The Stories Of Izami Uchiha

Tales of an Uchiha in Gielinor
The stories behind Izami's original Clan, how Izami came to be in Gielinor, and the continuing adventures of Izami Uchiha in the clan New Order.

Manga Coming Soon! (or later, as soon as I figure out how to draw like Masashi Kishimoto)

Chapter 1: Enter The Uchiha
Long ago, before the name Madara (1) had ever been spoken, or even before the name Uchiha was well known; there were many child born after Indra Uchiha (2), decedent of the great Sage of the Six Paths (3) and the Rabbit Goddess (4) before him. These children were all doomed to face the curse of what Indra had left on his descendants, the very same curse that would one day consume the mind of Madara into fighting Hashirama (5).This was the curse for a lust of blood and violence. A curse that every member of the Uchiha had to face whether they knew it or not. The men, the women, and even the children of the Uchiha Clan all were destined to someday awaken what would become a tool of hatred and darkness.

Born into a proud family of the Uchiha Clan's main branch was a child named Izami. Izami was the only child in his nuclear family due to a death of what would have been his brother only a short time after birth. Though Izami was a single child, his family's ambitions for him were only doubled. Even at a young age Izami showed signs of true power which aided into the belief that he would one day be the leader of his clan. Despite often being treated like royalty Izami never thought of himself as anything special. Through the years of growing up, Izami became popular with many of the other Clan's children, eventually befriending a child named Atori who was a member of a family of the Clan's distant branches, later on becoming an orphan after an unexpected and untimely death of both his parents. As a growing boy Izami was given special tasks that only families of the main branch were allowed to preform. Tasks that would test his abilities in the fields of combat challenging him to use his inherited techniques of visual paralysis with ninjutsu (6) as well as genjutsu (7) and taijutsu (8). Day in and day out, the young Izami would train but at night, Izami and Atori would meet; both eager to show eachot her what they had learned that day. Every night they would spend countless hours teaching and learning each others techniques; completely focused on trying to get better, it was no wonder that they had both awaken each others Sharingans (9) simultaneously. However even though much good came for the both of them while training at night; without either of them knowing Izami and Atori had been exchanging with each other special techniques that opposite sides of the family had been keeping secret from each other and as time went by, their innocent deception started to show during their everday family training sessions. Despite being often questioned of how they learned such techniques by their families, they were able to make up excuses and keep secret what they had been teaching eachother. As their training continued, often enough Izami and Atori both proved to be a skilled shinobi, till one day it was time to have a contest between the Uchiha youth of the main branches and the Uchiha  youth of the distant branches. Of course because Izami and Atori were the most devoted to their ninja arts, they found themselves in the final round facing eachother. With this moment at hand however, what would start as an honest fight to determain who was the better shinobi would soon become the spark of a great change in the Uchiha Clan.

Definition Analysis

Note: These are just simple analysis, for more references go to nartuo.wikia.com.

1) Madara: Madara Uchiha (Mah-der-rah/OO-chee-ha) i s a member of the Uchiha Clan Reincarntion of Indra Uchiha. Saught to change the Uchiha Clan, and become a very powerful ninja and rule over the Shinobi world. However after being defeated by Hashirama Senju, he was forced to live the rest of his days plotting to change the world by controling the Ten Tails power to cast a Genjutsu called the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

2) Indra Uchiha: Indra Uchiha (Ind-rah) is the first born son of the great Sage of the Six Paths and grandson of the Rabbit Goddess. Indra recieved the most powerful of his father genes including the power of the Sharingan and among many other things as well. Sought to become the Guardian of the Shinobi world but was overlooked and instead his younger brother Asura was chosen. Angered by this Indra would fight Asura out of hate, carrying that hate for the rest of his life and spreading it to all his ancestors for many years to come.

3) Sage of the Six Paths: Born Hagoromo Otsutsuki(Ha-go-rome-O), is seen as a god like figure after creating what is known as Ninsu, as well as the Shinobi world and defeating the Ten Tails, on top of being the son of the Rabbit Goddess. Had two Sons: Indra who was the first born, and Asura, his youngest.

4) Rabbit Goddess: Born Kaguya Otsutsuki (Kah-gew-yah); First Human to ever have and use Chakra. After stealing the forbidden fruit from the Shinju Tree she sought to bring peace to the world of all it's fighting and plague. However once seen as a god, started being feared as a demon after demonstrating her power. Had two sons: Hogoromo; who would become the Gaurdian of the world and known as the Sage of the Six Paths.

5) Hashirama: Hashirama Senju (Ha-she-rah-ma/Sen-jew) is a member of the Senju clan and reincarnation of Asura, son of the Sage of the Six Paths. Fought with Madara Uchiha.

6, 7, 8) Nin, Gen, Tai-jutsu: Three main types of fighting styles used by Shinobi. Ninjutsu consists of using ninja arts that would otherwise not be able to be used by normal humans. Genjutsu consist of using illusions and mind tricks to manipulate an opponent. Taijutsu consists of using physical abilities such as punching and kicking, idealy used for hand to hand close up combat.

9) Sharingan: Sharingan (Shah-rin-gon) is a Kekkei Genki (or inherited jutsu) of the Uchiha Clan that exists in the eyes of the user. It allows the user of the Sharigan to do multiple types and forms of jutsu, including genjutsu's. Weilders of the Sharigan can also sence chakra flow and even make it so the user can predict what their opponent is about to do. The Sharigan appears in the users iris of their eyes as a glowing scarlet/red with a single black pupil in the middle of the eye where one normally would be. There are also between one, two, or even three, extra tear drop shaped pupils in the 0, 120, and 240 degree positions of the iris. There are also developments of the Sharingan called the Mangekyou Sharingan which can vary in look between many polygon like patterns. The Sharingan is awaken most commonly by the desire of power or experiences of ample hate and pain.

Uchiha Family Bloodline:

Izami: (Single Child) son of Hideki

Hideki: (Brother of Akane[M]) Son of Katashi

Katashi: (Brother of Mami[F], Gorou[M], Jurou[M], Ichirou[M])Son of Takeshi

Takeshi: (Brother of Satosuke[M], Osamu[M], Natsumi[F]) Son of Yusuke

Yusuke: (Brother of Mizuki[F], Hibiki[M]) Son of Sobi

Sobi Uchiha: (brother of Aimi Hyuga) Son of Indra

Chapter 2: A Bestfriend's Rivalry
Izami's heart was pumping; beating, beating, beating, louder than a drum. He stood with his feet lightly placed right foot foward and left foot back so that he could be ready to make a quick movement. His body turned to the side facing left to make himself less of a target. Arms out clenched into fists and eyes focused. They were glowing the signature scarlet red of the Sharingan, fixed on his opponent laying on the ground in front of him. The battle that had just recently taken place proved to be too much for the other shinobi and Izami had come out on top. Relieved, he shut his eyes and took a deep breath, holding it in for a few seconds then slowly released what seemed like every bit of air in his lung capacity. Now, opening his eyes and returning them back to the normality of a glazed dark hazel began to look up. The offical raised his flag signing that Izami had won the fight and with a deep yet echoing voice he announced, "Tarou has been koncked out, Izami is the winner!" Following the announcement made was clapping, whistling and cheering all for Izami by his friends and family. However, despite everyone noticeably applauding him, the only thing his attention was focused on was the boy standing in the far back Northwest corner of the arena. It was Atori and his glistening deep red eyes were beating down on Izami. In that exact instant that Izami's eyes had become fixed on Atori's, time slowed to an absolute stop and the brighten area around him had grown considerably dimmer. The people that were once celebrating his actions had faded into the darkness and what was left was nothing but an abandoned arena; unihabitted by anyone but Izami and Atori. An annoying ring began to go through both Izami's ears steady and quiet at first, but progressively growing louder and louder till it began to overwhelm his sense of hearing to the point that it was the only thing passing through his eardrums. Izami covered his hands over his ears in attempt to stop the ringing, clenching now trying to block out the sound all of the sudden unwilingly started to raise his head towards Atori; almost as if by force. His assumed friend began to speak and even though he could not hear a thing, he was able to read the motion of Atori's mouth to the up most perfection. He lipped, "I. Will. Beat you." And in the last moment of Atori moving his mouth everything came back to him; the arnea, the light, the people, the applauding, all at once, appeared before his eyes but Atori was no where. It was now that Izami had realized that he had been under a genjutsu that he specifically had taught Atori and in an instant Izami began to feel a heavy weight come over him. His eyes began to close, his body giving out; falling now he muttered before finally hitting the ground, "Atori..." The crowd gasped, and what was just moments ago a loud and rowdy group of people, now completely silent. Each of them wondering what had happened to Izami; the official squatted down and checked his vitals... Izami had become as stiff as board. "The boy fainted." announced the Offical. Izami's father Hideki, came over to him and without a word, scooped up his son into his arms and walked away.

When Izami had finally woke up it was night. He was back at his house, in his room, alone. Slowly opening his eyes at first, but as soon as he had fully come to and realized what had happened, he shot up out of his bed ready to fight. Noticing now that there was nothing he could do and that much time had passed since his encounter with Atori at the arena that morning, he slowly calmed himself down. Confused about what to do next, Izami wondered outside until he found a place he felt comfortable in. He stood just above his patio, leaning against a post holding up the roof of the porch. He looked out into lands ahead, brightened by the full moon. It was a lively night and the sounds of critters and animals alike that were normally heard seemed considerably louder; however the only thing that Izami was focused on was his thoughts. With nothing to do, Izami contemplated many things inside his mind: What had happen? Why he colapsed like that? Why Atori had done such a thing? Lost in his thoughts, Izami didn't even notice that his father had walked up behind him. "You should be Sleeping," said Hideki in a moderate but rugged voice. Startled by his father's words, Izami jumped foward and pivoted towards Hideki. "You're not yourself Izami," proclaimed Hideki. Izami glanced at his father but slowly looked away, for he had nothing to say to Hideki. Confused by what had happened to his son, Hideki asked a series of questions concerning the events that took place ealier. Unable to tell the truth however Izami starred endlessly into moonlight, with only but one answer for his father... "I was tired." Raged by Izami's answer Hideki lectured his son, demanding that he do better in the final match next week. To which Izami responded in a snotty tone, "better than ever."

Satisfied enough with Izami's answer Hideki walked off back inside the house to sleep, leaving Izami with much to think about. He wasn't tired for he had slept all day, so Izami decided to wander about the land aimlessly. Kicking stones as he walked along the path, short distances at first no more than a few steps ahead of him; then progressively larger kicks with more force and before he knew it Izami was running ahead. Faster and faster, now in a full out sprint, rushing and jumping up into the trees, rapidly hopping across the low branches; It was almost as if he was flying across the forest. Izami kept on going, increasing his speed with every landing, every push was harder against the wood to the point of breaking and splintering the branches with each jump. Izami was moving so fast now that the sound from each of his movements was delayed shortly after every jump. This super human strength, this advancement in chakra flow, and this blind fury of energy that was being exerted from Izami seemed to have come from nowhere. It was almost as if a deep part him, holding all this power had been awaken by his frustration. Izami's eyes began glowing that deep scarlet red, for he had unwillingly started using his Sharigan to focus his chakra easier while performing. But then all of the sudden, Izami's rapid advancement was halted; he had come to an opening. There was a dark figure no taller than Izami himself, standing there calm and patiently, almost as if it was waiting for him this whole time. Standing there now Izami studied the figure's chakra flow, but as he did this he muttered to himself, "it couldn't be," and within that instant the figure open it's eyes. Izami had made no mistake, he knew now for sure that it was Atori.

Atori starred at Izami and Izami starred back with a puzzled look on his face. Atori said nothing however, as if he was waiting for Izami to speak first. Izami had a million thoughts going through his head and had no idea how to react to this random appearance of his once very close friend. Confused at first how Atori got there, but then his confusion soon transformed in anger. Why he was there was the least of Izami's worries now, what he wanted to know was why Atori did such a thing to him earlier that day. Why did he cast that genjutsu on him, why his bestfriend who he shared such a brotherly bond with was acting so hostile towards him now. All the thoughts going through Izami's head needed to be answered and they needed to be answered now. He mumbled, "what the hell are you doing?" Atori did not answer. Izami spoke again, a little louder this time. "I said, what, the hell, are you doing? Still no answer from Atori. Izami now fed up with getting no response from Atori finally let his actions get the best with him and all at once now yelled at the top of his lungs. "WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU ATTACK ME WHILE I WAS AT MY WEAKEST! YOU EMBARRASS ME IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE CLAN AND MY FATHER! I SHOWED YOU EVERYTHING I KNOW AND THEN YOU USE THAT AGAINST ME YOU BAST-" "Izami..." Atori inte voice, looking up at Izami with a grin on his face. Izami looked suprised, for he did not expect Atori to speak up while he was yelling at him. "You are like a brother to me, and through the years I have never seen such compasion from anyone but you. For that I give you my gratitude..." "Then why are you doing this!" Izami interupted and shouted. Atori continued. "I am doing this because I am convinced you are my only equal." Shocked by Atori's response, A chill ran down Izami's spine and he found himself speechless; instead of talking out, he began to feel a lump in his throat and could not mutter a word had he even wanted to. "You see, since we were no more than a few years old we've trained together. Growing together in every way; our power and strength had no max when we were side by side. But now we are fully grown, there is nothing more that we can learn from eachother..." Atori paused, and Izami saw his chance to speak up, and said. "But our paths have travled in the same direction for so long, what about our goals together, our dreams, we were going to lead our clan together uniting our famililes!" Atori interupted. "There is no way that could ever happen Izami, our families will never fully unite, our dreams and goals are but just ideals of ignorant childern, That once long travled path we shared splits and our paths stop going the same direction now." "But, Atori, I still don't know why you are doing this." Izami wimpered. In response, Atori spoke out again, "I already told you... I am doing this because I beleive that right now you are my only equal." "But that still doesnt explain why you used my own jutsu against me when I was weak after that battle." Izami replied. Following that,  Atori chuckled and said, "Ha, don't you see, I wanted that to happen, I wanted you to build your rage against me, I wanted you to be embarresed. I am convinced that you are my only match, but for that to happen, you cannot fight me as if you were my friend. No, for you to prove that to me, you have to be angry with me, you have to hate me. To truely prove this, you must fight me as if I were your enemy." With tears building up, Izami blurted out, "But how can I hate someone who I have cared for all this time? How can I see you as an enemy when I have thought of you as my brother for so long!?" Atori, looked down and shook his head slowly, then said in a caring tone. "Maybe we are like brothers and maybe you do show compassion towards me... Maybe I am wrong about you." Then raised his head and changed back to a searing darkened tone, "But I suppose I will only find out when we fight one another once and for all! So for now I am no longer a person you look at as your brother. No longer will you show compassion towards me, and longer am I your friend, because from now on I will not do the same to you. From here on out till either one of us dies, we are rivals." And before Izami could finish hearing what Atori was saying, Atori had jolted off. Leaving behind Izami with nothing but his tears.

