Nightfall

01. Dreams

He fears only the worst. Nothing is necessarily frightening per say. It does not come from the hushed whispers he hears constantly, nor does it come from the recognition of blurred faces, or the bright light he sees for the first time. What scares him the most is the unfamiliarity.

"Uchiha Kimaru. That shall be his name."

Kimaru learns quickly that fear is a fickle thing. He hears of what happens outside of their home. How it can do no good, aside drive people to desperation. War is brewing just a few miles away from the safety of Konoha. He breathes in relief that for once, being locked in a compound isn't too bad.

He approaches his first birthday, and his parents begin trying to conceal their worries caving in. Kimaru is not like most children from what the two of them can tell. He cries only when assistance is needed whether it is a coincidence or not. As if his cries are timed in a daily manner. There are barely attempts at gurgling words, or walking. His small habit, they first found endearing, now appeared to be off-putting. Kimaru's eyes always wandered to one of the parents if they were near, and gleamed in a way that spoke of his understanding.

Kimaru's little celebration of living another year was cut short, when he saw the happiness that flickered through their faces, after mustering the courage to gurgle Kaa-san. He cried that day.

Kimaru has turned two, nearing three and is still plagued with weird dreams.

He spends days that go by, thinking about the dreams, sometimes they turn into nightmares. He dreams about Konoha, but a different version. Kimaru somehow learns of what the academy is before his parents even mention a word of it to him.

His parents find out one day that he can access chakra. They tell him he's too young to fully control it, and must learn about its concept in depth before even utilizing it. Kimaru says he can already stick a leaf on his hand from lots of practice and that he doesn't need help. They ask where he's been taught this. Kimaru tells them he learned it from a dream.

He doesn't know how it happened, or specifically what had happened. He doesn't remember, and doesn't try to remember. All he knows is that he woke up one morning and could activate the sharingan. No matter how much chakra he pushed into his eyes after that. He couldn't activate them. He just thought of it to be a fluke, or a part of his...imagination.

Both of his parents and the rest of the clan are ignorant to this fact, which is something that Kimaru is happy about. The rumors of a new prodigy begin circulating around. At first Kimaru believes they are talking about a certain silver-haired child that hails from the Hatake clan, but when his training begins early, as an order from the clan elders, he realizes that it is his name being spoken.

The clan elders are informed of his progress, they are all quite pleased, and expectations begin to pile on his shoulders.

Kimaru is sent off to go back home earlier than usual on one day. His training regimen always leaves him on a tight schedule, where lack of time is slowly becoming the norm. Knowing that, alarm picks up. The urgency of the situation must be great for his instructor to let him go even a minute early. He goes off in a sprint when realization hits him.

He fears, and he hates the very thought of fear, yet he cannot help but let it consume his entire being. Shinobi are built to lay their lives down for the village, so fear should not be--cannot be--a concept that lives within their minds.

The house seems vacant at first until quiet sobs are heard.

"Kaa-san?" Kimaru whispers the words, not wanting to disturb the grief heavy in his mother's voice.

The door creaks open revealing her face. Her eyes look dazed, and Kimaru can see the internal battle going on within her to keep the emotions away. She takes a deep breath before it hitches. She can't bring herself to look at her son, and Kimaru knows that.

"Y-your father was sent on a longtime mission. He was-" she struggled to continue on, but managed to push the rest out of her mouth before almost collapsing to the floor, "killed in action."

Kimaru may not have realized it then, but his eyes flared red, and everything around him sharpened. His sharingan was active again, and this time, it didn't fade.

The clan is forcing Kimaru to join the academy early. Around the same time of the Hatake, who was but a couple months older then Kimaru. It is clear to him that he must live up to the expectations set by everyone, as word has gone out to shinobi outside the clan of his prodigious.

He is allowed to wander around the compound at times. There he hears of praises that trail after him, and comparisons set among his own clansmens' children or himself with the Hatake.

