quickly and with a smile on her face.


::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


The morning sun shone brightly through the window. Tsukiko got dressed and ate. She got her ninja gear together and headed to the large building where she and Bishimon would receive their first mission. She walked out of her house and into the sunshine. She smiled. What was this feeling? It was like nothing she had ever felt before. She was happy, and the events of last night played through her mind. She started toward the building, practically skipping.


As she walked, she saw three figures ahead of her. One was Ayame, and the others were Bishimon and Ryu. Ryu wore a standard ninja top and pants, but Bishimon wore a blue and gray kimono. She ran up to them and started talking like nothing had happened the previous day. Bishimon and Ryu looked at each other questioningly, puzzled by the unusually bubbly Tsukiko. They entered the building and walked up the stairs to the top. As they entered, Eiji welcomed them, then got right to the point.

“Your first mission will test your reconnaissance skills. You will be looking for information on the members of a criminal organization called Yuuyake. This is a very important and dangerous mission, as they seem to be targeting the destruction of our village. This scroll will give you all the details. Go!”

“Hai.” They responded as they left.

As they left, Eiji furrowed his brow.

Did I really choose the right ninja for this mission?

As the three left the village, the sun was already high in the sky. There were a few large clouds, but no rain in sight. The birds were singing, and there was a slight breeze. Tsukiko noticed Bishimon seemed to get along well with his uncle, and she felt kind of bad about blaming him for being ungrateful, but she put those thoughts aside and stayed quiet. Tsukiko wasn’t the only one noticing a difference in someone, though. Bishimon noticed Tsukiko was happier looking and seemed more comfortable around them.

They walked for a while, chatting as they went. As the village disappeared out of sight, Ryu motioned for the two rookie-nins to follow him. He went off the road a little way and into the forest. It was shady and there was a lot of wildlife around. They went in quite a ways before he had them sit down under a tree. The children sat down, but Ryu remained standing. He rolled open a scroll and put it on the ground.

“Tsukiko, use your Byakugan to search make sure no one can hear us.” Ryu commanded. She did and gave him a nod to signal there were no possible eavesdroppers.

“Okay. I will now tell you the details of your first mission. We will be checking out a lead in a village a little east of here for the location or members of Yuuyake, a criminal organization that kidnapped Hitomi, and killed her partner and best friend, Emi. Both Hitomi and Emi were ninjas from the Hidden Leaves group. We have been trying to find their location for about a year now. We know almost nothing, except one of their members is said to be a double-S ranked samurai, named Ken. I want to make something clear before we go on. Avoid fighting him at all costs. His strength is at least equal to mine, and if you fight him, no matter how talented you are, you will lose.

“Samurai? Why should we run? They can’t use ninjutsu like a ninja. I bet we could beat any samurai.” Bishimon stated proudly.

“Hmph. You’ve never met a samurai, have you? Believe me, they might not be able to use ninjutsu proficiently, but their taijutsu and swordsmanship is beyond anything a ninja can master. They train for DAYS at a time. Don’t think that chakra makes you superior. They can use it to.”
The rookie’s eyes grew big. They never thought that there were people that could match the strength of a ninja. It was a hard concept to understand.

“Anyway, were going to interview the person who gave the lead and return to our village. A more experienced group of ninja will actually do the confirmation. Remember, do not engage Ken. If we actually have to fight him, you two must get away.”

Ryu rolled up the scroll and put it in his pack. He walked toward the road, and the children followed. They were a bit more serious now, and were on the alert. Ryu was proud of them for being so able to switch gears like that. It wasn’t good for a ninja to show emotion, but as a human being, it was impossible not to. Ryu decided now was a good time to make an emergency plan.

“Since you two are rookies, you need to make a battle plan. You two might not be able to make a run for it, so we need to prepare for the possible fight. Since I’ve never fought alongside of you two, I would like to know what you’re good at. Tsukiko, you first.”

“I am best at Taijutsu, I know a little of Ninjutsu, but almost no Genjutsu.”

Ryu was a little annoyed at this. With little knowledge of ninjutsu, there wasn’t a whole lot to work with. She seemed to be limited to short-ranged fighting, but she seemed sure of herself when it came to taijutsu. Ryu knew it would either be a major problem, or a major help. Either way, it would be interesting.

“Okay. Now Bishimon, you go.”

“I am best at Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, but I am decent at Taijutsu, too.”

Ryu was proud of his nephew for being good at all three. If Bishimon ever learned to master his Sharingan as well as Ryu did, he would be a force to reckon with.

“I’ve mastered all three, so you don’t need to worry about my skills. I want you two to make the battle plans. A battle plan is one of the most important things a ninja needs to know, because without a plan any group, no matter how strong, will fall apart.”

Tsukiko nodded, and Bishimon was already thinking hard. They continued walking, but at a slower pace. Bishimon was the first to speak up.

“I think uncle Ryu and I should go in a little ahead of Tsukiko, using Ninjutsu to weaken them, and then have Tsukiko go in for the kill.”

“Hmmm… that would be good, but remember, we don’t want to fight in this mission. We only want to gather information. “ Ryu said.

“Well, it might still work, but we’re more likely to be attacked first. In that case, we should try to escape first if it’s Ken, otherwise we should regroup and try to fight back, with me and Ryu up front, and Bishimon backing us up.”

“It seems like a good idea to me.” Ryu said. It really was a good idea. Tsukiko seemed to have a pretty good grasp on strategies. It was simple, and probably would be very effective. Ryu was proud of these two ninja, and there was no doubt in his mind that they would both be great shinobi.

“Well, now that we got that out of the way, we can get going.” Ryu said. They continued along, stopping a few times to eat or go to the bathroom. The weather was nice all the way there, and they all had a good time.
Just before nightfall, they arrived at the village where they were supposed to meet the informant. It was a pretty large village, and dwarfed their village in comparison. They ate out at a small restaurant, and found a hotel from where they would be staying during the mission. Nothing eventful happened for the rest of the night. They planned to start interviewing the lead in the morning, and then would head back as soon as they were done. They went to sleep on some mats, and all was fine.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Tsukiko tossed and turned. She was having a dream. In her dream, she was in an empty room with three candles. The two on the sides were red, but the one in the middle was white. As she watched, the red candle on the right went out. As it went out, she felt as if there was something terribly wrong. She felt scared and vulnerable. As she continued watching, the red candle on the left grew in brightness. It seemed as though it was brighter because of the other going out. Then, she noticed something. The white candle in the center was growing in brightness too. Both candle’s flames grew larger, illuminating the rest of the room. Tsukiko looked around the room again. She noticed something along the walls. They were candles. The ones on the left side of the room were red, and the ones on the right were white. The two original candles had grown so large that sparks were coming from both. The sparks started flying around the room, igniting the candles on their respective sides. As the whole room was ignited, she could see two shapes over the candles. She couldn’t make out what they were, but they seemed familiar.

Tsukiko woke up with a start. It was early morning, and the sun was just coming up. She then suddenly remembered her dream.The dream was strange, and nothing made sense. What were the candles, and what were the two figures? She thought about it a while, before she noticed something was really wrong. Both Bishimon and Ryu weren’t in their mats. It was strange that they were already up, but it didn’t really matter. Tsukiko got up, and looked around. That’s when she noticed the blood on the floor. The rest of the room was a mess, too. There was a broken window, and furniture strewn around. Most surprising of all, though, was the completely destroyed wall. She ran over to the hole, and looked out. There was a crowd of people, and medics running around the rubble. Tsukiko quickly got dressed and ran down the stairs. She made her way through the crowd and tried to not to think about what this meant. She hadn’t seen Bishimon or Ryu in the crowd yet, and there was only one other place they could be.

As she arrived at the rubble they were just starting to dig through it. Tsukiko noticed that there were medics examining something. She made her way over to it, her heart beating faster and faster. She got closer, and saw it was a man she had never seen before. He had a katana at his side, wore a white cloak and was well built. She had never seen him before, and her curiosity started to kicked in.

“Excuse me, but whose body is this?” Tsukiko asked. One of the medics looked up, and looked at her strangely.

