It was already morning. The sun was shining as it rose in the sky and in front of him, three large mountains full of vegetation, both medicinal and poisonous herbs clung tightly to the earth. As he walked leisurely, he noticed that there were animals running around, full of life, living peacefully in this place.
Toru approached the mountains and it didn't take him long to arrive.
Once there, he could see eighteen red Torii lined up perfectly on the nearest mountain. If he crossed them, he could reach that place, the place Itachi usually frequents, Rōkoku no Sato [Howling Wolf Village]. This brought him strange thoughts, however, he decided to continue, after all he couldn't back out, he had to finish the investigation he started.
So, looking at the small piece of paper that a certain suspicious person gave him during his trip to this place, The Land of Medicines, he continued walking and climbing the large amount of stairs that were displayed on the mountain, crossing the Torii while watching how slowly the trees began to cover the sunlight. Then, when he finished the path, the forest ended and he found himself in a village surrounded by high walls, as well as a large gate through which he could pass.
'So it's this place, huh...'
[Medicine] [Poison] Two kanji written above each gate. Toru read them and tilted his head curiously. Just a second later, he passed through the gate, seeing thus, different trading posts spread along the first road.
This village was quite lively, as merchants tried to sell their medicines to passing travelers. Toru was no exception, for the moment he entered, a pretty girl appeared and gently clung to his arm as she looked at him with a smile.
"Hello handsome boy. You look pretty pale, you didn't get enough sleep, did you?"
Toru raised his eyebrows at this strange contact. He was left wondering for a second what the hell was going on, but his mind quickly flashed to an answer. If the merchants were trying to sell the medicines, then he was a potential customer upon arriving in this village.
"Sorry, I don't have time right now. I have important things to do" Closing his eyes, he tried to push this girl away.
"Come on, sweetheart. You don't have to be so shy. I just want to help you, so you won't have problems later. Please stay with this Onee-san."
However, the pretty girl with black hair and emerald eyes, moved much closer to Toru, making her large breasts feel tight on his arm.
He looked at this Onee-san's breasts for a second, but then sighed and shook his head. Toru wasn't going to let two big breasts convince him so easily. But at that moment something occurred to him.
Because he's new to this place, he didn't know him until he heard rumors from different people that a shinobi with Akatsuki's cloak had headed to this village. Moreover, he got that strange prescription of some "medicine" from a person who looked very haggard, almost soulless. So he took advantage of the latter to get more information, using this Onee-san to accomplish his goal.
"Well, if you want to help me so much... I'm looking for a place, could you tell me where it is?"
Toru took out the piece of paper he had gotten earlier from that strange person and showed it to Onee-san, but Onee-san upon seeing what the paper had, smiled nervously and turned away from Toru.
"So you too..."
An awkward look, followed by a distant smile as she slowly walked away from this boy.
This left Toru confused, who stood there without saying anything. He sighed for a second, as if he wanted to let go of his stress in that sigh, but it didn't work. Anyway, he walked away from the girl and continued walking down the road, completely ignoring the strange contact he had with that Onee-san.
'There's something strange here...'
Observing the surroundings, he could feel that the atmosphere of this place was strange, something made him feel uneasy. Soon, more trouble appeared, for at that moment one of the policemen of this village crossed Toru's path and looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Please, I need you to hand over your weapons to me. In this village the handling of these dangerous objects is not allowed."
"Uh?"
Toru had his cloak on, so it would be odd for someone to know he was carrying weapons. However, the policeman perhaps had a way of identifying ninjas easily, well... it was obvious, as Toru has the Konoha badge on the scarf, so it was to be expected that they would know he's a ninja the moment they saw him.
"I'm just a traveler looking for some medicine, so I don't have any weapons with me. I mean it."
"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to believe you. If you don't hand over your ninja weapons, I'll be forced to take them from you by force."
"I think you misunderstood..."
A danger gleam flared in Toru's eyes.
"When I say I don't have weapons, it's because I don't. If I had them, everyone in this village would already be dead... in fact, I could kill them all without any weapons. It only takes one of my fists to reduce this village to rubble."
The policeman trembled with fear, he looked death in the eye. The boy had no expression on his face, but somehow managed to convey his murderous intentions with his gaze. So, in order not to die in the attempt, he decided to leave this boy alone. Although it seemed that Toru was not going to let him go so easily.
"Well, taking advantage of your knowledge. I'm looking for a specific place."