Chapter 3: Six Days and Nights
Izami was filled with an abundance of mixed emotions. In reality Atori had left Izami there by himself in an instant but to Izami, what Atori had really left behind was years of thoughts and memories. Izami's legs began to feel weak again and with almost no warning they gave out on him. He collapsed to his knees and put his arms out in front of him to hold his weight. With his head tucked in between his shoulders Izami had nothing more to do than sob. His Kimo was starting to get damp from his tears flowing down his chin and neck, but he did not care. Izami didn't care about anything, he was still confused and his mind was mentally shot. Such comprehension was hard for Izami to take in, the fact that his best friend had broken every bond that he had ever had with him. Izami was distressed, trying not to whimper as much now, he found it nearly impossible to keep his feelings bottled up. And without the strength or power to exert his emotions in any other way Izami leaned back and all at once let out a loud combination of every noise that his vocal cords could make till his face started to turn red and blue from the lack of air, and until he couldn't anymore. His voice was shot now, and his throat hurt, but his worries left him with a blank stare. He laid back now looking up into the night; the trees above him, the stars covering the sky and finally the moon. It was brighter than ever now and It reminded him of a night not so long ago; one of the many nights that he and Atori had been sneaking around to train on. But the night that Izami was reminiscing about was not like the others; for this night was the night that both Izami and Atori had awaken their Sharingans.

Summer had just began not more than a week or so ago. and the sun had just gone down. It was late June and the Moon was just about to rise as fully waxed. The day had brought on a lot of useful practices that Izami could use to aid in his new technique. He was ready to test them out on Atori, and even despite training all day, exhaustion was beyond Izami's mindset. For what Izami had planned was nothing to what he had been training for before. He knew Atori was equally training just as hard if not harder than Izami and this new technique of his was bond to put Izami ahead of Atori. Although Izami was more than ready to meet with Atori he knew he would have to resist and suppress his excitement until his parents feel asleep. For he knew that he would ruin any of his chances of getting out if he woke them. Minutes passed, then hours, and even though Izami was more than ready to leave in an instant, he waited patiently. Once he was sure that his parents were sound asleep, he did what he had grown accustomed to and snook out of his house without a single creak or any bit of noise made. Jolting off now as fast as he could through the forest he headed north to where he and Atori usually met. Secluded by a dense wood was a clearing made by him and Atori just for what they were doing, training in secret. Izami realized that he was runing late and hoped that Atori hadn't been waiting for too long. When Izami finally reached the clear area, Atori was no where to be seen. Izami shouted out "Atori! I'm He-" "I know." Atorti interrupted as he jumped down from a tree right behind Izami. "You're always here first." Izami chuckled. "You're always late!" Atori replied. Izami shrugged. "Well how was training today?" Atori asked? "Great!" Izami shouted back at Atori. "I have a new technique I want to try tonight before I show it off to the main branch families tomorrow." Izami continued to say to Atori. "Oh do you Izami? Well then I guess I'll have to work on some of my new techniques as well to keep up with you." Atori said with a sly tone. "Shall we start with some sparring then?" Izami asked with an eager smile. "If by sparring you mean a fight to see who's families' have the better training results, then by all means!" Atori said with a smirk on his face. Jokingly Atori bowed in a feminine way before Izami as a means of sarcasm, letting him know that Atori was already waiting for him to begin the fight. Izami knew that Atori was just kidding but he had waited far to long to just be messing around tonight. So without hesitation Izami lunged at Atori in attempt to catch him off guard. Quickly Atori reacted and countered Izami's lunge towards him by pulling back and grabbing Izami's kimo to force his weight forward. Almost tripping over himself from Atori's counter Izami quickly jumped up in the air to the nearest branch before Atori could make an offence.

Izami began panting trying to regain his breath. He realized that it was foolish to lunge at Atori now and that he must have figured that he was going to make a quick move and try to catch him off guard. "Stupid! Stupid! I can't be so goddamn predictable like that. I have to make a plan, and I have to make one quick!" Izami said to himself. "You said you were going to show me some new technique? I'm still waiting! Or was that attack that I just countered it?" Atori shouted up at Izami with a cocky grin on his face. Izami had to make a move and it had to be done right. He carefully thought out a plan... It would have to involve engaging Atori with his sword, and a distraction, just to give him enough time to focus his chakra into his blade to make his newest technique work. It couldn't be too predictable, and his opening had to be just right. So many variables, so much room for error, but Izami was smart and in that instant his plan was finished. Izami focused his chakra in his legs and down on the branch he was standing on, making it bend back a bit. Then he eased up and the branch began to swing back. At the same time that the branch was flinging back now Izami used the force and released himself from the branch to aid in his speed. Izami was flying directly at Atori now... This was it, he had his chance to make up a plan, there was no going back now. From the moment he left that branch he commited to the battle, and hopefully the time that he had taken was just enough to plan out the perfect strategy.

Before Izami had even landed from his jump Atori had left the ground and was now flipping over him just as Izami had predicted. Izami needed Atori to draw his kunai(1) out for his plan to work though, but Atori remained neutral and did not make an offence. Izami quickly recovered from his landing and turned to face Atori. He drew his blade and made an attack on Atori; advancing on on him with his sword, slashing and stabbing and lunging with each step in attempt to make Atori draw his weapon. Still though Atori just dodged each attack that Izami made. Izami wasn't going fast enough and if he was going to make Atori draw he would have to go faster. He knew that if he could just make Atori defend himself with his kunai that he could disarm him and leave him just enough time to make a substitution so he could preform his new technique. Izami disengaged from Atori and reanimated his attack style. He would attack with more offense now leaving his body open to make Atori think he was getting sloppy hopefully making Atori counter and attack him. He speeded up and launched at Atori with both hands above his head holding his blade making it look like he was going to come down on Atori in a crushing motion. With no where to go Atori got into a ready stanch and reached for his kunai... He had taken the bait. Just before engaging Izami switched his hands around into a stabbing motion and charged aiming at Atori's shoulder. Originally if Izami had charged at Atori with his sword over his head, Atori could have dodged and stabbed Izami in the chest. However because there was no time for Atori to put his kunai back he had to fight with it and make a choice. Either block Izami's blade with his kunai and most likely be disarmed by Izami after... or take the blow. Izami was coming in quick, for he had already saw his opening and increased the speed in his steps. Izami was ready for Atori to block his attack and made a quick final leap then planted his feet right in front of Atori just before delivering his attack. Izami prepared for Atori to redirect his blade so he began to grip tight! But something was wrong Atori was not moving his hand to deffend his body and as Izami thrust his blade forward its sharp edge pierced Atori's shoulder and sliced the muscle tisue of his deltoid clean through... Atori had taken the hit. As Izami's eyes widened, Atori disengaged and leaped back from Izami up to a near by branch. Shocked by Atori's decision to take the hit Izami was lost in the moment and starred blankly at the tip of his sword now covered in his friend's blood.

Atori was on one knee clenching from the pain and began panting... Izami looked up at Atori. "What did you take that hit for? You could have blocked it!" Izami asked. "What so you could disarm me after?" Izami gasped, and realized that Atori had seen right through his attack. "So your new technique is with your blade, huh? Well then I guess it's time to get serious..." Izami had to rethink his strategy if Atori knew now that his technique was with his sword. Atori could think of a plan that could counter Izami's faster and more efficiently so Izami had to think carefully to make it work. Izami had the advantage now though since Atori's arm was wounded. He figured he would have to trick Atori with a genjutsu if he wanted any chance at being able to preform his technique now. Thinking over his other options quickly he came to the conclusion that yes, a genjutsu was in fact the only way; but it would have to be at the right time.

Atori spoke out "You know you wont be able to use that blade of yours now... you're better off just putting it away." Atori was being cocky again but he was right, his smart ass remark proved to be true for if he were to attack Atori right now with his blade, he would be either disarmed or exposed.

Izami took a deep breath, closed his eyes, clenched them tight, then reopened them wide. He brought his hands together and signed quickly the symbols for one of his jutsus. Focusing his chakra into his lungs he yelled out fire style, fireball jutsu. Izami was whirling a huge ball of fire directly at Atori fast. Atori started to feel the heat coming right at him, he jumped out of the way within inches of the fire hitting him. The tree that he had been resting on was now searing with flames. Atori jumped to the ground quickly but to his surprise there was multiple shuriken(2) flying towards him. Atori jumped back as the shuriken landed on the ground just near his feet. He jumped into the nearest branch and Izami signed again for another fireball. Again he maneuvered just in time for him to miss Izami's attack, but again he was greeted by another hail of shuriken. He was behind Izami's movements and he needed to step it up if he was to make any sort of counter. He figured Izami was just trying to tire him out but when Atori went to try and make a move towards Izami he realized that the ground in front of him was covered in shuriken. He had no way of advancing on Izami without jumping into the air and losing the advantage now. So he jumped back but again to Atori's surprise there was no where to jump to, all the trees were on fire and burning around him. It was a trap! Izami had been missing Atori all along on purpose. He was in the air now surrounded by smoke; completely vulnerable to an attack. Atori was so frustrated that he had let himself get caught up in a trap so easily that he began to get enraged. Atori had to do something and it had to be done now!

This was Izami's chance his plan had worked! But Atori was still Atori and Izami knew that even if he trapped him, that he could still counter an attack. Izami had to make sure Atori was completely distracted and all he had to do now was cast a genjutsu to make Atori think that he was going to attack him directly while Izami would focus his chakra into his sword and come down on Atori from above.

Izami cast his genjutsu and made an illusion of himself push through the smoke with his sword in hand ready to attack Atori. And as Izami had hoped for Atori was taking the bait and about to defend himself from Izami's illusion. Izami had to be quick now, he took out his actual blade and focused his chakra into his hands and up through the sword. He leaped into the air and yelled out Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi(3) Justsu! His Sword was shaking and it began to produce a glowing a vibrant white skirt around it that seemed to evaporate in a mist of a midnight black. He was launching through the air right below Atori; he had him! It took till just then for Atori to realize that the Izami that had been leaping towards him from the front was an illusion and that the one flying through the air above him now was the real one. Izami was no less than a foot away, he was ready to take up his sword and ease up not to hurt Atori. But just at the last second Izami became shook... Time had seemed to be halted.

Atori turned his head in what seemed to be slow motion now directly at the real Izami. The illusion of Izami has cast began to fade away into a mist, and what was left was just him and Atori locking eye contact. Izami's dark Hazel eyes were focused directly on Atori, but there was something different about Atori's eyes. They were not the charred wooden dark brown that Izami had been used to seeing. No, Atori's eyes were glowing a scarlet red; it was Atori's sharingan, he had awakened it. Just in that moment, Izami found his body facing the other direction but his head was turned up towards Atori; no longer was Izami right above him, about to attack. He still was looking directly at Atori unable to take his eyes off of his. It was now that he realized that he was in the exact same position that Atori had been in and Atori was directly above, where Izami had been; they had traded places.

Atori, with full force punched through Izami. Atroi's fist had hooked around and hit Izami directed in his chest. The Force pushed Izami from the air directly to the ground below landing on some of the shuriken that Izami had thrown just seconds ago at Atroi. Izami dragged across the ground tearing up his clothes and exposing his skin. He was scraped up and the dirt and sand that he had been dragged across was driving into his wounds from the extreme force that Atori had hit him with. Izami lay there looking above as Atori swooped down and landed just a few meters away from him. He tried puting his arms out and getting himself up but the pain was so deep that they gave out on him and his face and arms feel to the dirt. He tried once more this time trying to put his legs under him to support his weight, but everything ached and again he fell to the ground. It was as if gravity had increased 100x and was forcing him down. Izami could do nothing else but look up at Atori. Atori glared down at Izami with his gleaming red eyes; He stood tall with his arms crossed and spoke out... "Wow, Izami that was some technique... too bad it was no match for mine. I guess the main branch families aren't all that they are cut out to be are they Izami? Ha! Or maybe your just the runt of the litter!" "TAKE THAT BACK!" Izami shouted out at Atori. To which Atori replied sarcastically, "make me..." Izami struggled now, everything in his mind told him to get up, but his body clenched at every movement he made; the pain was too much to bare and there was no way he could get up, not in the state that he was in. "What happened Izami? I thought you were going to become so strong that one day you would lead the Uchiha Clan, that you were going to be the strongest Uchiha to ever live. You can't do that on the ground!" Izami closed his eyes... Atori's words rang in his ears, and echoed in his mind. Atori's repeated voice sunk deep into Izami's thoughts and far into his conscience. it made him think, Atori was right! Izami wasn't going to get anywhere on the ground. He must be the best, he had to be the best, he needed to be the best! His anger and frustration of not being able to move, his thoughts of wanting to be the best, his defeat against Atori, all mixed up inside him now and began to boil his emotions. Izami yelled out in agony one last time as if he was exploding from the inside. Atori again looked down at Izami and said "You're finished..." Izami concentrated, he needed all of his chakra focused on moving every part of his body; something that take a lot of strength and would be harder than ever considering he had pushed himself far past his limits already. He was running off sheer willpower. Izami struggled harder than ever... but then all of the sudden, it felt much easier, an extreme weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He could do it!

Atori continued to say "Y ou can't say such strong words of becoming the best if you don't have strong actions to back them up. You can't make a change if you are too weak Iza-" I CAN CHANGE!" Izami yelled out interrupting Atori, as he rose to his feet slowly but surely. Atori opened his eyes wide in disbelief... And in an instant Izami jolted towards Atori and clenched his shirt, lifting Atori up and holding him out in front of him. Completely surprised and shocked by what Izami was able to do Atori had gave himself no time to react to Izami's actions. He continued to be in shock, baffled by how Izami had gotten so strong. Atori looked at Izami as he was being held up by him, but Izami's head was down. "I can make a change..." Izami said as he looked up at Atori and as the shadows faded away and the moon's light hit Izami's face, Atori saw a different side of him. It was Izami's eye's they were glowing that deep scarlet red... Izami had awaken his Sharingan. Izami continued, "I just need you to help me... It's not that I can make a change, and it's not that I can be the best. It's that WE can Atori... We will change things, and we will become the best that our clan has seen." It was then that Izami let Atori go, and held out his hand. Atori took a second and tried to comprehend what was going on. He looked at Izami's hand and realized now what Izami was offering. calm now, Atori smiled at Izami and said, "alright Izami, from now on WE will be the best!" Then Atori threw his hand out and gripped Izami's hand as a sign of trust. The sound of their hands joining each other made a loud and echoing *SMACK*

The noise echoed in Izami's ears and mind and finally Izami woke with a *gasp*. Confused for a moment what had happened. He looked around, the sunlight was just creeping through the trees, birds were well alive and singing and deer below him were walking through the bushes. Izami had dozed off from his exhaustion, and it was then that he had come to and realized he had been dreaming. Still though he knew what had happned the night before and as soon as he realized this his feelings and thoughts came back to him. He wondered why things changed, why things were they are now, and what ever happened to the Atori he once came to share such a strong bond with. Things hadn't been the same since he lost his parents, yet Izami knew Atori was strong in the heart and could fight off his feelings and remain the same. Although things were not the same. Something happened to Atori that changed what they once had.