“You don’t recognize his face? He was one of the most hunted people in the world. He was Fujiyama Ken, the legendary samurai.” Tsukiko gasped, but was relieved that the person they had feared was dead. She felt hopeful, until the medic crushed her hopes. “He and another person fell from up there.” He pointed up at the hole in the wall. “No one could’ve survived that fall.”

Tsukiko’s heart started racing again. She was on the edge of panic. She started to scan, using her Byakugan to see if anyone was in the rubble. Though it wasn’t easy to see through all of it, she could make out a single body. She couldn’t see any chakra flow in the rubble, so whoever it was was definitely dead. Her heart started racing. She still hadn’t seen Bishimon or Ryu anywhere, and she was starting to panic. The medics had reached the body, and they were bringing it up from the bottom of the rubble. As the body surfaced, Tsukiko ran over to the medics and looked at the body. What met her when she got there was something she never forgot. The body was mangled beyond recognition.

Two lifeless Sharingan’s looked up at her. The three dots around the pupils instantly told her who it was. The body was Ryu’s. As she looked at them, her surroundings began to change. The people around her changed to the hotel room. She saw herself, Bishimon and Ryu on their mats. She knew instantly it was a genjutsu. As she watched, she saw two figures dressed in white. One was the man she had seen earlier, but the other was a female. She watched as the lady walked over to Bishimon, and put him on her shoulder. She saw his eyes quickly open, and he struggled for a second, but was quickly hit in the back of the head, knocking him out. The lady started walking away. The man was still in the same spot, but it was clear he wasn’t going to kidnap anyone. He had his sword drawn, ready to come down on Ryu’s head.

She wanted to turn away, but she couldn’t. As the sword started to swing, Tsukiko saw her sleeping body move, causing the samurai to look at her. It was just enough for Ryu to wake up. Immediately a fight broke out, and the woman started to run away with Bishimon over her shoulder. Ryu tried to stop her, but Ken’s sword stood in the way. Ryu and Ken started to fight, and Ken almost won, but at the last second, Ryu managed to grab Ken and break through the wall, causing their deaths. As they fell, Tsukiko heard a voice in her head. It sounded just like Ryu’s.

“Tell Eiji what you saw here. Grow stronger, and never forget why you are a ninja.”

And with that the genjutsu ended.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Tsukiko was in shock. She couldn’t feel anything. She just kept running toward the village that she called home. She ran as the sun came up, not noticing that it was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, and the wind was on her back. She couldn’t believe what had happened. She couldn’t understand why things like this seemed to happen only to Bishimon and her. She made it to the village in record time, just after noon. She ran into Eiji’s meeting room, breathing heavily.

“Eiji-sama.” She breathed, “Ryu’s…”

“I know.” He interrupted. “I saw it in my dreams.”

“Then you know about Bishimon too?”

“Yes. Ryu’s funeral will be in two days. We will also send out a team to investigate further into the matter. In the meantime, you need rest. Go home and get some sleep.”

Tsukiko said nothing and left. She couldn’t see anything through the anger and sadness. She was so emotionally bent, not even Mamoru, the only person who she cared for more than Bishimon, could comfort her. She spent the next few days alone, at home. She didn’t eat, and barely slept. She went to the funeral, but only for the service. Her life had fallen apart again, and this time, no one could make her smile.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


Bishimon woke up inside a strange room. It was dark, except for one candle in the center. The place had an eerie feel about it, and seemed to have no exit. He stood up and walked around, remembering the events of the past night. He wondered if Tsukiko and uncle Ryu were alright. He knew he needed to escape. He looked all around him, but there was no door. He didn’t know Earth Style to escape underground, and there was a roof above him, so he couldn’t escape by climbing. He walked over to the candle. As he neared it, he heard a noise. He instantly activated his Sharingan.

A woman walked toward him from nowhere. She walked toward him, with a strange look on her face. She wore a white cloak, with a green jewel for the clasp that held it together. Under the cloak she wore fishnets and shorts.

As she neared him, she stopped and smiled strangely. She looked at him and did the last thing Bishimon expected. She ran toward him and hugged him.

“I haven’t seen you in so long, Bishimon.”

“Who… Who are you?”

“You don’t recognize me?”
Bishimon looked at the strange woman before him. She was a little taller than him, and very pretty. Her face did look familiar, but something just didn’t seem right. Whoever this was, it was someone that knew him, and people knowing you without you knowing them is a scary thought.

“Who are you?” Bishimon said.

“Hmm…” The woman softly chuckled amusedly. “I shouldn’t expect you to remember or believe me, but, Bishimon. I’m your mother.”

At first Bishimon was scared and kind’ve annoyed, but as he thought about it, just like with uncle Ryu, there was no reason to doubt it and what she said actually had the ring of truth. It was déjà vu. Things started to all make sense, but there was one thing that didn’t add up.

“Aren’t you supposed to be dead?” Bishimon said bluntly.

‘Mom’ chuckled softly at this. “Bishi, there are some things you can never understand.”

After she said this, she hugged him again. It was a little firm, but it was still the motherly-type hug that Bishimon had never had. As she did this, he couldn’t help feeling safe and lowering his guard. He was happy, until he thought about something. He pulled away quickly, startling his mother. His eyes showed hurt, and it was audible in his voice.

“Why weren’t you there for me?”

There was silence before Bishimon’s mother spoke. It was clear she was sad, and Bishimon felt bad for bringing it up.
“Bishi, there are just some things that you can never understand.”

The reunion was a happy one. They quickly became best friends. They had a lot in common, and it formed bonds that a mother and child should have. The laughed, cried, and talked together for hours. Bishimon told her the whole story, but when he arrived at the events of his first mission, he stopped.

“Where’s uncle Ryu?”

“Uncle Ryu? Who are you talking about?” was the pleasant reply.

“Dad’s brother, Ryu. We were on a mission when I was kidnapped and… Wait. If I was kidnapped… and I’m here… you kidnapped me!?”

Bishimon’s mother’s face grew grim at this. It was clear this was a topic she didn’t want to discuss.

“Your uncle Ryu… he was the second-in-command of the most corrupt organization in the world, The Hidden Leaves. They are planning the downfall of the world, under the most evil man in the world, Senju Eiji. When we heard he was coming here with you to look for us, we knew we had to take care of him.”

“Wha… Uncle Ryu was… No! That can’t be true! He was a little cold towards most people, but he always treated me fairly…”

“It was all to make you strong enough to use a jutsu that could destroy the world.”

Bishimon was stunned. How could Uncle Ryu be a bad person? He seemed so nice. And Eiji? Eiji had never done anything to hurt anyone. Yet here was his mother, saying that again, all he believed was a lie.

“You only answered half of my question. Where am I?” Bishimon said gruffly.

“You’re in the only place that will keep you safe from that terrible group. Yuuyake’s hidden base of operations.”

There was silence after she said this. Bishimon was stunned yet again. Actually, Bishimon was starting to expect these little ‘surprises’, but it was still pretty surprising, none the less.

“Now that you know the truth, will you join us in our struggle to save the world?”

There was silence for a minute, and then came his response:

“Yes.”

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Tsukiko woke up. Morning had come, and the sun was hidden behind a cloud. She put on her ninja clothes and got her gear ready. Since Ryu had died and Bishimon had been taken, she had been a shell of her former self. The only time she smiled, was when she was with Mamoru. He did his best to cheer her up, but nothing seemed to help. Luckily, she was training under Ayame, who was also Mamoru’s sensei.

Today was going to be her first mission since the incident. She wasn’t sure if she was ready, but it would be a simple mission. Eiji assured her of that. She walked out of her house and toward the large building. As she walked, she was met by two boys, about her age. One had blond, spiky hair, and the other had blood red, long hair. She knew them from the funeral of Ryu. They were Takahiro and Masaru, Bishimon’s friends. They were worried about Bishimon too, but not on the edge of depression like Tsukiko was.

The three of them walked together in silence for a while, before they met up with Kiyoshi, the two boy’s sensei. Tsukiko was alone again. The closest thing to a family she had was gone. She had expected the rescue party to be back before now, but they still hadn’t returned. She arrived at the building and walked past the guards at the entrance. She walked up the stairs slowly. When she arrived at the top, she entered the room and waited for her teammate and sensei. She didn’t have to wait long. They arrived quickly and they received their mission. They left silently. The whole kidnapping had affected everyone’s mood. The Hidden Leaves ninjas were a tight-knit group, and any wrong done to anyone was a major thing. Everyone was like everyone else’s family.

