Chapter 1: Survivor

Toru hurries down the side alley, glad to avoid the evening rush on the main streets. It is surprisingly quiet for the time of day, and the elven-year-old is grateful for it. He has spent the majority of his day in his Ninja Academy class, and most of his classmates are extremely loud.

A frown tugs its way onto Toru's face. Something in the back of his head tenses, and Toru jerks his head up and searches for the source of worry. He doesn't see anything. Toru hears a scream; he freezes. Black eyes widen as a shinobi body flickers in front of him.

Toru is already moving, though – something screaming at him to duck to the right. Toru jerks backwards, half-stumbling over himself in a bid to get away quickly. The movement is pointless and a sword plunges into his chest. The red-eyed shinobi flickers away.

Toru is vaguely aware of the blood trickling down his torso, and an ache penetrating his limbs. He falls, landing on his back with a thump. His vision starts fading, and Toru can only watch the darkening sky.

Something in the back of his head shouts movemovemoveMOVEMOVEMOVEmOVe! Toru moves his arm; it collapses on top of his chest. He dips his finger in the red blood and sketches a bunch of symbols onto his chest. He stops moving. Everything is quiet as others die.

Toru has never stood out within his clan, the Uchiha. On the social hierarchy, he is just above civilians due to his lineage and his lack of activated kekkei genkai puts him below other Uchiha ninja. The Uchiha are a clan who pride themselves on their prodigies and kekkei genkai that most Uchiha activate by the age of eleven. Toru is almost twelve and hadn't graduated from the academy, or gained his sharingan.

The young Uchiha's lack of skills is surprising to all who know his Uchiha side of the family tree. His mother is an Uchiha and distantly related to numerous well-known Uchiha. Toru's averageness makes him stand out, and not in a good way. The shinobi-in-training is vastly ignored by most Uchiha his age and older, with only a few children ever talking to him.

However, Toru's father makes the boy different from most Uchiha. His father was from out of the clan, and wasn't even born in Konoha. He'd been an orphan that had come with a merchant family into Konoha early in his life. He had passed away when Toru was younger, leaving Toru and his kunoichi mother whom, afterwards, often went on long missions. This left Toru to look after himself, with a neighbour occasionally checking in to see if he is still alive.

Nonetheless, Toru did love his family, both his mother and his deceased father. Although, his favourite person was his cousin. Shisui normally made time for Toru despite the older boy's hectic schedule. The pair normally spent idyllic afternoons together, talking or playing games. With Shisui, Toru didn't have to pretend as he did elsewhere.

Toru is what the ninja world called a 'chameleon ninja'. A person who hid any talent and acted as if they are completely normal, and aren't a genius or a prodigy. Toru knew what he is, and the only other person who did had been Shisui. The younger Uchiha knew what pressure the clan put on prodigies, and how high the risk is of burning out.

Toru doesn't want to be known as a child genius, looked up to by younger children, hated by those his age, and looked down on by older ninjas. He knows that if he wants to live a relatively normal life, he needs to act as a relatively normal person. It works, no one saw through his act – not that any had bothered, with the exception of Shisui.

The ANBU teams spread out through the compound, searching for survivors. They had already found the clan leader's youngest son, and the knowledge that the heir had gone on a rampage is now old news.

One ANBU pauses above an almost-empty street, staring down at a child's corpse. Something isn't right about the image; the ANBU moves closer, crouching down next to the body.

The body's chest moves.

The ANBU's hidden eyes widen, and they flare their chakra, alerting the others to the survivor. The ANBU's team are quick to surround the first ANBU. They communicate in hand gestures, while the child continues to breath, but it is slow as if time around the Uchiha has slowed down drastically.

Hands glow green as one ANBU scans the boy's vitals; they nod. The boy would survive a trip to the hospital. The ANBU who found the child scoops him up, and takes off at a sprint towards the hospital. Another ANBU goes towards the Hokage's office; the Sandaime needs to know of this development.

The Uchiha clan has been massacred by Itachi Uchiha (S-ranked missing-nin), but two survivors were left alive. The first survivor is Sasuke Uchiha (eight-years-old), Itachi's younger brother, who has been left physically unharmed. The second survivor is Toru Uchiha (eleven-years-old), who has been left in critical condition after being attacked.