Izami thought to himself about last night and the night that they make a pack with each other, then he remembered what Atori has said to him... "From here on out, till either one of us dies, we are rivals..." Atori's voice rang in Izami's ears. Izami realized then that w hat he had dreamt was of a time not so long ago where he and Atori were the best of friends, now reality had set in. Atori was no longer a friend of his... Izami was no longer able to focus on becoming the best, or how to change his clan. What he had to focus on now was his fight with Atori coming up, a fight that would end badly either way. Izami had no time now to think of what had happened the night before or what had happened years ago. He had to focus on reality: the very thing that was closing in on him. He realized now that reality was not what he wished it would be, instead reality was the competition he must fight in that was in less than a week now. Izami had to face reality as it stood, and reality was six days, and nights away.

Defintion Analysis:

Kunai: A wrought iron multi-purpose tool used by many Shinobi. Many variations of the Kunai are made, but is generally a sharp knife shaped to a straight point with a handle.

Shuriken:  A weapon in the form of a star with projecting blades or points, (giving it the name ninja star, or throwing star). Made in many Variations, used by many Shinobi.

 Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi:  Literally means: Grass Cutting Sword. Was the legend to be the sword of the god Susanoo, also used by Izanagi to kill his offspring Kagu-tsuchi. *For more info, go to wiki Susanoo or Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi*

Chapter 4: The Puddle of Truth
Izami hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, but it was nothing he wasn't used to. Izami could go hours or even days without sleep; all part of his training. He had trained for years with his family and clan but nothing now would compare to what he was about to face. He needed the best training he could get, he needed someone to teach him things he would never be able to accomplish on his own, what he needed was his father.

Hideki was a legend to most, a true shinobi master. Stubborn at times but above all he was the best in the clan by far. Hideki had come from a proud main branch family and was worked to the core day in and day out much like Izami. Unlike Izami however, Hideki had surpassed his clan's training in only a matter of years. That is when he started creating his own jutsu's and began to master the arts of a shinobi. For a while Hideki had known every jutsu in the clan and even his own jutsu that he created would start to become a whole new outlook for the clan. It was not long untill Hideki became the most skilled ninja in the Uchiha Clan but his powerful position only aided into his arogance. You see Hideki was raised as the best and only saw himself as the best. Because he was from the Uchiha Clan's main branch he saw his superiority and believed in his heart and mind that separate branch families were inferior to him and the main branch in every way. His power made many proud but among those that were empowered Hideki's power were those who feared him. These were the Uchiha's distant branch families and when they realized that Hideki was enforcing his ignorance through power on the clan a small uproar took place. They distant branch families accused Hideki of becoming a tyrant mad with power. Many pushed this aside but the leadership of the Uchiha Clan agreed with the accusations and thus to prevent a social dominance over either side; Distant branch families and Main branch families would under go different training lessons and would be taught separate fighting styles from one another. Many argued that this would only further the discrimination towards the different families. However, it was only agreed upon to keep peace not to settle differences. To this day Hideki still only believes in the power of the main branch families but is forced to keep his mouth shut on such thoughts. Because of this, he never was able to raise Izami the way he wanted to, but he still had pride in his only child. He one day told Izami that when the day comes where he has surpassed everyone he knows then he is to come to him and he will put him through the hardest training of his life to show Izami the things he had to go through to become the best.

Izami's original plans were idealistic and without knowledge of the type of person his father really was he one day hoped that he and Atori would both go through his father's training together and they would both surpass Hideki and show the clan that a Main branch member and a Distant branch member can train together and have the same life. However that was before... A part of Izami still wished that he had Atori walking at his side to ask his father for training together, but that was only a part of him. A part of Izami that no longer had a place in this reality. In this world Izami had to face what he had come to know as a friend straight on. There was no US, there was no WE, there was no TOGETHER anymore. It was just, IZAMI; and that was something he had to get used to. Still Izami was wondering what had changed Atori's mind so drastically in such a short time, but beyond what Izami knew and didn't know was the fact that he still had to face Atori either way. There was no running away, even though a part of him just wished he could. He was not raised that way however, and even though despite his outlook on the pointlessness of the separation of families in the clan, he still had pride being a Main branch member. The thought of actually fighting Atori head on made his stomach turn. This was no ordinary sparring match, he could actually die... Izami paused at that thought... "I could die." he thought to himself, "would Atori actually want to kill me?" all of the sudden a million thoughts went through his head, "if I don't die, then will I have to kill him? But if I don't kill him, will he kill me? What if I do die? What will happen to Atroi? Does Atori have it in him to kill me? Could I actually kill Atori if I had to???!!!" These thoughts made him sick. He felt something come up through his throat, he opened his mouth and up-chucked water and bile. He hadn't eaten much and was dry heaving now because of it. He slowly looked for a place to sit but nothing was avalible. He fell to his knees then turned and plopped down on his behind to sit. Izami was shaken and scared, he wanted nothing more to just run away right now but he knew he couldn't ever do that. Izami had finally found himself in a position of no return. More simply he was stuck in the middle of a rock and a hard place; a complete example of a catch twenty-two.

Izami was supposed to be on his way to honorable ask for his father's training, however along the way he became lost in his thoughts. When his stomach finally calmed down, he stood back up and started walking towards his fathers studio. Once it came into sight each of Izami's steps became slower and slower, he was more nervous than ever but he couldn't show that to his father. He needed to be tough... He needed to show his father that he was ready to begin his training. To defeat Atori, to earn the title as the best, and to move on in life and face reality as it stood. Before the steps of the studio began however was a small puddle. Izami saw a frog leap out of it and off the path. He assumed it must have been afraid of him and ran off. Izami then thought to himself, "I wish I could be like that frog, having it as easy as him... just running away from its fear instead of trying to face it knowing it wont ever overcome such a large being as myself." Izami then looked down at the puddle. The water was settling and he could now see his own reflection. He saw his face, his neck, his eyes, his hair. They all looked the same as he had always looked. But something was wrong. He did not recognize himself. He was not the same, not at all. It was then that he realized that this was not the life he wanted. He thought back to the frog, looking at him and then running. He then looked up at his father's studio... He took a deep breath, and put his leg out to step over the puddle and take the first step up the stairs. But he stopped. He kept his leg in the air, he didn't completly step over the puddle yet... he hesitated. He took his leg back, put it to the ground and ran in the other direction.

Chapter 5: The Owl, The Gorak, and The Butterfly
The day was bright, with a fairly open sky and minimal clouds covering the sun. Wind was blowing wisping the leaves through the woods to the grass in the feilds. Small gusts blew single leafs whirling through the air to the ground below. Fluttering, fluttering, gliding ever so slowly to the floor of the forest. Inches away now from hitting the ground, but all of the sudden it is swooped up by a vaccum of air.

It is Izami he is jolting through the woods, manuvering each passing branch and tree. He was running faster and faster as though he was on a set mission. But he is not... He is going no where, all this exerted energy is for nothing. He is just aimlessly running... Running from his father, running from his match, running from his future, his life, his destiny... Running away from it all. Izami didn't know what he wanted... He couldn't seem to grip onto the reality at hand, and was too confused as to what to do next. He wanted to confront his father, He wanted to change Atori's mind, he wanted many things but above all he just wanted to be alone. He needed time to himself; time to just think and escape this nightmare of a life that he had been provoked into. He figured the only way to do this was to run; run as far and as fast away from this place as possible.

Still sprinting now Izami had no intention of slowing down untill he was completely alone. He decided to take to the trees and get up to higher ground to investigate his ideal location to run to. Before leaving the ground Izami made sure he had the right footing and clearence to do this. He counted his steps, one... two... and on the third he bent his legs and powered through his motion with a hefty lunge and jumped up vertically to a tall branch that he figured would be able to support his weight. It was thick enough and the branches around that height were consistent enough in thickness to also support Izami, so with haste now he continued to push through the woods. He looked down inbetween jumps from branch to branch; he was high up, at least 20 meters off the ground... a height that he once struggled to get to back in his ealier years of training.

Izami started to space out and think back to those simple times. He could remember it very well, for this was the first time ever that he had met Atori. At this time Izami was not more than 5 years old, trying to summon the power within him to focus on his chakra control. He would back up from the tree, giving himself enough distance to be able to gain enough speed to run up it. He counted each step that he took away from the tree, and on his seventh huge step, he would plant his feet. And just like that with all the power he had in him he would rush up the tree, and try to focus on keeping his feet planted to the bark. Izami would often do this alone however one day when he went back to train in the spot that he had designated for himself, another boy was there to greet him. His back was facing Izami but from what he saw, the boy had black medium hair just like Izami's and stood no more than and inch or two taller than he did. He saw the kimo that he was wearing and on the back was a very recognizable crest; it was the Uchiha Clan's insignia. "Hey!" Izami shouted at the boy. The boy turned around and said, "I take it you're the one who's been training here?" Izami smiled a bit and said "Yeah! I'm practicing to control my chakra flow by running up these trees, I'm a bit ahead of what most kids my age are doing, but I just wanted a head start." "Oh really?" The boy replied. "yep, I've been getting better everytime and today I plan on getting even higher." Izami remarked. "How far up have you gotten?" asked the boy. "you see that mark all the way up there?" the boy looked and nodded. "I got that high last night! must be just about 15 meters high!" Izami said proudly with a huge grin on his face. "Wow that's pretty high!" The boy said. "Yep!" Izami looked with astonishment. "Well you see that mark over on that tree?" the boy replied. Izami looked up and down the tree, "Where? I don't see any marks around!" Izami said. "Oh no up there..." and as the boy pointed up Izami followed his finger's direction and noticed that the boy had made a mark way higher than Izami's it was at least 25 meters high. Shocked by the sight Izami's mouth dropped in amazement. He got so angry that he started to grind his teeth in jealousy. But still amazed he had to figure out who the boy was. "Hey, you are wearing the Uchiha Clan's crest, but I have never seen you around the village... Who are you." Izami asked. "Well I've never seen you around here either but my names Uchiha Atori!" The boy replied. "Atori, my name is Izami, and you are pretty good at chakra control, so I gotta ask, will you be my friend and help me?! Izami asked now bowing before Atori. "I-uhh-sure but I'm not that good!" Atori was baffled by Izami's actions. "That's fine then Atori, we can both train together then, so we both get better at the same time!" Atori blinked and had a suprised look on his face, but then smiled and nodded his head in agreement, and bowed before Izami. "Great then from now on me and you train at the same time so we can both get help from one another!"

Izami was still leaping from tree to tree but his memories made him distracted. All of the sudden out of the corner of his eye a glowing glisp of verdant green light that seemed to be the in shape of a butterfly caught his attention. He looked over to see what it was but it was gone, vanished, not a trace. Confused Izami lost his concentration on the area infront of him and before he had time to react missed a branch and began to fall! He tried to catch himself on the truck of the tree but it was wet and damp from the pouring rain of days before. Izami had to think fast, he pushed himself off the trunk of the tree doing a flip through the air to redirect his possitioning and tried to grab a near by branch. But it was too weak and snapped almost immedietly after Izami had a grip on it. Izami was falling straight down now, nothing was around for him to stop himself. He prepared to land on a thick branch just a few meters off the ground but forgot to focus his power else where and the force of his landing hit the branch hard, splintering it, flinging peices of wood up at Izami. He hit the side of his head on the other peice of wood, and feel to the ground. His body making contact with the ground make a huge *FLOP* sound. Izami could barely move he was In such pain, Izami just laid there; his head hurt terribly and he began to feel less conscience he closed his eyes and before he knew it he had passed out.

Minutes passed, then hours, and Izami still did not wake. On top of hitting his head, Izami was exhausted from the following days with between his fight, his encounter with Atori, and the running that he had been doing all day just to try to get away from it all. When Izami finally woke it was darker out. The sun was just finishing its decent from the sky and the land had a dimming orange on top of a darkening purple tint to it. Some stars were out already to the east and it was almost dark enough now to see the moon. Izami was confused about how much time had passed or the where abouts of how far away he actually was from his village. His head was throbbing and it was hard for him to get up. He managed to walk over to a near by stream and scoop some water up with his hands to sip on. He looked up... "I should try to see where I am" Izami said to himself. So he positioned his legs, and jumped up from branch to branch till he got above the leaves of the trees. He perched himself atop of a large towering tree and looked out to the south where his village lie. He could barely see the mountains that overlooked the village and determined that he was about 180km or so away from there. Izami thought to himself what to do next. He have traveled pretty far, but not far enough... He didn't know quite what to do next; does he keep going? Farther and farther everyday till he knows that he is far enough to the point that he is gone from what he would have to face back at the village. He could, it might just be worth the strain of doing that, anything was better than going back. But he figured no matter how far he went, no matter how long he stayed away, his thoughts would haunt him. Sure he was far now, but no where in this world was far enough to get away. He stopped his thinking and listened... listened to the land, the trees, the area around him... nothing. He was alone, or at least he thought he was. As Izami decended to the ground he made the final leap from a branch about five meters up and finally landed. He still didn't know quite what to do; confused, he wandered. After pacing back and forth, he just decided to make camp and set up a small area where he could lay down and relax. Relaxation however was something that Izami wasn't going to be able to achieve. As Izami finally laid down to rest he was distracted again by a glowing glimpse of light this time however it was an aquatic gleam and the light seemed to glided down and float to a branch just a few feet across from Izami. He had never seen anything like this, it was... pure looking. Puzzled by this Izami was not sure if he should be ready for an attack or for a formal greeting.

