8 Unforseen

Konohagakure, December.

Rin is the best sister ever. Somehow, she had convinced Hiruzen to give me a book on Fuinjutsu. FUINJUTSU. It was only for beginners, but it would keep me entertained for a week or two. He expressly forbade me from trying anything until my calligraphy was up to a level that he deemed acceptable.

The last month involved pretty much involved me reading the book from top to bottom and working on my handwriting. Hopefully, when I can do control exercises a few years down the road, I can paint on seals by touch, like my father..

I have so many ideas on what wonders that will do for my hand to hand skills.

I still did the katas for taijutsu, so I wouldn't forget them. Rin was learning more from sparring with me, and I was starting to iron out some of my own errors from sparring against her. She never pulled her punches. "Only I get to beat you black and blue." Is something along the lines of what she said.

She's very possessive that way.

I had also kept up on cardio exercises to make sure I was in decent enough shape for a six year old, along with light muscle building exercises so as to not over do it and stunt my growth. It would have been considered a strenuous workout for an adult, but it was just okay for an Uzumaki Jinchuriki.

I'd also started on some parkour without the use of chakra. It would be a long time before I could get to the level of suppressing my chakra that would be necessary to fly under the radar on assassination missions. I'd noticed some improvement in my hand eye coordination and balance.

I knew some of it would be nullified as I grew taller, but I needed the sense that I could make progress so I didn't feel like I was just turning my wheels and not moving.

I had decided to go for walks on my own during the month. Rin didn't know why, given it wasn't something I'd tell her. I needed time out of the apartment because I didn't want her to worry why I was looking at windows and our front door.

It was snowing when I died.

The thoughts I had before I went to sleep the last night I was alive was how much I wanted to see the snow on the ground, feel the flakes land in my hair and on my face. It was something I had cherished throughout my childhood and adulthood.

And this was the first year I remembered.

She knew I'd sometimes get this way. Doing something that defied conventional sense of logic, but I had always told her I was alright. It was the truth. I simply needed some moments to myself to remember who I was and how it's made me into who I am.

Shaking my head at the thoughts, I pulled my coat closed and trudged through the snow, the delicious crunch of it beneath my boots was exhilarating.

'Where to go, I wonder.'

Deciding to do something I hadn't done, I made my way to the memorial stone. I decided to take my time to get there, given that most of the villagers were inside.

The Land of Fire didn't exactly adore the snow like I did, so the streets were mostly empty, only a handful of people scattered about here and there. With my scarf and coat, they couldn't tell who I was. They simply saw me as another child, not the symbol of all they had lost.

'The love they had for their family members lost, homes, livelihoods, everything else destroyed, was what caused their hatred. They didn't hate children. They loved their children. They feared what I could do to them. They don't believe something so powerful that it killed The Yellow Flash could ever be defeated.'

I was tempted to hate them. Truely, I was. These were the same people that would have made life a hell on Earth for my sister, if I wasn't here as a shield. A child can only be seen as pathetic by everyone above them for so long until they pathologically believe themselves to be worthless.

They feared us. The Kyuubi was more than just a tailed beast. It was the demon that Uchiha Madara tried to kill Senju Hashirama with. Hashirama, the man they selected to lead them into an uncertain future. The beast, and its master, nearly stole their protector from them. A scar upon the land was left as a reminder.

The second time, just six years ago, did steal their protector from them. An orphan. A genius. A warrior. A Kage. The man who faced off against the son of the infamous Sandaime Raikage, the force of nature he was with his lightning cloak, and the Jinchuriki that contained the second most powerful bijuu in the world. He didn't merely survive, he nearly bested them. This beacon of hope, when Konoha was beset by hostile villages, ready to destroy everything that was built from the dreams of two young boys, charged into the fray, doing his duty as a Shinobi of the Leaf.

When the forces of Iwa, a thousand strong, threatened to overrun one of the fronts, threatening to send everything spiraling out of control, this beacon of light shined bright and descended into infamy to save Konoha.

