Huge thank you to blackspiral (guest review) for their kind words! You actually made my day. I'm so glad you're enjoying this series and the characters and the world building I've done. I can't wait to see what you think of this book.


Toru doesn't think it should be so easy to get into Konoha unnoticed. However, Toru may have the advantage of entering through the secret tunnel that he only knows because the Uchiha Clan has always been worried about Konoha and if it would turn on them, (there's a nasty thought in the back of his mind that says it did). Interestingly enough, the moment Toru finds himself in the Uchiha Clan Compound, there's a large black sable dog waiting for him.

Toru heads towards where the members of Kakumau tend to stay. He hasn't really used their information gathering skills yet, but perhaps it's time. Toru actually works on hiding this time, his chakra signature is squashed through sheer will and he takes to the shadows like he was born in them. He slips through tunnels and short cuts and drops through sewers that are no longer in use.

He slips into a shadowed corner, positions himself between a trashed cardboard box – that actually houses important belongings of the gang – and a dented metal trashcan that's no longer in use. He waits, because he knows that someone will return soon.

Tomoe and Masuyo are the ones who first return, and Toru shifts, meeting their eyes. Tomoe instantly straightens, and Masuyo sinks further into the ally, taking up a guard position by the corner. "Ryuu?" Tomoe calls, "I take it there's a reason behind your visit."

"I think it's time we put your information gathering skills to the test," Toru says. "I need everything you can find out about Danzō, an organisation known as ROOT, and where the best places would be to have hidden bases. I think I know why kids keep going missing on the streets as well."

"About time ya actually used us," Tomoe explains. "'Was getting paranoid 'bout it all. Have ya got the map?"

Toru nods and unseals it from one of his storage seals. The map is one he had made with input from the gang along with Naruto and Sasuke. It's fairly big and mapped out the entirety of Konoha, and Toru that there isn't another one like it in existence. The collaboration effort ensured that the map contained secret tunnels and passageways, shortcuts, gang territories and the relative safeness of them, trapped areas, areas of heavy surveillance, areas of little surveillance, criminal-controlled areas, drop points for supplies, areas containing free water and food and clothing, locations where it's easy to obtain food, supply locations, spots where fighting often occurs, places to avoid, and areas to hide.

"Masuyo, help me out here," Tomoe says, and the other girl narrows her eyes and between the pair of them, they start tapping areas where kids have gone missing. "Haven't heard the name Danzō before or it hasn't been important," she says after a minute of silence. "I think that's all the places."

Toru nods and checks over their work, matching the areas to what he knows. "Areas that are known as abandoned and have little surveillance but aren't trouble spots or anything," he says. "Places where no one will notice a screaming child because no one's around, and if they are they know better than to speak up."

"We can try ta look into this Danzō and ROOT organisation," Masuyo murmurs, "but I am of the thinkin' we won't learn much."

"That's what I thought too," Toru agrees, "but it's worth a try."

"These hidden bases though, we may be able to gather some info' on them," Tomoe responds, "people ignores the less privileged." A growl grows in Toru's throat (because these people matter), and Tomoe glances up at him from the map, "Most of them do, at least," she adds on. "Now, I'm guessing you have things ta do and we got places ta be. We'll catch ya in the compound if we find anything." Toru nods and the three separate, each one taking to the shadows like they almost belonged.


The Uchiha Clan originally put their money into a bank account belonging to the first bank of Konoha. However, at some point in time, they withdrew all their money and belongings and transferred it all to a lesser-known bank, and no one knew anything about the change in bank unless they dealt with the Uchiha Clan through the bank.

Logically, it seems like a smart move, as no one would expect the Uchiha Clan to use an almost unknown bank, and therefore no one would be able to steal from the Uchiha Clan. Alongside that belief, the bank would basically depend on the Uchiha Clan for funds and to not go bankrupt, meaning they would be loyal to the Uchiha Clan first and foremost. However, and this is where Toru really sees signs that the Uchiha Clan's arrogance and pride had run away from them, banks that aren't popular have less money and therefore less protection. The clan clearly thought that their reputation would be enough to protect the bank.

