4 Rebirth of the Uchiha Chapter 4

Naruto groaned as a burst of catra-chakra- knocked him off his feet. The damn Kawarimi was so hard! Kokatsu-sensei hadn't been any help either, giving him the wrong instructions.

(flashback)

"Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" Rei piped up as they sat in the park. Well, she was sitting. Naruto was cycling awkwardly through hand seals. He smiled brightly. "Kokatsu-sensei said I could get the Kawarimi done quicker if I used these seals." His grin faltered slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "Doesn't seem to be workin' so well though..."

"Let me have a proper look." Rei said, seemingly on a whim. Naruto nodded, going through the cycle slowly. Snake, Ram, Reverse dragon, Bird, Ox. A malformed chakra burst shot out from him, the blue wave rustling the leaves above. On the other hand, Naruto didn't move an inch from his start position.

"That... was probably the least effective thing I've ever seen." came the blunt response. Naruto sweatdropped. "You're so mean, Rei-chan..." he whined. She shook her head before she spoke again.

"No, no, that's not- Listen. That jutsu was probably just random hand seals. The fact that you're here and not blown to bits is impressive. But why would Kokatsu-sensei give you something like that." As she spoke, Naruto's expression grew stormier.

"'Cause he hates me, just like the rest of the village." he growled. Rei started to feel worried. She'd noticed the looks Naruto got from some of the civilians, but the whole village hating him? That must feel...

"...horrible." she muttered. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. Both of them were thinking about how the village was not always as perfect a place as it seemed to outsiders.

"Not everybody hates you." Rei offered eventually. Naruto continued to stare at the ground in silence. "You've got me, the two civilans running that ramen place..." she trailed off, realising that she couldn't actually think of anyone else. Fortunately, Naruto raised his head.

"I've got Jiji too, and Iruka-sensei doesn't seem too bad..." he gave a small smile. He wiped an orange sleeve across his eyes before breaking into another big grin. "Thanks, Rei-chan. At this rate, I'll get everyone's respect and be Hokage in no time!"

(not flashback)

Naruto's eyes hardened. He was going to be Hokage. Not just to get respect from the village, but to live up to the promises he made to look after the people who believed in him. He cycled through the five correct seals again. Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake!

SCENE BREAK

Sasuke sprinted at full speed through the forest. The ninja who had taken Rei was jumping through the branches of the trees above. Sasuke was limited to ground level, but had the dubious advantage of tracking his target's progress, which was hampered by Rei's struggles.

Sasuke glanced at the path ahead, where a fallen tree stood like an enormous wall. Taking stock of his options, he leapt at a tree to his left, using it as a stepping stone to leap up to the top of the log.

"Hang on, Rei, I'm coming." he thought desperately as he pounced forwards again.

SCENE BREAK

Neko was carrying Uchiha Megumi home when he heard the screaming. Rushing to the source - Sasuke's house, he noted worriedly - he found Kenta and Daiki, shaking. Sprawled across the floor, in a pool of blood, was Boar. Dropping Megumi carefully to the floor, he knelt to check the man's vitals. A faint pulse which was fading quickly, he noted grimly. He hurriedly created a pair of clones to watch over the kids as he rushed to the hospital.

A slight jolt as he jumped from roof to roof woke his dazed passenger. "Where..." he choked, spitting blood. "Where... kids?" Neko admired his resolve. Even with a lung pierced and extensive blood loss, he was still worried for his charges. "Th-they're okay, Boar-san." he offered, cursing his momentary hesitation. A whisper came from the limp form in his arms.

"..not Boar... Hayate." Neko's eyes widened behind his mask. An ANBU was ordered never to give their name unless... unless it no longer mattered who they were. He pushed on at full speed. "Don't you die on us, Hayate..."

SCENE BREAK

Naruto flopped onto his back, gasping, but the smile on his face betrayed his feelings. "I did it! I finally got that stupid jutsu down!" he thought, elated, as he glanced at the log sitting a few feet away. "Wonder where the logs come from?" he thought absently, shoving himself off the ground and sitting up straight. The boy's breathing evened out after a few moments.