I knew how my father was seen by Iwa. He was hated there as much as he was loved here. He sent siblings, children, and spouses back to Iwa in caskets, if they were mercifully killed by something other than his Rasengan.

In Konoha, he was seen as a life saver. "What did a thousand foreign enemies matter to my brother coming home?" "My children wouldn't have their father if the Yondaime didn't do what he did." They chose him to safeguard their futures. He, the strongest of his generation, took upon the role a father has to protect his children. The Village, his bride. The People, his children. And there are few greater honours than dying so your children may live.

'And me and Rin "killed" their light.'

Thewar had ended. Shinobi came home to their families. A new Hokage is sworn in. One who even the greatest student of the Shodai and Nidaime considered worthy. His reign was short-lived. With so much that he could have done, if only he had more time, he was struck down by a monster. The old man who had protected them for decades took up the mantle again.

What followed was events that the people saw as the consequences of the Yondaime's death. The Hyuga incident, the attempted abduction of an innocent girl, on her birthday, to be used as breeding stock for Kumo's war machine. The distrust of the Uchiha, with rumors that the Kyuubi was unleashed by an Uchiha, like it had decades before. It didn't help that Uchiha Fugaku was irate that he got next to no consideration for candidacy of Hokage. His career record warrented some consideration in his own eyes, and the eyes of his clan. Orochimaru's betrayal.

They saw it as all because the Yondaime was killed. The seemingly immemorial order had cracked. It was the beginning of the end. The first breath of winter.

And they see us as the cause.

I couldn't hate them. The same love that turned to unlove when they saw me or Rin. The same hate they had in their eyes when they looked at us... Was the same hate I held for Obito.

He took our parents from us. He destabilized nations. He exterminated entire clans through his actions. The bloodline purges in Kiri. The Uchiha massacre. He couldn't live with the fact that good people die. His Rin didn't deserve death. I didn't deserve death either. But I still found myself gasping for air on the floor. I won't kill innocent people so I can be free to love an ILLUSION.

I couldn't let go of my hatred of Obito. So, I won't fault the villagers and some of the Shinobi for not letting go of theirs.

/////////////////////

Kakashi knew it was cold, but he still visited the memorial. Looking at the names on the wall, he started speaking.

"Hello, Obito, Rin, Sensei, Kushina. I'm sorry I haven't visited lately."

Missions had gotten harder. Most of his time had been dedicated to ANBU missions and missions that took him much greater distances than usual.

This was one of the few times he had some alone time that wasn't mission related.

"Your son is so smart, Sensei." he continued, his voice soft. "Rin," his voice hitched. He needed to start using her name more often instead of "Naruto's sister". "She's just like Kushina. All fire and brimstone. She'll be an amazing kunoichi. Your son, Naruto," he was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say. "He's smart, like me. He's six and he's ready to take on the world. But he doesn't know what that can do." Kakashi paused as his eyes left his Sensei's name.

"I got you killed, Obito."he now looked at Obito's name. "and you, Rin." he then turned towards her name, "I learned too late what trying to do things alone, and using teamates as tools, does to you. I see alot of you in him, Sensei." He paused, "But I see alot of myself in his eyes."

This was his fear. That he couldn't protect a boy from turning into him. Kakashi knew that the first couple years after the Kyuubi attack were ones that should have killed him. He did things on ANBU missions that should have got him killed from his recklessness.

'I was looking for a death in combat. Naruto was aware of how much it would hurt me. Why did he do it? Did the memory terrify him that much?'

He had gotten blackout drunk when the Hokage had told him about Naruto's memory. It's not natural for a child to remember things that early. But whether out of prenatal exposure to bijuu chakra, as Sarutobi suspected, or just bad luck, Naruto saw what happened. He felt the presence of the person who killed his parents. He saw the light leave their eyes.

'Thank Kami he didn't know that Sensei was his father.'