(They weren't wrong.)

Toru remembers, vaguely, that he had been going through numerous bank statements and invoices and had realised that numbers weren't adding up. He hadn't done much about it, moving forward in life and ignoring it as an issue to deal with later. Perhaps he shouldn't have done that.

It would be abnormal for Sasuke to try and access the paperwork that Toru needs in order to look at the numbers and see if he can find anything about what had happened or the bank could try and hide things.

Toru's therefore figured that the only way to get the documents he wants, without the documents being tampered and raising suspicion, is to infiltrate the bank and go through the documents while the bank's closed. He easily ghosts past the two civilian guards, who are only there to set the alarm to go off if a civilian attacks because no ninja would need to attack a bank. Without bothering to disguise himself or use much stealth aside from his usual camouflage henge – which he can now perform silently and with only one hand seal – Toru slips into the back of the bank, crawling along the top of the roof to remain undetected, not that he expects to be detected but the paranoia is there.

Toru quickly finds the Uchiha Clan's bank account due to knowing the account's number, as the files are all organised by account numbers. Eight years ago, Toru remembers saying – he had said eight years ago two years ago. He blinks in surprise, had it really been that long? Pushing aside his wayward thoughts, Toru pulls out a folder from ten years ago. As he vaguely remembered from looking over documents years ago, it shows the drop in the Uchiha Clan's economic growth. It made sense since the Kyūbi had attacked that year, so prices would go up and due to all the damage that the Kyūbi had caused.

Toru starts going through the folders for each year, until he reaches the current year. Throughout it all, he notices that the income from before the Kyūbi attack never increases to what it had once been. A bit of mental calculations and comparing papers reveals that Toru is not crazy to think that the numbers aren't adding up from one year to another. It's like (it is, Toru thinks to himself, it's not like – it is) a chuck of the funds disappear out of the bank account. It becomes more clear in the years after the Uchiha massacre.

Someone's getting arrogant, Toru thinks to himself, or maybe they're underestimating me and overestimating themselves. Either way, they're leaving a trail for me to track. It is, indeed, an actual trail to track because when Toru's putting the folders back, he notices a very thin folder stuck in another one. Toru pulls it out gently, and lets an angry exhale escape his mouth, before he puts it all away and heads out of the bank.

Paranoia (and something that felt like fear and curdled his stomach) throbbed in his head, a reminder to be careful and remain unseen. Toru forces himself to avoid thinking about what he just found, because it's a distraction and distractions are deadly.

Toru quickly reaches his designated safe space – the Uchiha Clan Compound because he doesn't want to drag the attention to the rest of his family. Plus, the Uchiha Clan Compound is well guarded by Toru's seals and the people who live there – especially the ones who are further back in the compound – owe him. Once he's there, he slips into an empty house – the former Clan Head's house – and quickly settles into a meditation position.

(What does he need?)

He needs to think; he needs to be careful. He needs to find evidence and bring it to the Hokage. He needs to bring ROOT down.

Toru pauses and steps away from his emotions, from his thoughts, from the anger thrumming through his body. It's a thought he's had but hasn't recognised, and the anger and hatred in it is easy to swallow (and Toru wonders if it should be hard). The thing is that Uzushio was made for people without a home and these children have been stolen and taken and maybe they wanted to be and maybe they didn't; but it doesn't matter, because in the end they are being used and without lives and they don't know so much. Toru wants to change that, he wants to tell them their voices matter, tell them to speak up so they can be heard.

(Toru takes kids off the streets but he doesn't do it to use them, he does it because they deserve it. Toru has many sins and guilt weighs down on his shoulders, and he is doing this for forgiveness and because he cares. He tells them he will use them, because that's the world they're used to – the one where they are used and deals are made. He tells them he will use them but that they are equal. Toru lies but one day he won't need to because they'll believe him when he says 'I just want you to live'.)