There was always distinctive talk that went around, the deep regret of how the clan prodigy was only a distant branch member of the Uchiha. Yet, arguments would arise, countering the disgraceful remark with how despite such a young age his sharingan was already awakened. No matter how distant of an Uchiha, Kimaru was still an Uchiha and he had his eyes as proof.

His mother was a proud woman, but with the memory of his father, she did not want him to start the academy at his age.

Kimaru was the subject of a tug of war case, but between the clan's word and his mother's, the decision seemed unbudgeable. Everyone eventually excused his mother's words as it was spoken from a grief-stricken person, and so he joined the academy.

. . . .

Kimaru was quite sure that Hatake Kakashi was born with that mask around his face. There was complete certainty in his mind that there was no way to remove that mask other than the wearer themselves. It was odd seeing this...smaller version of the Hatake. His dreams always portrayed him as a lazy, twenty-six year old porn reader that liked to make questionable decisions.

He wanted to question his sanity at times. Kimaru has become very reliant on these dreams. Too much for even himself to be comfortable with.

He cannot fully describe the feeling when visions come to him. He is told that he sometimes blanks out for long periods of time, and stares off into space no matter how much intervention is made for him to notice. Kimaru is heavily punished for this, and he learned that these are not just dreams but visions that come during the day time as well. All he can think about is how... unconventional it is, as he walks through the academy doors.

Kimaru slightly perks up, feeling a switch in tension. People are staring at him.

He's used to ignoring them. He does it enough in the clan compound to not have it affect him here.

Kimaru was guided to the classroom by an older clan member who was instructed to introduce the new environment properly. He doesn't know their name, and it seems from the dismissive glance he gets every time he tries making eye contact with the Uchiha, that he doesn't want to tell him either. He can see the older grit his teeth as he forces a light smile which looks odd on his, from what Kimaru had seen, usual stoic features.

The Uchiha turns to face Kimaru, placing a hand on the latter's shoulder while slightly crouching down, and for once Kinaru finally gets a full view of his face. "Now, Kimaru-san. You must understand that many will be looking your way. Your actions reflect upon the clan, so be sure to represent us with pride. The uchiwa fan on your back is not just for show. Wear it proudly."

"Hn. I understand."

Kimaru takes pleasure in seeing the slight twitch that is revealed from the lack of respect in his response.

The Uchiha pardons himself and takes his leave. Kimaru is left staring off into space in front of the new classroom.

His eyes widen, feeling his vision tunnel, as he sees the familiar spike of grey hair.

He can finally meet Hatake Kakashi.

. . . .

"Hello Hatake-san," Kimaru bows and can already feel the stares directed towards the two.

Kakashi grumbles a little, but Kimaru can hear the reply, "Hello, Uchiha-san."

He peers up at the taller four-year old, shocked at the display. There's a bit of respect in his tone, and it means a lot to know that he might be considered an equal.

Kimaru trails a little behind Kakashi when walking. He can tell that special treatment has already been given. From what the instructors see today, possibly a separate evaluation allowing him to skip a month in the initial starting class, and recommendations that boost him to the following. There are indeed a lot of expectations riding on him. He's been sat down by the clan elders and disciplined thoroughly on how his behavior will represent the entirety of the Uchiha clan.

He does so, but he plans on another route as well.

Friends. It seems nice. A lot of Uchiha children make an attempt to befriend him in hopes of making an early-on connection with a possibly influential person in the future. He doesn't like being seen as just an asset.

Kimaru hopes to meet Obito now. Something in the back of his mind is telling him that he must befriend him. He hears that Obito is somewhat shunned by the clan, and he wants to help with the situation. If he has the ability to make a change, he wants to make it.

His visions don't show much of Obito though. He wants to know: Does it mean that Obito will meet an unfortunate end? He hopes not. He hates hoping just has much as he hates fear. They both lead to the same origin, desperation.

Kimaru's eyes widen when his consciousness comes back from blanking out. Obito had come crashing into the classroom screaming that he was almost late, and just when he was about to run into Kimaru, Kakashi took the decency to pull him away as Obito tripped from the sudden movement.

