*Just the beginning of something I've had in my head. It's basically an alternate counterpart to my story In His Own Right. The differences will definitely stand out, so you could consider this a what if. The story does not entirely follow cannon, it is a bit AU, and I think you guys will enjoy it. Here is, the prologue. Hopefully it'll be a short story, Five to seven chapters at best.

The Difference Of Knowing:

Prologue:

She placed her Katana neatly into the hilt on her back. A serene sense of quietness had nestled itself into the forest. Almost, as if the forest itself knew the upcoming unfortunate storm of circumstances. The events that would prove to be the most difficult of all her missions. The girl walked swiftly through the forest, clearing her head as she mentally prepared herself. She boiled with anxiety, something unfamiliar to the thirteen-year-old. Every single member of the Uchiha clan would die by tonight, and knowing this held a heavy burden on her chest.

Izumi stopped her movement, a swirling vortex forming before the girl. The young Uchiha stopped as she watched the tall figure of the masked shinobi, his hair long and spiky, falling onto his shoulder. This man, this was the same ninja that had murdered Tenma. Yes, so she already didn't like him, but she needed him. The same ninja who proclaimed himself as the infamous Madara Uchiha. Yes, him. -Albeit, Izumi wasn't so sure about his own identity.-

The two exchanged shadows of the forest extended in size, covering the ground in darkness as the sun descended below the horizon.

"Come on.", Madara stated from underneath his mask, his voice was deep, intimidating and demanding. However, Izumi made no movement. Madara turned noticing this, a darkness seeming to emanate from the Elder Uchiha. "You must promise me one more thing.", she glared at him, activating her Sharingan as she did so ensuring that the man knew that Izumi was making that statement absolute. He glared at her for a moment, his own Sharingan eyes glaring at her with a fiery intensity.

"Do you not trust me Izumi-san?", he stepped towards her crossing his arms.

"Forgive me if I don't.", she retorted. His crimson red eyes seemed to glow as he patiently waited. "Go on…", he sighed.

"Promise me that you will handle each victim humanely.",

He turned his head a bit, it tilting to the side. "How can you kill someone humanely?",

"Refrain yourself, is all that I'm asking.", He chuckled a bit, his taller form looking down on her.

"Someone who wishes to kill her own kin wishes to do so humanely. How whimsical...", he said almost humorously. Izumi kept her mouth closed, she didn't find any humorous . Her true intentions were still an enigma to the shinobi.

"You have my word.", he said. At least, she could give them that much, as fucked up as it seemed.

The Two disappeared without any other word. And with that and a sickening hesitation, Izumi and the masked man began their slaughter of the Uchiha. The whole entire time Izumi began her plan for the future and the future of the -will be- last member of the Uchiha Clan. She ended the slaughter with her parents, which proved to be the one of the worse parts of the experience. Facing her own flesh and blood, the man and woman who birthed her. The disappointment in her Father's voice, despite his own words of being proud. It was heart wrenching and turned her emotions into a messy mush. They were killed by the same sword as everyone else. One slash ended their lives as the two fell to the ground, their bodies impacting with a thud, as blood gushed onto the floor. She felt the tears rush down her face as she gazed at her parents, her eyes burning. She forced a straightened face as the she left her parents, placing her bloody Katana into her hilt.

She heard small yet rapid footsteps approaching. The door slid open, a mop of black slightly spiked hair revealing the person's identity.

"Izumi!", her crimson eyes glared into his black. They held pain, his whole entire being struck with shock. It was unsettling, the whole entire mission and her actions were unsettling. His face quickly transition from that of shock to pure sadness. A crestfallen state, his eyes filling with water, a confused expression spilling over the boy. It hurt, it really was painful. For Izumi to cause such pain to her beloved younger brother, it was just terrible. He would resent and hate her, he would seek her out and make an attempt at extracting revenge. He would obtain all the power necessary to give her a fitting end. This would be her fate.

Izumi lifted her eyes gazing at her younger brother.

"I don't understand, father and mother...Everyone they're—!", he cried in panic. A Shuriken rushed past the seven-year-old. She had missed on purpose but had successfully cut his shirt and arm. Sasuke gazed at her and then at the weapon, blood spewed from his arm.

"What are you…?", He paused, gazing at her.

"Remember this Sasuke, this moment.", she began.. Why did it have to happen like this?

"Izumi, you did this?",

She didn't respond, she simply replied with a stoic look. She had to continue with the mission, everyone had to believe she was a criminal, a psychotic murder.

"Why?", his words pierced her heart.

"To test the limits of my capabilities.", she could feel the rivers of sadness forming in her eyes, she blinked them away, her eyes forming into the abstract pattern of the Mangekyou Sharingan.

"Tsukuyomi!", she cast her most powerful Genjutsu onto her little brother, showing him the massacre, everyone she killed and how she did it. Altering certain scenes in order to keep her true intentions a secret. She showed him what was needed.