Toru knows that he has some evidence, but not enough. He knows now that Danzō has been stealing funds from the Uchiha Clan, probably to pay for his organisation. It makes sense that he couldn't have all the funds for ROOT coming from his bank account, and by taking it from other accounts – and Toru doesn't believe the Uchiha Clan is the only one being used – it wouldn't be as obvious.

Toru channels chakra into his tattoo-seal, and Kuma appears in a puff of smoke. "What have you got for me?" Toru instantly asks, because this is the summon he told to follow his attacker.

"You've gotten into something," the cockroach responds. "Followed the guy you wanted tag, he came back to Konoha and entered an underground location – through the back of the place of red clovers."

"Akagahara," Toru says softly in realisation. "I may require your help to get in later. What else can you tell me?"

"My target reported to a higher up – are you aware they don't have names? They go by numbers. Many of them are youngsters, but they act like old ninjas. I don't think these guys will go down easily and I don't think they get to retire either," Kuma continues. "There seem to be large numbers – a force, easily, but not too many currently. I'm guessing they go out on… on missions, like yours. Can't tell you much more but… I think they all had seals."

"Seals?" Toru repeats. "You can sense those?"

"It's a training exercise for the youngsters," Kuma says. "Before they are recognised as fully-grown they are required to find the storage seal. It's a good task, for we always get to have fun watching them and trying to trick them."

"Alright, thanks for your information Kuma," Toru says.

"Don't do anything dumb, you hear me?" Kuma orders, although Toru can hear resignation in her voice.

"'Course not," Toru responds already thinking what seals to use to avoid being found and the best way to infiltrate the ROOT base. Kuma stares at him, rolls her eyes, and disappears.

(Maybe Toru's being dumb, deciding to gather files and information on Danzō by infiltrating his hideout via seals – because no one ever expects seals. Toru doesn't think it's a dumb idea, though. Shisui had been worried, had been scared, and he had been strong – Toru needs to be careful, and he needs to do this for himself and for others, for those wronged. Toru could take this to the Hokage, but would the Hokage believe him?)

(What if this is the sinister, corrupt thing at the root of the Uchiha massacre? Does the Hokage know?)


For all that Uzushio and Konoha were allies – sister villages, as they were oft called, there are many seals that Uzushio refused to share with Konoha. They weren't any major devastating ones that would kill battalions or break mountains or protect villages (well, there were some, but those were hidden from most people), but smaller ones that allowed missions to flow smoother and helped protect Uzushio's ninjas.

Toru utilises two of those to infiltrate ROOT's hideout, along with the Transformation Technique. The first seal in question is one Toru's tattooed onto himself and is known as the Attention Redirection Seal, named for what it does. Its activation is fairly simple, since it's like most seals and activates if chakra is put into the seal. What it does is draw the attention that's directed towards the user, and sets up a low-levelled genjutsu to push this attention away from the user. If someone pushes past the genjutsu, their attention is drawn to the something the user decides regarding their current appearance and projects the intent that this is normal, this is right, everything's good, to the person who pushes past the genjutsu.

The other seal Toru uses is the Sense Failsafe Seal, which is another genjutsu-based seal and is often used in conjunction with the Attention Redirection Seal. Similar to the Attention Redirection Seal, if someone is paying attention to the user, it brings their attention to imagined effects. It's also activated by putting chakra into the seal.

Both seals have downsides, as when they are activated, the user must keep the imagined effects in mind – similar to how the Transformation Technique is used. It's a hard task and requires a lot of mental effort, but thankfully Toru has the benefit of using both seals in a previous life and he's used to using the henge in his current life.

Toru changes his shape so he appears as a small lizard – something that won't be seen as out of place within the caves. As he creeps along walls and sneaks through cracks, no one pays any attention to him. However, Toru finds barracks and offices and meeting rooms and training rooms. He pauses in one training room and watches as two ninjas (they are seven years old!) spar until one is almost dead, and only then does the spar stop for good, (anger drums in his blood and this is one more reason for Toru to go to the Hokage with his evidence).

