Uchiha, Mazo [Complete]

March ninth was a dark and stormy night in Konohagakure no Sato. Hail had been bombarding the Konohagakure General Hospital all night long, and the icy wind was tearing through the building. After twelve hours of a rather intense labor, a baby boy was born into the world, the first of the twins to arrive. The parents of this child had chosen the names in advance, and as the firstborn boy, he was dubbed  Mazo Uchiha. At first, he seemed like a normal boy, but as everyone waited anxiously for his first cry as his lungs filled with air, it never occurred. After waiting patiently for a few seconds, the nurses saw young Mazo was trying and failing to breathe. A panicked nurse hit a large red button on the wall, sending a message through to the NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit], letting them know they were on their way.

Mazo was rapidly transferred to the NICU, and was placed in the careful guiding hands of a pair of Jounin rank Medical Shinobi who specialized in infants. They rapidly identified the problem:  Mazo hadn't developed his lungs correctly. Such defects were more likely in twins, and it seems Mazo had drawn the unlucky straw. Still, with a spot of emergency surgery, they did their best to heal Mazo's deformed right lung, and while he wasn't able to breathe on his own, they managed to stabilize him to the point where he could subsist on a respirator.

Yasuo, Mazo's younger, non-identical twin brother was born without complication. He cried as he was expected and was in general a healthy, happy baby boy. Meanwhile, Mazo's parents only visited him once, and after finding out about his flawed lungs, and being informed that it was unlikely that he would ever manage to survive without a respirator, let alone become a Shinobi as they intended, they abandoned him, leaving him to the care of the hospital. From that point on, only a single person visited the young Mazo; Shiho Uchiha, his seven year old sister.

Shiho visited Mazo every day for the first four years of his life, meanwhile the entire time, Mazo was completely bed bound. He had lived his life with a tube down his throat to regulate his breathing, another in his arm to feed him and one in his penis to manage to waste product. He was unable to speak, and his only human interaction beyond the brief visits the doctors gave him was when his sister came to read to him daily. She would read to him tales of mighty Shinobi and legendary heroes, of the world beyond his white sterile hospital room. She would tell him about her life, about his family, which had so lovingly abandoned him.

The day the tube was removed from his throat was one that Mazo will never forget. Shiho sat by his side, holding his hand, while one medic rested her hands over his chest, regulating his breathing. A nurse peeled back the tape holding it in, and finally, began to remove it. The sensation was disgusting, and he squeezed down hard on his sisters hand as he tried to stop himself from flailing, as he had been told not to move. It took him nearly a minute to manage to breathe on his own, so long that the medic was about to re-intubate him. But finally, Mazo was strong enough to regulate his own breathing.

He spent the next three years learning the things he should have learned as a small child: How to walk, how to run, how to speak, the basic physics of object interaction, shapes, counting, writing, reading, Hand-eye coordination and a thousand other basic things. Although she was now a genin, Shiho tried to spend as much of her free time as possible helping Mazo with as much of his basic education as possible. Mazo slowly but surely mastered these activities, in a mere three years. He still required daily medical treatment at scheduled times, as well as having countless pills to take. A nurse had to stay with the energetic ball of youth constantly as he played and learned and lived, only leaving when Shiho was there to monitor Mazo in her place, ensuring his lung didn't collapse on him.

Shiho arrived one day, greeting the energetic seven year old with a hug and a kiss before telling him some news. She had spent the last few years learning Medical Ninjutsu, and his family and the doctors had agreed to allow Mazo to be signed off into Shiho's care and live with his family in the Uchiha Compound. While Mazo was excited to leave the hospital, he was weary of living with this "family" of his. Nobody but Shiho had visited him once, not even his own twin, let alone his parents. He was weary of these people, they weren't his family. His family was Shiho and the nurses that had raised him.

Mazo found it difficult to adjust to the lifestyle he was expected to follow in the Uchiha Compound. He was placed on the exact same regime his brother Yasuo followed, waking up at six am and trained for three hours with his father and brother in hand to hand combat, Ninjutsu basics and the basics of Bukijutsu, learning how to use Kunai and Shuirken, as well as getting a head start on the basic academy techniques. While Yasuo handled all this training with ease, Mazo ran out of breath out after a mere few minutes of his father's intense training. His form was pathetic to say the least, with his physical strength, reaction speed and hand eye coordination all lacking. Mazo's father was a ruthless teacher, he didn't hold back, and he didn't care for anyone's feelings. His children were heirs to a name and a duty, and failure was not tolerated. The only thing Mazo had any talent for was picking out traps. His keen eyes could see disruptions in dirt and by putting together the information he'd been given by his father in his lectures about Shinobi edict, he could detect and disable or avoid the traps he'd laid out for his children. 

