Rebirth of the Uchiha Chapter 3

Despite Sasuke's best efforts, Rei continued to meet up with Naruto almost every day. He did, however, manage to keep the rest of his clan away from the class clown. This was easier said than done. Keeping track of six academy students over four different classes, not to mention the four kids too young to attend, was near impossible for a nine year old. At least the ANBU were around to assist.

The ANBU were really a godsend. Sasuke had opposed them at first, before the Hokage had set him straight.

(flashback)

"Hokage-sama, I can do this! The clan is my responsibilty!" Sasuke protested. Ita- no, That Man had been in ANBU. If one of them was there to finish the job started that night... NO! No-one was going to take the rest of his family away from him!

"Sasuke." the old man interjected, voice not wavering even slightly. The Hokage's face was stern, no indication of the argument affecting him even slightly.

"You are correct. The position of clan head falls to you. However, you are still a child. There is no way you can do everything that being the head of one of the founding clans will demand. Not to mention your studies. If you want to graduate, that will take up even more of your time than your political responsibility. In addition, you are in no position to take care of the other children at seven years of age." Sasuke bristled. That Man was a genin at his age, legally an adult.

"Itachi was ANBU." he eventually muttered, spitting the name with as much venom as he could muster. If one could turn, so could the rest. Sasuke stared at the ground, cursing the water building up in the corner of his eyes.

"Itachi was a mistake." That got a reaction from the boy, whipping his head up suddenly. "I should never have allowed him into ANBU. Maybe it was a mistake for him to even become a shinobi in the first place. This lifestyle can turn even the best of people into something we regret." The Sandaime had not turned his gaze away for even an instant as he spoke.

"I will not let you go down that same path. You are free to want revenge. That is human nature. But you must not let it consume you. If that happens, you could become the kind of monster you hated. I have seen too many people broken beyond repair in my life. You, Sasuke, will not be one of them. I swear it.

"I am not asking you to trust blindly in the ANBU. I am asking you to trust in me. The only guards I will assign will be those I would trust with my own life. None of them will betray you." The old man had stood up to his full height, hands curled into fists. The conviction in his words had surprised Sasuke. The Sandaime... was worried for him? No, not worried, but determined not to let him be hurt.

It was a humbling experience. His father had made the Hokage out to be, not weak, but past his prime, claiming that a successor should have been chosen sooner. In the span of a few moments, Sasuke had seen different. Regardless of personal power, this man was a Hokage. He embodied the 'Will of Fire' that the academy had referenced. And he was asking Sasuke to trust him.

Sasuke took a moment to compose himself before assenting to the ANBU being posted to the clan compound. He had no idea what such a small gesture meant to the old man, or how much it would change things in the future.

(No longer a flashback)

Sasuke grinned to himself as he saw Daiki, another of his cousins, practising the Gokakyu no Jutsu, spewing out a cloud of thick black smoke. Despite his reservations, the ANBU had fit into the clan's daily lives. Most were coldly professional, but others, like Inu-san and Neko-san, were more... normal. Sasuke appreciated that. Inu-san was like a mentor, subtly giving tips for improving on academy jutsu or Taijutsu forms. Neko-san was more like an older cousin, ready to banter with them in addition to performing his duties.

Now, if he could only get the Uzumaki to leave his cousin alone, life would be pretty good. He'd finally found the secret to dealing with paperwork. Kami bless Katon ninjutsu. The kids got to practice and he got rid of headaches before they began.

An lion-masked ANBU walked past Sasuke into the compound, not stopping to offer a greeting. Odd, even the coldest of the ANBU usually offered a customary "hello" or words to that effect. He put it to the back of his mind as Daiki ran up to him, babbling excitedly about the academy and how Mizuki-sensei had shown them some cool weapons and...

SCENE BREAK

The agent-in-place let out a silent breath as he passed the threshold of the 'clan head's' home. His role was clear, observation and document retrieval. That said, impersonating a member of ANBU, infiltrating the compound of a founding clan, stealing secure documents, all of those could result in severe consequences. But he was but an extension of his master's will. The consequences for returning after a failure would be even worse than being caught by Konoha. With no time to dwell on possibilities, he began searching the room for his targets.

SCENE BREAK

Naruto laughed as he ran across the rooftops, various merchants and customers chasing him at ground level, screaming vengefully at him. If they wouldn't respect him, they had to respect his awesome skills! If he could find someone to teach him some awesome jutsu, then between that and his pranking, he'd be Hokage in no time, 'ttebayo!

