Night slowly began to fall over the land. Everything was getting darker around him, just like the darkness that was embracing him at this moment.
He remembered... he remembered again what he read in those documents.
'Itachi was not to blame...'
He gritted his teeth tightly and closed his eyes.
'Konoha... used him as if he were a mere disposable tool. They forced him to kill his family, to kill his girlfriend... his father and mother... but he couldn't kill his brother... but then, why am I alive? I should have died that day... Why didn't you kill me too, Itachi? I wasn't someone as close to you as Sasuke was. I don't understand...'
***
"I'm really glad to know that Sasuke has a friend. Somehow he looks happier, what's your secret, Toru-kun?"
Itachi looked at the boy in front of him.
The two had been training while Sasuke was at school. Since Toru's mother refused to enroll her son in the Ninja Academy, he had no choice but to learn on his own while at home. Although he also had a private tutor who taught him the most basic things that a child of his age should learn, but that was not enough, as Toru was a prodigy, since at his age he had the knowledge of an adult, that is, he was extremely intelligent.
Itachi knew this, so he thought he would be good company for his younger little brother, Sasuke. If someone smart was with him, he would possibly end up competing to be better, which would lead him to have better goals than the other kids.
"Secret? I don't know what you're talking about, Itachi-san."
"Fufu, I guess it doesn't matter. Besides, it makes your mother happy that you also have a friend to play with."
"She always talks a lot, she talks too much. She's always happy about everything, sometimes she's overwhelming and annoying."
"You shouldn't say that so lightly, do you hate Kyoko-san?"
Toru narrowed his eyes as he thought.
"Hm... I don't hate her. She's my mother, but I don't like being around her."
He sighed as he heard this. Itachi knew that Toru was a rather antisocial child, someone who didn't talk much, someone who locked himself in his own world leaving no chance for anyone to enter. Still, he want to understand him, but it was difficult, as he didn't know the reason why Toru is that way.
Then, he looked at the sky with a slight smile on his face.
"Kyoko-san is a very nice person, she has many friends and is good at blacksmithing, but since you were born, she decided to put all that aside to love you as much as possible."
"Hm...?"
Toru was confused by these words, something that made Itachi close his eyes, thinking about everything that woman has suffered.
'Even though he's smart, he's quite clumsy when it comes to other people's feelings, well, there's nothing he can do about it, he's still a child, he's lived in a peaceful place, far away from wars and suffering. Someday he'll understand, the pain his mother went through in his whole life, then he'll understand why she overprotects him so much...'
He stood up from the grassy ground and held out his hand to Toru.
"We have to get going. I have a mission in a few hours, so I won't be around for the next few days. Tell Sasuke for me, okay?"
"Um... okay."
"When I get back, I promise we'll train the three of us together. But I have one condition."
"Condition? What kind of condition?"
"Don't say Kyoko-san is annoying, she's a very kind person. If she ever gets to hear those words from your mouth, she'll be sad and won't be happy about everything again."
"Hm... if that earns me some free taijutsu lessons, then I won't say it again."
"Fufu, then that will be the condition. If you don't fulfill it there will be no training"
Looking ahead, Itachi saw Kyoko and waved to her. Toru, on the other hand, walked in some direction ignoring her completely. This made him sigh wearily, for he thought that this boy still didn't understand the teaching he wants to give him.
Still, he shook his head and walked following Toru.
***
'I hadn't thought about it until now, but in every memory I have of Itachi, he was always kind to everyone. He was respected by many, he was an exceptional ninja. Everyone spoke well of him, even my parents. Sasuke too, whenever he mentioned him, he talked about him being completely proud of his brother. Now everything makes sense, everything is connected to what happened that night and the strange attitude Itachi started to have days before the massacre. 'Danzo, the Third Hokage and the elders of the Konoha Council... they took advantage of someone who loved his homeland and the people who inhabit it.'
Even if the higher-ups had taken advantage of Itachi, that did not take away the fact that he murdered his own family and the Toru clan.
Yet he was controlled like a puppet, his mother's blood was on Itachi's hands.
But unlike Sasuke, revenge was something he had let go of long ago. He held no grudge for whatever his childhood friend's brother had done, but that changed when he found the documents and discovered the identity of Shimura Danzo, the man behind it all.