Nevertheless, Toru still smiles when he overhears two kids stuck in a whispered conversation, because they talk about hiding things in their rooms as they aren't allowed to have things or habits but they do because they need to cope.

(Toru grins because they are humans and it shows here.)

Still, it doesn't derail Toru from his original plan, and he continues creeping through hallways, slipping through cracks, and listening for secrets and trying to find Danzō's office. It's possible that Danzō keeps all his files in his actual home, but Toru thinks that the man would be more likely to keep the files in a place guarded by an army that is only loyal to him (and maybe to each other) – it is, after all, safer and Toru is aware of this.

It takes somewhere between three and four hours for Toru to actually find a room filled with files and folders. Toru creeps through various boxes, searching for anything about the Uchiha. It takes some time, but Toru eventually finds the folder, and a whole cabinet labelled 'U', (this, Toru thinks quietly, is a reminder that all ninjas can get confident, can get arrogant, and it can bring them down.)

Ending the Transformation Technique doesn't give off any chakra or cause a chakra flare, rather the simple chakra residue that leaks out due to the shape being held simply stops. Thankfully, Toru knows he can avoid detection by ensuring the chakra residue acts more like natural chakra – there and faint and not-quite-right but fading into everything – the ground, the air, the plant life, the animal life.

Toru grabs the Uchiha folders and seal them in his storage seal, and his eyes widen as he reads the name of the file left in the draw. Toru swallows, and wonders how the world can move on when he discovers this. Toru grabs the thin folder, seals it, and then allows his chakra to flare as he uses the Transformation Technique once more. An alarm goes off but Toru is already leaving, heart hammering and barely able to breathe through the fear in his mind, in his heart.

He somehow manages to get to the Uchiha Clan Compound, and he just sits there, staring at the two folders in front of him, feeling too much but unable to name any of the emotion he feels. Toru exhales, and traces the name of a long lost village. He swallows and opens the Uchiha folder.

Toru reads and learns. His eyes grow wide and his breathing turns erratic and his heart sounds like thunder in his chest. He wants to let the world burn and turn to ash for things undeserved and actions taken. He wants to ruin Danzō and his organisation, wants to see things set on fire.

(Toru isn't fire, though, for fire is healing entwined with ash and infection. Toru is water and wind. He is the hurricane, the wind that takes everything until you can't breathe. He is the tsunami, the ocean wave that builds and builds until it falls and surges forward, swallowing everything in its path.)

Toru isn't dead, but he had been and has almost died so many times – and it always, always comes back to this, to ROOT, to Danzō. Toru reads leaf-thin pages with words written in print letters that are almost uniform and written without meaning, without emotion, and Toru seethes. He feels like water bubbling and boiling and preparing to explode.

Toru learns of implants and stolen money. He learns of growing resentment and growing hatred of a believed Senju-influenced government, he learns of whispers caused and rumours rising and he thinks manipulation. He learns of the ill-will between the Uchiha Clan and the rest of Konoha and he thinks you did this. He learns of Uchiha spies and Itachi who turns away from the clan and towards Konoha and he thinks this is wrong. He learns of the Sandaime trying to find a peaceful solution, but Danzō's stalwart belief that there is none. He learns of the Uchiha planning a coup d'état to overthrow the Konoha leadership and thinks we didn't need more bloodshed. He learns of Shisui (his cousin) trying to enforce peace, command it, order it, and he doubts it would have worked. He learns of Danzō killing and attacking and stealing lives, eyes. He learns of the ultimatum, of Itachi choosing the death of everyone or the life of his brother. He learns of Itachi assassinating the clan. He learns and he learns and Toru cries and thinks this is why and you were wrong and there had to be another way out.

