Everything That Remains – Chapter 2
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"Did you ever stop to think that eventually there's a point where your name gets mentioned for the very last time?"
—GLaDOS: Portal
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"Hey kid!" A voice –a familiar voice, he realises– hollers as it gains ground on him. The blonde's head snaps around to...
Oh... well duh. Of course a guy with a horse and cart is gonna catch up with me.
"You alone or something?" the merchant asks. There's concern in his voice. The kind of concern that anyone might display at seeing a seven year old boy alone in the middle of nowhere. The boy knows that he could –if he wanted to– take advantage. He could hitch a ride all the way to–
Actually, where the hell am I going? Coz no way is 'not the way I came from' gonna work for more than a couple 'a days.
For a moment he even seriously starts to consider–
–But then he remembers. He remembers the look –GrampsDaikokuSenseiAyameChanOldManTeuchiEveryoneHe'dEverMet– on someone's face as they'd try to place him, desperately looking for memories that should be there, only to find...
A grandfatherly smile spreads across his face. Except it's wrong. It's not his smile.
"Do I know you young man?"
He crushes the thought with a vengeance. There were some things he'd seen enough of to last a lifetime.
"Or something" the boy answers, barely missing a beat. "My dad's take'n a wiz in the bushes over there" he inclines his head towards some nearby foliage.
The merchant, in turn, looks rather put out by the casual reference to defecation. "Fine" he huffs. "Just making sure you weren't lost or something." He scratches the back of his head as he dons a goofy smile. "My grandson's about your age you know– "
He does know. But the old geezer might take it the wrong way if he told him that.
"Thanks anyway."
With that, the merchant rode on. Content in knowing the boy had somebody looking after him.
And then he'll forget again. Just like the rest.
The blonde, confident he wasn't going to be running into the merchant again anytime soon decided that now might be a good time to drape himself in his new–liberated!– blanket. Because, as the boy had quickly found out, a black t-shirt with a red spiral and a pair of three-quarter blue/grey shorts had not been the best cloths to run away from home Konoha in. Especially not in the ass-end of October.
He'd actually been thinking a lot about Daikoku-sensei's survival classes lately. Mainly in the form of 'damn, I wish I'd stayed awake for them' but he was thinking about them dammit! Maybe then his inventory wouldn't be solely comprised of his few remaining packets of instant ramen –He'd packed more but... welllll– , a battery powered kettle –Because the need for ramen transcended power outages– and a canteen that was in serious need of a refill.
"Great, now I gotta go find a lake or something" he grumped, snatching a leaf off of a low hanging branch, placing it on his forehead.
It was weird really. He'd always hated the leaf exercise with a passion. Mainly because he sucked at it. But also because Daikoku-sensei always frowned at him whenever he tried to channel chakra, like he was expecting something bad to happen or something. And then there was the time he figured out how to henge –first in the class dattebayo! – But instead of congratulating him, he'd looked at him like he'd just kicked a puppy!
He missed that look.
People always used to pretend like he wasn't there. But they knew. And he knew that they knew. Glancing out the corner of their eye when they thought he wasn't looking. The whispers just within earshot when they thought he wasn't listening. But he was. Looking. And listening.
He'd hated it. He'd hated it so much that sometimes he just wanted to!–
...
And now he'd do anything to have it back. Even if it was just the mean whispers and the pointed looks. Anything just to have someone look at him and not...
Forget.
"Pffft" he snorted in a kind of bleak amusement as the leaf made a familiar popping sound, falling to the ground. 'Too much chakra' Daikoku-sensei's voice casually echoed in his head. Still walking, he swiped another leaf and started again.
Well, at least it's not popping straight away anymore.
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Sadly, they too soon forget.
The next day, The Nara can't remember what vexed him so.
Something about a student?
The day after that, everything that remains is a vague sense of...
dissatisfaction.
The Hokage lasts a little longer. The possibility of infiltration keeps his mind focused... for a time. But there is much to do and little time to do it in. Suna is too quiet, they were nearly at war with Kumo (again) over the Hyūga debacle and then there this new village... Otogakure.
When it came to this game after all, new players had a tendency to upset the board.
When an ANBU operative reports, citing an empty apartment and a coupon for 'Ichiraku Ramen', he thanks them for their hard work before dismissing them.
What was that about?
Everything that remains is an unused coupon on his desk that he can never quite bring himself to be rid of.
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If one were to look at the events which had transpired thus far from the perspective of a certain blonde Uzumaki child or of that of anybody else living within Konoha on such a day, one might be under the impression that an explosion of bijū chakra, large enough to envelope an entire hidden village and then some, had gone unnoticed.
It most certainly had not.
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"Magnificent"
Itachi certainly didn't think so. He wasn't much of a sensor –it simply wasn't a skill set he'd dedicated too much time to– but he could sense this chakra perfectly well.
It was, in the worst possible way, unmistakable.
Kyūbi
Madara released the vice-like grip on his shoulder as the red shockwave of chakra dissipated into the distance behind them. Itachi had witnessed his ancestor's ability to render himself intangible before, but this was the first time he'd actually experienced it. The feeling was... surreal. Like butterflies in your stomach, only everyware.
"We're leaving." The old old Uchiha reverbed, unreadable as always. "We have no use for the Uzumaki child until other... conditions have been met."
Ah. So they weren't involving themselves. Itachi allowed a small nod in response. He'd done what he needed to do. The 'last' Uchiha of Konoha had been making his way through the rumor mill well enough. Storming his way through the academy curriculum. 'Another Uchiha prodigy' they were saying. Although Itachi doubted they'd be letting anyone graduate early after the example he'd set.
Good. That was one positive thing he could take away from what he'd done. The children begin shoved onto the battlefield were young enough as it is.
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Well that certainly is... odd Orochimaru thought, surveying Kabuto's report.
His scouts on the outskirts of Konoha report seeing –and feeling- an explosion of 'monstrous' chakra. Yet, other scouts, along with spies located within Konoha itself report what exactly?
Nothing. Nothing at all.
A smile glides across his face in a manner not unlike the summoning animal he'd been known for.
Well. Colour me intrigued.
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END
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A/N Smallish chapter I know. But I think I got some important plot points across.
To my magnificent first reviewer. No, as you can see. None of the Major antagonists, sans (maybe?) Danzō have been hit.
Also, as stated, only the areas within and immediately surrounding Konoha have been hit. If they weren't there at the time, then they weren't hit. Make of that what you will.
Chapter 1's offer is still open and available.
Heads up. There's only one chapter to go before *CENSORED SHŌNEN TROPE* happens.