The White Rose

The nightfall continued to deepen, taking on a life of its own. The darkness that embraced the streets and skies was endless, and it was a wonder of all the things that hid in the darkness; the reminders of the unknown and what life feared. Every sound was amplified in this eternal peace, even a tiny squeal of an animal was deafening. In this serenity, nothing was to worry for the citizens of the Hidden Leaf Village… that was until an enormous burst of rubble was heard. The energy of this explosion was so immense, flocks of birds hurried to put their wings to work, as they had no early death wish, and shinobis who were on missions heard it from many.. Many miles.

These miles away, Kushina Uzumaki had been tied up in the dark all alone, with chains linked to each arm. Her own existence began devouring her as the black seal marks engulfed her entire body, threatening to make an escape. The woman shook intensely, sweat stricken and exhausted. Her head hung low as small breaths struggled to escape her lips as her throat was destroyed from the screams and cries of help.

Miles away from Kushina was Minato. He was separated from Kushina, taking Naruto into his own hands, as he attempted to bring his son to safety after the suspicious man finally gave in and gave the child. Now the couple knew why. He wanted the husband and wife to be separated so he could carry out his plans.

And now, roamed the free and ferocious Nine-tailed beast, making himself heard as he roared as loud as a storm of thunder…

What was missing from this storm however was,

The lightning.

– 30 minutes prior.

Hatake Kakashi desperately grabbed the suspicious man’s cloak, trying to get a hold of Kushina as the man carried her over his shoulder in the night’s forest. Kakashi chose to stick by Kushina’s side while Minato brought Naruto to safety. The masked man now grew annoyed by Kakashi’s attempts to thwart him, to the point where he threw the woman on the dirt floor and began to fight the grey haired boy himself.

“You’re just as annoying as Minato.” the man spoke, his voice filled with pure disgust and hatred.

“Kushina!” Kakashi reached out as he saw the poor woman land on the dirt harshly, but he became too occupied not even a second after, as the man began attacking him as if he wanted to kill - which would not be a surprise. 

If anybody hated Minato, it was this man. Nobody could hate him more than this man did, that’s all Kakashi knew.

The poor boy could only perform one block and right after that was where it all went downhill. A kick in the back after punches to the face, back, and stomach.., another kick, kunai slices to the face and arms… the poor boy was getting bruised all over.

For some reason, Kakashi just could not land a single hit on the man. He struggled and struggled and at first, the boy thought his aim was just off. But then he actually landed a punch on the man, which went straight through him. It was like Kakashi just swept his arm through the air, and not a single thing happened. His confusion was interrupted by the man teleporting behind him and attempting to throw sharpened chains at him to capture him. Realising, Kakashi turned around just slightly before dodging the attack.

Clang! Click! Clack! Pierce! Each of the chains dug right into the dirt floor. 

“Something.. about him… just isn’t right..”

The grey-haired boy thought to himself.

Of course nothing about this masked man was right. He was a strong, armed, and raged man on the loose, who had no attacks effective on him, and he aimed to wipe out the Hokage and his family. Kakashi desperately thought for reasons this man might be doing this.

“A hired assassin? A man on a mission for revenge?

Someone… We know?”

Thinking so hard, the young boy got distracted and got kicked into a tree by the man who continued throwing hands.

“Kakashi!” the suffering mother of two boys cried. She had finally gathered enough energy to sit up on the ground, but had to use her voice immediately to scream due to her concern for her son. There was no end to this torturous night for Kushina Uzumaki. Just how many tears would she have to shed? How much do her tears have to fill until she is heard?

The grey haired boy was now at the state of passing out. His head and back hit right against the stiff tree and his body started to go numb. Everything was a blur to him. This had never happened before. Kakashi had never met someone who dared to lay a hand on him, and so many times.

What was even more eerie though, was the fact every hit Kakashi tried, went through the man like he was a hologram of some sort. 

“To not be touched? An unknown power like this.. How many more might there be out there?” Kakashi thought to himself.

The boy started drifting to his side and laid down for two seconds, as he struggled to breathe, and was lost in thoughts. He was confused and aching everywhere. His head was then flooded by his family.. 

Thoughts of them smiling and resting on peaceful days.. Thoughts of him and his family under their house’s tree soaking up the sun, reading books, laughing, and eating the food Kakashi made himself… Thoughts of waiting for Naruto.. who now joined them. His chest ached, as his heart felt like somebody was stepping all over it. Streaks of sweat began trickling down the boy’s head as he grew fearful at the thoughts of what could happen to his family. Then, out of nowhere he was disrupted by a sharp pain that shot straight at his ribs.

“Probably a broken rib… and jaw”

The boy thought to himself.