Uzushio's folder is worse because it feels so much more real, because Toru connects to it more, because Toru knows the names in the folder, the names written down in bland letters. He's drained from what he's learnt, drained but he reads the files anyway because Uzushio deserves justice. The invasion from Kirigakure had been sudden, surprising, but that didn't mean it couldn't have happened. It was possible, but… there had been questions. To find that there was something deeper – Toru doesn't know whether he wants to cry or smile, because Kiri had been an ally, but Konoha had been a bigger one, a better one, and they were the reason Uzushio fell.

(Uzushio will rise again.)

Toru sits and cries, picks himself up, faces everything head on, and continues reading. He learns of a ROOT member who gets picked and pushed into a mission to be an ambassador for Uzushio. A ROOT member presented with the name Uragiru Tsune (how could he have missed the fact her name meant betray and endless – endless betray; he thought it had stood for outwit, he had assumed… well, that was it, wasn't it? He had assumed) for her mission. He learns of agents put in Kirigakure to create and egg on rumours about Uzushio's growing strength and power. He learns of rumours about Uzushio turning on their allies and attacking. He learns of whispered rumours about a thought to attack Uzushio before the village could turn on Kirigakure and he thinks Konoha made Kiri attack. He learns of the ROOT plant, the Konoha ambassador, crossing into Hi no Kuni but being killed by her organisation for fear that her loyalty had changed, that it had wavered. He learns this and thinks Uzushio could've been saved because of Konoha, but Uzushio fell because of Konoha instead. He learns of children – two of them – stolen from Uzushio by Uragiru, and ROOT taking them, training them, teaching them to be weapons first and human never.

Toru learns. He cries. He mourns. He grieves. He picks himself up and decides that the world needs to change. He picks himself up and decides that there needs to be justice. He stands steady and calm and proud because Uzushio might've fallen but they are alive and they will stand tall once again.

(Let Uzushio's fall not be for nothing, let it mean something, let Toru's losses have meaning, let Sasuke's grievances be for reason, mean something. Let the world know that whatever has been caused and whatever has happen, let the world know that it means something that it isn't just nothing. Let the world know that justice will be found and dealt. Let the world know an Uzukage will refuse to die without justice being distributed. Not this time round.)


Naruto beams as he enters the Hokage's office, and not just because he finally gets a chance to talk to Hokage-jiji for the first time in a week, which is ages, but also because he completed the mission Toru wanted him to without any difficulties! The old man greets Naruto with a smile, "Naruto, it's good to see you again," he says. "How are you doing?"

Naruto's grin grows wider, "Hokage-jiji!" He crows loudly, "I gotta show you something but it's very, very secretive so you can't let nooobody see it. Got it?"

"What is it you want to show me?" The Hokage asks with a curious look and Naruto shakes his head quickly.

"Nooooo! I can't show it to you," Naruto explains, "'cause no one else can see it, not even the shadowy people who hide all the time. Hey, why do they hide? Do they ever not be hiding?"

The Sandaime huffs out a laugh and with a wave of his hand dismisses his ANBU, "So what do you want to show me Naruto?" He asks, and Naruto looks up at him with wide eyes.

"This is secret, secret business," the boy explains solemnly. "Gotta be careful, gotta be safe. Can't let nobody know. That's what Toru said."

The Hokage frowns, just as Toru's henge drops and he appears next to Naruto. "Thank you Naruto," Toru says quietly, instantly turning to the boy. "Now, you know what you need to do?"

Naruto nods with wide eyes and hugs Toru. "Be safe," the boy mumbles before heading out with a large grin on his face.

Toru turns to face the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, I accuse Danzō of treason, attempted murder, murder, genocide, and many other crimes against Konoha."

The Hokage looks Toru straight in the eye. "That's a hefty accusation to make," he says lightly.

