Bonds and Fire

'What the hell did I stumble into?' That was Neji's only thought as he stared into the blazing inferno that was the Uchiha compound. Hinata had snuck out of the Hyugga compound about an hour ago and met up with Shino Aburame.

As the prodigy of the Hyugga clan he couldn't just let the heiress wander off in the middle of the night, he still had to prove that blond wrong after all.

But what he was looking at now might be a bit too much for even him to handle.

"What is he doing?" Shino asked "What is happening right now?"

"I-I'm not sure... b-but Natuto can't be re-responsible right?"

"It doesn't make any sense. Why, because he actively avoids this part of the village. If he wanted to burn it down he'd need a way inside. But still... he's involved with this somehow..."

"None of this makes any kamidamn sense." Neji growled.

"Wh-When did you get here?!" Hinata asked in a panic.

"You were lucky I was the only one who caught you sneaking out." 'More like the only one who cared that you left but she doesn't need to know that.'

"What do we do now? Why I ask, because as curious as I am running headfirst into a blazing fire doesn't seem like the best idea."

"Not fire" Hinata denied "It's only a fire juts I, it's covered the buildings but nothing is burning."

"That's not the point. Why, because touching it is still going to hurt."

"Look it doesn't matter" Neji glared "You two are going back to the clan compound. I am going to go get that blond idiot out of there before he makes a scene."

Neji then followed the blond into the compound leaving the two younger Academy students behind.

"We're following him right?" Shino asked.

"Definitely"

"Ryan you are a dumbass, you are the dumbest ass."

That is what I had been constantly whispering to myself the second I entered the Uchiha compound. By all accounts what I should have done was send out a bunch of shadow clones to do the dirty work while I relaxed at home. But for whatever reason my brain thought it would be a better idea to go and invade the place on my own.

So now I Uchiha Kato, that's my code name by the way, was wandering aimlessly through the Uchiha compound trying to ignore the awful stench of burning fleas that filled the air. Turning a corner I found myself face to face with three genuine Uchiha children and an old man.

The first of the kids was only about a year younger than I was. With the Uchiha's standard raven hair he wore jacket Sasuke always had. The other two were about two years younger than I was. The first was a girl with short hair cut down to around her chin. While the other had black hair and was carrying a sack full of homemade medicines. He was also the only one not carrying some kunai meaning of the three he was the only one that wasn't at least training to become a ninja.

The old man was clearly a ninja as well, albeit a retired one. The man oozed of chakra and the sealing scrolls attached to his belt practically gave his status away. Though I can understand not being able to be stealthy when your trying to escort three frightened children away from the burning inferno they once called home.

The eldest of the three kids pointed an accusing finger at me "Who the hell are you?! I haven't seen you in the compound before!"

"The compound i-is rather large Domu." The youngest male stuttered "H-he may not live close by."

"No way!" The girl huffed "All the Uchiha in the Academy have to gather once a month for training. It's highly unlikely that neither of us have seen him after all this time."

"Now calm down Keiko." The old man commanded "Where he's from isn't important, we are all in danger right now."

"But what if he helped burn down the compound?! What if he's working with them!" Keita yelled.

"Pl-please quiet down!" The last kid begged "We d-don't want to get found."

Domu hung his head in shame. "Sorry Nezu I overreacted again."

'Actually you were almost close to the truth. I kinda suggested to burn it down to make sure your eyes were destroyed.' I thought nervously "Come on! Follow me this way!"

"Why would we go that way?" Keiko asked "The exit is to the west, your pointing south."

"I found a hole in the wall!" I reasoned "We can use it to escape without being detected."

Then lead the way." The old man nodded.

"But master Goro!" Nezu said worriedly "What if he is working for the enemy? What if he's leading us into a trap?"

Goro smiled "Sometimes Nezu you just have to trust your gut. And mine's saying that we should follow this kid out of here."

My shoulders relaxed a tad.

"But if he leads us into danger I will kill him."

And then they tensed right back up.

Neji, like most Hyugga, was not a fan of the Uchiha. He found them to be overconfident, arrogant, and cold. He knew that the same titles could be used to describe the Hyugga, himself included, but they had to work for that privlage. The Uchiha just believed that they were born superior. And in many ways they were right.

But what Neji was looking at now... no amount of hatred could prevent him from feeling pity for the clan. But now wasn't the time he still had a mission to complete.