Once Mazo had survived that onslaught, most of which he spent on his knees gasping for breath, they came inside to eat, only to spend another 5 hours studying a series of hand picked texts, designed to teach Military history, Military tactics and other fundamental knowledge a future Shinobi general and tactician would need to know. Their father saw them as future leaders of the Uchiha clan, and potentially future Kage, and he groomed them as such. Mazo excelled at this part of his training, in fact it was the only part where he got even vaguely close to earning his father's respect and love. They would then eat lunch, and finally spend another three hours on physical training. During this time their father would often make Mazo and Yasuo fight each other, which always ended in Yasuo's victory. Every night would end with the family eating in silence, while Mazo's mother and father looked at him disapprovingly. On the rare occasions that they spoke, Mazo's existence was ignored.

This pattern continued for four months, until finally Mazo's father changed the routine. He woke them up at 6 am, as usual, but gave each boy a kunai. He told them that unless Mazo could draw blood from Yasuo before Yasuo drew blood from him he would be allowed to continue training with them, otherwise he would be cast out. Tatsumaru performed reasonably well, but after a few minutes of neither of them being able to get through the others guard, Mazo's health problems got in the way. He collapsed and began to cough up blood. While he was down, Yasuo dragged the tip of the blade across his cheek, drawing blood. Mazo's father took his kunai from him and ordered him to leave, insisting that he was no son of his, and that he would not waste his time training one so useless. 

Returning home in tears, Mazo locked himself in his room. He was no longer allowed to eat with the family, instead having his meals dropped at his door. However, there was one ray of light in his life. Shiho began to eat her meals in Mazo's room. She offered to train Mazo personally, as now that she was a Chuunin she had more control over her schedule, she could make time to manage him. Although he had been burned by his father, Mazo still wanted to become a Shinobi, and since he trusted his sister, he agreed to her offer.

Mazo quickly found that training with his sister was radically different from the militaristic fashion his father used. Shiho was by now a rather talented medical Shinobi, but she was also a master of Taijutsu. Around Konohagakure no Sato she was infamous for her mastery of Muay Thai, and it was claimed she could shatter bones with a single strike. Mazo met his sister as he was instructed to at 8 am by the shores of the Naki River. When he arrived, she explained to him that all they would be doing is sparring, over and over, every day. Mazo was given a single goal that he was to work towards over the next few years: Knock Shiho to the ground. She made it clear that she would not hold back, that she would hit him with his full force, and improve his strength and stamina by pure stress. Mazo took a deep breath and lunged towards her, swinging with his right fist straight for her head. In a flurry of smooth movement he couldn't hope to follow, she not only blocked it, but drove a sharp elbow into the right side of his jaw. Tatsumaru twisted violently to the left, dropping to his feet and passing out. 

The next thing Mazo knew, he was lying on his back, with a light green glow covering him. His pain was gone, and his jaw was fine. Shiho had healed the damage she had caused. Again and again Shiho beat the living shit out of Mazo, knocking him out and then healing his wounds. This would happen over and over again for five hours a day, every day. Once the training was over, Mazo got home and studied til it was time for him to sleep. Yasuo rarely spent any time with him whatsoever, as he feared earning his father's ire. As such, his own twin had forsaken him, and the only one Mazo had left was Shiho. Still, he didn't resent Yasuo, he knew he was just trying to keep the love his father had given him, the same thing that Mazo wanted to earn.

After three years of violent daily beatings from Shiho, Mazo's stamina had increased greatly, and not only had he had mastered the basics of Muay Thai, but when his respiratory problems kicked in, they were no longer debilitating. He could use the most basic Shinobi techniques even though he hadn't stepped foot in the academy. That said, he still hadn't managed to knock Shiho off her feet. Yasuo and Mazo were now both ten, and were set to enter the academy at last. Entering the academy was a completely different world than what Tatsumaru had been exposed to in the Uchiha Compound. He was surrounded by happy, social children, all of which took an immediate liking to him. The same could not be said of his brother, however, who was quiet and awkward, and as such nobody really spoke to him. Mazo on the other hand was drowning in attention. All his jokes worked, and when it came time to show what they could do so the teacher could organize the class and get a picture of what their families had taught them, she found that Yasuo and Mazo were the most advanced students by far, with Yasuo coming in first and Mazo coming in second.