He clenched his fists tightly and began to slow down. He took a small jump to reach the ground. Once there, he continued running, but each time he slowed down.
'Root... Danzo, the massacre of the two most influential clans in the village. My father and Sasuke's father, they were both planning a coup to take over Konoha, but they used Itachi to stop that, he was a spy under orders from the Hokage...'
The lifeless expression returned to his face. Gradually the light of death intensified in his eyes and the daggers began to glow brightly with the light of destruction.
'The ninja following me are not ANBU, so, I guess they are under Danzo's orders, that is, they are Root ninja. So, if I let them catch me, they'll most likely end up killing me, and if for some reason I survive, they'll capture me and I'll be locked up for the rest of my life. Hinata and Ino are very reckless, they'll try to do something to free me, so... that puts their lives in danger. Ha~"
He sighed heavily. This was... tiring and stressful.
'These strange feelings... I don't want them to hurt them, I don't want them to hurt me. From the beginning I was risking their lives because of my selfishness. Since those Danzo spies started watching me, my whole life felt empty... since my family was killed... I felt lonely even though I had always been surrounded by people. Since I had been orphaned, I was given the option to join the Ninja Academy, so I didn't wait any longer and enrolled without a second thought. Years later, team 11 was chosen... Hinata, Ino, me... and Sensei'.
The Root ninjas saw Toru, who had stood in the middle of the forest, staring at the sky with the glowing daggers in his hands
'Everything I've lived through so far, everything I'll live through... Can I be happy like when I'm with them?'
A small smile formed on his face, he tried to hide his feelings, but his face betrayed him, as the expression on his face, was sad but with a nostalgic smile.
He watched the night sky and then a small drop of water fell on his cheek, little by little, the drops of water fell, starting a rain that somehow felt... familiar.
"I... I don't know what to think. I guess you guys will try to capture me, if you don't succeed you'll kill me, but... I won't allow that."
He turned around and saw them all. About a hundred ninja surrounded him completely. They held their weapons tightly and waited for the captain's order. They already had a plan, so they had to capture him alive, if they failed, they would have to cut his head off and take it to Danzo
The captain raised his hand and instantly ten ninjas appeared in front of Toru.
"What are they waiting for?" Although due to the rain, his hair covered his face, the intense glow of his eyes could be seen through his bangs. "Will they stand watching me or are they going to attack?"
He looked up and slightly closed his eyes.
It was then when the enemies raised their weapons and attacked. Each one with his respective weapon, they tried to hit him, but it was impossible, Toru moved from one side to the other with smooth and elegant steps, like a relaxed dance.
Seeing this, the army captain raised his hand again.
Ten more ninja joined the battle. Each connected hand seals and touched the ground. The rock began to rise from the ground, creating an unevenness in the place, but here the attack does not end, for, while the first ten tried to stab Toru, the remaining ten connected the seals again, summoning large pockets of fire aimed at the enemy.
Toru saw this while dodging and sighed.
He took a long leap dodging the first ten enemies, causing the fireballs to impact the trees, destroying them in the process. This caused the entire area to clear, leaving the battlefield without trees, destroying all the places where they could hide.
The captain waved his hand, twenty more ninjas jumped into the attack.
He saw this and narrowed his eyes, somehow it reminded him of his training with Yamato before the final test of the chunin exams.
Although Yamato was not as fast as Toru, he somehow managed to dodge all of their attacks, returning them with twice the power.
'Yamato-sensei hits hard... however, you guys haven't managed to touch me... that means..."
He descended, touching the ground gently with his toes. He adjusted his scarf and looked at everyone with the Shigan, the golden lines showed, but among all of them, a red line showed, connecting all the enemies in front of him.
"Dansu gyakusatsu: Ikidzumari [Dancing Massacre: Deadlocked".
His body turned into a shadow moving at superhuman speed across the battlefield. When it stopped, blood could be seen dripping from its daggers. The army captain narrowed his eyes as he saw that none of the forty ninja he had sent were moving, but in that instant the truth was revealed.