"A member of the organisation ROOT, let by Danzō, attempted to kill me on my last mission and returned to Konoha on the belief that they had succeeded. I escaped and healed myself before returning to Konoha and infiltrating a base of the organisation ROOT, where I discovered files on the Uchiha massacre and Uzushiogakure's fall. I have the files on me and would like to hand them into you as evidence regarding Danzō's crimes."

Toru unseals the two folders from one of the two storage seals on his shoulder, and hands them over to the Sandaime. The Hokage of Konoha looks over the folder and meets Toru's gaze before activating the privacy seals. Toru instantly feels the seals activation and the strength; they are of Uzushio origin with few modifications from other sources.

Hiruzen sighs, and surveys the young Uchiha who, for all his talent and experience, is only thirteen years old. Still, the chūnin has done quite well – recovering from a life-threatening injury, if Hiruzen is assuming correctly, and returning to gather evidence on why such a thing occurred. Hiruzen wonders how the chūnin managed it, but he doesn't want to push. He knows that the Uchiha must have read what's in the folders before coming here, must have known what had happened, and Hiruzen doesn't want to push the chūnin until he leaves Konoha. Hiruzen doubts the chūnin would break – the shinobi has been through a massacre, been through torture, been through betray from someone in his village, and he has lived regardless – but he doesn't doubt that the shinobi will simply pack up and leave.

"I knew the truth about the Uchiha massacre," the Hokage reveals. "Danzō, without my orders, knowledge, or permission, forced Itachi-kun to murder his clan. Only afterwards did I learn of what Danzō did to stop the coup d'état from occurring. I learnt only when Itachi-kun reported the deed was done. I ordered ROOT to disband. I thought it had disbanded… Nevertheless," the Hokage continues after a pause, "I perpetuated the cover story that Itachi-kun had acted alone and without cause so that nobody would learn of the Uchiha's plans and so Konoha would not be tarnished for its involvement. Itachi-kun did not want the Uchiha's reputation to be ruined, and before he left, I told him that I would keep young Sasuke-kun safe from Danzō. Your survival was, at that point, still unknown. Currently, Itachi-lun is monitoring an organisation and keeping Konoha informed of said organisation's actions, as well as preventing the organisation from moving against the village. It is, you could say, a long-term mission that he must complete."

"You don't want me to spread my knowledge regarding the massacre," Toru says, words sharp with anger and tinged with frustrated. "You don't want Itachi to come back."

"It is not that," Hiruzen responds, "We need Itachi-kun to keep doing what he is doing currently. We cannot jeopardise that."

"What about Uzushiogakure?" Toru challenges. "What about ROOT? What about Danzō? Something needs to be done – Danzō needs to die…" Toru's expression hardens, "If nothing happens, then I'll release the information I know."

"Oh? Who would believe you? You are a chūnin, and an Uchiha. I am the Hokage. No one will believe you over me," Hiruzen responds.

Toru is an ANBU Commander and an Uzukage, who is the Hokage to try and threaten him? "No," Toru responds. "Something will be done."

The Hokage leans back into his seat and nods his head. "Very well, something will be done," he agrees. "We will need to move quickly, as I'm sure the files will be found missing soon. Are you willing to assist my forces in the battle? Much of ROOT will be on their unauthorised missions and they won't be prepared for a battle. However, much of my ANBU forces are out as well, and I can only have those I trust fight."

"I know some of the base," Toru offers, "and apparently everyone has a seal – possibly a seal to keep silent about ROOT's various activities, I'm not sure. I just know there are seals there."

"Where was the location of the base you found?"

"They were caves underground," Toru answers, "with the entrance that I used being hidden around the back of Akagahara."

"Good work, chūnin," the Hokage says. "Can you tell me about what you saw in this base and map out where you went?"


"Do you think they'll be alright?" Naruto asks Sasuke in a hushed tone as they near the Ninja Academy, (they need to pretend that everything is normal, that this is like every other day, they need to pretend that Toru's life isn't at stake and that something big is going on, they need to pretend that everything is alright).

