Chapter 3
He woke in pain. Absolute and mind numbing pain. The drain hit him next, as a burning pain ripped through his eyes and the world began to shift. The eyes. They were a foreign entity and were trying to overpower his own chakra networks, and they could have succeeded as well but he refused to let down, and flushed flooded the foreign chakra networks with his own chakra.
"AGHHH!" the foreign chakra resisted for a second, and his head felt as if it could burst at any moment but then slowly the pain subsided as his chakra won the battle, and the foreign chakra was all but eliminated. And as he felt the last vestiges of that foreign chakra vanish, a small familiar voice whispered in his ears.
"Goodbye," and he opened his eyes in a jolt, and the world was revealed to him in full as tears of blood slid down his face, as the color of the newly implanted sharingan shifted and the symbolic red hue of them turned into a brilliant and dazzling blue.
"Hana....."
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KAKASHI HATAKE
Kakashi was a failure as a son, as a friend and as a brother. For all his talents and claims of genius the truth was that he was rather naive, and stupid. It had taken him years to understand his father's pain, and even then it was because of Obito's words and sacrifice that he truly understood his father's actions and sacrifice.
He had thought him a coward. A failure.
But the truth was that the White Fang was a hero of the village. A hero that they had shunned. A hero that they had killed.
It had taken him years to see that truth, but his brother had seen it in an instant. They called Kakashi a prodigy. They called him a genius but the truth was that that his brother was a greater genius than he ever had been.
He was the only one who saw through their father's pains, and tried to save him from the demons of his turmoil. Kakashi had been too blind to see through his pains, and when tragedy had struck rather than owning up to it, he had lashed out at his brother.
Gojo had been young. Too young, and as the elder brother it was his responsibility to care for him, but Kakashi could did not have the heart to care for the person who would call their father a hero.
He could not care for a person who would curse their village.
The rules would not allow it. His rage filled heart would not allow it, and so he would abandon him and join the war.
Gojo had been four years old, and he had left him to fend for himself. He had left him alone in the very village who had forced their father to take his own life.
Still, his brother has survived. He had stood by his conviction. Where Kakashi had abandoned their father, Gojo stood by him and his memory and his heroics, as he fought against all those who would fault him.
Kakashi Hatake was the eldest son, and yet his brother was the one to inherit the true will of the White Fang of Konoha.
But just as the village had once offered his father nothing but pain and treachery, Gojo had suffered a fate no different.
"There is no need for this," Kakashi spoke to his trio of younglings as they stood around him, and he still could not believe how a simple introduction had turned into this.
"Of course we need to do this!" Naruto punched the air as he jumped up.
"Who is he to humiliate us! We are going to show him just how strong we are!" and he sure was pumped, as he turned towards Sakura, hoping that she would offer some mediation.
"I just brought you here to introduce you all to my brother. I do not wish to see you fight," and Sakura was eyeing Gojo with narrowed eyes.
"He called us weak! He essentially belittled you. Let us protect your honor, sensei," and Kakashi sighed, and there was no use in looking towards Sasuke for he continued to eye his brother with a strange expression.
He did not know how much he remembered now, but the two of them had some history and Kakashi did not have the courage to explore that Pandora's box.
"So be it, but before you begin let me warn you," and now his tone turned serious for though he expected his brother to show restrained, Gojo had been retired for years.
His brother just might be a bit rusty.
"Gojo is younger than me, but let me make this absolutely clear. Out of the two of us, he is clearly stronger than me," and the words struck hard, as Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened.
"Stronger," she gasped, as he nodded.
"I don't believe it," Naruto refused to believe, but Kakashi was being absolutely serious.
"That guy is stronger than you? But you said he is retired," and there was a very good reason for that.
"He is retired, and he is stronger than me," and he looked up and saw his brother standing there, and he had not even bothered to bring his sword here as he stood there with his hands resting in his pockets.
"You are lying. We are going to kick his ass and prove you wrong," and it seems as if there was nothing he could do anymore.
"Well then you three should go and discuss your strategy. I need to talk to my brother for a second," and then he waved at them as they rushed towards their end of the training yard, as he slowly walked towards Gojo.
Despite Naruto's belief, Kakashi had told them no lie. Gojo was stronger than stronger than him. He maybe the strongest within the village.
On the night of the massacre, he had lost someone precious to him. A dear friend, and in his rage he had attacked Danzo and his foundation in his rage, and if it was not for the intervention by Sandaime-sama himself that would have bene the end for Danzo and his foundation.
Still, he had slaughtered over three dozen shinobi that day. No one knew the details of his clash with Sandaime-sama but Kakashi had made his inquiries and according to them, it had a close fight and Lord Third had managed to subdue him only through the combined efforts of the Foundation leftovers, and his old teammates.
"Is there anything I can say to dissuade you from this?" he asked, and his brother simply shrugged even as his eyes lay hidden behind those bandages.
"You are the one who wishes to send those three weaklings to the chunin exams," and his students were talents, but their talent was unpolished and raw. They had not yet faced a war, and the only true adversary they had faced yet was Zabuza and even then they had benefitted from Haku's kindness.
They were not like him and Gojo who had been bred during the darkness of the third Great Ninja war.
"Don't kill them," Kakashi pleaded, and his brother chuckled.
"I won't," and then he saw his face shift as he eyed one of his students.
"Even if I so want to," and the whisper was barely audible.
"He is innocent," Kakashi defended him, for he knew exactly who Gojo was eyeing.
"One could say that is as much of a victim here as you," and he saw his brother's lips thin, as his face contorted before he took a deep breath.