Naruto Uzumaki was a loser.

Naruto Uzumaki was an idiot

Naruto Uzumaki was a failure

Or was he? That small seed of doubt planted itself in Neji's mind as he searched frantically for the blond.

Naruto Uzumaki was not a traitor

Naruto Uzumaki was not a psychopath

Naruto Uzumaki was not evil

Or was he? Questions without answers answers without questions. Why is the Uchiha compound on fire? What does Naruto have to do with it? Why the hell does he care?

Because you need to prove that your right

Because you want answers

Because Hinata would be upset

Because he is your friend

Neji quickly brushed that last thought off.

'The reason doesn't matter' he decided 'I just need to find him and get him the hell out of here.'

"So this is the work of the Hyugga is it?!"

Neji turned around and growled, an Uchiha Genin was glaring daggers at him. His dark blue hair was clearly dyed that color and dark brown could be seen peeking out from the roots. He wore a leather jacket that had the Uchiha clan symbol stitched onto the back. "I don't have the time for this."

"I'm Jugo Uchiha! The Ultimate genin!" The kid then stuck a pose by shoving his hand in front of his face and creating a small fireball in his open palm.

"That's nice" Neji deadpanned as he walked in the opposite direction.

"Hey wait up a second!" Jugo jumped over Neji and preformed a backflip, unfortunately he wasn't quite able to stick the landing and ending up falling face first into the dirt.

"What a loser" Neji sighed "If he's survived this long I'm sure he's fated to live through this endeavor."

"I am the Ultimate Genin!"

"Oh kami why do I always have to deal with the idiots?" Neji groaned "Aren't you Uchiha supposed to be more refined than this?"

"Ah That is the glory of it all!" Jugo boasted "I am not an Uchiha at all! My mother's marriage thrust me into the family! I am immune to all the Uhciha's curses!"

Neji activated the Byakugan "Then you don't possess the Sharingan either. If you continue to stand in my way I'm afraid you'll be fated to face defeat."

"Fire Clone Jutsu" "I'm afraid not evildoer!" Two more Jugo's stood alongside the original. All three stuck the same pose as earlier. "I The Ultimate Genin shall strike you down."

Hinata was worried, it had been an hour since she and Shino had entered the Uchiha compound and aside from the crackling of the fire around her everything was quiet. The corpses of women of children littered the compound but there were much fewer than she had expected.

Or maybe she was just trying to avert her eyes from the bloodshed. The only thing forcing her feet forward was her drive to get Naruto out of whatever he had placed himself in.

Shino was not caring as well. He had stayed in the compound for longer than anyone else and didn't have the blind faith Hinata did. He saw the corpses and recognized faces. His rage burned. Though he didn't show it. When he next saw Naruto he was going to pay.

"What the hell are you kids doing here?" The two turned around to find Shisui Uchiha, the missing nin, standing over them. "Damn it Naruto, kids followed you here?"

"Y-you know Naruto?! Where is he?!"

"Why the hell should I know." Shisui grunted "That kid can be impossibly hard to find sometimes. Especially with all the corpses. My tracking skills aren't nearly as good as Kakashi or Itachi's"

"So your looking for him as well?" Shino asked "For what reason?"

"That's not important kid. Just leave this in the hands of the adults."

"But what about Naruto?"

"That's... fine" Shisui growled "He started this mess he can explain all this shit to you."

Then with a single Shushin the three had vanished.

Obito was amused, the Uchiha massacre, which he had believed would be nothing but a one sided slaughter was becoming more and more interesting by the second. While Itachi was able to cut down the Uchiha ninja in a calm and calculated manner the civilian side of the compound was much more interesting.

Clones of an individual calling himself Uchiha Kato was leading women and children that Itachi had missed during his original culling towards a wagon, presumably to lead them to safety. Obito had considered killing them but figured it wouldn't be worth the effort, What would killing a few civilians do? They wouldn't come back to Konoha after all. His only goal was to weaken the leaf village after all.

Then there was the matter of Shisui Uchiha leading two children one a Hyugga and the other an Aburame around the compound looking for the nine tailed fox's jinchuriki. Uchiha Kato perhaps? Questions for later. Then another Hyugga was locked in combat with a Genin that was clearly not a natural born Uchiha. Obito laughed "So much drama it's like watching a soap opera!"