"A place? That means you're going to be here for more than a day. How long are you planning to stay and what place are you looking for?"
"I'll only be here for a couple of days, since I don't have much time. As for the place I'm looking for, I only know that it's called Rengyōdō."
Hearing the name of that store, the policeman frowned and replied:
"You too?"
The policeman assumed that Toru is taking an interest in saigenzai. For a few seconds he complained that young people treat this as if it were a toy, whispering also that this substance should be banned in the village, but unfortunately this was not the case. Apparently, saigenzai was a powerful drug that threw off the body's vision, hearing and balance. This made Toru raise his eyebrows, as he understood why that girl looked at him uncomfortably a few minutes ago, as she thought he was a saigenzai addict, who was just looking for a way to find more of this substance.
Still, Toru didn't mind this and asked again where that store [Rengyōdō] is. To which the policeman, with a frown, refused and gave him some warnings about the store and the substances it sells, but Toru lifted one of the sleeves of his cloak, through which a small metallic sheen could be visible.
Seeing this, the policeman swallows saliva and sighs tiredly, giving the location of Rengyōdō to Toru, to finally leave, giving some last warnings about that place and what they do there.
Despite this, Toru ignored the warnings and continued walking to the place the policeman has mentioned to him. Behind the shrine of the Kodon clan is where the store he is looking for is located.
'Itachi... What is it that you came to this place to do? All those people who have seen you heading to this specific village, wearing the cloak of the Akatsuki organization. Does this have something to do with what happened seven years ago? And if not, I should at least know a little more about my mother's killer...'
Clenching his fist tightly, he remembered that night again. That night where the blood of his entire family painted the ground, that night when the moon shone at its highest point heralding a tragedy.
-Toru's memory of seven years ago.
That memory was still fresh in his mind. Although he tried many times, Toru could not forget it, for this memory was one of the things that his mind and heart could never forget.
As if he had fallen into a genjutsu, Toru saw himself as a child. He saw little Toru with the corpse of his mother in his arms, while blood stained his clothes and tears ran down his little face.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
The child screamed loudly, ruining his oral cords in that instant. He hugged his mother, who lay lifeless thanks to the sharp edge of the assassin's weapon that was in this place.
Tears fell one after another. Little Toru continued to cry and scream, never letting go of Kyoko at any moment.
That day he lost everything. He never realized what he had until he lost it. And now, on his knees, suffering for the loss of one of his most loved ones, the expression on his face changed. Now there was anger and resentment in his gaze. This child had been corrupted in a very short time, while in his mind... he uttered those words over and over again.
'WHO DID THIS?! WHO DID THIS?! I'LL KILL YOU...! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD!'
At that moment, thanks to his anger and suffering, thanks to the death that surrounded him, he felt a painful pang in his brain, which bounced all the way to his eyes, finally fading away causing a small bluish light to momentarily illuminate Kyoko's face.
This light was something the teenage Toru could not see, but a person lurking in the shadows.
-Back to the present-
Looking down at his hand that had become a fist, he sighed wearily. It had been quite a few years since that event and he couldn't deny that he still felt a deep grudge against Itachi. However, he did not want revenge against him... Toru did not wish to harm himself by seeking revenge, although it was too late to think about that now.
'If I'm trying to get revenge on Danzo... maybe I could kill Itachi in the process.'
His eyes changed color, as a smile formed on his mouth. But immediately that expression changed, becoming serious and cold as usual.
'No, I let go of my revenge against Itachi a long time ago. In fact, my revenge against Danzo, more than revenge would be something like taking back what's mine. Yes, I just want justice for what that old man did to me.'
Lying to himself, Toru tried to hide his revenge with false justice.
Toru was not a hero, but neither was he a villain. He was simply someone trying to survive the cruel Shinobi World. And this 'justice' was part of his survival.
"I mustn't waste time thinking about stupid things. I must end this quickly and return to Amegakure."
He shook his head, then took a step and continued on his way, but something distracted him, it was a black-haired boy who walked past him. For a few seconds he could see blood red eyes, being surrounded by a strange dark red aura and he could hear a creepy voice saying "You look sad".
When Toru looked back, the boy was gone. However, he had a painful sensation in his head and eyes that disappeared a second later.
Although it was strange, Toru just stared into the void with nothing to say. He thought for a few seconds and then continued walking, wondering what that was, and also wondering... why he felt so broken inside.
'I... I... I guess I'm not well anymore... not like in the past.'