They walked out of the village with their escort, a tailor. He wore simple clothes, but they were clearly of good quality. The sun was shining brightly, and it would’ve been a beautiful day if it hadn’t been for the kidnapping dampening everyone’s spirits.

The escort mission went without any problems, and they returned to the village the next day. The team reported to Eiji, and left. Ayame left to tend to some personal matters, and Tsukiko and Mamoru went to talk.

“Tsukiko, I’m really sorry about what happened.”

“It isn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I feel like I could’ve done something.”

“You never even knew Bishimon, and you didn’t know Ryu very well either.”

“Yeah, but still….”

“Do you think the rescue team will bring him back?”

“I don’t know.”

The two sat in silence for a while, each with their own thoughts. There was nothing to talk about recently besides the kidnapping, and there wasn’t a lot to talk about on that subject. The only thing that they knew was Yuuyake was responsible, and one of the members was Ken the Samurai (who had been killed). They didn’t know their motives or any more of the members. The silence was unbroken for quite a while, until Tsukiko remembered something.

“Mamoru, do you think dreams have meanings?”

“Hmmm. Yes and no. I think some dreams are simply the result of eating bad sushi, but some do have meanings.”

“Listen. You can’t tell anyone about this, but that night, I had a dream.”

Mamoru looked over at her. She looked really serious.

“Okay. What was it about?”

“In the dream, I was in a dark room with three candles, two red and one white. One of the red ones went out, but the others grew brighter, lighting up more of the room. The rest of the room was filled with red and white candles. As the two lighted candles grew brighter, sparks started flying from the two, lighting the other candles. Eventually, the whole room was filled with lighted candles. But above the original lighted candles were two figures. That’s the part that bothers me. They looked really familiar, but I couldn’t tell who they were.”

Mamoru just sat there for a second, amazed. He stared at her, then said:

“I…I… had that exact same dream.”

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Bishimon followed his mother down a hidden hallway that he hadn’t seen before because of a barrier-type genjutsu. Because he had joined Yuuyake, he would receive a white cloak and speak with the leader. They continued walking down the hallway, until they got to a small room. Inside there was several cloaks. Bishimon’s mother selected one and gave it to him. It had a red jewel in the middle, right in front of the neck area. It also had a hood. Bishimon put it on and looked at himself in the mirror. He liked how he looked, and when he activated his Sharingan, the red jewel seemed to give off a dark kind of light.

They left the room and continued down the hallway. As they walked, Bishimon could feel the presence of something ahead. Not just anything, though. He could feel a massive amount of chakra unlike anything he had ever experienced. The air seemed to grow extremely thick, and he instinctively activated his Sharingan. As he did this, the red jewel started to glow again, and the air returned to normal. His mother stopped and said:

“This is as far as I can go. You can make it the rest of the way, right? The leader is in the room just at the end of the hall.”

“I see. Goodbye then. I’ll see you later, mother.”

Bishimon continued walking. The hallway was long, but it didn’t take too long for him to reach two huge doors, with strange engravings on the sides. As he neared them, the doors opened, revealing a huge room with rows of pillars. He walked through the doors, and they shut, trapping him inside the room. He continued walking down the center of the pillars. There were several statues in between the pillars, though they all seemed to be cloaked, unidentifiable people. At the end of the room were seven chairs, with people in five of them. The four people on the sides had their hoods off, but the one in the center of them wore it. The person stood up, and Bishimon immediately noticed it was a woman.

“Welcome, Bishimon.”

Silence was the answer. He kept his face emotionless, although he was scared. He could feel the same chakra as before choking him again. It was there, but then suddenly stopped.

“Prepare for the initiation ceremony.”

All the other figures stood up and walked toward Bishimon. They circled him and sat down. Bishimon watched them, mentally ready, but physically unmoving. They started weaving hand signs, and a sealing pattern surrounded them and Bishimon. The sealing pattern started to glow, and Bishimon could feel something happening inside him. He felt power rush into him. It felt good. He could feel his chakra increasing and molding inside of him. It felt so good, he wanted it to last forever, but as quickly as it had started, it stopped, making Bishimon almost pass out. He quickly recovered and looked around at the surrounding people, who looked acceptingly at him.

“Bishimon. You are now an official member of Yuuyake. Take your seat, for there is another who will join our ranks today.”

Bishimon sat down the chair clearly meant for him. It was at the right side of the leader. The other members returned to their seats and Bishimon looked at them all. There were three females in the seats: The leader, and two twins with scythes. There were, of course, three males too: Bishimon, the most muscular man Bishimon had ever seen, and a man who seemed to be really bored. As Bishimon sat there, the doors opened again. A figure walked in. Bishimon with his Sharingan could tell it was a girl about his age. She walked up just like Bishimon had done before, and the leader greeted her in the same way.

“Welcome, Ren.”

“Thank you.” was the polite response.

“Prepare for the initiation ceremony.”

The new member, Ren, went through the same sealing as Bishimon had, and took her seat, on the direct left hand side of the leader. Bishimon looked at her. She was about his age, and a little shorter. She was also very pretty. She had the same white cloak as everyone else, but her's had a black jewel in it.

Bishimon watched as the leader got up, hood still on, and walked a little ways, before turning around and removing her hood. She had long, dark hair, and seemed very familiar. He thought a while before realizing what was so familiar.
“Hello. I am your leader, Uchiha Hitomi. Daughter of Uchiha Ryu and cousin of Uchiha Bishimon, who we just initiated.”

Bishimon remained quiet this time. Though he was surprised, he was used to it. He watched Hitomi for a while. She was the person who was said to be kidnapped by this group, yet she was the leader. It was the perfect lie when Bishimon thought about it. To be “kidnapped” by yourself.

“Bishimon. Come forward and introduce yourself.” said Hitomi, smiling.

“My name is Uchiha Bishimon. I am Hitomi’s cousin, and that’s all I have to say about myself.” He said emotionlessly, staying in his seat. He figured he’d better sound and look tough in front of all these powerful people.

“Okay then.” Hitomi said, sounding a little annoyed at Bishimon staying in his seat. “Ren, would you please come forward and introduce yourself?”

The girl got up and walked gracefully to where Hitomi stood.

“Hello.” She said with a smile. “My name is Ren and it is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You can sit down now.” The girl returned to her seat. “Dai. You next.”

The very muscular man got up and walked to the front. He had a scowl on his face, and a large scar running diagonally across his face.

“My name is Dai, and if you two weaklings annoy me,” looking at Bishimon and Ren “I’ll crush your skulls.” He walked back to his seat, scowling all the way.

“Okay, Hiroko, Hiromi, your turn.” The twins with the scythes walked forward. The expressions of their faces were very different. One of them, Hiroko, looked very serious, but Hiromi looked really carefree and happy.

“Hello.” They said in unison.

“I am Hiroko.”

“And I’m Hiromi!”

“We’re very different from one another.”

They then walked back to their seats.

“Well, that leaves you, Iwao.”

She looked at the bored-looking man, who just started back.

“Hmmm… It IS something to do for once, but it’s not very exciting.”

The man got up slowly, staggering a little, as if each step was took all his strength. He walked slowly and stood there, staring.

“Well,” he sighed. “I’m Iwao, and everything else about me is pretty boring.”

He stood there and started examining the ceiling. He then walked slowly back to his seat. Bishimon was confused as to why such a lazy person was allowed in the organization, but he put those thoughts aside as Hitomi started speaking:

“Well, now that the new members know your names, you can work together. That’s all. You can go.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Most of the members got up and left, but Bishimon stayed behind. Hitomi noticed this, and looked at him.

“Do you need something, Bishimon?”

“What do I do in the meantime?”

“You’ll train with me. Your Sharingan is only in its second stage. If you want to last long, you’ll have to get stronger.”

“Very well. Where will we train?”

“I will show you the way.”