Something died in Kakashi when he found his own father dead by his own hand. He couldn't imagine what would have happened if he found him in the act of killing himself. And Naruto saw both his mother and father die in front of him.

If the memory motivated Naruto to try and fail to destroy his body in order to better himself, what will he do when he's an active Shinobi?

'I'm starting to understand why the Hokage is worried.'

He'd been one step away from begging Sarutobi to not go through with the training, to simply tell Naruto no. He didn't want the boy to be consumed by the need to be better at any cost.

'Like I was when my father died.'

Sarutobi had offered an olive branch in the form of, "If Naruto sees how difficult the type of accelerated training he wants is, he will learn patience."

It was Kakashi's chance. A chance to stop his Sensei's son from doing something that could destroy him in the future. He had the chance. But Fate, the cruel mistress she is, didn't let that happen.

Every chakra exercises that failed, the Genjutsu dispulsion training, the taijutsu training. All went unheaded.

Naruto simply shrugged it off, called Kakashi a failure, and dared him to keep teaching. He resigned himself to another period of heartache, when Naruto struck a raw nerve. And he decided the boy needed to know what defeat was.

Kakashi had learned his lesson about trying it alone, by Kami he did, but the cost was more than he could bear. And he didn't want Naruto to share his pain. He stood at the monument with these thoughts until he felt a presence in his peripheral.

'No. Not him. Anyone but him. Why's he here? I'm in no condition to be near him right now.'

Seeing Minatos' ghost would have been less painful than seeing the object of his thoughts making his way towards the monument.

The boy finally reached the monument, sparing Kakashi a quick glance, before looking at Kushinas' name on the monument.

The two stood there, less than six feet from one another, silently. After several minutes, his Sensei's eldest broke the silence, "What were their names?" he asked, voice quiet.

Kakashi stood there silently, pondering whether he wanted to, or even could answer.

After a minute, he spoke. "Obito," he whispered, "and Rin."

He saw the boy stiffen at the names. He looked at the names etched in the stone, his gaze falling on Obito's.

"It's his eye, isn't it?" he asked, his voice soft.

"Yes." was the hoarse reply.

Naruto then turned to look him directly in the eye. "The police I see love their eyes. A man spat in an Uchiha police's eye, and he got beaten. They'll destroy them before they'd let them get stolen." he said. "He gave it to you." he finished, not as a question.

Kakashi simply nodded, unable to answer.

"I'm sorry for insulting his judgment. He trusted you with his eye and I challenged that."

Kakashi looked at him for a moment, thinking of something. "Why did you say it?" he asked, his voice neutral.

"I saw you were holding back." Naruto started, a look of irritation flashing across his face."I saw it as you being too scared to teach a child how to fight. I wanted the training to be harder. I thought that faster training would help me protect Rin. So I did something I knew would anger you. I questioned whether you were a good person."

Kakashi now understood why Naruto did it.

'He thought me holding back out of kindness would make him too weak to stop Rin from getting killed.'

But one thing still eluded him. "How did you know I would respond to it?" he asked. He still didn't know how Naruto knew what to say.

Naruto stood there in front of him, contemplating an answer.

He eventually replied. "If someone told me Rin was killed because of me, I'd lash out. I see the same look in your eye when I look in a mirror." With that, the boy turned and left.

He never saw what that answer did to Kakashi. With his back turned, walking to his next destination, he didn't see how much Kakashi was shaking.

///////////////////////

'What are the odds that Kakashi was there the time I wanted to go?'

It had been strange talking to Kakashi about Obito in a kind light. I had contemplated spitting on the name when I was enroute there. Something told me Kakashi wouldn't understand.

"December," I mumbled as I tried to make my way back home, "and not a single caroler, fake Santa, or Christmas song to be seen or heard."

The West, and its cultures, religions, and holidays, didn't exist here. I was the last of my kind. In spirit, my people would die with me. Physically, I was one of the last of the Uzumaki.