"Now how about that. Some clan prodigy you are to have almost been run over by that doofus," Kakashi sighed. He let the grip around Kimaru loosen, and backed away after Kimaru gave a dazed apology. He was beginning to understand why his clan instructor always nagged him about his constant lack of attention at times.

"I- I'm sorry about that! I was helping an old lady cross the street and- and," Obito picked himself off the ground and when his eyes glimpsed the other Uchiha's face he shouted, "wait a second. H-hey aren't you that clan prodigy or something?"

Is that all people were going to mention the whole day? He stood shyly, and stiffened at the yelling. "I suppose so. Whatever you classify as a prodigy, then yes."

Kimaru looked away from the floor, remembering that eye-contact was key as a shinobi. "Are you ok? That could have been a nasty fall. Oh- and you're not really late, sensei still hasn't gone through introductions. She says they won't start until a couple minutes from now."

He receives a quick nod, but sees the shocked look from Obito's face and asks, "Are you really ok? You still seem kind of out of it."

Obito scratches the back of his neck and nervously chuckles, "It's just...I thought you'd be more, I dunno, stuck up? You seem nice though. What's your name? Mine's Obito?"

"I have to agree surprisingly. Why are you being so nice to him? I would've just-" he tripped Obito, and continued on, "let him stay there on the ground. Not our fault he can't seem to balance properly."

Kimaru didn't know how to react. Kakashi was playing nice with him. He expected to either be completely dismissed or just have a slightly agitated Kakashi against him.

Obito jumped up this time, pointing angrily at Kakashi, "Hey! Who do you think you are? You can't just go pushing people around."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow from the statement. "If you were a true ninja then you wouldn't have even fallen in the first place. Hatake Kakashi," he introduced, "Konoha's White Fang? I'm his son."

Obito blushed at the casual remark. "I knew that. No wonder I felt like I've heard the name Hatake from somewhere. I only know him," he pointed at Kimaru, "because we're from the same clan."

"Despite the similarities in genetics, it seems that none of the brains have gone to you, has it?" Kimaru didn't even need the sharingan to see the smirk forming on Kakashi's face under the mask. What was more subtly, on the other hand, was the puff of his chest when the mention of his father came along. He was quite glad that Kakashi wasn't left alone in grief and that nothing had happened as of then.

Obito's blush intensified, as he whirled around to where Kakashi was standing and pounced to what seemed like a form, ready to claw off Kakashi's face.

"Maa, first day and already a fight?" Everyone's attention went to the women standing at the front of the classroom. "Get to your seats, brats or you'll be marked absent on your first day."

She slammed her clipboard down on the desk. "My name is Mori Akemi. I will be your academy instructor."

2,289 words

: chapter one end :

OMAKE one -

Keep the sharp, pointy weapons away
aka
Don't ever trust a kunai to be left in Obito's range of sight.

[early academy days, crack-fic version, uchiha friendship chronicles]

"Obito...what happened?" Kimaru looked at the older Uchiha and his tattered clothes. His hair was flying every direction deemed humanly impossible, and his sheepish expression was not giving him any extra points with the teacher who rolled her eyes at every explanation or dare to say 'excuse' that came out of Obito's mouth.

"Well," Obito chuckled, "I helped retrieve some princess's pet."

"You what?" Kimaru deadpanned.

Obito went on, "An old man needed some help with his groceries so I went with it cause I thought I had time. Then this cat came out of nowhere and started to scratch at my face! It took my goggles, so I ran after it."

"So let me get this straight, a cat got his paws on your goggles by..." Kimaru raised his eyebrows, waiting for more detail.

"I dunno. It just snagged my goggles!" Obito exclaimed, jumping from his seat. The teacher turned around the second she heard movement, and threw a piece of chalk that hit directly at Obito's forehead. He started to quiet down to a whisper with his story.

"Ok," Kimaru sighed, "Believable to some point I guess."

Obito began to whisper loudly, in a bragging tone, "Apparently, the crazy cat was just running from some shinobi, so I beat them off!"

Kimaru sighed, cutting him off. He raised his hand. "Three things Obito."

