The crushing pressure of murky depths enveloped Kagami. His lungs burned for air as he thrashed in the darkness. Something cold and slimy wrapped around his ankle, dragging him deeper into the abyss.
No! This can't be how it ends! Panic clawed at his chest as he struggled against the unseen force.
Then, a glimmer caught his eye. A strand of silvery web drifted through the water, catching the faint light from above. Without thinking, he grabbed it.
The web held firm. Another strand appeared, then another. They wove together, forming a lifeline. He pulled himself up, fighting against the thing that tried to drag him down.
As he climbed, a massive shape loomed in the darkness below. Kagami caught a glimpse of bulbous eyes and writhing tentacles before the web yanked him upward with surprising strength.
He broke the surface with a gasp, coughing and sputtering. "Hah... hah... what the—"
The web dissolved, leaving him floating in calm, shallow water. A beach stretched before him, bathed in moonlight. And there, at the water's edge, stood a spider larger than any he had ever seen.
Its body was pitch black, with a pattern on its back that looked like a human face. Eight eyes glowed as they fixed on him.
It felt... wrong. Out of place. Despite the spider's monstrous size, he felt an inexplicable sense of safety in its presence.
Its mandibles clicked, and a voice echoed in Kagami's mind. "You are not ready yet, little one. But soon..."
"Ready? Ready for what?" he called out, but the world began to blur. The beach, the water, and the giant spider all melted away into darkness.
---
Kagami woke up slowly. For a moment, he lay still, listening to the soft sounds of the village coming to life outside his window.
"Ngh... another weird dream," he muttered, rubbing his eyes.
'Another day in Konoha,' he thought, stretching. 'Another day of pretending to be normal.'
The thought brought a wry smile to his face. Normal. As if he had any idea what that meant anymore. Not with the dreams, the spiders, and the growing sense that he was meant for something... more.
As he went through his morning routine, he couldn't shake the lingering effects of the dream. The giant spider's words still stuck in his mind: "You're not ready yet, little one. But soon..."
'Soon for what?' he wondered, splashing cold water on his face.
As he dried off, he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. For a moment, he thought he saw a faint, silvery glimmer around his reflection. He blinked, and it was gone.
"Get it together, Kagami," he muttered to himself. "You're seeing things now?"
Shaking his head, he decided a walk might help clear his mind. He scribbled a quick note for his brother, who was still asleep after a late-night mission, and stepped out into the streets of Konoha.
The morning sun cast long shadows across the village, but something felt... different. The world seemed sharper somehow, more vibrant. Kagami attributed it to his strange dream, but as he walked, he noticed that faint glimmer again, this time in the corner of his vision.
"What the...?" he rubbed his eyes, but the shimmer persisted.
Curious and slightly unnerved, he decided to take a different route than usual. His feet carried him towards the market district, but he soon found himself turning down narrower alleys, the buildings growing shabbier with each turn.
Before he knew it, he was in the area locals called 'The Hollow', Konoha's poorest district. He'd passed through here before, but today, something was different. The silvery glimmer he'd noticed earlier began to take shape, forming thin, barely visible threads connecting people on the street.
He blinked hard, but the threads remained. Fascinated, he focused on one thread, following it to a man in his mid-forties emerging from a ramshackle building.
As the man made his way towards the market, Kagami trailed behind, captivated by the way the threads around the man shifted and changed. People on the street reacted to the man's presence, and Kagami could now see—or sense—the emotions flowing through the threads.
A woman pulling a cart of vegetables suddenly changed direction, creating a wide berth around the man. The thread connecting them pulsed with a sickly green color and dark gray that Kagami somehow knew represented disgust and fear.
"Watch where you're going!" the woman snapped as the man accidentally brushed against her cart.
"I... I'm sorry," the man mumbled, ducking his head and quickening his pace.
A group of chatting shinobi fell silent as he passed, their eyes following him. The threads linking them to the man wavered, alternating between a muted purple of pity and an ugly brown of contempt.
"Can you believe they let people like that walk around freely?" one of the shinobi muttered to his companions.
"Shh, not so loud," another replied, glancing nervously at the man. "It's not his fault he's... you know."