It starts to feel suffocating when one realizes a clan, a language, or a culture, would be forgotten when you, the last one, finally draw your last breath.

'This world has never been graced with the songs that gave me such hope and joy when I was with my family. I think I can be charitable.'

Clearing my throat and walking through the streets, I sang words aloud that had never been heard in Konohagakure, the Elemental Nations, or this entire world.

"Adeste Fidelis-"

//////////////////////////

'Why are they so mean?' Hinata thought, tears rolling down her face. The three boys had made fun of her eyes and said so many cruel things to her.

They had made her apologize for being stuck up and arrogant. She wasn't like her father and most of her relatives. She couldn't understand why they would think she would be like that. Her family hated her because she was kind.

She didn't think it would ever end until she heard a shout from behind her.

"What the hell are you doing, you little shits?" Shocked at the language used, and by someone her age by the sound of it, she turned to see who had shouted at the boys. She was suprised by what she saw.

It looked like the boy. The one who most of her clan, but strangly not her father, told her to avoid when they were outside of the clan compound. "He's dangerous." they would say. But she couldn't understand why. She had first seen him when she had ran out in the snow when she was much younger, the boy being full of energy and escorted her back home. That wasn't something someone dangerous would do. Would they?

The boy looked different now, and not by his attire. He walked differently. The smirk on his face looked like it promised pain to the boys that had been bullying her. The way he walked almost reminded her of how her father or her late uncle walked. Light footed and with grace.

"Oh, you're just having some fun." he said, as if realizing what they were doing.

She was too shocked to say anything. 'What? He can't really mean-'

"Yeah," one of the three said, grin on his face.

The next words she heard sent a shiver up her spine. "Can I have some fun too?"

The boy who had been so nice to her before was wanting to join in.

'He's dangerous.'

Starting to shake uncontrollably, she started crying some more. Nobody cared about her. She was weak. There was no one to help her. When she looked back up, she saw that he wasn't even looking at her. He was glaring at the boys.

"Well?" the one bully asked, as the boy stalked forward, "You gonna joi- hrrgghh" the rest of his sentence was stopped by a fist making its way into his stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Before the other two could even digest what happened, they too were struck with speed and force. One got a kick to the outside of his leg, causing it to give out and he took a tumble to the ground. The third was grabbed by the boy and was smacked across the head hard, as if he were a misbehaving child, before being shoved to the ground.

Groaning as he tried to get up, the first bully looked up in suprise. "Why'd you do that? You said you wanted to join in."

"No." the boy growled, before changing his voice to a more cheerful one, " You were bullying someone 3 to 1. I thought it would great fun beat some sense into you. I don't think you learned."

Gritting his teeth at the insult, bully #1 pulled himself to his feet. "I'm gonna make you wish you ran." he growled.

The boy just snorted. "I've seen newborns that were scarier than you."

Yelling, the bully charged at the boy, determined to teach him a lesson. The first punch met nothing but air. Putting too much weight behind the punch caused the bully to stagger forward, and received a kick in the rear, causing him to hit the ground face first. Jumping back up, he ran at him time, the boy blocked the strike and returned a quick slap to the bully's face.

"Tsk tsk." he clicked his tongue with a shake of his head, "bad boy."

"Aarrgghh!" the bully snarled, before trying to punch him again.

The boy diverted the punch away from him, "Please stop." was all he said.

The bully didn't listen and continued to try and punch him. Finally the boys face changed to a furious one and said one word.

"STOP!" He snarled. Hinata jumped at the tone. The air seemed to get even colder than what it was before.

The three bullies began shaking as the res haired boy gave them a cold look of anger.

"You pick on a girl," he said, his tone dripping contempt, "You make her cry, snd then you try to get me to join in. You disgust me."

The lead bully tried to stammer out an explanation. "B-but she's a H-hyug-"

"I don't want your excuse." he snapped, "I want you to leave. I don't want to see you ever again. Right now, you're the rabbits," he said sinisterly, "and I'm the fox." he finished, a dangerous grin on his face.