He put up one finger, "Those shinobi are most likely just Konoha genin. There is no need to 'beat them off' since they are going from the direct order of commands, and in this case they just seem to be doing a mission."

"What?!" Obito squawked, "I thought they were enemies trying to get the cat!"

Kimaru stopped him again. "Why would any enemy village want a cat of all things? Infiltration is hard, so to do so only to get a cat who most likely belongs to a civilian is unlikely."

"They told me the cat belonged to someone important!" Obito wailed. "It has to have been. It had this fancy collar and all that. Even a high-level ninja came to me for the cat too."

"Obito...I don't even know what to do with you," Kimaru sighed. "I find it barely believable that you outwitted a genin team, which again you had somehow mistaken as enemies despite the lack of evidence. I'm starting to question just how much of this story is made up."

Kimaru quirked an eyebrow at Obito's gaped expression, wanting an explanation.

"I've never heard you speak so much!" Obito spluttered.

Kimaru twitched. "Obito. I'm going to be honest, this is one of the most creative excuses you've made to being late."

Obito gasped. "No! Bakashi is starting to rub off on you! You normally just shyly nod and listen! What happened to my cute little brother!"

"I'm not related to you outside the clan." Kimaru deadpanned.

"But, you're like a little brother to me!" Kimaru's face flushed. He changed the subject. "I liked the story."

Obito pouted. "It's not a story though! Look!"

He pulled out a kunai.

Kimaru saw the kunai and said, "A kunai? You didn't mention this."

"Exactly! I was getting to it. The jonin came and gave me this for helping." He waved the kunai around, under the desk, before putting it back.

"Who?" Kimaru questioned.

"He said his name was Minato," Obito grumbled. "Also said something about how if I ever needed help, he'd be there in a giffy. Probably was so impressed by my super-duper cool skills."

All Kimaru did was sweatdrop.

What actually happened:

Obito had not been lying. As dawn approached, he had already been awoken, dressed, and seemingly ready that morning.

He adjusted his goggles one last time in the mirror, before eating, and rushing out the door. On his way towards the academy, prepared to surprise everyone by full force on how early he was, he bumped into an elderly man who was carrying some groceries. In an indescribable feeling of need to help, he offered and found himself carrying them before an answer was given.

Obtio would wave a final goodbye to the man, and plop the candy he got as a treat for helping into his mouth. In two seconds max, he found himself on the ground, and a cat scratching at his face. The days he decides to wear his goggles are good days, well normally. He would worship his goggles the next chance he got for protecting him from this cat.

He pried the cat off of him, and threw him into the next century, or at least Obito thought he did, but in actuality, his motion of leaning back his arms to ready for a throw got the cat stuck clinging to his goggles and therefore on his back, too.

Next thing he knew, more trouble came.

Shinobi. Not too young, not too old, aiming for the cat.

These shinobi, not of Obito's knowledge, were not enemy shinobi, nor were they affiliated with Konoha. It just came at the coincidence that the most Tora catching missions always came to Konoha.

They weren't necessarily on that mission. They planned to cat-nap the cat belonging to the Daimyo's wife.

Afterall, she lost the cat so many times, and paid for who knows how many missions for this one cat.

Then Obito came around, with Tora on his back.

That's also when Obito learned he could run as fast as the famed Yellow Flash, or in other words, Minato Namikaze's ability with his hiraishin.

Minato comes into this story when he sees an Uchiha kid running. He doesn't see that everyday. Nobody sees that anyday. (Uchiha's are always 'graceful' afterall.)

It's also not everyday that he finds shinobi unaffiliated with Konoha...in Konoha, after a clan child.

So, he does what any sensible person would do, he knocks them all out for interrogation. What were they doing in Konoha? How did they breach security? How did they manage to keep themselves unnoticed so long and stay in the center of the village with no apparent capture on them? More importantly, he hopes they have a fun time with the interrogation department.

He hands the kid a kunai, tells him, "If you ever need any help, pulse some chakra into this kunai, and throw it."

Peculiar of him to think that an academy student, likely one who looks so young, even from a clan, knew how to mold and use chakra.