The light began to fade and the outline of an object started to form. At first the light shrunk into a oval shape not more than 3 feet high but then the vibrant light rippled into what started to looked like some sort of bird. Izami still in shock by what was happening could only stare in amazement of what was now beginning to look like an owl. The owl still held a glowing aura around itself but the full context of the animal was well represented. The bird stood tall and it's feathers puffed out. It's chest and body had white from the face down to the bottom through its tail feathers. Surrounding the white was a magnificant sky blue that cloaked the rest of the body of the owl and right in the middle of it's breast was a golden star. The owl looked into Izami's eyes and Izami back into its dusk colored marble eyes. "Hello Uchiha Izami." said the Owl. Izami's eye's widened and his expression changed from confusion to complete disbelief. Baffled by this, Izami manage to say, "How... How do you kn-know my n-name?" His voice shook. "I know many things about you young Uchiha, things you would be suprised to hear about." Said the Owl Back to Izami. "Who even are you?" Izami managed to ask. "His name is Strixos. And I am Zamormon. He is a agent of the god Saradomin. And I... I am of Zamorak." Said a deep latin accented voice from directly behind Izami. Startled by the voice Izami quickly pivoted to see what had said such a thing. There, stood a hittious looking creature of what seemed to be the combination of a chicken and some other devilish animal. It had a beak and fethers but also horns and spikes coming out of the creature. Izami was nearly in fear, and took a step back at the sight of what ever it was. He managed to ask... "Wh-what are you? And what is Sara-do-min, and Za-mo-rak?" in a frightened voice. "I am a Gorak, from the land of Gielinor: The land that the gods Zamorak and Saradomin have claimed. Zamorak is my leader, and I am his most humble servant. This Owl here is the servant of the god Saradomin. And I... I am here to tell you the truth dear Izami." Zamormon explain. "The Truth, What Truth?!" Izami shouted out at the Gorak. The Owl quickly interupted before the Gorak could speak again. "The truth you should have known for a long time young Uchiha... The truth about your family and your clan. The truth that must be taken as lightly as possible." Strixos elucidated. "As lightly as possible Strixos? Tell me how this boy will take the news lightly?" Zamormon blurted out. "I will tell this boy what I can and hopefully he is nobble enough to take what information he was given into consideration and by the power of Saradomin to do what is right with it!" The owl argued. "What is right?! The boy will make the decision based off of his nature and that is of course by the power of Zamorak to do what is meant to be done. You can word this news to the Uchiha anyway you want but in the end he will do what he wishes and not what someone like you suggests. Lets get this straight, you are here to protect the boy from me, are you not?" The owl said nothing. "You are, and we both know that, but the thing is I was going to do nothing more than let him know what he needs to know, what he chooses to do with that information is up to his own free will." Zamormon yelled out! "You will twist the truth to your god's own liking!" Strixos yelled back. "I will tell it how it is. It does not matter how it is told. If you prefer to tell him, then go ahead! I will sit back and watch as the boy makes the decision that I have already foreseen." Said the Gorak in a sly tone. "STOP!!!!" Izami shouted out. "TELL ME NOW! WHAT IS THIS TRUTH! WHAT is it that you have both come here for?! Tell me now!" Izami's eye's were full of hate and anger, his Sharingan was gleaming into the eyes of both Strixos and Zamormon. His teeth grinded with evey passing second of silence... "If I do not get an answer now, I will kill you both." Izami threated. Strixos and Zamormon were both in shock at the look in Izami's eyes. Izami; who was once affraid of them now showed no weakness, and instead now, the role was reversed. Both Strixos and Zamormon were affaid to answer. The Owl looked at Izami then back at the Gorak, to which the Gorak looked back in a way of letting know to the Owl that it was his turn to talk. Strixos closed his eyes, opened them, looked at Izami and said. "If you want the real truth young Uchiha then you must face the one called Atori. That is when the truth will come to you. I myself cannot tell you directly; for the real truth lies within you to find. However be careful, for the the truth might set your emotions free, but it will only drive your mind into confinement. Go now, back to your village if you seek the reasons as to why your life has changed so deeply. If you do not believe me I assure you that there are no lies in the words that I speak." Izami starred deeply into the vast shining midnight eyes of Strixos. Izami saw many things in the Owl: Fear, hinderness, a sense of unjust feelings... but there were no lies in the eyes of Strixos. Izami took one last look at the Owl and the Gorak then without a word he was off.

"So you feared the outcome of his reaction to the real truth. That he would take the side of Zamorak instead of Saradomin" Zamormon said to Strixos. "I do not fear him siding with you... I fear him siding with neither of us... I fear the very worst will come of this boy."

Chapter 6: A Demand for the Truth
Within seconds Izami was far from the sights of both Strixos and Zamormon. Although his ambitions were unclear on how to unravel the truth of what was being kept from him, he only increased in speed with every step at the thought of what the truth actually was. "What could it be? What will confronting Atori do for me?" Izami was so focused on what this new information was that he ignored everything else. The Owl, the Gorak, Zamorak and Saradomin, where Gielinor was, or even why telling him the truth was so important to them. These thoughts of, "why?" passed right through Izami's mind, instead what he was determined to find was the truth about what was happening to his life.

As Izami traveled farther and farther away from Strixos and Zamormon, the tension between the two tightened. "We'll I suppose I shall take my leave then." said Zamormon. "And where would that be to?" Beckoned Strixos. "To serve my God of course." Zamormon said in a sly tone. "You and I both know that is the least of what you are going to do!" Yelled the Owl. "I see you fear what will come if that boy joins the forces of Zamorak, but it is too late, the boy seeks what Zamorak can offer and there is no stopping this! The power that this boy has will be a significant addition to legions of my God and I know that you are worried of this. Ever since the Fall of Guthix, Saradomin and his followers have been trying to establish themselves as the rulers over Gielinor. But you cannot stop us, our beliefs are superior, we believe in the human nature of chaos and that is why every day we grow stronger!" Raged the Gorak. "You don't understand... this boy cannot be used to your liking as some sort of tool!" Argued Strixos. "Oh, please! Tell me more about using humans as tools! As if your God does not do the same! Using Humans, telling them of to believe in the order and power of Saradomin. Twisting their minds then using them as pawns... Ha! Face it! You're no different from me..." Laughed Zamormon. "It is not like that you foolish soul!!! I saw into that boy's eyes! They are full of something that neither of us can control! I warn you do not tempt that boy! For the evil that comes from him will destroy us both!" Yelled Strixos. The Gorak laughed... "You underestimate my power" Zamormon said as he conjured a portal. "Fine, But if you try to interfer with this boy's life any further... I will have no choice but to step in and try to kill you both." Strixos said as the Gorak was walking away. But the Gorak stopped and paused. "What? You are not going to try and take the boy for your own anymore???" Questioned Zamormon. "As far as I see it, this boy has only one place in this life, and that is nowhere I can take him. However if he choices to do otherwise then I will by all means end his life, along with yours if I must." The Owl said with a tone of disappointment and grief. The Gorak looked at the Owl one last time and before stepping into the portal grinned and said... "Very well."

Branches snapped, trees splintered, the ground shook. Izami was coming in like a wrecking ball (lol) He was in no way shape or form trying to hide his whereabouts. He ignored his training of moving with intensive stealth, something that was considered second nature to shinobi of his kind and with great ease pushed on through the land as fast as he could back to his village. He needed to find out what the truth meant to him and if that meant pushing himself to the limits by going full force ahead then it was worth it to him. Izami had so many questions that needed to be answered but in the mist of trying to get back to his village as fast as he could, he simply put his other worries behind him and focused on one thing. The thing that he was running away from; fighting Atori

Every step that Izami took was a powerful movement forward but in the mist of getting back to his village as fast as he could, something distracted his main focus. Izami heard a faint whisper, “Izami…”  He stopped. Looked back and out of the corner of his eye he saw a verdant glimmering light again. He turned his head just in time to see the light pass right by him, but it was fast and he lost sight of it. Izami looked around… Nothing. Izami listened for anything… Nothing. Even with his Sharingan he was not able to see what it was. Whatever this glimpse of light was that Izami had seen twice now, it was gone just as fast as it came. Izami wanted to investigate more but realized his time was short. He made himself ready to be on his way but just as he was about to make a leap something happened.

All of the sudden out of what seemed to be thin air, no more than a meter in front of Izami; a crack appear. It was black, darker than any night and its appearance looked almost as if the universe was shattering. It was a ripple in the universe and at first this crack was no more than a meter high and a few inches wide; however it soon began to expand. The crack grew larger crackling with each expansion, it grew wider and now this crack seemed to have an opening that lead into a dark abyss almost as if the deepness had no end to it. Izami took a few steps back not sure yet what he was exactly encountering. This crack that was once almost unnoticeable grew to the height of a tree and then all of the sudden a hand started to come out the rippling crack. This hand however was not of a humans however; it was large, red, and there seems to be almost no skin on it, just muscles and fibers from tendons. It looked more like the claws of some short demon. The hand extended out and Izami drew his sword out and ready for an attack. The claws reach for Izami but he took his sword and swung at it. Expecting to slice right through the claw, Izami’s katana unbelievably passed right through it almost as if it was intangible. Confused about what to do next and how it was that he couldn’t his the claw, Izami just stood there and without time to react the claw grabbed him. It clenched him tightly and Izami struggled to break free but it was no use, whatever this monster was, it was much stronger than him. Izami was helpless and he could do nothing more than watch as the demon’s hand pulled him through the crack. Izami wasn’t sure what he was being pulled into but he was about to find out as he got closer and closer. He held his breath and closed his eyes almost as if he were about to be pulled underwater. But he felt nothing he opened his eyes and what he saw around him was a much more different place than what he was used to. Izami didn’t know what to expect coming through this crack but what he believe now was that this was some sort of other world. As the demon finally pulled all of Izami through it let him go and dropped him to his knees. Izami looked up, what he saw was a monsterish looking being. It stood tall; nearly 10 feet high, it had no skin at all on its body and instead what Izami was looking at was all muscles and tendons. The beasts face was devilish looking and large horns were growing from its upper forehead. Izami could also see that the demon had wings sprouting out of its back and tucked to its sides. Izami was extremely frightened; He knew that this beast already had an immense amount of strength in its arms and he was not sure what else this being was capable of. Izami did nothing but looked back up at the demon as it starred down on Izami. “Uchiha, Izami.” The demon said in a familiar sounding voice. “I have brought you here to show you something, now stand!” Izami did nothing... “I SAID RISE!” the demon’s voice roared at Izami. Izami quickly rushed to his feet. “You are here to learn of my God’s ways…” the Demon spoke out. “Your God? Do you mean Zamorak?” Izami said in a shaken voice. “That is correct Izami. Now come follow me.” The Demon said. Izami gathered himself and as the demon started to walk off, he had no other choice but to follow. Still though something seemed familiar about the demon’s voice. “Your voice, you sound a lot like a Gorak I met, His name was-“ “Zamormon? Yes it is me…” the demon interrupted. “But… Wait, you can transform?” Izami Questioned. “I have many forms, although this is the one I most commonly take.” Zamormon said. Izami continued to walk with Zamormon. He looked around and saw that where he was must be inside some sort of volcano. It was extremely hot and Izami began to sweat. He went to feel the walls around him but they were smoldering hot and almost burned himself before he could even touch them. He could see lava flowing in a stream away from and saw some other smaller looking demons much like how Zamormon looked. “There are other demons here?” Izami asked. “Yes, I am their leader, I am their direct contact with our god Zamorak. He has given me the authority to watch over these other Demons.” Zamormon said back to Izami. “Watch over them?” Izami Questioned. “Watch them, train them, feed them… whatever. Take a seat though I have some things to tell you.” Izami looked at the chairs in front of him. They were huge and also finely crafted into a gothic style décor. They were a gleaming black, the darkest thing he had ever seen. He walked over to the chair and felt it. It was surprising cool, not much like anything else in this place, and it was very hard. “What are these chairs made of?” Izami asked. “Onyx. A stone that is most precious in this world. Finer than any other and harder than a diamond. There are very few things that can break or even scratch this stone. Only the most mastered and revered craftsmen know how to work with this stone. It is so valuable amongst humans in this world that, that chair right there that you are touching could potentially be worth trillions of gold pieces. Now take a seat” Zamormon said. Izami looked at it and was surprised by its beauty, he felt the arm of it than swung around and hopped up to take a seat. He felt as though he was sitting on a throne. “Now Izami I know that you are confused as to why you are here but I will explain. You see you have a magnificent power, one that exists in your eyes. That is something that beings in this world will never be able to attain. I have seen the world that you live in and I must say that that world has no more meaning to you. What you once had was a dream… No? And that dream is no more… You are faced with the reality at hand and yet I see no point in you perusing whatever it is you wanted in that world. As far as you are concerned you no longer have a place there; you do not belong. You do belong here however, a world where your true power will never be held back, a world where people will know your exisitance throughout the land, A world will that power will rule. That is if you are to master said power. What I can offer you is even more power. Power like no other… Power in this world will give you the ability to have it anyway you’d like; Gielinor will be in your favor. Forget the world you lived in come here and restart as a power of Zamorak! It is in your nature! Those eyes of yours are filled with the hate and chaos that we as believers of Zamorak thrive on! Come Izami forget that world join us!” Zamormon was grinning with excitement and yelling at Izami. But Izami knew that his words were powerful, he was not lying but, how could he just forget everything and leave his world behind? His father, His Mother, the village, Atori… Forget all of it? He could not. “I cannot simply walk away from my clan Zamormon… I am Izami Uchiha and I might have had my moments of weakness but I am on my way back to where I belong. I will find the truth that Strixos was talking about and then I will overcome what I have to face. No matter what! I am sorry but I do not have a place in your world. Tell your God Zamorak that I am an Uchiha and I always will be!” Izami yelled back at the Demon. “Ha. The truth… You want the truth ask Hideki… He will give you the Truth.” Zamormon explained. “Hideki… my Father?” Izami said with a puzzled look. “Yes… he has hid many things from you. Things that you would not even expect. Ask him the truth, then you will understand. But be aware that this truth will not come lightly to you, you will see then that your world is not meant for you. You will realize then that you need me more than you think. That is why I am giving you this…” The Demon handed a small dagger to Izami, It was not sheathed but the dagger did not seem that sharp. It was forged from some sort of black metal; it did not shine or reflect anything and its blade was only about the size of Izami’s hand. “Use this, slice into the air and it will create a portal much like the one I pulled you through to get here. This will lead you back here if ever you should need Me. This blade only has one use though, after that it will crumble to dust.” Said Zamormon with a sly tone. “Once? I do not think I will even need to use this at all.” And with that Izami opened his hand to let it fall. But the blade is not… It stuck to his hand. Izami looked, He then tried to throw it, but it still stayed bond to him. “You cannot just simply through that blade away young Uchiha, once you touch it, it will bind to you until it is turned to dust.” Zamormon explained to Izami. “Fine then, but I still will never use it. Just tell me how to get out of here!” Izami demanded. The Demon reached out and sliced through the air with his claws. It created a ripple just like the one that Izami was pulled through. He then said to Izami. “Here you are. And whether you think you will or not… I will see you again.” The Demon said to Izami. Izami walked up to the ripple, put his hand inside of it and felt the cool air from his world. Before fully stepping through the portal however he said one last thing to Zamormon. “No. You won’t.”