She led him down the hall, took a right, then a left, then another right, and went through the door at the end of the hall. Sunlight flowed through the door, blinding Bishimon temporarily. Bishimon blinked a few times and looked through the door. There was a field with a wall of rock surrounding it. Bishimon saw two fighting figures. One was clearly the bored-looking Iwao, and the other was Ren. It looked like Iwao was getting the worst of it. Ren had a huge Earth Dragon fighting for her, and Iwao was just standing there. Bishimon walked through the door to get a better look at the fight and saw something completely unexpected. Iwao didn’t have a scratch on him, but Ren was cut all over. The Earth Dragon surged toward Iwao, grabbing him in its jaws. Suddenly, the Earth Dragon broke apart, revealing Iwao, with one hand holding a huge ball of lightning. He shifted his position, and moved so fast Bishimon’s Sharingan couldn’t pick it up. He appeared in the air behind Ren. Just as he was about to bring the orb down on her, he stopped.

“Hmph. You need a lot of work, but I guess training you will be something to do for once.”

Ren was panting from exhaustion, but she nodded her appreciation for sparing her life. He walked out, Ren following. As she passed Bishimon she glanced at him quizzically. He looked at her. She had white, long, straight hair that reminded him of Sensei’s hair a little.

He then continued to walk into the field. Hitomi stood in the center, white cloak removed. Bishimon took of his cloak to. He stood at the ready. Gathering chakra in his feet and grabbing a kunai from his gear bag, he crouched down about to charge. He suddenly felt something hit him from behind. He fell from the force of the blow.

“You’ll have to do better than that, little cousin.” Hitomi said poisonously.

Bishimon got up slowly, reeling from the hit. He suddenly felt a burst of chakra inside of him. He quickly did some hand signs and shot a small fireball at her, which she easily dodged. He then stopped and closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them, the two dots around his eyes had grown. Hitomi was suddenly caught in a genjutsu. She stood there; the field lay before her, with nothing unusual about it. Suddenly, two giant hands reached up from the ground and grabbed her, stopping all movement. As she was trapped there, she saw a demon rise up from the ground with a sword made of bones was in its hand. It charged, but just as it was about to strike, she broke the genjutsu.

“Fool, I can see easily through that little genjutsu.”

The genjutsu was gone, but there was still something wrong. Bishimon was nowhere to be seen. She turned around just in time to block a stab to her back.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have underestimated you.”

“Never underestimate a shinobi.”

They fought with taijutsu for a while, Hitomi clearly winning. Bishimon’s Sharingan was not yet strong enough to really compete yet.

“You’re not bad, but you won’t get anywhere with this. Try to access that chakra that we sealed in you before. I won’t attack you. Yet.”

Bishimon stood still for a second. He shut his eyes and focused on the new chakra. As he did, he felt his body getting warmer. He opened his eyes to see something he never expected; his whole body was on fire, yet it wasn’t burning him.

“So you’ve done it. Impressive. The chakra is amplifying your natural chakra-type, which caused you to catch on fire. All fire style jutsu power is increased and all other attacks are stronger, too. The only restriction is that if you use it for too long, it will cause permanent damage. You have about 2 minutes before…”

She was cut off by an attack so fast her Sharingan couldn’t keep up with it. She coughed up blood. Her clothes were burned through the torso. She had severe burns on her stomach and a bruise too.

“So this is the power you gave me.”

“Yes.”

“Do you have this power?”

“No. I have no use for it. In fact, you and Ren are the only ones who have it. You two actually like experiments.”

The fight continued for a while, Bishimon now doing the most damage. Hitomi had a hard time keeping up, but she managed to hold him off. Time passed and Bishimon started to feel something happen. The fire that was once only a minor warm sensation, started to feel like an inferno. He tried to stop it, but it wouldn’t stop.

“Hitomi, how do I deactivate it? Its… it’s starting to burn me!”

“The same way you break a genjutsu. Temporarily cut off all chakra flow.”

He did and the fire went out. He felt much cooler, and the wind made him shiver. This power he experienced had a strange effect on him. He both hated it and loved its power.

“Why did you give this power to me?”

“As I said, you are an experiment.”

“That’s not it. You could’ve chosen anyone else. You don’t even know me. I have nothing special about me except my eyes! You caused me to meet my mother! Why? How? I don’t understand!” Bishimon got very emotional at the mention of his eyes. They were the cause of this whole ordeal. If it weren’t for them, he would’ve led a normal life with nothing to worry about.

“Do you want the real reason? I am going to use you to achieve my goal.”

“What is your goal that I am so important?” His personality changed from that of extreme stress to a perfectly calm.

“The goal of all righteous people: to make the world a peaceful place.”

“What do you need me for?”

“I can’t just give away all my secrets, can I?”

Bishimon felt strange. He didn’t want to get involved in something he didn’t know about, but it was his only choice. If what his mother said was true, then the last place he could go was The Hidden Leaves village, and they would be searching for him everywhere. He could feel something was wrong, but what was it?

“I don’t want to be involved in something that I don’t know anything about.”

“It doesn’t matter. You can’t get out of it now. You’ve already gave your word to fight the unjust.”

“My word has no value. You have no way of keeping me here.”

“Wrong. I have your mother here.” Hitomi grinned evilly. She suddenly was right behind Bishimon. Her words were like slow poison: “I don’t like traitors. Or their mothers.” She poofed away, and then jumped down from a tree. Bishimon’s eyes opened wide at this. He had only been fighting her mass-chakra infused shadow clone.

“That’s enough for today. You will train like this every day, until I think you’re ready.”

Bishimon started knives at Hitomi. His cousin was the most twisted person he now knew. Threatening to kill his mother if he left… He had no choice. He would stay and become what Hitomi wanted. This was his choice. This was his path.

Tsukiko walked alone in the darkness. She was alone, but didn’t mind. Today had been the best day of her life. It had been her birthday, and her closest friends threw her a huge party. She was sure that life couldn’t get any better. She was going to be married to Mamoru in spring, and was now a top ninja in the little village. She turned the corner down the street she lived on and was hit with a rush of memories: coming here, learning to be a ninja, and gaining confidence in herself and so much more. She had changed a lot since she first came here with him.

“Bishimon…”

She had almost forgotten his name. Had it really been six years since his disappearance? It had seemed so distant just a little while ago, but now it felt like it happened yesterday.

She turned the corner down the road that lead to her house and smiled to herself. She was worrying about things beyond her control again. She knew shouldn’t worry about things that had already altered her fate, but it was hard. She started whistling to herself as she walked toward her house. The tune was a happy one, and it re-lifted her spirits.

She entered her house and removed her shoes. The room was dimly lit by a soft, flickering candle sitting on the table. She didn’t remember lighting that candle.

“Huh, another birthday surprise. I guess Mamoru thought I shouldn’t have to come back to a dark house.”

She smiled as she said this out loud. He was always doing sweet things like this. Her heart fluttered as she thought of him and their soon wedding. She became lost in thought for a second, until a sudden clap of thunder sounded, which brought her back to reality.

“I guess it will rain tonight. Kind of sudden though.”

She walked a few steps forward, but then remembered she didn’t shut the door. She was about to turn around when she heard a voice

“You haven’t changed much.”
She spun around quickly as lightning flashed, revealing a person in the doorway. Long hair covered most of his face, but his mouth could be seen grinning.

“Who… Who are you!?”

“That’s not a good way to treat a friend.”
The figure walked toward her, still grinning. As he neared her, he flipped his hair back, revealing his eyes.

Tsukiko stared in disbelief, unable to say anything through the shock. The man was still grinning as he stared back.

“What’s up?”

“You’re… Bishimon!”

“No, it’s the Sage of the Six Paths. Of course it’s me.”

Tsukiko almost fainted with shock. Everyone had thought he was dead, but here he was, breathing and very much alive. He was even joking with her.

“You’ve come back?” was the weak response.

“Nope.”

“Why not!? You aren’t a captive anymore! You can come back to your life here! You can…”

“No I can’t.” he responded more serious now. “I’m still technically kidnapped. But that’s beyond the point. You’ve gotta leave here. The whole village will be destroyed soon. Eiji’s judgment has come.”

“Wha… You’re going to destroy the village? And what’s this about Eiji?”

“There’s no time to explain. Just be ready to leave before tomorrow at midnight.”