Unbeknownst to him, a lavender-haired girl with pale eyes was watching him intently. In fact, Naruto had no idea that he actually had a bona-fide stalker. The Hyuuga heiress was one of the few people who knew what Naruto was truly like. Having a bloodline geared towards peeping- er, spying- er, observation really came in handy for shadowing people. Discreetly, that is, no witnesses.

Speaking of... a man ran into the training ground, a curious bundle slung over his shoulder. Naruto's eyes flashed over to the source of movement, squinting at the bundle. Hinata made a few hand seals, the veins near her temple bulging. She and Naruto quickly came to the same conclusion. "That's a person!"

A panting Sasuke leapt into the clearing, firing a handful of shuriken at the man's back. "YOU WON'T TAKE MY FAMILY AWAY AGAIN!" he yelled. Naruto scrambled forwards, realising that something really, really bad was happening. The stranger ducked to one side to avoid the projectiles, giving Naruto a better look at his passenger. "Rei-chan!"

The kidnapper smirked as the projectiles passed harmlessly to one side. "Careful now, Sasuke-kun. Wouldn't want your little cousin getting hurt, now would you?" The dark-haired boy hesitated for a moment before whipping a hand to one side, the shuriken changing direction mid-flight. Sasuke smirked as the stars nicked his opponent's side, slicing the fake flak jacket open. The man's expression turned to fury.

"You little bastard! I'm definitely going to kill you for that. But first..." he grinned evilly, pulling out a kunai. "I think I'd best make sure this little piggy doesn't squeal." He cackled madly, as Sasuke rushed ahead desperately.

A cloud of smoke obscured Rei for a second before a foot shot out to catch the surprised kidnapper in the gut, sending him stumbling. The two fighters gazed dumbly at the interrupting party. A severely pissed off academy student, clad in a dirt-covered orange jumpsuit.

"I don't know who you are, bastard, but you messed with the wrong ninja. If you try to hurt Rei-chan, I'll fuck you up! You just pissed off Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage! Now bring it-" For good or ill, Naruto's speech was interrupted by a flying knee strike as the assailant glanced around wildly.

"Where is she? Where the fuck is she? You little shit, what did you do?" he half-hissed, half-yelled. Naruto shuffled back into a poor fighting stance, smiling confidently. "Kawarimi no jutsu, asswipe! You're never gonna find her!" That was possibly the wrong thing to say, as the man's expression grew more manic, if that were possible, and a hysterical giggle escaped him.

"Hehehe... well, can't turn up empty-handed, now can I... hehe... good thing you've got your eyes, Uchiha; we might both survive this..." With that, he dashed forwards, slashing wildly with his kunai. Sasuke ducked and weaved, receiving a few shallow cuts before a flying orange child distracted them both.

"Don't you ignore me you bastards!" he screamed, trying to shoulder charge the adult. He closed a fist around the strips of cloth dangling from the man's jacket, literally climbing on him to try to slow him down. Sasuke watched intently, waiting for an opening. He gritted his teeth. "The dead last might buy us some time, but... Kami-damnit, where the hell are the ANBU?"

SCENE BREAK

Hinata rushed back into Konoha as quickly as she could, ignoring the stares from people she passed. It wasn't every day you saw the heiress to Konoha's most noble clan carrying the unconscious form of the heiress to Konoha's second most noble clan. The rumours from that day would endure for years to come, with the story eventually being picked up by a certain white-haired author, resulting in an extension of his best-selling series of 'novels'. This would result in the third time Jiraiya's life was in mortal danger. But we'll get to that.

A silver-haired ANBU raised an eyebrow behind his mask. If Rei-chan got injured, then why was Hyuuga-san with her? Where was Sasuke? Neko? Heck, even Naruto would be trying to help her. Shaking thoughts of Naruto from his head, he readied a Shunshin lazily, landing in front of the girls in a puff of smoke.

"Hyuuga-san. What happened?" he asked politely, smiling inwardly as she jumped. Ah, kids. The girl stammered incoherently before steeling herself. "ANBU-san. Sasuke-san and N-Naruto-k-san are in danger. S-someone t-tried to kidnap this girl b-but N-naruto-san rescued her. They need h-help!" Inu's heart pounded. pausing only long enough to get directions from the girl before moving at a speed that would shame the Yondaime Hokage.

"Damnit! Don't die, you two!" he thought desperately. "I can't lose anyone else!"