The two years it took for Mazo and Yasuo to graduate from the Ninja Academy were highly eventful. Every day was a new adventure, where they learned something new about the world, made new friends and discovered new things. Mazo had already learned a lot of history from his private studies with the curriculum his father had provided. When he was forced to relearn the historical parts of his education at the academy, however, he found that certain details were violently different. Most of the information conformed with what he knew, except for a few major points. In the school's version, the Uchiha massacre was blamed on a rogue Uchiha, Itachi, whereas in the books his father provided, the Uchiha massacre was performed by a group of traitorous Senju who betrayed the Uchiha. When he inquired with his father about this disparity, he claimed that since the Third Hokage was on the side of the Senju, he covered it up by blaming an Uchiha for the scheme. Mazo believed his father's story, which reinforced the sense of hatred towards the Senju that had been figuratively beaten into him by his father.


After his days at the academy, Mazo would spend his nights training with Shiho. While they would still do the Muay Thai training, Shiho decided it was time to teach young Tatsumaru some Ninjutsu, beyond the basic fundamentals. She believed it was time he learned the basics of elemental manipulation. Nobody knew Mazo better than Shiho, and she knew that to earn the approval of his parents that he desired, Mazo had to learn the iconic Uchiha technique; "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." It took two weeks of trying and failing before Mazo produced anything even vaguely resembling an elemental reaction. Typically, when he exhaled nothing happened, his chakra was wasted. However, this time something strange happened. What appeared to be the start of a fireball was exhaled from Mazo's mouth, but as soon as it was visible, it caved in on itself and exploded. The blast sent Mazo flying back several feet, smashing  nto a tree.

Coming to a few minutes later, Mazo was greeted by a completely perplexed Shiho. She had Mazo try it again, and again he created an explosion. Time and time again, Mazo was creating a raw explosion rather than a fireball. For the first time in years, Shiho canceled training. For a few days, nobody saw her, and Mazo was terrified he had done something wrong. When she returned, she returned with a bag full of note filled books, and a thick stack of papers. She explained the phenomenon that Mazo had created was impossible. Completely impossible. He had used an extinct Kekkei Tota known as 
Bakuton; explosion release. Apparently she'd checked Tatsumaru's genetics from his medical records while she was gone, and he was certainly the off-spring of his mother and father, both confirmed Uchiha with active Sharingan. He was one in a million; a full blooded Uchiha with an advanced element.

Over the years Mazo was in the academy, he spent his days at school and his nights with Shiho, learning to control his gift. After two long years, he had learned how to use all the elements that went into his release: Katon, Raiton and Doton, both individually and when combined into Bakuton. Mazo even managed to knock Shiho off her feet using Muay Thai. He had kept his abilities a secret, however, as Shiho has asked him to. Now twelve years old, Mazo and Yasuo's day of graduation had arrived. Mazo's parents were present, and while they took note of Yasuo and applauded when he passed, they refused to even look at Mazo. When they arrived home, however, his father spoke to him for the first time in years. He told him he wanted him to fight Yasuo. Mazo complied, and the fight began.

The fight lasted for almost twenty minutes, during which time Yasuo and Mazo were tied. Mazo's Taijutsu ability was superior to his brother, but he did a good job of avoiding most of his blows. Forgetting what his sister asked him, however, Mazo decided to use his Ninjutsu, and releasing an explosive blast from his punch, he sent Yasuo flying, covering his body with mild burns in the process. Mazo was declared the winner of the battle, and was welcomed back into the family.

Mazo was assigned to Squad Nine. His Sensei was Takashi Sarutobi, an ultimately rather unimpressive individual. He shared the squad with Hayate Aburame, a quiet but polite boy, and Kyo Senju. . The first squad meeting Mazo attended was rather... awkward, to say the least. Mazo arrived at the same time as their Sensei,locking eyes with Kyo as he did so. She glared at him in disgust, causing him to smack the girl on the ass as she left just to her. They stood there glaring at each other as their Sensei addressed them, introducing himself before asking them why they became a Shinobi. Mazo paused awkwardly as Takashi's eyes locked onto him, feeling anxiety well up in his throat as he reflected on the question. He had never really thought about it before. Awkwardly, he eventually spoke up. "To prove to my parents that I am worthy of my position as the firstborn son by gaining the strength to lead my clan despite my condition, and to make my sister proud."