He turned to leave, but Tsukiko grabbed him, and spun him around, facing him with a dark expression.

“Tell me what’s going on.”

“There isn’t time for that. Just get out of the village by tomorrow night.”

“Just tell me why!”

“No.” As he said it he disappeared into the rain that had started to fall. Tsukiko took a few steps back and fell to the floor. What is going on? How was Bishimon here? Why did she need to leave the village? These thoughts flew through her mind as she slowly got up and prepared for bed. It was sure to be a restless night.

She laid there in the darkness and thought about what just happened. Could it have been real? That must be it. It was just a little too much sake at her party. It made sense, since there was a lot of it. So much, Masaru had to have Sora and Takahiro had to carry him to his house. She felt relieved that it was just a dream, but something just wasn’t right. Why was it so specific about tomorrow night?

She put these thoughts aside and slept restlessly, not able to shake the thoughts out of her mind completely.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

“Did you finish your little rescue mission?”

“Yeah.”

“I won’t tell on you, but if she finds out…”

“I know.”

Two figures crouched over a fire in a cave overlooking the village. The cave sheltered them from the rain and the fire kept them warm. The storm had come suddenly, but they were lucky enough to escape from the rain that was pouring outside.

Bishimon stared at the other person at the fire with him: Ren. Her white hair shone in the fire as she crouched down. She looked up and smiled at him, her blue eyes shining.

“Hmmm.”

“What’s up?” she replied cheerily.

“Are you ever sad?” was the quick response.
She thought seriously for a moment with a confused look on her face, then grinned and said:

“Nope!”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. There really isn’t a reason to be sad, I guess. Why aren’t you ever happy?”

Bishimon looked down as his expression went from emotionless to depressed.

“There’s no reason to be happy.”

“Wow.” She said with a huff.

“What?”

“How pitiful are you?”

“What did you say?” Bishimon looked very angry. His eyes blazed with annoyance. How dare she call him pitiful?

“You heard me. You’re pitiful. You don’t have a reason to be happy, which makes you pitiful.”

“Hmph. Who made you the all-knowing genius?”

“No one, I just know that being pitiful means you have no reason to live. If you don’t have a reason to be happy, then you have no reason to live. You only have one life; you should try to be happy.” she said, her voice rising in anger.

“Easy for you to say, you haven’t gone through the things I have.”

“You haven’t gone through the things I have!” She responded angrily. “Do you think I came willingly to Yuuyake? They killed my parents and all my relatives! You’re complaining about your life, and you don’t think about how others feel!”

“You… have feelings like that, feelings that care for another’s life?”

“Everyone has them you idiot!”

She started sobbing uncontrollably the cave echoing her words endlessly. Her life hadn’t been much easier than Bishimon’s. He stared back in disbelief, unable to understand that someone was just as troubled as he was. Could she be felling the same emotions as him? Why wasn’t she like him? She had all the reasons in the world to be just as moody as him, but she wasn’t. Why? But, yet, she said she had feelings for other people’s lives. Did everyone really have those emotions?

“I… I’m sorry.”

“As if that helps.” She said through her sobs. Saying ‘I’m sorry’ wasn’t going to fix this. She didn’t want an apology, she wanted a different life. She wanted to forget her worries. She wanted to never have to wake up with the same depressing things on her mind in the morning.

He sat there quietly, watching her cry. Why did he care if she cried? It’s no big deal. Girls cry over things all the time right? Bishimon tried to console his mind with these thoughts, but he still felt terrible. It was his fault she was crying, after all. But what could he do? She already was mad at him, and apologizing didn’t seem to help. What should he do?

Suddenly, he did something he never thought he would do. He hugged her. She stopped sobbing and looked at him. He looked back, just as stunned as she was. Had he really just done that? It seemed almost like instinct.

“Thanks.” She said quietly. She pulled away from him and he let her go. As she they both noticed that the storm had let up. The moon could clearly be seen in all its glory. Its light illuminated everything almost like it was day, and the light was reflected off the droplets of water from the rain.

“Let’s go.” Bishimon said. Ren nodded in agreement. She poured some water over the fire and exited the cave with him. They walked into the moonlight, and disappeared into the trees.

Tsukiko woke up slowly. She hadn’t gotten any rest the previous night because of the terrible dreams she kept on having. In her dreams, she had been killed, blinded, eaten, and many other terrible things, but the strange thing was that in every dream the time had been clear: midnight. She wished she could just go into a dreamless sleep, but she knew that she couldn’t. There hadn’t been any missions for her in a while, and one could come at any time. Besides, she had a job at a local flower shop.

She got up and dressed, ate, and left for work. She didn’t mind working at the shop, because business was pretty slow and it smelled nice in there. Her boss was an elderly old lady who was kind of like a grandparent to her.

She entered the building and inhaled deeply, smelling the aroma the flowers emitted. She could see the owner bent over positioning some flowers into an arrangement. There were a few customers in there, but they were just browsing for the moment. She went to the back of the shop and started to get ready for the rest of the day.

As Tsukiko was working, a customer walked in. His long red hair was a mess, and his eyes were barely open. He walked slowly toward the register where he rang the little bell, calling for assistance. Tsukiko came out from the back of the store and looked at him. He looked really tired and unhappy.

“Hello Masaru. Can I help you with anything?”

He groaned painfully and held his head with one hand. “Not so loud. I don’t feel good.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have drunken so much sake at the party.” She responded, stifling laughter at her friend. He had always over done everything, never thinking about what would happen.

“Yeah, well, it’s too late for that. Anyway, could I ummm…”

“Hmm? What do you want?”

He replied so quietly that she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying.

“What did you say?”

“S…Some flowers.”

“Flowers? Why?”

“No reason.” was the nervous reply.

“Well okay. What kind?”

“Something, uh, romantic.”

Tsukiko’s eyes widened as he said this. Romantic? Masaru had always been outgoing, but he was always really nervous around most girls. In fact, Tsukiko was the only one that didn’t make him almost silent.

“Who’s it for?” She said curiously.

He looked around cautiously, then quietly said:“Don’t tell anyone, but its Haru’s sister.”

“Wait, you mean you have a crush on your best friend’s sister!?”

He turned almost as red as his hair and nodded.

“Does Haru know?” she asked cautiously. If Takahiro didn’t know about his best friend and his sister, it could be really bad if he took it the wrong way.

“I hinted at it a few times before, but I don’t know if he got it.”

“I see. Maybe you should talk to him about it first.” She noticed his face fell as she said this, knowing he wouldn’t want to talk about it for fear of ruining their friendship.

“I don’t know…”

“Well anyway, you shouldn’t give her flowers while you have a hangover.”

“Yeah, I know. I guess you shouldn’t get me some flowers then.”

“What are you going to do now?”

“I guess I gotta tell Haru about it.”

“Well, good luck.”

“Thanks. I might need it.”

As he left the store, Tsukiko thought
about what would happen when Haru found out. It would definitely either make or break their friendship. She sighed to herself. How could life seem so normal, when many were ninjas who had taken countless lives?

She broke her train of thoughts as another customer came up and asked a few questions. Thoughts like that could wait for another time.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Ren looked out over the land surrounding the cliff on which the current location of Yuuyake was. The sun was shining just as it normally did, but it seemed brighter. The birds sang their songs, and her observant eyes noticed there were some small animals scurrying around. As she watched the peaceful valley, she thought about the night before. Why did it stand out so much in her mind? Was it because the only person who could understand her pain had understood it? Or was it something else? Was it just his arms around her?

She looked at the small house behind her where Bishimon was. He had shut himself up in his room more than an hour ago, and still hadn’t come out. Hitomi and the others were working out a plan for tonight, even though whatever happened, with Yuuyake’s strength victory was certain.

“I wonder what he’s doing?” she said out loud to no one.

“What who’s doing?” was the reply. Ren whipped around to see who had spoken. It was Bishimon, staring at her.

“Oh. I was just wondering what you were doing.”

He walked over to her and sat down, looking at the plain around them.

“Nothing important.”

“Then why was the door shut?”

“Is there something wrong with privacy?”

“Not unless you have something to hide. What are you hiding?”