His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he decided that he'd rather just let things play out than end it all by killing everyone immediately. Besides the Uchiha massacre was more of a convienence than a necessary part of his plan.

Domu was suspicious. But so was everyone else. It was hard not to be when the nicest person your clan had ever produced decided to go on a murdering spree. Master Goro was normally trustworthy. But something about this 'Uchiha Kato' rubbed him the wrong way. Everything he said was too stilted too rehearsed. He knew exactly where he was going and exactly how to answer every question.

Keiko found that she had the exact opposite problem with him. He seemed to know next to nothing about the compound, she asked about people, places, activities and yet he seemed to be able to answer none of it. As if all he knew about the clan was a single hole in the outer wall.

Nezu not being a ninja didn't think anything was wrong. Well he at least didn't think anything was wrong with Kato. Master Goro however he found was acting strange. His smiles were forced and his words of wisdom were generic. It was unerving.

But then they finally reached the walls exterior and they all found their answers. Civillians were all gathered together. led into wagons by clones of both 'Kato' and Shisui.

'Goro' smiled again. A creepy forced smile that no normal person could possible have. "Well this is quite impressive, how long must you have known about the massacre to set this up?"

"Shisui knew and I happened to find out."

"Is that why he went missing? He knew about the massacre?" Nezu wondered.

"No way! This kid's a traitor to the clan!" Domu denied.

"Argh!"

"What the?! Master Goro!"

Shisui, or a clone of him at least, had stuck a kunai in 'Goro's' chest.

"Damn brat..." the henge was undone and Goro was revealed to be a ROOT agent in disguise.

"Naruto! We have an issue!"

"Yeah I can see that." I growled "Why the hell are Danzō's lackeys here? It was only supposed to be Itachi!"

"That's not important. Everybody that can fight need to protect the non combatants. I can deal with ROOT by myself!"

"Right!"

Itachi's eyes bled as the Mangekyou Sharingan blared a piercing red. How many people did he have to kill for it to activate? He didn't know. Just that all of a sudden he felt more powerful.

This power... he would have used it to make Sasuke suffer. So he would kill him. The thought seemed silly once Itachi thought about it. But he could still understand.

He did want to die, he wanted to die after the war, he wanted to die after every mission he went on, he wanted to die now.

But than Sasuke came and he wanted to live again. Now he lives for Sasuke, even now he'll live so Sasuke doesn't have to go through the torture he was supposed to.

No matter how much he wants to die.

Uchiha Massacre arc state of affairs

Itachi- currently locked in combat with Uchiha police force.

Naruto- Alias Uchiha Kato- travelling with three Uchiha children, tasked with defending civillians from ROOT agents.

Domu- Suspicous of Naruto, currently protecting civilians.

Keiko- Suspicous of Naruto, currently protecting civilians.

Nezu- Has just lost his master, currently protecting civilians.

Goro- Deceased, killed by ROOT agent

Emu- Deceased, ROOT agent, killed Goro and travelled with children in search of hiding Uchiha in hopes of wiping all of them out at once.

Shisui- Has clones protecting civilians, Leading Shino and Hinata towards Naruto, clones locked in combat with ROOT

Hinata- Travelling with Shisui

Shino- Travelling with Shisui

Neji- Locked in combat with Jugo, searching for Naruto

Jugo- Quirky Uchiha who's mother was married into the family, locked in combat with Neji after a misunderstanding.

Author's note

Readers: What happened to updating once every month?

Me: It was close enough! It's the Cinco de Mayo special!

Readers: But your not Spanish

Me: Well maybe there are people who are!

In all seriousness I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I certainly didn't enjoy writing it, I'm not very proud of this one because I was trying to create a more serious tone and that is not something I'm very good at. But never fear! The Uchiha Massacre will only last another 1 or 2 chapters and then we'll have a short Itachi interlude with maybe another chapter or two and then it's time for Graduation!

The OC's were a bit rushed but they'll get some more screantime later in the arc alongside Shino and Hinata.

P.S. I think Jugo might be my favorite charecter I've created so far. And he WILL be important after this arc.

Anyways give me a comment for all of the criticisms you have I won't be able to fix major plot happenings, like chapter 7 opinions on that were very split. But I will go out of my way to fix any grammar mistakes or stupid inconsistencies the fic has (Neji refereeing to his uncle as his dad for instance)