The next three years were incredibly uneventful, as is typical for a genin. They ran generic missions that doubled as physical training, such as picking weeds, helping deliver supplies or helping construction crews around the village. Every day Mazo ran these missions with his squad, basking in the awkward atmosphere between himself and Kyo, and every night he would train with his father and brother. This continued until one day, Takashi announced to the squad that he wanted to give them a test to see if they were worthy of the Chuunin exams; a B rank mission. Mazo was elated at the prospect of this. No longer would he be forced to mess around with picking weeds and cutting wood, he'd get to actually experience Shinobi life! The mission was to eliminate a group of bandits operating near the south-east coastline of the fire country, as they were apparently raiding the local villages and caravans.

Reports said they were simply thugs with swords, untrained in the Shinobi arts. So the group set off with haste, excited to get their mission under-way. They quickly arrived in the small fishing town and settled down in the local hotel, planning on hunting down the group the next day. However, the information in the mission report was inaccurate; they weren't simple thugs, they were trained Shinobi. As such, Takashi lead the squad straight into an ambush, with the Shinobi bandits having sensed their approach and set up a series of elaborate traps. Takashi was caught off guard, with an exploding tag wrapped kunai having hit his leg before he was even aware they had noticed the squad, blowing his right leg off and causing him to drop out of the tree he was standing on. Although startled, Mazo rapidly took control, barking "AMBUSH, SCATTER!" to his squad-mates, dropping out of the tree to the ground below, landing next to Takashi. He grabbed his Sensei's left arm, hunching him over his shoulders and beginning to flee while dragging his unconscious teacher. Mazo and his squad-mates were rapidly cut off by three stocky thugs. "Leave me..." Takashi groaned, pushing off Mazo's shoulder and dropping onto the branch the squad stood upon. "Hah, he's still alive boys." one of the thugs sniggered towards them. Uninterested in hearing this nonsense, Mazo thrust his right fist towards them, only to have one of the thugs catch his fist with his own hand, clamping down on it. Grinning, Mazo fired an explosion from his knuckles, blowing the man's hand to bits. All out chaos broke out at this point, with Kyo fighting one thug, Hayate fighting the other and Mazo trying to finish off the remaining thug whose hand he had just destroyed.

Although Mazo had rendered one of his hands useless, the man was still far more experienced with him, drawing his blade and lunging towards him with haste. His speed kept Mazo on the ropes, forcing him to dodge constantly, unable to strike back. Still, he began to read into his foes movements, and just as he lunged past the thug's swing and was about to land a direct blow to his throat, he stopped mid-swing. Mazo began to vomit blood, dropping to his knee unable to move. The thug began to laugh, raising his sword and swinging down towards Mazo's head like an executioner. Just before the blade connected, however, Takashi lunged between the two of them, blocking the blow with his back. Mazo screamed as he watched his teacher die saving him, and with a new-found fury, his vision began to morph. Mazo found it easy to read into his opponent's movements suddenly, and with the adrenaline in his system, overpowered his physical frailty and slaughtered the bandit, dodging his blows and turning his own sword against him, running it through his throat. While Kyo survived the conflict, Hayate did not. Mazo and Kyo returned the bodies of Takashi and Hayate to the village, and after reporting directly to the Kage what happened, they were both promoted to Chuunin for how they handled the situation. It wasn't until Mazo returned back to his clan house, still covered in his teacher's blood that he was informed about why he managed to defeat the bandit; he had his first Tomoe active.

Over the next few weeks, Mazo's father taught him how to control his first Tomoe, and once he could activate it at will, he became informed of his clan's primary directive. Mazo's father informed him that the clan were Assassins. Mazo's father and mother, and their father and mother before them systematically assassinated Senju around Konohagakure. They took positions of power in the local investigative forces so they could frame other Senju for their murders, and by doing so they planned on gradually destroying the clan they considered out to destroy them. Although uncomfortable with the concept, Mazo took his orders as a member of his clan, and began to assassinate Senju when ordered. His first kill wasn't until a year after he obtained his Chuunin position however. His father came to him one evening, handing him a scroll and left without saying a word. It was a complete report on the combat ability and habits of Reisha Senju. Even when to strike and how to execute him to allow them to frame his brother. Mazo was terrified, but he did as he was told. He easily caught the man off-guard, but hesitated, unable to land the killing blow. Reisha took advantage of the opportunity, binding Mazo with wooden restraints that extended from the ground at his feet. He created a spear out of wood and plunged it towards Mazo's heart. Using his explosion release, Mazo created a blast that shattered his binds. While the blast was too late to destroy the spear, it knocked it off-target, causing it to drive into his left shoulder blade. Mazo let out a feral scream, and his vision changed again. He had unlocked his second Tomoe. Using his improved vision, Mazo dodged the incoming attacks and landed a punch directly into the man's chest, releasing an explosive blast as the blow hit, turning the Senju into nothing more than a red mist. Although he hadn't killed him in the way he was ordered to do so, the kill earned him a new nickname among his clansmen: The Crimson Fist, for when he punched someone he turned them into nothing more than a cloud of blood. 