"I know," he answered finally as Kakashi's shoulders slumped in relief.
"But that does not make me hate him any less," and their fates had been tied together because of the actions of Itachi Uchiha.
"I know...."
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SASUKE UCHIHA
Sasuke's memory of that day was hazy. All he remembered now was the pain and anguish that had come afterwards as he lived through the decimation of his clan nearly a thousand times in that genjutsu.
But buried in that pain and anguish was another face. A small memory that he had not even thought real.
Until now that was.
There was someone else at the compound that day. Someone who had confronted Itachi just like him. He had searched far and wide, and yet had found no answers.
He had tried to rake his memories about that face, tried to remember if it was just another one of his clansmen, but none within the clan matched that silhouette.
But he did.
Gojo Hatake, and he had not heard that name at all. None of them had.
But there was a sense of familiarity here. Like as if Sasuke had met him before. Seen him before.
The feeling was instinctive, and he had not missed the katana hanging on the wall of his shop and the symbol inscribed on the scabbard. It was his clan's symbol, even though the man himself was a Hatake.
Even now he could sense his gaze linger on him, through that mask of his, which made Sasuke wonder if it truly was him at the clan years ago. If he truly was the person who had confronted Itachi.
Their sensei had warned him about his prowess, claiming that he was even stronger than him and yet he was also retired which did not make sense at all.
"So how do we kick his butt?" Naruto questioned, and Sasuke knew that he would only have his answers if he could beat the man.
If he truly was present there on that night, then he might have some answers for him.
"You and I will take him head on," Sasuke began, for he could not trust the two of them to come up with a coherent plan.
"Sakura will support us from behind," he finished, and despite his initial misgivings the two of them had grown on him. Naruto was loud and brash, but he also possessed an iron will and a rather quick wit.
He was not smart in the general sense, but he had a way of coming up with and executing unique strategies in the midst of battle.
"Who made you team leader?" Naruto cut in, but Sakura was quick to slap his head.
"Shut up and follow his plan," and Sakura made up for all that Naruto lacked. She was not a powerhouse, but she had good fundamentals and apart from that she was rather intelligent herself, even though her obsession with him was rather obvious.
"As you say, Sasuke-kun," but it was easier to ignore it all as he turned around to face the masked stranger.
"So, you three ready?" he asked lazily, and the yawn made Naruto click his tongue.
"Yeah! We will make you regret calling us weak!" he challenged, and the retired veteran simply shrugged.
"We will see about that," he taunted, as Naruto stomped his foot.
"UGHH! You bastard!" but before he could go on, Kakashi sensei stepped forward.
"Alright, that is enough," and he looked towards them all, as he played with a small stone in his hand.
"The match will begin as soon as this stone hits the ground," and Sasuke took his stance, much like Naruto and the blonde had so much chakra that Sasuke could almost feel it oozing off of him, as he prepared himself for the offensive.
Sasuke himself reached for the shuriken, yet their opponent simply stood there lazily even as Kakashi sensei tossed the stone into the air, and he eyed the stone waiting for it to hit the ground.
THUCK!
And he moved as soon as it hit the ground, as he threw halfa dozen shuriken at him as Naruto sprang forward.
"Kage Bunsh...."
But in a blink the retired veteran was gone, and it was only the Sharigan that allowed him to see a blur as he turned on his heel, as a slight whisper reached his ears.
"So slow," and he aimed a kick at his head, yet he still had his hands in his pockets as he refused to move at all.
"Red!" and with those words an invisible force rose and sent them tumbling through the air.
"AGHHHH!" Sasuke grunted as his back hit the tree, and he found himself unable to move at all. Sakura and Naruto were no different as well, as they both were sent flying into trees as well.
Sasuke tried to move yet the invisible force continued to push at him, making it impossible for him to move an inch, as Kakashi sensei's brother slowly walked up to him as he played with his black blindfold, until he was right infront of Sasuke.
"I can forgive the two of them, but your weakness disgusts me," and the words shook him to the core, as the man grabbed his neck, as Sasuke felt fingers dig into his flesh.
"GUGH!" he grunted in pain, and he could feel him stare at him through that blindfold as he added.
And even against Zabuza he had not felt such helplessness, and yet even as he exerted all his power he could hardly move a muscle at all.
"The way you are, you will never be able to kill Itachi," and Sasuke stilled at those words as his theory was proven correct.
"Ho...," and he wanted to speak yet the hand on his neck made it impossible, and just as his world began to blur, the pressure on his neck weakened as Kakashi sensei appeared and grabbed his brother's hand.
"That is quite enough," their sensei added.
"You have made your point," and the two of them stared at each other's face, before the younger Hatake brother.
And then in an instant the pressure went away, as Sasuke fell to the ground, and began to cough.
KUGHK. KUGH.
"Honestly, I am disappointed. Sending them to the chunin exams is like sending out chicks for slaughter," and Naruto was on his feet now.
"YOU! I AM NOT DONE WITH YOU YET!" and he ran towards the younger Hatake brother as his earlier words ran in his mind on repeat.
"You," he whispered in between bouts of coughing.
"You were there that night weren't you?" Sasuke asked, and he looked down at him as Naruto ran at him from behind.
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't," and Kakashi sensei tried to stop Naruto.
"Naruto! Wait," but the blonde was not listening, as he jumped up and tried to punch.
"Die you jerk!" but before his fist could hit him, the blindfold wearing shinobi vanished in a blur once more, and Naruto's fist caught nothing but air as he crashed into him.
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