He sighed, not wanting to tell her, but if he didn’t she would find out somehow.

“I’m recording my story and the Sharingan’s powers.”

She looked at him quizzically and said:

“Why where you hiding that?”

“Because, if I record a power that Hitomi doesn’t know about, and she finds out about it, our chances of escape are too slim.”

She stared at him like he was crazy. “Hold on, what do you mean ‘our escape’?”

“I figured since you seem to have no desire to be here, I figured we might as well escape together. Is there some kind of problem?”

“No, not really I guess, but aren’t you forgetting something?”

“Like what?”

“Your mother.”

Bishimon looked down with a sad look in his eyes. What he was about to say hurt him deeply, but it was the truth, and the truth hurt.

“I’ll leave her in Hitomi’s hands.”

Ren’s eyes widened, unable to comprehend what she had just heard. “What? Are you saying you’re going to sacrifice your mother for your own freedom? Why not just take her with us?”

He sighed deeply and looked away to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

“She’s loyal to Hitomi, and told me never to try escaping. She said ‘It’s not safe anywhere but here.’ I hate to say it, but I don’t see any other options but to leave her. It’s clear she won’t escape with us, and would probably alert Hitomi.” A single tear rolled down his cheek and was noticed by Ren before he quickly wiped it away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” She said quietly. How could he barely even shed a tear at the thought of abandoning his mother? Did he simply not care much, or was he just putting on a brave face? Whatever the reason, she admired him. To make such a tough decision like that was more than most could handle, even though it was one most people never have to make.

She watched as he stood up with new determination and resolve. His expression was truly inspiring. He looked as if he was about to fight the whole world, and in a way he was. He was going to destroy all reason and do something most people wouldn’t think of doing.

“What are you apologizing for? I should be apologizing to you, because if my plan fails, we’ll both die.”

“You already have a plan?”

"Yeah. Were gonna escape in the battle tonight.

Bishimon fell to the ground, breathing heavily. What had just happened? Could it all be real? Had he really done it? What kind of power was this? The events that had just happened flashed in his mind for the thousandth time…
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The night was cold with the silence of the darkness. The forest was as black as the chakra that was building in Bishimon’s palms. He closed his coal-colored eyes and breathed in deeply.

“Sharingan.”

He opened his eyes slowly, revealing three dotons swimming around in the pool of blood that was the Sharingan. He brought his hands together as they suddenly burst into flame. He started the hand seals of a jutsu he had never attempted before now.

“Fire Style: Dragon’s Breath!”

He breathed in deeply and exhaled a single spark. It floated away into the night toward the village, all the while flickering slowly. Suddenly, it exploded into a massive wall of fire. It blazed a giant trail of destruction toward the unsuspecting village.
Three other figures landed beside Bishimon, all with white cloaks. As they landed, he cut the flow of chakra to his hands temporarily to stop using his specially-sealed chakra.

“You did well Bishimon.” said one of them in a sickeningly sweet voice.

“I’m proud of you son. You’re making the world a better place.” said another of them in a motherly tone.

The third just looked at him grimly.

“Thanks. I guess…” he replied quietly. He hadn’t wanted to use that jutsu in the first place, and now he was being congratulated for it. He didn’t even want to destroy the village, much less get recognition for it. At least it would all be over soon…

Bishimon looked up just in time to see a huge fountain of water shoot up and extinguish the flames. He wasn’t surprised though, because in that village were many adept ninja. Destroying a ninja village couldn’t be that easy anyway.

He looked back at the others, but instead of the typical nod for permission to fight, all he got was looks of shock, even from Hitomi. He whipped around, knowing he must’ve missed something, only to come face to face with Eiji himself! He staggered back and regained his footing.

“Bishimon?” Eiji said menacingly, each syllable sending shivers down the ninja’s spine. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here and Hitomi too? It’s just like a reunion!”

Hitomi’s eyes widened as she realized the legendary, blood-robed ninja was talking about her. Inside she had prepared for this, but standing in the presence of this man’s chakra was indescribable. Her fear was soon replaced by hatred as she thought about why she hated him for so long.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

A small girl skipped her way down the street happily, enjoying life as it gave her everything she wanted, literally. She had always gotten everything she wanted, and all because of who she was. As the daughter of the second most powerful ninja in the village and a user of the Sharingan, everyone gave her what she wanted.

The villagers watched her in disgust. She was a horrible tyrant, always getting what she wanted and never giving anything in return. Her father was a decent enough person, but he just didn’t know how to say no to his daughter.

Just as she was about to pester another shop owner for more candy, the only person who wouldn’t bow to her whim walked by: Senju Eiji. She hated him with all her heart. No matter how much she threatened him he wouldn’t follow her commands! To her, it was absurd and stupid. Who would dare defy to her: Hitomi Uchiha; The most perfect girl in the entire world?

“Eiji.” She said gruffly, trying to get his attention.

“What do you want brat?”

“I told you not to call me that! Listen, teach me Izanagi.”

“No. Who told you about that anyway?”

“Do it or I’ll tell my dad on you!”

“I don’t care.” Eiji responded, annoyed at the little demon who just happened to be his best friend’s daughter. “And besides, you aren’t near strong enough and couldn’t do it even if you were.”

“Why not?” she whined, angry that she didn’t have her way.

“You aren’t part Senju, and unless you have both Senju and Uchiha blood in you, you can’t do it. Anyway, I’ll never teach you that technique.”

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Hitomi suddenly pushed Bishimon out of the way and attempted to stab Eiji with a kunai that had worked its way into her hand. Eiji quickly dodged it, but had to jump back as lightning flew from a few fingers in an obscured one-handed seal.

“You still have a bad temper. Are you angry you didn’t get your way all those years ago?” he said in a mocking voice.

Her eyes blazed with anger, infuriated at the man with the blood robe. She collided with him, knocking him to the ground so she could finish him. Suddenly he performed hand signs of his own as he yelled:

“Wood Style! Great Wood Forest!”

Trees grew all around, adding to the already dense natural forest. Hitomi had to roll away and jump back a few times to avoid being strangled and impaled by the new foliage. She didn’t have much time to think before he used another jutsu.

“Fire Style! Ember Snake!”

He tilted his head back and blew into the night sky, singeing a few branches as the snake-like flame flew into the air above the forest. Hitomi was puzzled as to why he did that, but saw that it was the perfect opening and attacked.

“Fire Style! Devil’s Exhale!”

She reared back, but before she could perform the powerful (and forbidden) jutsu, she was punched in the stomach strangely. She couldn’t feel her lower body at all! It was like someone cut off all the chakra in her abdomen. She looked up quickly to see her worst nightmare, there just wasn’t one person with Eiji now, there was almost a dozen!

She looked harder at them, and recognized some of them, but most of them she had never seen. She glanced at Bishimon who seemed to be in shock. He was staring at one of them, a girl about his age with long, dark, straight black hair and weird white eyes.

“Ts…Tsukiko! Why are you here?”

“Why are you still here!?”

“Awww, Bishimon, you know her?” Hitomi panted heavily, still not completely recovered from her strange blow. She knew it was this girl who had hit her, but how did she pull it off? She must be very fast and smart to be able to find an opening like that. Whatever the case, she was a VERY powerful ninja and should probably be taken care of after Eiji.

“Tsukiko, why?” Bishimon was on his knees now, unable to handle his emotions. Why hadn’t she listened to him? Had she forgotten? Didn’t she believe him?

“I… I’m sorry. I thought you might’ve just been a dream, so I didn’t leave.” She responded quietly, saddened by this turn of events. Everything he said had been true. She should’ve left. Now they would have to fight each other, and one would have to kill the other.

Hitomi’s eyes widened. Bishimon had tried to save her? He had told her about the attack? He had betrayed Yuuyake! He must be punished! That would have to come later though. After the village was destroyed and Eiji was dead, she would punish him severely. Or wait… She could punish him now! Yes! There was a way! That girl would die, and Bishimon would be severely punished. It was perfect!

Hitomi suddenly lunged at Tsukiko, two kunai in her hands, ready to rip open this girl who had been told about the attack beforehand. Bishimon was still in shock over her remaining here, so he couldn’t help her. Any other ninjas wouldn’t be able to keep up. She smiled evilly as she thought of what Bishimon would do. He couldn’t do anything to stop it, and he was too scared of hurting his mother to seek revenge.