"Izumi, please stop!", he let out an ear bursting cry. She listened deeming that it was enough. The boy fell to the floor, his breath heavy, eyes wide. She approached him. The small seven-year-old gazed up at her, his eyes tearing. In an instant the boy was gone, running off leaving the house. Izumi watched, the boy was fast on his feet. He ran in the direction of an alleyway, Izumi intercepted him. He jumped back at her sight.

"I don't wanna die, please!", he begged again.

She looked down at the boy, red eyes holding in the moisture. She forced herself to mouth the words.

"You're too pathetic to kill.",

She stared, almost in disbelief, as if he thought she'd just kill him.

"You're weak, killing you would hold no satisfaction.", he cried more, his tears seeming to never stop.

"Do you hate me baby brother?", Please don't.

"Are you understanding the meaning of hatred? The power of hate, the power to obtain true power. Only through this can you acquire the power to defeat me.",

He said nothing, the boy fell to the ground, his wound seeming to cause him weakness.

"By all means, run! Hide, cling to your pathetic excuse of an existence. And only when you have the same eyes as I do...", she glared at him, staring him directly in the eyes, giving him a full view of her Mangekyou. "...come and face me!",

Those were the last words she spoke to her brother, the seven-year-old just stared at her weakly. He didn't understand, his life had been ruined because of the sins of the clan and the necessary actions needed to save the village. Imagine a child having everything stripped away from them, their family, the love of their family and the comfort of having a family. That was all taken away within the matter of an hour, by the one the child had admired the most. Sasuke would hate her, she had stated this already. And knowing this it, knowing that her brother would hate her, that was the worse feeling. She would have to live with the pain of ruining the life of someone she held closely.

Ultimately, Izumi had saved the leaf village, preventing a possible civil war. In Hindsight, she was a hero, to those that knew of her mission. However, for those who didn't know, she would be blacklisted and marked as an S-class criminal, all for the sake of her village. She was a hero! But she wouldn't dare consider herself anything of the sort, she felt like trash, a disgusting heap of heavy trash there was nothing that could help her feel better about her actions, the only closure was that Izumi had served her beloved village yet again. That was it, the only positive coming from this painful experience. Sasuke fell to the floor, glaring at Izumi, she watched as the small innocent boys eyes changed from black to crimson red. Izumi simply watched, Sasuke truly knew pain now… He fainted, shortly after. The Anbu captain looked at him for a moment, her eyes tear uncontrollably. This would be the last time for a long time that she would see him. She sighed softly approached her brother before becoming level with his unconscious form.

"I'm sorry Sasuke. Just wait 'til next time.", she stated before planting a gentle kiss on his forehead.

The air was uneasy, almost tense. Naruto couldn't understand why it felt so danger as if something terrible had happened. It was just a normal night however, the sky was dark blue and everything was quiet. The seven-year-old looked out his window. Watching the view of the light saturated village. It was beautiful in it's most simple form. He didn't understand why he wasn't allowed to enjoy it, or why he was just an outcast. It was a strange, something he always wonder about. He sighed, scratching his blond head.

"Naruto-Kun.", a voice stated from behind. He turned, shocked that there was another figure in his home. It was a beautiful woman with long black hair, neatly tucked into a ponytail. She had two lines that extended downwards. She was a stranger but Naruto felt no fear from the girl, though her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying.

She looked a lot like Sasuke.

"Who are you?",

She didn't respond to his question. "Promise me that you'll be friends with Sasuke.", he looked at her, an expression of awe smacking on his face. He didn't know how to respond to that, Sasuke didn't seem to like him and Naruto wasn't entirely fond of him. It wasn't exactly for any reason besides the fact that Sasuke just always outshined him…. And the fact that no one really liked the blond.

He nodded. "Sure.", Naruto wasn't sure how this would work out but he couldn't bring himself to voice his opinion.

The girl smiled a deep and beautiful smile, Naruto never thought he'd ever seen one so amazing and full of sunshine. Hell, Naruto didn't even like girls until this one had shown up in her apartment, she looked amazing. Who was she? Her smile held joy, and calmness, but it also held regret and despair. Naruto noticed this.

"Thank-you.", her voice was sweet, but Naruto didn't miss the pain in it, he knew it all too well. Why was she in pain? She was gone before he could respond. The seven-year-old scratched his blond head. Friends with Sasuke?

"Wait.", he stated, realizing that she was leaving. The girl rose a brow.

"Will you be my friend?", he asked hopefully, his blue eyes pleading. She hesitated, looking at the boy her mouth closed as she became dead quiet.

"Sure, Naruto. We can be friends.", His eyes glowed with joy. But before he could say anything the girl had vanished, leaving the boy alone once again.

He stood silent for a moment, gazing back towards the window, realizing...that he had made a friend.