The three bullies wasted no time running away, fear in their eyes.

Hinata saw the boy take a deep breath before exhaling loudly. "I hope they learn. I don't want to do that again." he whispered to himself.

Trying to calm herself, Hinata tried to breathe normally. He evidently heard her because his head perked up and without turning to look at her, he began to speak.

"Sorry if I scared you, I didn't mean to."

Turning around , he continued. "I don't think I got your name mi-" he was cut off when he looked her in the eyes, his own widening for a moment.

Does he remember me?

She saw how tense he was after he saw her eyes. "Hinata?" he asked.

"Y-yes." she stammered out. He remembers me.

"We've met, haven't we?" he asked, almost to himself.

"Yes. It w-was s-some time ago."

He seemed to think for a moment, before relaxing. "Yeah. I remember."

He looked at her with a kind smile on his face. "Do you want me to walk you home?"

Her face turned a slight shade of red, thinking of the kind action he was offering. "You d-don't need t-to do tha-."

"Oh nonsense." he said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I don't have anything to do right now, and I've got worse problems if I don't even have the time to help someone in need."

Hinata smiled softly at what he said. "T-thank you, Naruto."

Returning a smile, Naruto offered her a hand. "You ready?" he asked.

She took his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

"I'm gonna need to know where your house is. I'm not sure where it's at."

Pointing towards the east, she let him know where they needed to head.

"Ok." he said simply, "Lead on, my lady." He said cheekily, before they went on their way to her home.

//////////////////

'Ask and ye shall receive. You idiot.'

Hear I was, singing to my heart's content, having not heard the words out loud in a long time. As it came to an end, I noticed a chakra signature. The signature was bright, like a child's, and kept fluctuating in a pattern that I had noticed amongst individuals having a certain emotional response. The person was sad and/or scared.

Making a beeline towards the signature, I eventually reached it. I could see a girl with dark hair on the ground, crying. Much of what was being said, I couldn't understand. But her crying was where all my mind was focusing on.

I don't like it.

Stepping forward, I decided to be a complete bastard right now, civility be damned. What followed next was something that would have been frowned upon in my previous life; disciplining and intimidating kids that weren't your own.

Hopefully they learned to not be little jerks. There's always a bigger fish and you shouldn't stir things up to feel like a big man.

I heard the girl behind me shift and try to control her breathing.

'Damn. My KI scared her.' I only meant to use a little. Just enough to make the kids run. I probably overdid did it, looking back. You don't exactly learn subtlety in bootleg ANBU training or when you have a chakra beast sealed inside you.

When I turned to apologise, I was stopped completely in my thoughts by the sight of the girl I had helped.

Dark blue hair, shy demeanor, and eyes that looked like the full moon.

A Hyuga... Hinata. Hyuga. To be exact.

'When did this happen?'

I had thought Naruto and Hinata had met in the Spring, not winter. This was bad. This was something that I didn't foresee, and I've only been fully aware for twomonths.

Like an idiot, I tried to talk my way through my shock. "Hinata?" I asked.

Evidently, we had met before a few years prior. I remembered nothing about that. Yet, she seemed sure. I wasn't exactly a forgettable person.

After offering to walk her home, to which she accepted, I took a few minutes to try and think things through.

I'd heard of some post-shippuden movies. But I'd never seen any. Only heard some things about them.

If I was flying into unknown terrain, it could get ugly very fast. I'd planned on letting things pan out the way they did, until a certain point. I wasn't going to delude myself in the naive thought that I could ensure that everything went the way that it had in the show or manga. My very presence changed things. I'd been banking on the belief that I could reach my chosen shatterpoint event that would send things cascading into my favor. I had selected where I would send canon into a complete unrecognizable state.

If I couldn't even reach that, I'd need to re-evaluate a great deal of my plans.

But that could wait for now. Now, I was walking beside the first member of the rookie twelve I'd encountered.

A new time had begun.