Sasuke jerks his head, "It's Toru," he hisses out in explanation, because nothing can bring Toru down. He's survived everything so far, and will continue to do so. The pair enter their homeroom, and trade looks when someone else is in Iruka-sensei's seat.

Two minutes later, the stranger stands up and everyone instantly quietens. "Iruka-sensei has received a mission out of Konoha, so I'll be taking his classes instead. My name is Makoto Oshiro, but you may all call me Makoto-sensei." There's a groan from next to Naruto and Sasuke rolls his eyes at the sleeping lump that his Shikamaru Nara. "Nara-kun, do you have something you want to add?" Makoto says, voice calm in a way that screams danger.

Shikamaru slouches further down into his chair, "Troublesome," he mutters softly. "No Makoto-sensei," he responds loudly so the teacher can hear him. The teacher nods and goes back to saying whatever they had been saying before. "Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru says, glancing at the blonde-haired ninja in training. "I don't feel like doing any work today, think you can prank our teacher so I can miss first session?"

Naruto trades a glance with Sasuke, because this sounds like something fun that will keep their minds off Toru and what he might be doing. "Sounds like good fun," Naruto says with a grin that's all teeth rather than joyfulness. "What are you thinking Sasuke?"


Konohagakure is infiltrated by a supposedly dead man. Kakumau lend their strength and their information and help because favours are owed. The Uchiha Clan's arrogance and pride has clearly always survived, but Toru is finding it helpful in times when he needs to sneak into banks and find new information. What Toru learns is that money ferreted from the Uchiha Clan's account has gone into another account, the transaction overseen by Danzō. A base is infiltrated, one that is not lawful or legal and holds weapons honed and weapons purposefully damage to be harmful and break before they give in. Toru learns of secrets behind the Uchiha Massacre. Toru learns of the truth behind Uzushiogakure's demise and Kirigakure's invasion. Naruto helps out behind smiles and bright blue eyes. The Hokage meets the Uzukage from the past, not that he knows it, and the Uzukage wins the battle. Meanwhile, Shikamaru attempts to get out of classwork via a prank from Naruto and Sasuke's combined efforts.


Wow, I don't have much to say about this chapter at all really. I mean, it's pretty obvious and all what happens and why it happens. It's also a really short chapter (but the chapters in this book may be smaller than the previous book which had, normally, a word count between 7000-10000 per chapter (with some outliers), while this book is going to be about 5000-8000.

I was trying to find more to write for this chapter, and there was just nothing to really write. I mean, I could've done all the writing in the files, but the formatting and figuring out how to write it all would've been annoying because writing reports for economic and banking and reports regarding rumours but writing it all as missions? Like that'd be some hard shit to do, also I'm tired and I've been wanting to write more for this chapter for a while and it's been dragging.

Now, Toru crying - doesn't really seem in character does it? Guys, look here, Toru was betrayed by his own village, maybe he doesn't recognise it like that but the point is betrayal hurts, always. He learns Konoha is behind the Uchiha massacre and he learns they caused Uzushio's fall - that's like your whole house burns down with your family inside who die and you have no money or anything and you learn your best friend did it all for no valid reason. That's gonna be emotional and it's gonna kill.

Alright, so how does one get into the Hokage's office without creating a scene or grabbing everyone's attention? It can't be anything out of the ordinary. Thus, my lovely little brain that doesn't think much thought, what if we used Naruto? Naruto clearly has some sort of relationship with the Hokage, so I decided that they would have visits once a week. Toru doesn't want to do it, but he uses Naruto get him - in a henge - into the Hokage's office, and Naruto can get everyone out by acting as a child and then Toru can appear.

The last bit wasn't really planned, but I wanted to show something more about the Academy, the others making friends, and also needed 200 more words to reach 5000 words. I got there, eventually, which is fantastic.

Anyway, I kind of will need prompts for this book maybe... I'll have to dip into my missions that were planned for the other book or bring up other ones which I can't do until this whole ROOT and Danzo thing is over.