Izami came out right where he had left off. He looked around and saw that the night was starting to become dawn. The sun would be up soon and he had to be back to the village before then. He looked down at the dagger in his hand, though something was strange. The opacity of the dagger had changed and it was now almost see through. He gripped it and his hand went right through it. He could not even feel the weight of it, almost as if Izami was holding a feather but even lighter. It was bond to him but he could probably hide it anywhere he needed. With that, he tucked it in his bag and began the rest of his trek back to the village.

It took Izami a fraction of the time to get back to the village from when he had originally ran away. Even though his speed made for less time to travel, it took him till morning to arrive. Izami made a final leap down from the trees to the main road of his village. It was quiet, the village still slept for the sun had not yet touched down on the valley in which his village nestled. Exhausted, Izami slowly walked through the streets making his way towards his own house. As he walked the sun began to come up over the mountains, at first a single beam of sunshine then all at once brightness hit the village. The more he walked, the more lively things became. Slowly people began to wake, Dogs howled, chickens clucked and babies cried for their mothers to be fed. As Izami approached his house he saw his mother walking with a tray of food. Through the windows. Mornings in his house were usually calm, but Izami doubted this one will be anything like the others once he comes into the door looking like the way he is; beat up from a night of running and trekking through the dense forests of the lands.

Izami barley put his foot through the door when he heard his father say, "It's about time you came home. Did you realize running away was not an option for you finally." Hideki said. Izami was shocked, His Father knew that he had run away... "But how?" Izami thought to himself. "I have been waiting years for you to come in front of the steps of my studio, and when you finally decide that you are ready enough to take the first step, you turned and ran away... Izami, I raised you better... Although I suppose I cannot blame you, I am sure you let your emotions get the better of you, wanting to run away instead of face a close friend." Izami opened his eyes wide, and looked at his father directly... He knew all along... that he and Atori were friends. "But that's impossible, I never told anyone about Atori." Izami thought to himself with confusion. "Yes Izami I know about Atori... but that does not change the fact that you face him in 5 days. Now that you have come back I assume you are ready to train and won't be running away any time soon again. So if you wish you may come to my studio and I will assess your abilities, from there is up to me what will happen." Hideki said to his son. Izami kept on trying to think of all the possible scenarios as to how his father knew. "Was he spying on us? Was he Friends with Atori's Parents? Did he have someone tail me one day?" Then it finally came to Izami. The truth… This is what Zamormon was talking about. Izami closed his eyes to think about the best way to bring up the question to his father. But then decided to just be direct. He opened his eyes and said "I WANT THE TRUTH!"

Chapter 7: Separation of Families
There was silence. Izami was glaring at his father. Hideki look surprised to be asked a question like that and Izami figured as much. “I want the truth Father, all of it. Tell me from the beginning!” Izami shouted at Hideki. Hideki looked at Izami’s mother Shina then back at Izami. He closed his eyes, grinned and said, “My studio, two minutes, be ready for everything.” With that Hideki walked away from the table and out the sliding door towards his studio.

As his father walked away Izami looked down at the food in front of him. He had not eating in two days almost and was nearly famished. He quickly took a few bites of everything that was laid out then stood up went to his room and started getting ready. He wasn’t quite sure what he was about to get himself into or what he is about to be told but he knew that this is what will lead to many unanswered questions. He was sure of it!

Izami had grabbed everything he could: Kunai, shuriken, wraps, his chest guard, a freshly cleaned kimono to wear in place of the one he had worn for two days, wrist guards and finally his blade he named Ama-no-Murakumo. He strapped it to his back then felt something on his waist. He reached behind his back to find something he had nearly forgotten about. He pulled it out and looked, it was the black inter-dimensional blade. He stopped gathering his stuff thought to himself… “What do I even do with this?” Izami then remembered what Zamormon told him. “This blade only has one use though, after that it will crumble to dust.” If he used it just once he could go to that world, leave and never have to deal with any of this nonsense with Saradomin and Zamorak, and Gielinor and whatever else those two magical beings were blabbering on about. Still though Izami wondered what the real purpose was for those two… “Things,” coming to him in the mist of all this happening. Quickly however Izami put these thoughts behind him and came to realize his task at hand. This was of course to finally understand what was going on.

Once Izami had everything gathered he stepped outside. He was actually going to go through with it this time. He was going to go train with his father and on top of that learn what this “truth,” actually is. As Izami was walking along the path to his father’s studio, he realized that the puddle that was once in front of the steps was gone. It had evaporated and what was left was just a bit of damp dirt. Izami did now need to step over anything this time, instead it was to his convenience that he could walk up the steps with ease. No puddle, no worries, no second thoughts, no hesitation. Izami was ready and with that he started up the many steps to his father’s studio.

When he got to the top he settled his things on the deck floor to open up the sliding paper and wooden doors. This was the first time he had ever been to Hideki’s studio, it was always strictly off limits to either him or his friends. Izami was excited yet determined, and never lost focus of why he was really there. As he opened the doors he saw his grandfather’s battle gear hung up and presented off at the end of the room. It was surrounded by candles and symbols. He couldn’t see many of them but it was clear enough to tell that it was designed to be a type of shrine of his grandfather. Izami slowly picked up his stuff and walked through the room, looking around for his father at the same time as examining the setting. It was quiet, his father was not around, at least he didn’t think… Izami went up to his grandfather’s shrine and examined it a bit better. Looking at the armor and his sword, he could tell that the gear had seen its fair share of battles. “Your Grandfather Katashi...” Hideki said. Izami was surprised to hear his father’s voice but remained calm. He looked over to Hideki as he continued to speak. “He was a great man, and a great father. He inspired me to do great things, become powerful, one day lead this clan… You said you wanted the truth Izami, well I’ll tell you. Many things happened before you were old enough to understand, most happened before you could talk or even walk. I must say that I was surprised to hear you ask me for the truth… Whoever told you to ask me was not supposed to be talking to you, I can assume that much. However though, I knew this day would come.” Hideki paused as if he was looking for a way to tell his son. “What do you mean, this day?” Izami asked. Hideki looked down, then up and directly at Izami. “This day where I’d tell you all about the Main Branch families and how I used to be the leader of the Uchiha Clan.” Hideki said to his son.

It was there that Hideki told Izami all about how he had tried to undermine the distant branch families and how he rose to power as the strongest Shinobi in the clan. He continued to tell Izami about his downfall and how he was the reason for the separation of families. It was then that Hideki finally told Izami how he was not able to raise him the way he wanted. That the clan would not allow his father to tell Izami and if they ever find out, it would be punishable by death; but for now Hideki’s the risk that Hideki took was worth it. Now was the perfect time to tell Izami, now more than ever.

For a while Izami threw questions at his father and Hideki answered them with ease. With each question that Izami asked, he studied his father’s expressions to see if he could catch a bit of dishonesty. However there was not a single flinch or change in expression and with every sentence and every word that came out of Hideki’s mouth, not one of them was a lie from what Izami could see. Once he was confident enough that his father had answered all his questions truthfully, he finally asked about Atori. “Why has my friend chosen to hate me father?” Hideki stood, walked over to equipment rack and pulled out a kunai knife; he looked at it then turned towards Izami. Izami looked at his father and his father back at him. Then all of the sudden all in one motion before Izami could even tell what was going on the kunai flew past his ear. Izami flinched and his delayed reaction was only followed by his surprised expression. He had never seen his father let alone anyone else throw something that fast. Hideki had thrown the Kunai so fast that Izami didn’t even see the motion of him doing it and before he even had the time to react Hideki had already finished throwing it and reverting back to a resting position. It was as if time had skipped in between the parts of Hideki winding up, throwing the kunai, following through, and going back to a resting pose. Izami wondered what kind of jutsu it was that his father just used. Hideki looked into the eyes of Izami and said, “The best jutsu to use on an opponent is one that they have to think about. You can gain a serious advantage by outsmarting or even just confusing them. A match is as much a battle of power as it is of wits Izami. I do not know why your friend Atori has turned on you, I can only assume that the truth that I told you was told to him in the time between his parent’s death and the matches that are being held between the families of the Uchiha. Now I believe that he has opened his eyes to the truth behind our clan and sees that you two being friends is impossible.” Izami suddenly interrupted and said, “NO! Atori isn’t like that! He wouldn’t just end our friendship because of the truth! I know him better than anyone! That can’t be the reason!” … “Oh? Well like I said before the best jutsu to use is one that confuses your opponent…  Izami? Are you not confused as to why Atori has changed? Have you not been spending this entire week trying to find out why? Why all of this is happening? Did you not run away for two days and now comeback, completely exhausted and spent after your journey?” Hideki questioned. Izami spoke out “But…” Izami then thought to himself, it was true, he did spend all this time because of what Atori did. “Face it Izami, your friend Atori has already made the first move in your battle. He is a child of the indirect branches to the Uchiha, and he always will be. Do not let this boy fool you! He might have been your friend at one time but it is now that has officially ended it. It is now that you two must put aside those days and face each other as opponents! It is here Izami that you must prove to be the better Shinobi! You must prove to him, you must prove to your families, and you must prove to the Uchiha that you will not be pushed around! Shake off the idea of being friends and let me teach you things that I guarantee will have Atori trapped in mind games instead of you.” Izami was looking down but raised his head to see his father offering his hand out.

Izami had a decision to make and it seemed as though there was not much else he could do. A part of him wanted to still be friends with Atori, but he realized that this again was the reality he was facing. He realized that his father was right… That Zamormon was right… The truth had not come so lightly to him, but Izami still believe that he had a place in this world, he was better off trying to face Atori now, no more running, no more hiding, He wasn’t going to be afraid of what comes next. He would face it head on and with some of his father’s help he could do it. Izami took up Hideki’s hand and with that their training began.

Hideki and Izami would train for the remaining three days, nonstop. Hour after hour they worked hard to improve Izami’s skill to the best. Surprisingly enough Izami was a quick learner, using his Sharingan to his advantage to be able to study and reanimate the techniques his father showed him in a fraction of the time that it normally would take. They were both determined and Hideki was impressed by some of the skill that Izami had to offer. Izami’s use with his katana showed more promise than Hideki’s. “You know Izami, the way you use your blade with your shinjutsu(1) is very impressive, I can see you someday surpassing me if you haven’t already.” They continued on with their training but there was one technique that Izami found interesting. Hideki was talking, “This jutsu is very unique to me. I have done my best to ensure that this technique is kept secret only to the eyes of myself. I do not use it in battle, neither do I plan to unless all else fails. The power of this jutsu is far beyond what you can comprehend but I long planned to show you this jutsu and for you to keep it secret as well. However I believe in this match I think you should use it. My days of showing this clan power has long passed and now it is your turn. I cannot think of a better way to show how powerful you have gotten to the clan then by presenting a technique as mighty as this one. But… you must promise to keep it to yourself and yourself only, until the day you feel you have a child who can carry on your legacy.” “I accept.” Izami said back to his father. “Izami, you are my only child, most parents have many children so they can pick from the best. But regardless of how many children I would have had, and how many I actually have now, I am proud of you, and I would see you being the best regardless, it is with that thought that I am entrusting you with this technique. It is called Yata-no-Kagami(2).”

The way that Hideki explained what this jutsu did sounded very familiar to Izami but he could not quite put his thoughts together as to where he had heard this before. Izami should have been more focused on hearing the details of how and when to use the technique but that feeling of hearing this all before bothered him enough to the point where he lost his attention. Hideki continued to explain, “It is a mirroring jutsu…” Hideki’s voice echoed in his mind and then his memory sparked!

It was one of the nights that he and Atori spent training… No, it was the most recent night. The night before the Clan’s youth matches started. He and Atori were supposed to meet up just as always but something was different; Atori was late. Izami remembered quite well now.

Izami was hopping across the trees just as he liked to do so he could look out into the night. When he finally got to the clearing where he and Atori trained, he leaped down quickly. He expected Atori to be there already waiting for him as always but something wasn’t quite right, Atori wasn’t there, and neither was he hiding. He was late! But Atori was never late. Not even once in the 10 years that he and Izami had been meeting up. He waited, and waited, and waited. But still no Atori… Izami started thinking of possible excuses as to why Atori might be this late. They varied in his mind from being kidnapped by other enemy clans or even just stubbing his toe on a rock while on his way over. Either way, it was not like him. Finally though Izami heard something. Trees were breaking in the distance, and he could hear the sound getting closer. Whoever it was they were in a hurry. If it was in fact Atori coming, he would be surprised, it was not like him to be making this much noise. Atori always liked to appear on the seen like a true ninja… subtle, quiet, and unnoticed. Not knowing what to expect out of the oncoming noise, Izami took out his katana ready for what might be coming. He then realized that this probably left him in a more vulnerable spot then hopped back to the trees and up onto a branch about 30meters up. As the noise grew louder and louder, and close and closer, Izami started to get a little shaken. It finally came into view whatever it was that was making this monstrous noise. To Izami’s surprise it was actually a person; not any bigger than he was. “But, it couldn’t be Atori… could it” Izami thought to himself. The person came to the opening and stood there looking around. Izami looked at the being with his Sharingan to observe its chakra flow. Izami was shocked! He could recognize that chakra anywhere, it actually was Atori. “Atori!” shouted Izami. He jumped down from the branch to greet his friend. Izami stood in front of him with a half worried and half confused face on him. “What’s going on, why are you late, and why did you come here with such a loud entry???” Izami asked Atori. “I am in a hurry. Look there’s no real time to explain, I needed to get here quick because I felt like I was being chased!” Atori said. He kept on looking behind him and above, and to each side of him every second, Izami could tell that Atori was worried about whatever it was that was chasing him. “Chasing you? Who? An enemy clan? The Senju? The Hogoromo?” Izami questioned. He was spitting out questions left and right, while Atori himself barely had the breath to mutter a word. “No! (*Pant* *Pant*) It was the Uchiha! The families of the main branch!” Atori struggled to say to Izami. “The main branch Uchiha families? But why?” Izami questioned Atori again. “Look today I was assigned along with some other comrades to spy on some individuals of the main branch. I was told to tag alongside them and ensure that we do not get noticed. The mission was supposed to be to look and insure that these individuals weren’t up to no good. They were suspected of treason and further information was needed before full accusations could be made. (*Pant* *Pant*) We did our job, but unfortunately that is not where it ended. The captain of our team decided to follow one in particular suspect to his studio, I had no choice but to follow! (*Pant* *Pant*) We saw him practicing a new jutsu that I had never even seen before. I do not know what it was called but it looked like some sort of mirroring jutsu. I saw almost all of the hand signs for it, but missed the last one as a teammate feel from one of the branches that we were on. He hadn’t realized that it was too weak to hold him and as he fell we were spotted by the suspect. I don’t think he saw our faces, neither do I think he assumed we were of the same clan, but we were chased for some time. We split up to confuse our chasers but I haven’t seen my other two teammates since then. I returned home after I was certain that the chasers had lost me but just now as I left to meet with you, I had the feeling I was being chased!” Atori explained to Izami. Atori was completely winded and on edge. He was pale; Izami had never seen Atori so frightened. “Atori, you should have went back to whoever assigned this mission to you. Or at least hide till you knew the coast was clear.” Izami said to Atori. “I couldn’t do that… this mission was assigned to me anonymously the only qualification that this mission had was a signature of the Uchiha on the scroll which must have had some sort of sealing jutsu cast on it because after I read it, the scroll burst into black flames.” Atori said then paused. He could barely finish his sentences let alone catch his breath. He continued. “I only came here to warn you Izami, this clan might be on the verge of civil-” They were interrupted by a hail of shuriken. One caught Izami in upper bicep of the left arm, it wasn’t deep but he had no time to pull it out. Izami and Atori both jumped into the air then jolted into the high branches of the towering trees to cover them. What they saw were two figures following them just below and quickly catching up. They were no more than a few meters behind and a few feet below from Atori and Izami. They had to do something quick or else they were going to catch up to them and trap them. Atori and Izami quickly increased their speed, they were now going as fast as they could, shattering branches with each step and forcing the wood of the trees to crack and splinter as they passed by from the immense chakra they were exerting. It was still no good though, their pursuers were still right on their tail. They were just as fast if not faster. Izami was in disbelief; he didn’t know what else he could do to get rid of them. He tried to think of something but just then Atori spoke out. “Izami! I have an Idea! We need to do this quick! Split up, I’ll distract them!” Atori said to Izami with urgency. “Atori, NO WAY! I’m not going to-” “Damn it Izami, Listen to me!” Atori Interrupted. He continued. “We have to, you’re part of the main branch! If these guys are part of the main branch too they’ll kill you on the spot for treason. I can take them, I know it! I’ll use a shadow illusion to fake your image as you escape. Go home right away don’t look back! I’ll see you at the matches tomorrow. Believe me when I say this Izami, I will live! Now go!” Atori finished saying as he started the hand signs to create an illusion of Izami. Izami looked at Atori, he wanted to believe his friend would be ok, but he did not want to leave him. He knew he could do it though, He was far more intelligent than Izami was and Izami knew that he could out smart these guys in less than a minute. Izami looked back at the two Shinobi chasing them, then one last look at Atori. Izami nodded, and threw a hail of kunai at the two pursuers to distract them while Atori could cast the illusion. And with that Izami was gone.

