Family Is What Matters.

Making my way towards the building where the chunin exams were going to be taken, I was greeted by a rather famous scene on the series. Naruto was being hammered by the ninja shinobi as Sasuke intervened… without realizing Gaara was on the other side of the trunk, hiding his presence.

Walking slowly I decided not to take another route… as I was already running late.

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(3RD Person POV)

"Gaara of the Desert. I am also interested in you. What is your name?" – Gaara asked as he turned to Sasuke.

Gaining a small smirk Sasuke responded to him.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Just as the atmosphere tensed Naruto jumped in.

"Hey, hey, what about me?" – Naruto asked pointing at himself while grinning.

"I am not interested." – Gaara replied as another voice was heard afterward.

"Actually, I would like to know." – He spoke with a small smile on his face, his red eyes, each with three black tomoe stealing all the attention.

As soon as Kei's words left his mouth everybody's eyes turned to him, standing right behind Gaara. And surprising the trio from the Sand village making them take a step back. He stood at least half a head taller than everyone else gathered here. The arrival was dressed in a black long-sleeved outfit, black gloves, and a headband tied on his right arm. He sported medium-length black hair showing a stark contrast to his red eyes.

'Another pretty boy.' – The girls in the group thought as their eyes shined with stars in them.

"WHOA, where did you come from? I didn't see you arrive at all." – Naruto almost screamed as his eyes widened and although the others didn't ask, they all thought the same thing.

"Me, I was just waiting for you to finish talking, I was here almost the whole time. So? Will you introduce yourself? Sasuke rarely speaks of his friends." – Kei kept his smile as he asked Naruto.

Naruto flashed a bright smile at that as he introduced himself.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, and I am going to become Hokage. Believe It!" – Naruto said with his thumb pointing towards the sky and a bright smile on his face.

"Hahaha, well isn't that great. You will need at least that much energy when you become Hokage. Where are my manners, my name is Kei Uchiha, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."- Kei smiled lightly and then looked at Gaara, whose eyes were still wide open.

Slowly Kei leaned forward and whispered to Gaara.

"What's wrong? Do you and your "mother's" senses scream to get away from me? You better listen or your existence that you want to prove so much… might come to a sharp end."

As Kei finished talking to Gaara, he smiled at Sasuke and talked to Team 7. We should get going, the exams should start soon.

As they started walking Naruto suddenly stopped.

"Wait are you taking the exams too? Where is your team?" – he asked as he looked at Kei.

"… Oh… Kakashi probably didn't bother explaining but… I am also a member of Team 7. Sadly it is just a formality, I am too busy to be going on missions left and right."

"Oi… that is too far even for Kakashi-sensei." – Naruto exclaimed as he almost screamed.

"As much as I don't want to agree with Naruto… he is right." – Sakura exhaled as she spoke.

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"Sasuke-Kun, do you know that there are genius shinobi and hard-working shinobi?" – Lee asked.

"If your Sharingan makes you a genius… then I am a hard-working type that continuously improved my hand-to-hand combat." – as Lee said that, he launched a kick at Sasuke that threw him to the ground… not in the air.

The first ripple had appeared. No matter how small it proved that history was changing.

"Did you know? The current head of the Uchiha clan is the same age as you, spends most if not his entire day in his office, and could defeat all the genin partaking in this exam singlehandedly? That by itself tells me he didn't take the easy way to become powerful." – Lee exclaimed.

Hmm… let's agree to disagree.

Guy must have instructed him to observe our match… or told him about it afterward. Either way, the fact that history was changing was not that bad… it reinforced my presence in this place and time… but it also made the future become much more uncertain.

If the path diverged too much in the upcoming future I might have to settle for another target… While perhaps lacking behind in raw power compared to the rabbit goddess, he more than made up for it in terms of skill. Something to think about.

Once gathered, I strayed away from the happy little group that made the rookie 9, though I stayed close enough to overhear what Kabuto had to say about me. I had suspicions whether or not he would reveal my Susanoo.

"I want to know about Kei Uchiha."

Without letting Kabuto finish, Gaara was the first one to ask. I was somewhat expecting it. Very little was known about my actual fighting prowess despite my status as the current Uchiha head. Very few people had any combat information about me… though I doubted Kabuto was the same.

"Hooo… you picked a unique one. Let's see… here it is. Kei Uchiha, known among the shinobi who have interacted with him as Uchiha of the Eternal Sharingan, no one has seen what his eye color is as his Sharingan has never been turned off, at least in public. Some even suspect that he was born with a fully matured Sharingan. Made clan head at the age of 7, passing all the necessary requirements. His current age is 12, at least Jonin level strength, possible Kage-level threat. Excels in Taijutsu, suspected prowess in Fire-based ninjutsu as well as well as Genjutsu due to his Uchiha bloodline."

And most of the relevant information came from one bout with Orochimaru… while it didn't pose any problems temporarily it went to show that if I was discovered for what I was before the time was right I might just end up sealed away. All I had to do now was to make sure I didn't get a scratch out of my future battles. Though it appeared Danzo hadn't spoken about my apparent speed to anyone. He was probably asking for Orochimaru to ask and get something in return for information… not that it would do them any good.

The first exam wasn't even worth mentioning and on the second the first group I came across decided to just hand over the scroll. It was really uneventful, but I guess it was better this way. As I was approaching the exit of the second test, a really long sword passed through my afterimage as I flickered to the left.

"Orochimaru, you'll have to step up your game if you want to take me out." – I said as I turned my head towards him.

"Kukuku, can you really blame me for trying? You would have done the same. My preparations are ready. After Hiruzen dies, we can proceed with the experiment… and should I perish, Kabuto already knows the process. He will see the deal through. Now it will be up to you to convince Sasuke to leave the village." – Orochimaru said as he grinned and disappeared.

The snake was becoming too unruly. I would have to take care of him once the Hokage business was finished and I had the most powerful Genjutsu in the world ready and charged. I don't know if it would still be in effect once Sasuke… brought him back… but by then it would already be too late. He would guide Sasuke to meet his death at Madara's hand, unlocking the Rinnegan afterward, not to mention his interactions with Naruto. Without him, the divergence would widen and have unknown effects.

Giving up temporarily on his knowledge would net me a Rinnegan… and that is if I didn't awaken one myself. The Sharingans I swept from Danzo contained minute traces of Hashirama's cells and that was enough for my body to replicate as much as I wanted to… but for some reason, no change was occurring.

It might have simply been the fact that it needed the merging of cells from Indra and Asura… meaning a simple Uchiha wouldn't do… I had Hashirama's cells, Asura's reincarnation so what I needed would be the eyes of Indra reincarnation… I needed Sasuke's eyes, without changing history, meaning I needed Sasuke's fading light, Sasuke's original eyes, the ones he would eventually replace with his brothers, gladly to give to his only remaining family in hopes of me not going blind.

"Hahaha… I think it's time I grow a little closer to my brother during the time we have left. Indeed, family is what brings light to this dark world." – I laughed as I slowly made my way to the exit.