Until he turned twenty one, Mazo's life remained on much the same path. He earned the position of Special Jounin through incredibly unimpressive means, simply by performing well on his missions. He would obtain new assassination scrolls and execute them summarily, all without complication. He was even working with the Konohagakure no Sato Police Force under the investigation branch just like his father. The only event of note that had occurred after the death of his squad was certainly one that shouldn't be underestimated, to say the least. After his former Sensei had been killed, Mazo was placed under the guidance of an individual by the name of Takao Kimura, who would go on to become Hokage. He helped Mazo improve his abilities, and generally acted like a second father around him. Still, he had no idea what Mazo got up to at night, the lives he had taken, the murders he had helped cover up. Mazo felt bad for the lives he had taken, but he saw it as a requirement. Sometimes, he even considered confessing to Takao. He considered telling him what he had done and why, about shutting the whole regime down, but he never could bring himself to do it. He had begun to noticed that Takao had started putting more stock into,Mazo he had become the hokage's right hand man in the anbu black ops he had earned the possession by doing the dirty work needed to take down the ring leaders of the senju murder plot, the hokage aware of what was going since the very first murder. Had taken Mazo under his wing in order to give him assistance in helping the young man cope with the feelings of guilt about killing his fellow shinobi. After sucessfully raiding the uchiha complex they had discovered man documents incriminating heads  the uchiha and other prominent clans in the village of mass murder, in slew of the raid there had been an altercation that had almost lead to the civil war in konoha it resulted in Takao killing Mazo's father in self defense. The village was in a chaotic state for many weeks, Mazo was depressed and he hadn't left his apartment for the entire insurrection. He didn't move a muscle for almost 3 weeks until a knock came at his door, upon opening it he made direct eye contact with the messenger dressed in anbu armor  and was handed a letter. Without waiting a second he opened the letter it was from the fire damiyo it stated that he was to report to the Hokage's office immediately. He quickly showered and dressed in his jounin armor and put on his forehead protector. Leaving for the kage's office he saw that the village was in hectic state the were people looting, setting fires and other hoodrat shenanigans he was disgusted. Having arrived at the kages office he opened the door to see his brother  Yasuo who had also become a memebr of the anbu black ops as well as his sister, he also saw the fire damiyo and the viallge elders in the room the damiyo was holding a large katana and his sensei takao the hokage sitting in the center of the room dressed in all white garb, Mazo found this strange and had asked what was going on the kage looked at him with wet eyes and stated that he had wronged Mazo, Yasuo ans Shiho and now he would be paying the price,  the kage grabbed the sword and said that Mazo would now have to safe guard the village, with that the kage plunged the sword into his stomach and collapsed. There was a long heavy silence, Mazo felt a burning sensation in the base of his skull it had started to spread it was driving him mad, he gripped his head but it didn't ease the pain, he heard yelling and screaming but it was too late he had collapsed.

2 day time skip-

He woke up in a strange white room, it felt oddly familiar to him a familiar looking woman in white garb walks into the room, “we missed you mazo.” she said. He looked down at his arms to see that there were needles and tubes running through his arms, he realizes this was his old hospital room he is immediately rushed with the events that transpired before he had passed out, it felt like a dream to him. Shiho had walked in and begun to tell him that he would be appointed to hokage in Takao's place. Mazo didn't want to hear it he wasn't hokage material he sprinted out of the room and left the village he went to the Naki river a serene stretch of land that usually calmed him , but today he was angry he felt a fire in his belly he pounded his fists into the ground until they were bloody and numb. He crawled over to the river and scrubbed his bloody knuckles after they were clean he took a long hard look at himself, He knew he had to step up for the villages sake and his clan's sake, he couldn't back down!