Just as the kunai were about to pierce the moon-eyed girl, two hands came out of nowhere and grabbed Hitomi, throwing her off into a tree. Hitomi got up shakily, unable to recover from what had just happened. She looked up at the person who had thrown her like that to see the face of one who she had recognized right away. Fukushira Ayame. The one who taught her everything she knew. The only one who had ever tried to understand her.

“I can’t let you hurt my student, Hitomi.”

“I thought I was your student. I’m hurt, Ayame-sensei.” She responded sarcastically. She was a little hurt, but she knew it didn’t matter. Ayame would die for not helping her. Those who were not her friends were her enemies, even if there was nothing to hate.

As Ayame and Hitomi fought, Ren watched Bishimon. That girl must have been the one who Bishimon had tried to protect. This girl must be very special to Bishimon for him to have defied Hitomi. She felt something well up inside her, but she didn’t know what it was. Jealousy perhaps? No, it couldn’t be that, because Bishimon was nothing like that to her. But, could Ren want more than that?

She shook her head and focused on the jutsu she would soon need to perform. She had to signal the rest of Yuuyake for the fight. They really weren’t ready for the ninja who had come to resist. Before she could start the hand signs, she felt like someone was close. She whipped her hair around and looked straight into the eyes of a face she hadn’t seen since she was 11. He recognized her also, for he had tears in his eyes. His spiky white hair and VERY wrinkled face were still very similar to the time she had last remembered it. Back before she had been taken into Yuuyake.

“Grandpa?”

“Yes, Ren?” He said it slowly, trying to hold the tears back that were almost flowing down his face.

“Are… are you okay?” she said quietly, so Hitomi wouldn’t notice her so much. If Hitomi found out this man was still alive, she was sure to try and kill him.

“Yes. Listen, as soon as we beat Hitomi, I’m sure we’ll be able to rescue you. You can be a normal girl again. Won’t that be great?” He said, hope in his voice.

“Y…Yeah.”

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Hitomi stood over her dead sensei, an evil grin on her face. She had always wanted to kill Ayame, and she had finally done it. Although her sensei had tried to understand her, she hadn’t joined her, and those who weren’t with her were against her. She quickly cast a side glance at Bishimon.

“Idiot.” She said under her breath. He hadn’t done anything except for stand there. He would receive his punishment soon enough, just as soon as she regained enough chakra. She looked for Ren, but she was nowhere to be found. Had she run away? Or was she fighting somewhere else? It didn’t really matter in the long run, since she wasn’t all that powerful. The special chakra given to her hadn’t had the same effect as it had on Bishimon. Maybe it only worked on people with Sharingans? That would have to be tested later. She broke her line of thought as she was assaulted by several more ninjas, who were felled quite easily.

“Eiji! How long is this game gonna last?” she yelled into the darkness where she had seen him last. There was no response. He must be hiding! The coward was scared! He was being challenged, and he decided to run! It was perfect! Now all she needed was that scroll of his that contained the secret of Izanagi.

She looked around, but was suddenly pinned down by some kid with blonde hair. He had tears in his eyes, but also had determination on his face.

“Seal us Masaru!”

Hitomi instantly knew what was going on. This kid was probably that Namikaze’s kid, and he was trying to get his friend to seal them together. Normally, she would just overpower him, but he was using some sort of motion-binding jutsu. She needed more chakra to break it, but how? She was about to be sealed, but if she had more chakra she could escape. There was only one way:

“Release!”

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Bishimon heard Hitomi yell, and glanced at her. He saw Haru (AN: That’s Namikaze Takahiro-see chapter 4) pinning down Hitomi, with a sealing pattern under her, clearly Masaru’s specialty. Were they really trying to seal Hitomi? She looked in pretty bad shape, but it couldn’t be that easy, could it?

He looked at his mother, but was met with something he couldn’t have believed if he didn’t see it with his own eyes: His mother was slowly flaking away!

“MOM!!!!” he screamed, hoping it would stop it, but it did nothing. He ran over to her quickly disappearing body, grabbing at her now absent body. He went into shock. The reality had hit him: It was a genjutsu all along. How could he have not seen it? Ryu had told the truth- his parents had died long ago! His mother’s body was desecrated and used in a resurrection ninjutsu! He had taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker.

He sat down, unable to move, or even think. Everything was a lie! He had been the captive of a lie. Was everything he knew a lie? Was Eiji the good guy? Was his uncle not evil? What was true?

It was a good thing he went into shock, because if he had been able to see, he would’ve witnessed both Masaru and Haru fall to Hitomi. He also would’ve seen Tsukiko fight Hitomi to her limits as kunoichi.

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All of a sudden he was brought back to reality as he heard a scream. A scream unlike any other he had heard before. It wasn’t a scream of fear, pain, or anger, but one of… happiness!

Bishimon whipped his head around to where the scream was, only to see his worst nightmare: Hitomi had Tsukiko suspended in the air. But not just with a hand around her neck, Tsukiko had a hole the size of Hitomi’s fist in her stomach and her the rest of her arm was could be seen sticking out of her back. The blood dripped from her fist, and she had a psychotic look on her face. The fist that had impaled Tsukiko opened and closed slowly, feeling the stickiness of the blood.

Bishimon got up slowly and emotionlessly. All emotion left in him was gone. Was there really any more to it? All his friends were gone-for good. Hitomi had killed them all. What was there left to live for except for revenge? What was the use for other emotions? Happiness, joy, love- all useless. Only hatred could give strength. Strength determined fate. Only by hating could your fate be in your control.

These thoughts swelled into his mind, transforming him almost instantly. The black chakra was released, but it was so much more menacing. The chakra filled the air, alerting Hitomi of Bishimon’s coming. She whipped her head around, facing the eyes of the face she would remember for eternity.

Bishimon looked different. It wasn’t just the black flames surrounding him, it was something more subtle. His eyes! They didn’t look normal. In fact, his Sharingan was a shape unlike anything she had ever seen. The three dotons had each morphed into a fan shape. The fear instilled in her was unimaginable. The longer she stared into his eyes, the more blackness she felt.

“Wha…What are you!?”

She was suddenly grabbed by two hands unlike any she had ever seen. They were gnarled and had grotesque shapes all over them. She was crushed by them, feeling each bone snap in her body. Just as she couldn’t take it anymore, Bishimon appeared. He touched her forehead, his hand strangely cold-as if it were dead.

“I… I don’t understand!” she stammered, pain still racking her body. What was this jutsu? It wasn’t like anything she had ever seen. And why had Bishimon healed her? He could’ve killed her instantly with this power, so why?

“Tsukiyomi.”

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Hitomi fell to the ground, completely overcome by this strange jutsu. When had he learned something like that? 72 hours in hell! How does someone even come up with something like that? Was it the power of his Sharingan? Was the Sharingan capable of such power? And how did one unlock that power?

She was suddenly sent flying through the air with a kick that shattered several of her ribs. She hit the ground and rolled a while before hitting a tree and stopping. She could barely move, the pain was so great. She needed some powerful jutsu, but there wasn’t any that she could think of that would work against someone like Bishimon.

He walked slowly toward her, the hatred growing even more than it already was. He had given up his mind to what his instincts dictated. He no longer cared about what was right or wrong, the only thought on his mind was revenge.

“Lightning Style: Striking Bolt!”

Hitomi raised two fingers on one of her hands and collected lightning chakra in between her fingers. She held that position for a few seconds, and then pointed her fingers at Bishimon. He was still walking slowly toward her, not seeming to notice the jutsu about to unleash upon him.

All of a sudden a bolt of lightning shot out from her two fingers straight at Bishimon’s heart. As it got within inches of his chest, a giant rib blocked the attack. It was covered in strange, purple chakra, and it seemed to have some kind of dark aura. Hitomi wasn’t expecting this. Someone who was able to see lightning and be able to block it… it just wasn’t possible, was it?

“What is wrong with you!?” she screamed, unsure what else to do. Had she really planned everything this badly? It seemed like one bad thing happened after another. Was she just experiencing a day full of bad luck, or was it fate being cruel? Either way, was it the end?