After what had felt like forever, this was when he snapped back into reality. Just a mere two seconds had gone by when the boy had his body and head throbbing with pain and sorrow, but it felt like he had frozen time. He shook his head trying to re-gain all his conscious,

“Kushina!” Kakashi clenched his stomach. His thoughts immediately went to his adoptive mother.

He wasted no time in flipping onto his feet, crouched with one hand touching the floor, and one hand pulling his long and rigorous sword out. Slowly, his jounin headband unravelled and slid down his face and finally landed softly onto the floor.

This boy was the youngest ANBU captain to exist, and one of the smartest and strongest ever despite his young age. If he could not protect his family, who could? All the boy could think about now was Kushina and saving her from this deranged person.

He gave his headband a quick glance and then glared at his opponent.

Kakashi quickly got to his feet, and his face now held… a different expression. This was an expression that was never seen on this boy’s face. Ever. He was filled with fury and had his mind set on one goal, which was rescuing his family.

The boy began spinning his sword directly in the man’s face, letting the man know that he was ready to kill. With such pain and rage carried within this little boy’s existence, unknowingly the boy’s sharingan activated Mangekyo in a split second, and he immediately lunged at the man.

Just by a mere second, the man managed to avoid the powerful cut of the raged shinobi’s sword, just by a very brief second. The man’s arm was slightly scraped, and Kakashi quickly put his sword away and kept throwing punches and kicks. The man managed to make a few more attacks pass through him before Kakashi began to appear from every end, every second due to his outstanding speed abilities. He confused the man and landed a kick to his back, stomach, and face one by one.

“Finally” Kakashi thought to himself.

Still, this was nothing compared to what the man did to Kakashi. All the hits Kakashi landed on him were just measly nuisances. 

The man let out a bitter chuckle, and Kakashi could tell he was annoyed.

Minutes of this went by and the two kept going. Kakashi basically just dodged all the attacks on him while he tried to scheme what he could try against someone who could not be affected by one. The two were getting closer and closer to the forest’s herd of trees, and Kakashi saw an opening for himself.

The man loaded a powerful blow and aimed it at Kakashi, but the grey haired boy simply turned into a piece of wood, which fell onto the floor.

“Tch. Are you really going to use this pathetic substitution?” the man spoke, agitated as ever.

Kakashi appeared behind the man, and before the man could turn around he landed a powerful hit to the man’s head which pushed him forward to land head-first on the tree.

Kakashi thought what he had done was enough for now, as he saw the man struggling to get up. And the man looked like he tired himself out from using his special attack resistant abilities, so Kakashi pulled his sword out and began to coat it with lightning. He swung the sword with unmatched aim at the man, who desperately dodged.

They were both getting tired, the man and Kakashi were drenched in sweat and were struggling to keep their breath. They both began slowing their moves down and that’s when Kakashi knew he had to do something. He suddenly forced all the energy back into his body and swung again, as he knew this was one of the only chances he’d get to get a hit on someone untouchable.

And this time, he left a deep cut on the man’s arm and stabbed his thigh, which made the man let out a noise of pain and exasperation.

Kushina Uzumaki sat on the floor, a few feet away and stared at the sight in horror. She had never seen Kakashi so fueled with anger, and this immense energy that radiated off of him was filled with so much hatred and feelings she wished she had never felt.

The man struggled to stand and he seemed a little out of breath and confused for now.

“Now,” Kakashi thought to himself.

The boy quickly put his sword away and pointed his arm to the floor. Slowly, he lined not only his hand, but entire arm with lightning streaks, as his other arm supported his forearm to help fuel even more power.

The man flinched at the noises of soft lightning sparks suddenly shifting to enormous, threatening rays.

Sat down, Kushina observed, “Those are never like this.. His lightning is… never this huge.. He is never like this.”

Kushina slowly got onto her knees and winced in pain. She was confused about what to do and cursed under her shaking breaths. All she thought about was needing to protect her child, Kakashi. 

“Would I only get in the way? I am.. far too weak right now.. But Kakashi. He needs me. He needs my help.” is all she could think.

Prepared to make the final blow, Kakashi leapt to the man and thought he might as well look into his eyes as he bid him farewell while he ripped out his heart. But, the universe seemed to have other plans. As Kakashi held the man’s shoulder with one arm, and the other extended out to pierce through his chest, the man fixed his posture and stood at eye level with Kakashi. The two looked into each other's eyes for not even half a second, but it felt like years had gone by.

Immediately, the boy’s lightning blade wiped out, and he let go of the man and backed away. He and the man both held their eyes in pain. 

“What was that?!” Kakashi asked himself.

Then he realised.. Up until now, only the man’s mask was visible, and none of his face. But now Kakashi realised this man had a sharingan.