The thoughts of awesome jutsu reminded him of something he'd been putting off for too long. The young blond groaned as he headed towards one of the less popular training grounds, where he was less likely to get chased off. Kami-damned academy jutsus...

SCENE BREAK

The agent was growing frustrated. So much paper, none of it helpful. If he didn't find something soon... his thoughts were interrupted by the entrance of a boar-masked ANBU. The two of them stood still for a moment before Boar drew his sword. The agent relaxed his postrue as Boar approached, katana held at his side.

"You're not part of the Uchiha guard. Who sent you?" he hissed, hand tensing on his weapon's hilt. "Answer me, or I call for backup. We'll see how long you last against Ibiki's interrogations." Whatever reaction Boar had expected, a deep chuckle wasn't part of it.

"...Fuck it. Plan B it is then." Boar's eyes narrowed at that. "What the hell are you tal-" he cut off in mid-sentence. A sword bursting through your chest will do that to you. The imposter leaned in from behind him, having dropped the genjutsu.

"For an elite, you really don't have much in the way of skill, do you?" You could hear the smirk in the bastard's voice. "A pity. Still, you might buy me some time yet. Try not to bleed out too quick." With that, the sword was dropped to the floor and Boar slumped to the ground beside it.

The agent rolled his eyes behind the mask. And to think, he'd been concerned about being caught. Now, to collect his prize.

SCENE BREAK

Sasuke stood at the gate to the clan training grounds, watching as Rei tried to complete the Gokakyu. Smiling as a burst of flame appeared from the girl's mouth, he walked over to her.

"As expected of an Uchiha," he smirked, paraphrasing his father's praise to him. "I hear you're in the running for kunoichi of the year; is that right?" His cousin's face lit up as she replied.

"Yeah, I figured, if the rest of the class won't respect me for being an Uchiha, I can at least get them to respect my skill as a ninja. There's only one guy in my class doing better than me, and he's a Hyuuga from the main house, so..." Sasuke frowned in response.

"You shouldn't assume he's better because of where he's from. The Hyuuga are a lot more arrogant than they deserve to be. They have an unearned sense of ego from that Dojutsu of theirs." At this point, Sasuke was greeted by the sight of his cousin, the semi-official heir to the Uchiha clan, rolling on the ground, giggling madly. Seriously, he knew he lacked the presence his father had when speaking, but surely he deserved more respect than that...

"What is going on?" he asked, bewildered. Rei was usually more composed than some of the other kids.

"N-Narut-to-kun s-said the same about you..." she gasped between fits of giggles. Sasuke finally lost it. The Dobe was mocking him behind his back? How dare he? (the hypocrisy of the situation never occured to Sasuke. Some sources would later claim that selective perceptions were the true Uchiha bloodline. Studies were inconclusive.)

"Rei, you are forbidden to see Uzumaki again. He is a failure, a troublemaker and not to be associated with." The tone of the conversation turned sour instantly.

"Forbidden? You can't decide who my friends are, Nii-san." Rei muttered darkly. "I like Naruto-kun. He doesn't treat me like I'm delicate, or like I'm arrogant or anything. I don't care that he's a failure, 'cause he's the only person outside the compound who sees me for who I am, and not who the rest of the Uchiha were!" The girl wiped her eyes and stormed off, leaving Sasuke behind, absolutely confused. He stepped forwards to try to make amends, only to find himself thrown to the ground with a shadow in front of him.

The air... changed, for lack of a better term. Sasuke found himself reliving That night. The sensation of death, of the intent to kill, was overwhelming. The figure in front of him turned around. Grey eyes set deeply into a scarred face, which was contorted in a sneer.

"Worthless maggot," he cackled. "Pity I'm in a rush, I could really enjoy killing you." The man then fired a kick at Rei with enough force to knock her to the ground. Sasuke struggled to get back to his feet, pulling out a kunai and stumbling forwards as the assailant bent down in front of him. A fist to his gut knocked him back to his knees.

"I already got my prize. I don't need you tagging along." the man grunted, a barely-conscious Rei now slung over his shoulder. He steadied himself for a second before making a break for the trees at the edge of the compound. Sasuke's heart stopped. It was happening again. The rest of his family were going to be taken away from him. That pain, that fear was back in full force.

NO! He was not going to lose anyone else! Never again! Sasuke pushed himself to a standing postion and sprinted ahead, his gaze focused on the bastard who thought he could take away his cousin. In his rage, he never noticed how easy it was to follow his prey's movements as a single tomoe span in each red eye.