Blood splattered, mingling with the rainwater. The bodies fell to the ground after a second, separating into pieces as if a butcher had made such a massacre. The blood, the organs strewn across the ground and the expressions on the faces of his fallen comrades made him feel shivers run down his spine. There was no choice, he was no normal ninja, the power of those eyes was something Danzo desires, so it is his job as a Root ninja to get what his master asks for.
But even though he wanted to jump into the battlefield, his body did not move from the place where he was.
Toru, however, looked pensive in the midst of this battle.
He looked up at the sky and held out his hand.
Droplets of water fell on his hand and slowly ran down his arm until they reached his chest, where they dissolved because they touched the fabric of the cloak. The scarf was soaked, as was his hair and the rest of his clothes, but although the water from this rain was cold, Toru felt the warm embrace of death in the water. Blood stained his hands, and then....
Again he found himself in that place full of blood, but this time, hundreds of billions of hands came out of the ocean of blood. They had the sole purpose of taking Toru to the depths, where no one would hear him scream.
He accepted this, and let himself be dragged by the hands.
He opened his eyes and found himself back in reality, but when he realized, there was only one ninja present, they had all been killed by his own hand, and that remaining ninja, was someone he knew.
-Near Konoha Hospital, minutes earlier-
The screams of fear attracted the attention of Hinata and Ino, who had just arrived at the hospital to see Toru.
"What's going on?" asked Hinata, who got her answer as she entered the hospital along with Ino.
Both of their eyes widened in shock at the sight.
Blood and corpses were strewn all over the floor. There were people looking at all this with fear in their eyes, however, they also saw ninjas who were investigating the lifeless bodies.
They both felt a chill run through their entire body, so they decided to look for Toru.
"Will Toru-kun be alright?"
"I don't know, we have to find his room and check."
They quickly started running through the blood filled corridors as they opened every door their eyes could see, but every second that passed took away their hopes of being able to find him until....
Someone ran past them at a superhuman speed, that someone... was Yamato.
For a second, they saw the worried expression on his face.
"Yamato-sensei..."
"Maybe he went to look for the one responsible for all this. We have to hurry and find Toru, he must be here somewhere, let sensei take care of this."
"Yes, but..."
"It's okay, nothing will happen. Trust me, Hinata."
-Seconds later-
After being sent by the Hokage herself, Yamato had no choice but to obey. Toru had been marked as a B-class criminal in Konoha's Bingo Book the moment he attempted to assassinate Danzo.
He sighed wearily because of this, as seeing Danzo after so long brought back bad memories he thought he had forgotten.
("I'm Asahi Toru, I don't have any dreams that I want to fulfill in the future, there aren't many things that I like either, I just live based on luck, that's all...")
For some reason he remembered that day, when team 11 was formed. He clearly remembered how Ino hated Toru and how Hinata had a hard time talking to the others. The grey-eyed boy, whose facial expression seemed lifeless, as if his will to live had been ripped out of him, gradually grew up. She watched as the expression on his face took on more life, it was as if Toru was really feeling happy.
He sighed wearily with a faint nostalgic smile on his face.
"Children grow up so fast."
He closed his eyes for a second, then returned his gaze to the road. To his good fortune, he had managed to find the trail left by the Root ninja team. This served well enough to be able to pick up speed and not get lost along the way. However, what was he going to do when he ran into his student? Toru had just been announced as a criminal who sold secret Konoha information to Orochimaru and villages not in the Shinobi Alliance. That was a pretty serious crime, but he felt that something wasn't right, there was something that didn't fit.
"I have to hurry."
***
The closer he got to his target, the better he could smell the scent of blood wafting through the air. The rain had begun, accompanying the cold night of the waning moon. The small nocturnal animals began to swarm back and forth, as they emitted their mystical song.
He squinted as he saw a light that went out a few seconds later.
He leapt forward and came upon a cleared field. The remnants of trees cut down, though it was raining, the flames tried to consume them without success. The steam rose and disappeared as the rain devoured it.
He walked a little way and observed the massacre that had taken place and, among all the blood, organs and lifeless bodies, stood that child, looking at the blood on his hands and daggers without saying a word.
He came a little closer, this made Toru aware of his presence, so he turned to see who it was.
'...'
Yamato sighed heavily.
______
Hm... I definitely feel like this is missing a bit of depression. I'll add some of that for the end of volume 2 :D