“What will you do now, Bishimon? Are you going to kill me? Are you going to take your revenge? Will you drench your hands in blood?”

“Ameratsu.”


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Bishimon stood up as the last of Hitomi’s bones were burned into oblivion. She was dead. His worst enemy and most powerful opponent was dead. He had killed her with powers he didn’t even know he had. In fact, he had felt like he wasn’t in control, as if he was viewing from someone else’s eyes.

He walked to where Tsukiko laid, a gaping hole in her middle. A single tear of blood rolled down from his eye and dripped on to her. As he said his silent goodbyes, he noticed something with his Sharingan, which was now returned to its former state. She was still breathing! It was quick and shallow, but she was still breathing. He dropped down to his knees and held her close, scared of the death that was soon to visit the girl.

“Tsukiko! Can you hear me? Answer me! Please, say something!”

She shook a little bit, but through her pain, mouthed:

‘Thank you.’

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A single figure landed on the ground beside Bishimon. Bishimon didn’t even turn to look at the new comer. He knew who it was.

“She’s dead. I’m sorry.”

“Why did she die? What did she do wrong? Why was everything so unfair for her?” Bishimon lashed out, barely able to control his emotions, which had flooded back to him.

Eiji, the blood robed man, stood there, not daring to speak. The truth was he didn’t have an answer. Why was fate so harsh, especially to these two? There was no answer. Fate wasn’t someone you could talk to. It wasn’t possible to ever learn the answer.

Silence reigned, until a voice could be heard:

“Get the medics over here! We found them!”

Several ninjas jumped down to the area where the bodies were. Most of them looked physically weak, but one of them stood out from all the rest. He had a very worried expression on his face that was on the verge of panic. He ran quickly over to Tsukiko’s dead body and froze. Bishimon looked up at him and noticed his face looked familiar.

“Who are you?” Bishimon said grimly, unsure of his emotions yet. There were no certainties anymore for Bishimon. As far as he was concerned, this man could be her father.

“I’m Mamoru, her fiancé.”

“I see.” Bishimon replied, relieved inside knowing Tsukiko had been happy and loved while he was gone. Maybe fate wasn’t quite as cruel as he had thought.

Mamoru dropped to the ground, as his hands formed several hand seals. His expression was grim, but if you had the Sharingan, you could notice his inner happiness. Happiness? What was wrong with this guy? Tsukiko had just died, and he was happy? Rage build up inside Bishimon. If he hadn’t noticed something else at the last second, Mamoru would’ve ben incinerated by the eternal black flames.

What Bishimon noticed was the jutsu he was performing. It wasn’t just a healing jutsu. It was much more than that. It was a resurrection technique.
Mamoru got up and brushed himself off. Although most of his chakra was drained, and the jutsu was very physically challenging, he was able to stand without assistance. As time slowly ticked, Tsukiko’s complexion started returning, and the faint rise and fall of her chest could be seen. More time passed, and she started to regain consciousness. It wasn’t long before she could sit up, and to everyone’s happiness, talked to them.
After Bishimon’s initial shock wore off, he was able to talk with her. The two were reunited again after so long. For Bishimon, it was the happiest he had been in a long time. He could finally return and live a normal life. No more being a captive, no more being a criminal. He could live the rest of his life, and nothing would get in the way of that any more.

The wind blew softly over the old man’s face. He could feel its coolness on his skin, and it felt good. The sun shone warmly on the whole land, making all troubles to melt away. Children and parents could be heard, enjoying the beautiful day under the watchful care of their elder. A few children, though, sat at the elder’s feet, waiting for the story that he was about to tell them.

“Come on grandpa, tell us how your eyes got almost blind!”

The old man laughed, at the children’s innocence, their simple purity that they all had. They had not experienced true hate, had never felt true despair, and had been safe their entire short lives. They didn’t know what power was hibernating in their eyes or the evil it could bring upon them. They were children of peace.

“Okay then. A long time ago, I lived over in Konoha, and…”

“Where is Konoha?” a little girl with white hair interrupted.

“It’s a ninja village. Like our compound, but bigger, and there is more than just one family living there.” The old man explained, memories flowing back to his ancient mind.

“Anyway, I used to live in Konoha, and I was a ninja. I had…”

“You used to be a ninja? Just like grandma and daddy?” A little boy said, excited that his grandpa was a fighter.

“Yes, and I had this power called the Sharingan. Some of you probably have it to. It makes your eyes red and you can see chakra, predict opponent’s moves, and copy jutsu.”

“Amazing!” they all said in unison.

“Can you show us?” one little boy said, curious as to what it looked like.

“I suppose…” He closed his near-blind eyes and reopened them, revealing his three dotons. The children gasped at their grandpa’s now fierce appearance, but some of them showed interest in its power. Their strange fascination with its uses was clear. They wanted that power. They wanted those eyes for themselves.

“Are those what made you not see good anymore?” a skeptical little girl said.

“No, you see, I have a…”

“Bishimon! Are you telling crazy stories again?” a more lady-like voice yelled from inside the building behind them.

“They aren’t crazy! They’re real, and these kids ought to know!” He yelled, annoyed at his wife for interrupting him just as he was about to tell the kids about the Mangekyo.

“Well, it’s time to eat.” She responded, changing the subject.

“Yes dear.”

“Yay! Food!” one little kid said as they ran to eat grandma Ren’s food. Bishimon followed, taking his time. He knew he had a few years at most to live. He was glad his life had been peaceful after he had defeated Hitomi, and nothing really dangerous had happened to him since. He had been able to establish a clan that was feared almost everywhere. Nothing was outside of his reach.

This was the power he had been given: the power to lead and destroy.

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Tsukiko smiled at her grandchildren, who were playing in the grass outside of their house. They were so innocent, not knowing evil. They wouldn’t ever have to experience the evil of being alone. They would never feel neglected.

Mamoru had had this crazy idea to form a clan years ago, and it had worked out. They were becoming well-known and respected for their strength. The Byakugan had shown up in almost all their children and grandchildren, and it was what made the Hyuuga clan so well known. Life had been good in the years since the showdown, and except for Mamoru’s death, she had been happy.

“He would’ve loved to see this day…” she said quietly to herself, remembering her deceased husband and his kindness. He had died of old age in his sleep- a death appropriate for such a peace-loving man.

Every once in a while she would hear about how well the Uchiha’s were doing, and she was happy for their success. She looked out over all she had: a family, wealth, power, and fame. She was happy. She was at peace.

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Bishimon walked over the compound, insuring everyone was safe and sound. He was really just taking a night-time stroll. He couldn’t see barely anything anymore. He had never known the Mangekyo would take his sight slowly until it was too late. The only thing he could see any more without light or bending down really close was the moon. It’s cool beams were relaxing and brought back memories of his youth- however cursed it was.

He stopped walking when he saw something rather unusual. On a rock sat an odd little blur. He activated his Sharingan, because it was the only way to discover what things were any more. It was a little child, a baby. It was just about old enough to sit up by itself. It couldn’t be older than a year. It just sat there staring at the moon, seemingly mesmerized by its soft light. He walked over to it and picked it up, holding it so he could see who it was.

At first it started crying, unhappy that it had been disturbed by an old man. But then, as the baby looked into his Sharingan, it became silent. It stared into the red of Bishimon’s eyes, not blinking, and without emotion. Then it started laughing. A baby was laughing as the Sharingan! Who’s baby was this?

“Help! Help! I can’t find my baby! Has anyone seen my baby?” a woman screamed, panicked at the missing child. Bishimon recognized her as his oldest son’s daughter.

Bishimon walked toward her, carrying the child in his arms.

“Is this one yours?”

She gasped, and quickly snatched her baby from Bishimon’s arms.

“My baby! You found my baby! Thank you grandpa!”

“No problem.” He responded calmly.

She walked away slowly, holding the little child closely. She was a good mother and cared for her children-as most Uchiha’s did. They had been raised like that, so they would never have to experience what Bishimon had went through. He smiled to himself. That child would be very powerful.

“Wait, before you go, what is his name?”

“Oh, you mean him?” she said, nodding at the child in her arms. “His name is Madara.”
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