That was the last night that he and Atori had met up as friend, it was also the night that Atori lost his parents to a fire. This encounter that both Izami and Atori had faced was all starting to make sense now. The Mission, the chase, Atori consulting with him, and last of all Atori’s parents; All of it added up now. The people that chased them that night were of the main branch families’ Yuurei Ops(3). Their duty is to ensure the protection of the Main Branch Families’ jutsu. The jutsu that Atori was telling Izami about was his Father’s own jutsu. The person that they were spying on was Hideki, and Atori risked a lot to tell Izami about what happened. But at that time Atori didn’t know that Izami’s father was the one that sent those Yuurei Ops on him. The Yuurei Ops are trained to be ruthless, and they can get away with it too. They killed Atori’s parents because Atori didn’t have enough time to get back to warn them after meeting with Izami. Atori and Izami were only chased by a couple of the many Yuurei sent out that night. They were looking to stop anyone who knew of the mirroring jutsu that was stolen from Izami’s father but when they encounter Atori and Izami in the woods they also must have reported to Hideki about Izami and Atori’s meeting. There was no other way how, and Atori must have known now. Atori must have known everything about Hideki that Izami knew. All along Izami’s Father played a minimal, and neutral role in Izami’s life but now, He saw the truth. He saw what his father caused, he saw why Atori hated him now, and he saw why things would never go the way he planned. All of Izami’s dreams were shattered in one night and it took just until now to realize it. His thoughts were nothing but childish ideas, and with that he understood why his life will never be the same. Atori would hate him for the rest of his life. Atori would hate him, his father and everything about the families of the Uchiha’s Main Branch. Atori went out of his way to warn Izami of something that he challenged of being true or not because they were interrupted. Just before those Yuurei Ops attack, Atori said to Izami “this clan might be on the verge of civil-“ Izami thought as he ran away that night “Civil what???” But now Izami realized, “Civil War…”And it wasn’t just on the verge; it had already started, however Izami and Atori were the only ones who knew about it. Still though… could he actually hate Atori that much, Atori said it himself, “I am convinced that you are my only match, but for that to happen, you cannot fight me as if you were my friend. No, for you to prove that to me, you have to be angry with me, you have to hate me. To truly prove this, you must fight me as if I were your enemy.” An enemy? No… A friend? Yes. Atori had enough hate built up to be distributed to the entire clan’s Distant Branch families; that is where this Civil war will go if Izami does not stop him. Atori had enough hate to lead the clan against each other but he also had enough to be carried over to Izami. Izami could never hate him, but he decided right then and there; he will fight Atori with everything he’s got, This Civil war will be stopped but only if Izami uses Atori’s own hate against him.

Izami’s recollection on that night was done, he was spacing out into his thoughts before, but now he started to focus. His Father was still talking about the Jutsu however Izami stood up and interrupted him. “Enough Father! I see the magnificent power that can come from this jutsu, and I also see how proud you are to be the creator. But a jutsu has two parts to it. The chakra build up, the technique and strain put into the initial release and then of course the aftermath of it. All that power has to go somewhere but what is power if I cannot control its aftermath. You see Father even when I do learn it and master it just as you have, I still will not have the hate in me that you do to ever use it on another clan member. After all we are still the Uchiha and Atori is as much family as you are.” Izami straightened up his upper lip and looked at his father with a proud expression. Hideki rose to his to his feet but his eyes were still closed. Hideki’s hands were shaking at his side and then he open both his eyes to look at Izami. They were starring directly into Izami’s. All of the sudden Izami head was knocked back after a loud *SMACK* was made. He fell to the ground. The entire left side of Izami’s face was numb from whatever hit him. He looked up from the ground to see his father towering over him. He had smacked him straight across the face. Hideki’s facial expression looked like he was about to explode from holding back his anger. Then finally he yelled out. “GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! GET OUT OF MY STUDIO! NO SON OF MINE WILL TAKE THE SIDE OF AN UCHIHA OF THE DISTANT BRANCH! HOW DARE YOU COMPARE ME TO SUCH A LOW LIFE BEING! Get out now and don’t expect me to look at you or even acknowledge you at all until you learn your place in this clan. I do not care if that boy is your friend! I AM YOUR FATHER AND YOU WILL OBEY ME!” With that Izami gathered himself to his feet and walked out of his father’s studio. He didn’t care anymore, if that’s how his father felt then he won’t let him get in the way of making things right. Izami needed to stop this civil war before it took to a wide scale, as far as he was concerned his father would just be another obstacle to overcome. He felt stuck… For days now this feeling of being caught in between conflicts of opposite sides drove him mad. Izami had no real plan thought up, he had no time to think at all. Atori was Izami’s friend; confused, driven mad, and blinded by hate towards the Main Branch. Hideki was Izami’s father; proud, powerful, had a boiling hatred and deep desire to extinguish the distant branch families. So where would Izami go from here? Deep down Izami knew both Hideki and Atori still cared and held onto the bonds between them and Izami. But the question was how would Izami reach deep enough inside both of them to pull those feelings out and forget the ones that they had on the surface? “How?” Izami asked himself. He didn’t want to hurt Atori, he just couldn’t there was no way. But if he lost to Atori, Hideki would take the matters into his own hands and from there Atori and Hideki would cause a war. This friction was building up between Hideki and Atori, and Izami was the only barrier that was preventing the collision. Izami really had no choice, he wasn’t going to run away now, not ever again, he ran away once and saw that his destiny lied back here. There was no going back to that, but there was no way things would go back to the way they were either. He would have to change everything, by himself. He would have to defeat Atori and talk some sense into him; it was the only way. He would have to face his best friend to a near death match if he needed to. From there, he would have Atori help him change the clan just as they agreed they would do. Atori might have lost his parents and hope of the dream he and Izami would share and create, but Izami knew he hadn’t lost his friend, and he hadn’t lost his vision of that dream either. It was just deep inside him, in the dark, and Izami had to pull that out of Atori even if that meant beating him sense into him again.

Izami walked around aimlessly kicking stones and wandering down the path towards the village. Too much was on his mind, these past few weeks were the most eventful of his life. He did what he could before, and he stated his beliefs to his father and that’s all he could do for now even if Hideki rejected it. Izami was brutally exhausted and he needed sleep. Even though the sun hadn’t even gone down yet Izami was more than ready to turn in for the night. However he did not want to go home that night, he felt he was not welcome so Izami just wandered on… Walking past the villages limits now he could see someone walking in towards him. They were hauling what seemed to be large beast on their shoulders. Izami looked up to focus a little bit better on them, as they got closer Izami could see that the animal was a boar and the person was one of his old friends. “Izami? Is that you??” The person yelled out to Izami. “Its me Zeumi! We haven’t talked in ages! What’s going on?’ Zeumi continued. Zeumi spoke in a higher tone of voice and wore his hair down in front that parted at his widow peak and revealed his face but let it flow into a tail in the back. Zeumi was taller than Izami; nearly 6 feet in height he proved to be strong from time to time and was excellent with a bow. He was happy go lucky and full of life, despite losing his father at a young age. He smiled and talked a lot but sometimes got on people’s nerves. Izami remember Zeumi well they were decent friends when they were younger and his father before him was also friends with Izami’s father Hideki back in the day. “H-hey Zeumi.” Izami managed to mutter out. “What’s the matter? You don’t see a friend in this long and this is how you treat them?” Zeumi joked. “I-I’m sorry, I have a lot on my mind right now.” Izami said to Zeumi. “Ohhhh, is it about that match you have tomorrow? I saw your last match against that Toru guy… You were excellent! I’m sure whoever you are facing tomorrow will be just as easy for you as the others from the distant branch!” Zeumi said with a big smile on his face as he threw out his hand to give Izami a thumbs up. “Hey, Zeumi… what do you think about the Uchiha Families of the distant branch?” Izami asked. “Huh?” Zeumi was confused. “Well I don’t think much, I mean if you’re asking if they are any good at combat and such as we of the main branch are I’d say sure, I mean they have some really talented Shinobi, just like the rest of the Uchiha. I suppose it’s not always about what family you are from but more like how hard you train. You know? Why do you ask though?” Zeumi said back to Izami. Izami was surprised to hear something like that, He’s been so caught up with his father’s talk of superiority over the Distant Branch Families that he had forgotten what it’s like to actually have a positive opinion. “Yeah Zeumi, you’re right. I would have to agree with you. I was just wondering as all. Anyways I should go…” Izami said as he started walking away. “Wait, Izami where are you going? The sun is going to go down soon, shouldn’t you be going home or something?” Zeumi questioned. “I don’t really know where I am going right now, I just can’t go home at this time.” Izami said with his head down as he continued to walk. “Well, if you have nowhere to go… come spend the night at my place, I got dinner right here!” Zeumi said with a huge grin as he held out the boar. Izami paused, he thought to himself what he would do for the rest of the night. He had nowhere to go, sleep or stay at all and Izami was especially hungry as well. Izami’s stomach rumbled at the thought of food and his eyes began to grow heavy as he thought about sleep. His body was spent and if he were to be in top shape to do anything tomorrow he would need the meal and bed for sure. Izami turned back towards Zeumi. “Come onnnn! No worries! I’m sure you’ll get me back some other time. Just consider it a favor to an old friend!” Zeumi joked again. “I guess that does sound like a pretty fair deal… Alright Zeumi sounds good.”

After Izami agreed to stay the night, Izami and Zeumi walked back to his house. Zeumi took a fairly short amount of time to prepare dinner which was surprising to Izami. Izami originally hadn’t planned to eat too much but the food was so good, he never would have expected Zeumi to be such a good cook that he ate to his fill and after just returned to the guest bed and dozed right off.” Izami was sound asleep in seconds. He didn’t move a hair while sleeping; It had been days since he had a gotten a chance at a good night of sleep. Long after Zeumi finally went to bed however Izami woke. Something did not seem quite right to him, the fact that he was deep into his sleep and woke suddenly bothered him. Izami looked around to see what was going on. But it was completely silent; not a peep, not a movement. Nothing at all, so what had woken him from his deep slumber? Izami jumped to his feet and got dressed quickly. He rushed to the door and slide his body in between it and shut the door quietly.

Izami began examining the land around him. Something didn’t feel right, the air was dense with uneasiness. He wondered what it could be… then all of the sudden he thought to go straight home almost as if by instinct the idea came to him. With that Izami was off into the night. He tried to maintain his stealth however for he was not sure what he would encounter in the near future. As Izami got closer to his house the sense of uneasiness grew stronger; there was no mistake here something was going on and whatever it was, it had been taking place at Izami’s house. Contestant with what Izami should do, either to rush there and break his stealth, possibly step himself up for a trap, or to continue on maintaining stealth and wait to observe what was happening before he got to the scene. He hoped it was nothing serious but with what has been happening recently Izami feared the worst.

He finally got close enough where his house was in sight. Izami hid behind a wall as to observe what was going on around there. At first he saw a few lose shuriken on the ground not more than a few meters away from him. One or two of them he could possibly see blood on. There was no doubt in Izami’s mind now, a battle had taken place here just recently. As Izami continued to look he kept on seeing more and more lose weapons and pieces of equipment left around. Some ripped clothes and shredded cloth on the ground, but then Izami stopped at one thing in particular… He froze and starred. It was a body; dead, stiff, and laying on the ground about 150 meters away from him. He couldn’t tell who it was or which family they might have been from, but one thing was for sure, they were an Uchiha because he could see the crest on cloth of their back. Izami then started to realize that there was another dead body on the ground a few meters away from the first one he saw; again an Uchiha. Then two more a few meters from that one, and more, and more, and before Izami could have a second to take in what he was seeing, he noticed many many dead bodies of Uchiha around him. Then what finally caught his eye was one person in particular. They were not laying on the ground like the others in fact Izami could see the figure moving slightly. They were kneeling and in their arms was another person. Izami looked closely and tried using his Sharingan to see if he recognized the chakra flow the persons were giving off. He first looked at the person who was in the arms of the other, but they had no flow, which meant to Izami that they were dead. He then looked over to the one kneeling and was shocked to realize that he recognized it so well. Without hesitation Izami got to his feet quickly and without a care to whether the area was safe or not rushed over to the person.