It was as if the man carried an invisible barrier around him, parting the crowd like Moses and the Red Sea. No one touched him, no one spoke to him. They simply... flowed around him, as if he were an inconvenient obstacle in their path.
Kagami's lips pressed into a tight line.
He'd always known about the divisions in Konoha, but he'd never felt them so acutely before. These threads were showing him the emotional currents that ran beneath the surface of everyday interactions.
As they neared the market proper, Kagami noticed one of his spying spiders clinging to the underside of a fruit stand. He reached out with his mind, connecting to the tiny arachnid's senses, curious if the spider could see the threads too.
Through its eyes, the world looked different again. The threads were more pronounced, forming a complex web that connected everyone in sight. Kagami watched as the man approached a vegetable stall, the threads between him and the merchant twisting with conflicting emotions.
"What can I get for you today?" the merchant asked, his voice carrying a forced cheerfulness. The thread connecting them flickered rapidly between colors—pale yellow discomfort, sickly green disgust, and dark purple that Kagami interpreted as guilt.
The man held out a handful of coins. "Whatever this will buy," he said softly. "Preferably something that will last."
The merchant's eyes darted between the coins and the man's worn clothing. "Right," he said, his smile faltering. "Let's see what we can do for you."
As the transaction continued, Kagami observed the subtle interplay of emotions. He pulled his consciousness back from the spider, his mind whirling with what he'd seen.
This is... incredible, Kagami thought. I can see everything they're feeling, even when they try to hide it.
He continued his walk, the contrast growing stronger with each step. As he emerged from the narrow streets of The Hollow into one of Konoha's more affluent areas, the web of threads became even more complex.
Here, children played freely in well-maintained parks, their laughter carried on the breeze. The threads connecting them pulsed with bright, joyful colors.
"Tag, you're it!" a young girl shouted, her hand brushing against her friend's shoulder.
"No fair, you cheated!" the boy retorted, but his grin betrayed his amusement as he chased after her.
Shinobi and civilians alike strolled along clean streets, greeting each other warmly, their connections glowing with warm, positive hues.
Kagami's gaze fell on a group of genin, not much older than himself, emerging from a high-end weapons shop. The threads between them sparkled with camaraderie and shared enthusiasm.
"Check it out," one boy said, twirling a kunai around his finger. "Perfect balance."
"Show-off," his friend replied with a good-natured shove.
One of the genin, a girl with blonde hair, suddenly pointed across the street. "Look! It's Itachi!"
Kagami's head snapped around, following her gaze. Sure enough, there was Itachi, walking alongside his father. The threads connecting them were taut and dark, pulsing with tension and expectations.
Another of his spiders, perched on a nearby signpost, provided a closer view of the pair and their emotional threads.
"Your performance in the last mission was good," Fugaku was saying, his voice low but intense. "But good is not enough. You are an Uchiha, and more importantly, my son. You must excel in all things."
Itachi's face remained impassive, but Kagami saw the thread connecting him to his father darken further, twisting with a mix of respect, determination, and a deep, underlying fear.
"Yes, Father. I understand," Itachi replied, his voice steady despite the turmoil Kagami could now see.
As they passed, civilians and shinobi alike bowed their heads respectfully. The contrast with how the man from The Hollow had been treated was disturbing. It was made even more apparent by the vastly different emotional threads connecting these Uchiha to the villagers.
"Itachi-san! Good morning!" a shopkeeper called out, his thread glowing with admiration and a touch of envy.
Itachi nodded politely but said nothing, the weight of his father's expectations visibly heavy on his shoulders.
Kagami pulled back from the spider's perspective. The village he'd grown up in suddenly seemed alien. The Will of Fire burned brightly for some, while others were left to shiver in the shadows.
As he turned to head home, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was seeing Konoha - truly seeing it - for the first time. These threads, this new perception... was this what the spider in his dream had meant?
Was this the beginning of being 'ready'?
He glanced up at the sky, realizing with a start that the sun was already beginning to set. He'd been wandering the village for hours, lost in thought and observation. The streets were starting to empty as people headed home for the evening.
"Crap, Hayate's probably wondering where I am," Kagami muttered, quickening his pace.