Well, to give Minato the benefit of the doubt, he had been hearing of two rising stars within the village. An Uchiha was one of them.

Obito doesn't know what the fancy looking kunai can do, but a free kunai is a free kunai.

(In a couple months during target practice, Obito is going to know why you don't keep random kunai given to you by strangers. Minato appears, through hirashin, while trying to have his morning coffee.)

: end of omake one :

OMAKE two -

Colors, colors, colors
aka
When an Uchiha gets bored and decides to play around with genjutsu

[early academy days, crack-fic version, uchiha friendship chronicles]

"Kimaru..." Obito muttered softly. He fidgeted a bit and looked around, only to flinch and look back down at his feet.

"Yes?" Kimaru kept picking at his food. He worriedly prodded and poked each and everything that was in the container. Kimaru was currently stuck in a tree with Obito. It wasn't his greatest moment but it could definitely be worse. He was hoping his food wasn't tampered with since today, Kimaru shuddered, not wanting to think about it anymore, was Valentine's Day.

Obito clenched his head and shouted, "Why is the world pink?!"

"Calm yourself Obito," Kimaru said, slightly amused. He was wondering why Obito had been so quiet the whole day. This explained it all.

"Am I going crazy? Why is my lunch talking to me? Is it normal for dango to be mocking you?" Obito slurred the words together, and started to breathe slowly in an attempt to calm down.

Kimaru sighed, and pushed his lunch to the side, before fully deciding to close the container and chuck it back into his bag.

He scratched the side of his head, before breaking out in a small smile. "I may or may not have casted a genjutsu on our whole class right before we left for lunch."

"Oh ok that makes sense," Obito grinned sheepishly, until it processed and he exclaimed," Wait what?!"

Obito whined, "Why did you do it on me then, too?"

Kimaru's mouth began to twitch in a way that showed he was hiding his expression.

"We have been training, so I just wanted to test my limits a bit," he swung his legs, before continuing on, "I also did it to Kakashi if you were wondering."

Kimaru saw Obito light up. It's only been a couple months in the academy and he feels as if he's slowly gnawing the chains away that had bound him to the clan. He never cared about the whispers, so he figured, how much harm would it be to have even more commotion created by the fact he's befriended the Uchiha outcast.

Kimaru knew Obito was steadily digging away at his worries. Worries for the clan. Worries for the village. Worries for when he would become a full-fledged shinobi. He felt lighter and more free.

"Woah. I mean I just didn't think you'd do something like this," Obito mumbled, reaching for a chocolate bar that was in a bag of gifts Kimaru had received from multiple people. "Pranks just don't seem like your thing, you know? Have I really been rubbing off on you that much?"

Kimaru chuckled. "Yeah. You have, I guess."

Obito's mouth was left wide open, as the chocolate bar in his hand dropped to the ground beneath them. He stuttered out, "You laughed. You just laughed."

"I know," Kimaru deadpanned. "The laugh came out of my mouth."

Obito got over it quite quickly and started to despair at the chocolate he had just wasted.

Kimaru patted Obito's shoulder. "I wouldn't be too upset if I were you."

Obito huffed. "Yeah, you wouldn't. You're the one getting all these gifts."

"I said that since the chocolate was probably laced. You don't eat food given out by an unknown source," Kimaru stated as a fact, watching Obito's spirit whitter a little.

Kimaru looked away. "What am I going to do with you once we're both shinobi?"

Obito rolled his eyes. "I dunno? Maybe release this genjutsu?! I can't handle it anymore. I'm pretty sure I see the academy with pink sparkles and paint covered all over it."

Kimaru hummed in satisfaction. "Oh that? That's real. I'm just waiting for the instructors to notice."

Obito yelled in frustration, "I can't deal with pink anymore!"

(Later that day, he would go home to see a splotch of pink from a far distance getting closer and closer. It turns out it was Might Dai running through the whole village in a pink spandex in honor of Valentine's Day. He smiled brightly as he passed by and an illusion of a heart sparkled around the sky. Obito was so done with genjutsu for the day. He fainted.)

: end of omake two :