Okay...so this one I actually wrote tonight...over a year after I originally wrote the first two. This one shot serves another purpose other than the usual "showing the relationship between parent and child." This one also corrects the whole Pein-Yahiko-Nagato issue. When I began writing CC, Pein and Konan had just been revealed, in fact Konan didn't even have a name yet. We all know that since then, things have changed. I really don't feel like going back in my story and rewriting all the Pein chapters so that it's clear that Nagato is the one thinking, not Yahiko. And really I shouldn't have to...it's written in stream of consciousness, so it's just his thoughts. So there.

But anyway, to clarify: Kazuki's father IS Nagato. His junk totally still functions beneath all that machine crap. As evident by this story, Kazuki doesn't know this because Konan and Nagato are trying to convince him that Yahiko is, for the sake of keeping Pein's true identity secret. (Plus Nagato is ashamed and doesn't want his son to know how weak he's become)

So now that that's settled....I can go back to working on CC.

No matter how much his beloved mother insisted that the man was his father, Kazuki knew that he wasn’t. He just knew. He may have only been five, but he knew that there was no way that he could be related to that orange-haired man who used his face as a pincushion.

He wasn’t sure how he knew, but he was certain that the man wasn’t his father.

“Kazuki! Don’t say things like that! You hurt daddy’s feelings when you do!”

Only it didn’t seem like "daddy" was too upset by it. That pale face with those creepy ringed eyes never changed its expression, it always looked the same.

And then one day he had those same eyes. Those same grey ripple eyes, that same piercing stare. His dearest mother was so proud; she seemed close to tears that day. His “father,” however, only nodded in acknowledgement before walking away, expressionless.

Not that his expression ever changed much anyway.

“See Kazuki, Pein is your daddy. The Rinnegan is a special technique passed down from parents to their children through their blood. And since mommy doesn’t have it, you had to have gotten it from daddy!”

He still didn’t believe her.

Surely there was someone else in his “father’s” organization that had those same eyes. Maybe there was a way to turn them off, like the way his Uncle Itachi could turn off his Sharingan.

But he never saw those ringed eyes in any of his uncles, nor had he found out a way to turn his off. And he desperately wanted to turn them off, no matter how upset it would make his dear mother. No matter how much weaker it would make him.

Because if he was wrong. If that man really was his father then he didn’t want to be anything like him. His “father” always looked like a zombie, seemingly fake and hollow.

He didn’t seem like a father.

Hana’s father was a father. He was always teaching her, encouraging her, spending time with her…that was how a father should act. All of his friends’ fathers (because they were all lucky enough to have two) were fathers. But Kazuki…poor Kazuki, his father was a “father.”

And so he knew that the man wasn’t his father, no matter how much his beloved mother insisted that he was. But he knew. He knew he couldn’t be related to that ginger-headed zombie.

One day he’d learn the truth.

Don't forget, you can see pictures of the kids (as well as a comic...yet another old project from my creative writing class) on my deviantArt account. My username is ka-ku...or you can just search "Companion Crisis"or "kourin-kun" or something...it should pop up. :)