“Father!” Izami yelled out. The person looked up to Izami and put his head back down. “Father!” Izami said again. “What happened?!” Izami asked Hideki, who was the person kneeling. “Izami…” Hideki said with a faint voice. As Izami got closer he could see more of the person who his father was holding. They were average sized, maybe 5 and a half feet or so. They had long black hair and they were dressed in a women’s kimo. Izami could see blood now, it was all over the clothes of the person that his father was holding. Then as Izami got close enough to see the face he stopped… It was the face of Shina, his mother. Izami feel to his knees and opened his mouth to mutter out what he could… “M-m-m-mother? Wh-w-w-what…? Wh-who?” Izami spoke out. He could barely speak… he was completely in shock. He couldn’t tell what was happening. Why was his mother in his father’s arms, bloody, motionless, and dead? He continued to try and put together words but all of them came out half pronounced as a result of him not being able to comprehend his mother’s death. “It was the distant branch families Izami…” Hideki said. “They tried to kill me, and… they wanted that jutsu of mine.” Hideki continued to say.

“W-what??” Izami managed to ask. “They tired to assassinate me for tellin&g you the truth Izami, they would have killed you too. But one of them, I could not tell who they were; wanted to know the hand signs for the Yata-no-Kagami Jutsu. They said they only needed the last one, so I know they must have been spying on me before… They threaten to kill me and Shina. They had Shina in their arms so I had to tell them. But as soon as I showed them, the Main Branch Yuurei ops came and tried to fend the others off. We identified the attackers as Ryuu ops of the Distant Branch families. Many Ryuu and Yuurei were killed, along with your mother, Shina. She was killed by the one who I showed the hand signs to. I looked around but I did not find him, which leads me to believe he got away.” Hideki said to Izami. He looked around and then thought to himself. The Yata-no-Kagami Jutsu… the last hand sign… Atori. He needed the last hand sign and he wanted to kill his father. It was then that Izami realized his best friend Atori was the one who killed his mother.

Chapter 8: Declaration of Hatred
Izami stared down at his mothers slaughtered body. Blood ran down from her throat where it had been slit wide open from the sharp edge of a kunai knife. Her long hair that once flowed like the ocean waves was still, her body limp and the once warm and welcoming chakra that she admitted was non-existent. She had been married to his father by force but she was much more than just a women in the house to Izami, she was his mother. He loved her deeply for the many things she did for him. Izami thought back to the days of his childhood how she would care for him and watch him when his father was not around. Suddenly though his thoughts were interrupted by a piercing pain in his chest. This pain was like no other he had ever felt. No stab, no cut, no trauma could compare to this pain that he was feeling now. He fell to his knees and struggled to say words. His entire body clenched as tears ran down his face like a river. All he could mutter out of his mouth was the sound of sheer pain. His mother was dead, and his best friend killed her.

He gripped the skin on his chest as if he was trying to cover the pain of his heartache. However nothing could cover it. There was no cure or treatment for the extreme agony he was enduring. He had no thoughts, his mind were focused on the image of his dead mother in front of him, and his normal attitude and sense of self was no where to be found, his life hard been destroyed in the matter of one night. This was no longer a life that he was living. In what world would his own best friend kill his mother, it was clear to him now, he was not alive... Everything he knew was dead: this was Hell.

As Izami came to the realization his feelings of pain disappeared, the tears on his face stopped flowing, and his emotions changed. They changed to a whole new feeling that Izami had not once every portrayed until now. It sure was not happiness, neither was it sadness, and this feeling was far beyond any anger that Izami had felt in the past. This new emotion that was beginning to erupt was no other than pure hatred!

Izami Gathered himself and rose back to his feet. His father looked at him and said. "Do you see this? Do you see what has happened as a result of jealousy for our clan? These distant branch families only want to destroy us. They have stolen the jutsu I've kept secret for years and even after I told them, they still killed your mother! She was defenseless, and yet they did not hesitate to slaughter her right in front of me. These Distant branch families do not want peace, they do not want to erase the line that divides us, they only wish to destroy it and us as the Main Branch families along with it!" Hideki cried out to Izami, but Izami did not listen; for him the only thing on his mind was Atori. No words could further his rage, nor stop it; He was on a crash course to find Atori and nothing was going to get in his way.

Izami finally stood up and turned away from the sight of his mother. He no longer had emotions to take the time and feel for his mother or even talk to his father. As he began to walk away his father called him back but he completely ignored his father's words and just like that he rushed off.

He had to stop at Zeumi's house to pick up his katana and among many other things that he would need to fight Atori. As Zeumi's house came into sight he slowed himself down and landed quietly as to not make a noise. He eased himself through the entrance of Zeumi's house and lurked around to the room where Izami had been keeping his gear. He rummaged through his bag and grabbed only what he could carry. he strapped on his guards and fixed himself with new wraps. When he finally had everything he could carry he stood but felt he was missing something. he looked down to see his headband by the side of his bed mat. He had taken it off earlier to go to sleep and never put it back on when he woke. Izami rarely left his headband off, it was always tired around his head or on his person at all times because he was proud to be an Uchiha. But as he stood there looking down at it, instead of reaching over to grab it and put it on... he instead took a step forward and left it behind as if he wanted nothing to do with it.

Izami did this best to track down what was left from the fight that had happened that night. He kept his eyes peeled for any traps which he inevitably ran into. The Ryuu-ops were notorious for being hard to catch but because Izami knew everything that Atori knew he was able to avoid anything that would slow him down almost as if it were second nature to him. As the trails started to split up he only kept to one train that continued to go straight on ahead. "It had to be Atori's there was no other reason for him to split off." Izami thought to himself. Then as the trails started to dwindle to just one Izami knew without a doubt that he had been following Atori's trail the entire time because now this one was leading to a spot that was oh so familiar to both Izami and Atori.

As he recognized that this trail was leading to their old training grounds Izami slowed down and started to descend from the trees. Normally he would jolt right on into the opening in attempt to be there before Atori but he knew to well that Atori was already there waiting. Izami took one last leap down and walked towards the opening. He looked up to see that Atori was right where he always was. In the same tree back resting against the trunk, feet standing firm on the branch up high. Atori's eyes were covered by his raven colored hair that seemed to dim his entire face. Izami's crimson colored eyes glared at Atori with a deep sensational hatred. The did not wander, they were completely fixed on Atori but neither of them said a word. Izami continued to stare at him but Atori just continued to shelter his face in the night. Izami drew his blade out and said, "Come here Atori!" Atori still did not move or say a thing. Izami grew impatient, he did not want to play these mind games anymore. "I said COME HERE YOU BASTARD!!" Izami yelled out. Atori remained motionless. "I HATE YOU! SO COME HERE! I AM GOING TO KILL Y-..." "So, do you finally hate me now?" Atori spoke with an interruption. Izami cringed at the sound of Atori's voice. He ground his teeth together with rage, unable to speak the words to express his hatred. Atori began to speak again. "Do you really have enough hate in you now to kill me Izami?" Atori said in a low moderate voice. "Come down here I'll prove that to you murder!" Izami blurted out at Atori. "Look at yourself... you can't even control your emotions! You might have a boiling rage against me, but it is not true hate. neither the less you wouldn't even be able to control it...I guess seeing your mothers cold, dead body, drenched in blood from when I sliced her throat open wasn't enough for you after all..." Atori spoke out again. "SHHHUTTT UPPP!!!!!!!!!" Izami let his rage explode out of him as he heard those words come from Atori. Izami raced towards Atori and ran up the tree making it shatter from the fueling hatred being exerted from his body. His eyes were glowing a beat red as his Sharingan continued to focus on the motionless Atori. He readied his blade to slice through Atori. Izami made a quick hand sign and shouted out Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi Jutsu! His Sword began to shake and started to emit a vibrant white light that evaporated into the air. But just as he was about to connect his blade to Atori's neck, Atori's looked up and for just a split second, Izami and Atori made eye contact. Izami's eyes met Atori's but they were not the same old eyes that Izami had seen in the past. This... was much different. Atori's eyes glowed with a much deeper crimson red but the feeling Izami got from the moment they connected eyes was far darker than any feeling he had ever had. This was not the normal Sharingan... it was far greater in power. It was that moment that Izami's sword hit the slightest bit of Atori that he turned into black smoke. All of the sudden Izami's world became ultimately dark. Non-stop shivers ran down his spine and all across his body. The smoke that had appeared from where Atori was began to surround Izami. He began to choke from the smoke, Izami could not breath, then the smoke whipped around and began rotating in circles. A deep glowing red filled into the smoke and all of the sudden Atori's eyes appeared right in front of Izami. The smoke gathered and created the rest of Atori's body. Izami began to grow frightened at the sight of this. "Face it Izami you will never have as much hate as I do... You will never have as much hate as I do towards your father, towards the Uchiha Main Branch, and towards you!" Atoris voice echoed around Izami. It was almost as if the wide open area around him that was once a clearing was now beginning to cave in on Izami.

Atori's eyes connected with Izami's once again. Izami was shocked at their appearance, they glowed a deep and fuller red than his own and what was once the three pronged pupils that wrapped around his cornea was now an odd elliptical pattern in both eyes. For the first time in his life Izami had experienced too new feelings in one night. The first was hatred when he saw his mother's corpse and now the newest one that came over him was true fear. Izami was unable to move, his body grew faint, his skin turned white as a birch tree as Atori's presence shrouded over Izami.

Izami tried to make out words but could only manage to say "-wh-what, is this?" In a scattered voice. "This... This is the true power of the Uchiha. The power known as the Mangekyō Sharingan allows me to do things you could not even imagine. Face it Izami, no matter how powerful you become my Mangekyō Sharingan will always be superior!" Atori said to Izami with a dark and siring voice. But just as Atori said that to Izami his right eye began to drip blood. Slowly at first but then the blood began to flow; Atori then quickly covered his eye. As Atori withdrew from Izami, the pitch black area around Izami began to fade back into the normal setting and he could see the trees and wood around him once more. The feeling of fear that he had that shook him head to toe was gone, and Izami began to gain his strength back.

Atori was no more than a meter away from Izami and he could tell that Atori was in deep pain from what ever he did with his eye. Atori continued to strain and clench letting out whimpers of agony; Izami saw his chance. This time he wasn't going to get trapped in what ever genjutsu it was that Atori had him under. He lifted his sword over his head, gathered chakra together and rushed at Atori with a charging motion bent on striking him down with full force. Izami took his last step and focused all his strength and chakra into driving his katana through Atori. The person who murdered his beloved mother was about to be finished and his revenge would be complete. There was no stopping; the force and speed that was being put into the motion of the blade was so strong that it cut through the sweat droplets coming off of Izami as he lunged forward but suddenly... His blade was stopped. Sparks flew off of Izami's sword and all the force that he had used to deliver the blow was directed completely back at him. The immense chakra that was exerted from that blow flew right at Izami and blew him back. He crashed into the tree's trunk so hard that the blow indented the tree in the shape of Izami's body. He got up slowly but when Izami finally got back onto his feet what he saw amazed him. There Stood Atori, panting heavily now covering both eyes. Atori's hair and fingers shaded his face but through the cracks Izami could still see the glowing red of Atori's Mangekyō Sharingan. But that wasn't what left Izami speechless. What surprised Izami the most was what was surrounding Atori.

There Izami saw an inferno orange colored skeleton figure. It's bones had blocked Izami's attack, and not only that but completely redirected it back at Izami. "What was this power that Atori had gained? Where did he learn this jutsu? Was this another demonstration of the Mangekyō?" Izami thought all these things over. He was not afraid, nor was he angered, he was completely shocked by this power that Atori was holding. "How can I possible defeat this?!" Izami said to himself in a terrified voice.

Izami's reaction perplexed as he continued to observe Atori. Atori began to walk towards him but Izami could not do a thing. He had used up every bit of chakra he could spare and was weak from these past few days as it was. Atori towered over Izami and as Atori grew closer to him, all Izami could do was inch backwards. He scrambled to make a move but was too drained to even stand and run off. Atori walked closer and closer and Izami's feelings of fear replaced the ones of hatred that he had. Izami continued to move backwards but found himself out of space to move as he backed into the trunk of the tree. He looked up and down but could not find the strength to escape. Atori now inches away from him looked down at Izami. The shadows of the night covered the view of his face but his eyes light up with hatred. Izami, for the first time contemplated his thoughts as if this was his final moment in this world. Just as Izami saw no other way out, he felt something in his back poke him. It was there that it came to him. The dagger that Zamormon gave to him was still on his person. Izami could use this to escape from Atori, this wasn't his time for death after all. Just before Atori finally closed in on him, Izami quickly pulled out the dagger and sliced through the air in below him; and with that he leaned into the cut he made and slipped through.

He fell to the ground in the other world of what Zamormon called Gielinor. he looked around to what looked like a familiar place.

Chapter 9: Corruption
Izami knew exactly where he was. This is where Zamormon had first brought Izami back just a couple of days ago. A place Izami swore he'd never come back to, but yet here he found himself with no other option but to return. Izami looked down at the hand in which he had held the blade in to find the dagger slowly disintegrate into dust. Just as Zamormon had told him, it would only work once.

Still in shock from his fight with Atori Izami could barely move let alone take breaths. He struggled to catch his air, but the extreme hot and dry temperature of what seemed like Hell made this difficult for him. As Izami lay there still trying to catch his breath, the inhabiting demons closed in on him. Slow at first not to startle Izami, but then quicker to where it was too late for Izami to react once he had noticed them. Izami scrambled to get to his feet to defend himself, but he was surrounded. As they got ever so close Izami had no idea what to do. He was already weak, and could barely move, he escaped Atori but now faced many unfamiliar foes. It was then that Izami heard a loud voice echo across them in a language he did not understand. The demons retreated and as they cleared quickly there stood Zamormon in the near corridor. "Young Uchiha, glad to see you again." Zamormon said. Izami said nothing in return. "Come, follow me." Zamormon spoke out, as he walked away into the next room. Izami looked around and then finally gathered himself. He then saw that he hadn't much of a choice but to do as Zamormon told him.

Izami took a step forward, but his leg gave out and he collapsed on himself. He quickly lost balance and began to fall but before he hit the ground, the demon minions caught him and carried him towards Zamormon. Izami disliked that they were carrying him but again, hadn't a choice; he was completely helpless. As they carried Izami through the halls Izami only had one thing on his mind. That was the words of Zamormon from his previous encounter. Zamormon had offered something that Izami didn't need then, but now could not go without, this was of course power.

