Tales of the White Fox [plot]

Ichiro ran for his life, and this time it really seemed like it was his life that was on the line. Normally kids would chase him, or random drunken citizens. This time though, he had far more on his plate as a duo of shinobi led the chase to catch him. He was panting heavily, the sweat dripping from his face in huge globs. Every now and then a tear would fall from his eyes. He was so confused. What had he ever done? Every day the people of the Uchiha compound would abuse him one way or another, either mentally, or sometimes physically for looking so different. But could they really blame him? He had no control over his genetics. Several times a week he has gone being bullied. He was six, and by now he'd just accepted this was the way things were.

He was so desperate to get away he didn't notice the rock in his path and he ran full on into it. He instantly reached up to clutch his head and nose which when he pulled his hands back noticed it was now bleeding. It stung horribly and his head was now pounding, but the rushed footsteps behind him urged him to move on. He was absolutely terrified by ninja. Villagers he could handle; they didn't hit so hard. But shinobi he knew from witnessing that they would kill without mercy. As a child, he shouldn't have been able to understand the concept of killing, but he did, and he was afraid of it. Of death.

His only hope now was to get back to the village. The gates were already in sight, but he wasn't on the main road. After being chased off from the private training area, he decided to go out to the forest to gather foods he thought he could eat. Sometimes he would eat poisoned fruit but even though his stomach would hurt badly, it always subsided an hour or so later. Sometimes he didn't have a choice but to eat something he knew was poisoned just to survive.

But while he was looking for something edible, the two Uchiha ninja had shown up. They hadn't said a word the entire time they'd been chasing him. The only reason Ichiro knew they were out to get him was when one lazily threw a kauni right by his face, cutting his ear to scare him. Ichiro knew he needed to run and did so. Ichiro knew little of the ninja system, but he knew they were divided by ranks. He hoped the ones chasing him were lower level shinobi; he might be able to outrun them.

He looked back again to see two shadowy figures leaping after him. He was in the tall grass right now, and it was over his head in height. He wanted to sit down and hide, but that wouldn't work against a ninja. To him, ninja were liked gods, capable of doing anything, finding anyone, and destroying everything.

He was getting closer to the gates now, and hope glimmered in his tear-stained eyes. He was sobbing as he ran, the emotions of fear and incomprehension overloading his six year old mind. But just as he was about to dash into the clearing, he heard a light whistling sound and a sharp pain emitted from his calf. He fell to the ground with a cry. Skidding to a halt, his hands instinctively reached down to his wounded leg. He wasn't looking at it as his eyes were shut in pain, but he could feel the problem. There was a knife imbedded deeply into it, and trying to pull it out only hurt even more.

The soft sound of grass rustling behind him made his wails cease in terror. Hesitantly, he dared to look behind him. He regretted it immediately. They stood there, arms crossed, walking casually up to his bloody form. One stopped at his feet while the other circled around to his head. Ichiro didn't dare move. Like a wounded animal, he stayed absolutely still, tears still running freely down his face. The one in front of him leaned down on his haunches, and pulled out another knife. He held it up in front of him as if examining it, Ichiro's eyes also looking at it, but for him it was in fear. The Uchiha grinned looking at it, and then his gaze fell on Ichiro.

Immediately Ichiro tried to scurry away on his hands and knee, but a quick stomp down from the other Uchiha behind him on his other legs halted his escape. The snapping of bone could be heard for several dozen feet. Ichiro cried out in pain, not like he had with the knife in his leg. This was a completely different type of pain altogether.

"It's too bad you're just a kid. If you were a little older, you might have been able to get away."

The Uchiha with the knife said as he brought the blade to Ichiro's throat.

"W-w-w-hy are y-you doing t-this to me…?"

He stuttered out through pain and tears. The Uchiha offered no answer but grabbed the albino's hair and lifted it up, exposing his neck. He brought the knife to the skin and pressed the sharp edge against it. He grinned and began to drag the knife slowly across the boys' neck when his partner, the one whose foot was currently crushing Ichiro's now broken leg, called out softly.

"Wait."

The Uchiha with the knife stopped just short of cutting the boys' jugular, but not before he had already started to slice over to it.

"What is it?"

He asked. His partner looked over to him.

"Can't you feel it? Something powerful is coming!"

The knife wielder instantly looked alert and wary, glancing around at his surroundings. He quickly dropped the boy's head and used the hand that had held it to smother the boys' cries.

"How powerful?"

The other closed his eyes and brought his hands together in the ram seal. After a few tense seconds he opened his eyes again.

"I can't gauge it accurately, but its stronger than both of us!"

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