As they finally got to where Zamormon was, the demons let Izami go. He fell to his knees and hunched over his body. Izami gathered what strength he had to raise his head and look up at Zamormon. There he stood, tall and strong with a blank expression. They were in a large corridor that lead to another room that was being closed off by two doors. Zamormon glanced down at Izami but said nothing, almost as if he was waiting for Izami to speak out first. Izami took the que, but couldn't think of what to say. he manged some words; "I-I-I can't..." Izami murmured. He could barely hold himself together, or speak for all that matter, but Zamormon understood. "You can't? You can't what?" Zamormon questioned in a condescending tone. "I-I can't do it" Izami said nearly weeping now. "doing it? By that you mean you can't kill Atori? You're saying with all that anger built up in you, you can't kill the one person you are bent on destroying out of hate? If I had a guess I'd say that in your worst moment, your opponent that you envisioned striking down a million times over in your mind, turned out to be far more powerful than you imagined?" Zamormon questioned in a sarcastically. Izami did not speak, he just glanced down in shame, he knew he was weak, but could not do a thing. "I see, so you had no choice but to come here..." Zamormon said as he glared at Izami. "I need to be stronger." Izami managed to say. "ooooh... well, young Uchiha. Zamorak does not usually favor the weak, perhaps however we should give this... Atori the power instead." Zamormon said in a sly tone. "NO!" Izami snarled as he rose to his feet, trying to gather all his strength he had left. Managing to straighten himself out as the means to prove to Zamormon he wasn't weak. "Ahhhh, maybe you aren't so weak, we'll see what Zamorak has to say for himself... Shall we?

Just as Zamormon said that, a loud commotion occurred. The ground shook, the walls rumbled, and the closed doors that were behind Zamormon slowly started to shake and open. Zamormon turned his back to Izami and slowly took his large steps towards the now opened room. Izami then started to follow.

He clenched at every step he took from the pain he was in. Atori had done a number on him and Izami hated every bit of the strain that he was in. It wasn't because he lost, it wasn't because he felt it annoying, but because it was Atori that had caused this pain on him. He hatred grew now but he did not block out the pain. If he were to block out the pain then he would be blocking out the thought of Atori, and that was impossible; Instead he embraced it. Izami's Sharingan glowed with his intensing rage as he tagged along behind Zamormon. As they entered the room Izami could see only empty space much like the other rooms but in the back there was a wall of lava that ran down into a stream flowing around the edges of the room. But, as they came closer the Flowing of the lava slowed from the outside corners in until it became clear that there was more to the room behind the lava. The Lava was acting as a curtain and as it dissipated Izami could see a shrouded figure. There sat some sort of being, humanoid... but the size was of the figure was nothing like that of a human. As Izami studied it, light began to unfold upon it and just like much else in this realm it had a devilish look to it. Zamormon then began to hunch over and bow down before this being. It was then that the figure came into full view. There stood Zamorak. He towered over Zamormon, his robes ran down from his waist as they split at his abdomen up and over his shoulders then down his arms. They glistened dark shades of red with dark purple and black under-layers. gold threads ran around the robes and connected it's buttons. His face was like no other... Horns of some sort came out from his neck and face under his eyes. His face was molded by these horn like things. His eyes shined a similar red to Izami's Sharingan but what differed was his serpent like pupils and his intensively sharp red Sclera's. He had an awfully angered look to him as he showed his perfectly pointed teeth. He then looked down at Zamormon and said, "So this is the one that is known as an Uchiha?" Zamorak said. His voice echoed, it was deep and it rang through Izami's ears. "My lord." Zamormon replied to Zamorak. Zamorak then focused on Izami; Izami stared right back. For a moment, they just looked at each other dead on, almost as if they were reading each other's thoughts. Zamorak finally spoke up and said; "well Uchiha, there is certainly no fear in you, neither do you seem to have curiosity so your mind must be set on one thing only." "You know more about me than that... I came here for the power you have, I just want to know for sure if it is strong enough to defeat Atori!" Izami yelled back at Zamorak. Zamormon was quick to respond to Izami's uproar. He snatched Izami up with one hand and held him against the wall. His face angered at the disrespect Izami showed Zamormon's God. "You are in no place to be disrespect Zamorak. Look at you, you are weak! You are here because you need us, not the other way around! Now show some respect!" Zamormon yelled in Izami's face. "I'm here to get what I need and be gone, I could care less of you or Zamorak. If it were Saradomin who had the power, I would have gone there instead." Izami replied. "Saradomin? He is for the weak who believe Order is where power lies... if you think you're better than the power of Zamorak then why don't you show me." Zamormon barked back at Izami.

The wall burned Izami's legs but he ignored the smoldering pain and was quick to force himself out of Zamormon's clutch. He then fell to the ground, but he could not hesitate. He barely knew the strength of his opponents, and would not normally instigate a fight without that knowledge of his foe, but there was no time to act on that now; he could only act on his feet. Izami quickly got up and drew his blade, he knew Zamormon was strong so he would have to counter the strength by redirecting his power. Zamormon came at him once again, charging directly for his position. The Demon was fast but Izami knew he could overstep him. Zamormon closed in on Izami but just as he went to prepare for his counter, pain shot up his leg. Izami was too slow on his movement and instead of countering, he instead had to attempt to dodge the strike. He failed to do so however, and even though he did not take the full frontal attack, he was hit hard enough to be blown back. Izami failed to keep his strength up while being hit and fell on his back. Zamormon was not stopping however; he quickly came for another strike in attempt to finish Izami off while he was on the ground. No time to fight back... Izami grabbed his blade, quickly predicted Zamormon's final step that he would deliver the blow at then at the last moment, rolled out of the way and without looking sliced his blade at Zamormon's feet before his fists hit where Izami once was. Izami felt his blade connect then as quick as he could used the momentum of his roll to pick himself back up. He noticed the ground at where he once was, was completely smashed in from the force of Zamormon's fists, but as he looked at his legs... there was no cut from where Izami thought he had hit Zamormon. He knew he made connection somewhere on Zamormon, but he didn't see, nor did he have anymore time to study the Demon. Zamormon was quick to switch tactics after that, he then grew claws out of his hand from his finger nails and swiftly moved towards Izami for another attack. Izami's handicap made it hard for him to keep up, Zamormon was using his speed to overwhelm Izami quickly but he underestimated him. Izami could remember the days of training under these circumstances with Atori in the back of his mind. They used to bind their legs together, their arms, hands, and even blind fold themselves, and in some circumstances, a simple stab to the abdomen to handicap the other was done in competion one verse the other. The thought of this angered Izami, but at the same time he knew... Zamormon was nothing of an opponent compared to Atori.

Izami could dodge some, block others, but in the end impact was inevitable. the wonds were minor, but they were not because Izami was too weak to evade them. It was to make Zamormon think that his attack style was working... Izami wanted Zamormon to repeat his combo's; if there was one thing Izami knew for sure about Zamormon, it was his over confidence. The way he perused Izami from the beginning to come to him, the way he gave him the dagger to come back when he needed it. Zamormon had been right all along until now; now was where he made his mistake.

* Right Swipe* .block. *Left Swipe* .dodge. *Right Jab* .contact, minimal impact. *Left Upward Claw* .spin dodge right. *Right Hook* .two handed block. *Left Swinging Claw* .attempt at dodging forward, failed.

Izami quickly realized he couldn't avoid this one, there was no choice, he had to take the hit or dodge as much as he could of it. Izami rolled forward but just before he bent his back to tuck himself the claws slashed his back. Izami grunted but he was able to avoid most of the blow. three of the five claws hit him and as Izami re-positioned himself for the next attack, he could feel the stinging sensation run through his nerves. Blood dripped down his back from the fresh wound, he panted. Izami was slightly out of breath, but it also seemed as though Zamormon was too. Zamormon quickly saw that Izami was tired, but what he realized next was that he himself was tired and that Izami saw this as well. He didn't want to give himself away anymore, he knew Izami was smart but he couldn't dodge anther combo like that! Zamormon roared with rage and shot himself towards Izami again for another barrage of attacks.

* Right Swipe* .block with sword. *Left Swipe* .hit, minimal scratch. *Right Jab* .block. *Left Upward Claw* .hit, cuts right arm... Izami took that blow hard, Zamormon grew confident again! "This is it! he takes this next hit, and I'll finish him." Zamormon thought to himself *Right Hook* .hit, middle stomach. Izami gasped for air. Zamormon then put all he had into this last slash to take out Izami. For a second they made eye contact just before Zamormon delivered his final blow. He then swung his arm right threw Izami and cut his back with all five claws.

Izami's flesh ran threw Zamormon's claws in a stream of blood from the motion of Zamormon's strike. But then all of the sudden Izami's body vanished and the blood and ripped flesh with it.

Instead Izami was squatting right under the reach from Zamormon's claws, his body facing foward; he then swiftly took his Katana and stabbed Zamormon behind him. His blade impaled Zamormon's mid abdomen slightly; 3-4inches deep. Zamormon let out a grueling roar in pain. Izami then quickly rolled forward and too his feet then faced Zamormon.

IT WAS A GENJUTSU!

Just before Zamormon tried to strike down Izami, he made a vital mistake of looking Izami in the eyes. With his Sharingan, Izami was able to cast a genjutsu over Zamormon to slow time down enough for him to create a shadown image of himself while at the same time recovering from his last blow that Zamormon delivered. It was risky to take that blow, but his plan worked!

Zamormon struggled to keep his balance and held his stomach. Izami positioned himself again and waited for the next attack as he examined Zamormon. As Zamormon lifted his hand off his wound, Izami could see steam coming off of it, and the wound was slowly starting to close up. Izami's eyes grew wide at the sight of this. "HE'S MENDING HIMSELF! I KNEW I HIT HIM EARLIER!" Izami said to himself. Izami now knew that Zamormon could mend his wounds, but the real question was how fast he could do it.

Zamormon gathered himself and looked at Izami as he caught his breath. Izami continued to study Zamormon. Though Izami had come out on top from the last series of attacks, he still was far from having the upper hand. Izami had struck Zamormon with a considerably deep hit, but it was no good if it just healed up. Izami could had multiple other wounds, not to mention still being hurt from his fight with Atori not too long ago. Izami could not heal himself so if he were to come out on top, he couldn't be taking anymore hits like the ones he has been taking.



Zamormon grew angry, but still not a single exchange of words between Izami or him was even muttered. Izami thought over new strategies in his mind, still not knowing the full potential of Zamormon. He knew he could heal himself now but many questions still were open to look over. "What things were unmendable? How long does it take for him to full heal? Is there a way to stop him from healing himself?" Izami ran through his thoughts. He figured, his next step would be to see how long or how many things Zamormon could heal at once. Izami knew a stab or cut to his body would do him no good, and getting that close again might be dangerous. Zamormon's head is most likely out of the question not to mention Izami was in no place or condition to go on the offensive... not yet at least. A limb however would be his best bet. If a limb was unmendable it would put him in a major advantage, certainly unlikely but none the less even if a limb was mendable, it would handicap Zamormon for at least a little while. Enough time for Izami to possibly gain an upper hand and figure out how fast it would take for Zamormon to full heal something.

Now the real question: How would Izami pull this off?

Izami decided to focus his Sharingan on Zamormon's body to see if he could find some insight. Zamormon had a signature flow going through him. "So being's in this world have a Chakra flow as well..." Izami said to himself. As he further examined the flow suddenly started shifting. Izami quickly looked back at Zamormon with his normal eyesight to see the demon starting to shape sift. The body became more slender, shorter slightly and then the overall form completely changed into a beast like figure. It resembled that of a viscous looking dog, only it stood upright. Its eyes glowed white and raven black fur covered the body completely. It was a Werewolf.

There wasn't much time for Izami to think now, as soon as Zamormon fully transformed, he readied himself. Zamormon howled out so loud that Izami had to cover his ears. But this was surely a mistake for Izami to do that. As soon as Izami was caught off guard, Zamormon jolted at Izami with remarkable speed. He rammed Izami with his fist, knocking Izami back into the wall 10 yards away. Izami slammed into the wall and fell to ground only to be greeted by another attack from Zamormon after he quickly rushed too Izami's position. Zamormon bent down and followed threw with a large left handed uppercutt with such force that it made Izami go airborn for a moment. He smacked the ground hard as he fell, struggling now to get up, but was not given chance. Again Zamormon delieverd a forceful and agile blow this time to Izami's right side. Izami felt his ribs crack as he dragged across the ground from the force of the hit.

Zamormon's new form seemed unstoppable. Izami wasn't even given a chance to regain his strength before Zamormon was right there to beat him back down. The speed, the strength, and the constant pounding of direct blows to Izami's vital areas without defence left him completely helpless. The pain was unthinkable now, trying to block it out, Izami tensed up. With one eye barely open he could see at glimpse the area around him. He saw the small crater in the ground where Zamormon before had smashed in, in attempt to finish Izami off earlier. It was almost clear now however that this would be where Zamormon would really finish him off. Izami saw Zamormon yards in front of the crater and himself. Zamormon began to advance again, but quickly stopped infront of the ground where the crater was, pivoted, moved again around it; then came rushing for Izami. Izami's eye's brightened. He then knew how to stop Zamormon, but he had to do it quickly. With haste, he tried to gather any Chakra he had flowing, into his hands, made a few quick sign and pressed them into the ground. The earth below them started to rumble, the floor cracked, and the ground around them shattered into rubble. This quick thinking threw Zamormon off guard as he fell to the ground to be caught up in the earthquick Izami had made using an earth style jutsu. Zamormon yelped as he was buried into the ground as it collapsed around him. Relieved, Izami picked himself up and finally got to his feet. Zamormon's werewolf form was undoubtedly fast, but where Izami could not match Zamormon's speed on his feet, his thinking acceled to success.

Izami used his Sharingan vision to see if he could sense a Chakra flow from Zamormon, but could not recognize his partern in the rubble.

"You defeated Zamormon... He was a powerful being, but because you used your strength and mastery, you were able to overcome him. You truely do show promise." Zamorak said to Izami

"You aren't phased by the death of someone who warshipped you? Someone who treated you as they're god?" Izami questioned Zamorak.

"Death by another is not something to be phased about. His weakness caused him to lose to you. You simply faught for you life and proved to be the stronger one. I was his god, because I showed him how to use his power. He had the ability to change his form yet he still lost you. And that is because... Young Uchiha, you... you have a very unique ability unlike any other in this relm. you have just proven to me that you are capable of great things, yet you still came here in my understanding for more." Zamorak said

Izami, thought about Zamorak's words and spaced off. Izami came here in the begining to gain more power to defeat Atori. The rage inside him grew and his blood boiled at the thought of Atori beating him. But then again, he wasn't sure if he could trust Zamorak. But trust wasn't the number one thing on his mind. Destroying Atori was, for what ever it took.

"I did." Izami said solemnly







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