"You'll end up being like a civilian with bad eyesight soon," Sasuke remarks as he enters the home he shares with Toru. The elder Uchiha mutters something and waves his hand, probably not even noticing what Sasuke had just said. Sasuke rolls his eyes and wanders over to the chūnin, standing beside him to see what Toru's doing.
Sasuke can tell when Toru finally notices him, as the chūnin tenses before relaxing even as he lifts his head to look at Sasuke. Toru blinks in a confused manner (and Sasuke feels warmth as he realises that Toru's unconscious mind counts him as safe), "When did you get here?"
"Not too long ago," Sasuke responds. "Are you figuring out rental prices?"
Toru nods, "In our apartment we spend about 200,000 for rent per month. That's in the average price range, but our building isn't in the best location, so technically we live in an average apartment in a low status area. The Uchiha Clan Compound probably counts as a high status area, except people probably won't want to stay there for a big price. Therefore, I figured it'd be best to probably start out with renting out a few houses for a low price, and depending on how that goes, up prices later."
"What price are you thinking?" Sasuke asks, because although it isn't that interesting, this is important. This is his family's Clan Compound, his Clan Compound. It's one of the last remaining testimony to the Uchiha Clan's existence. Sasuke doubts he would've thought up something like this, and instead left the Compound to become something tiny and insignificant and cursed with the memories of what happened (he doesn't like to think of what would happen if Toru hadn't existed, that train of thought never leads anywhere good because Sasuke knows himself, and he isn't good, isn't nice, isn't fair, and he would drown in hatred and strike out at anyone who attempts to help him because he doesn't want pity!).
"The lowest price I'm willing to go is about 85,000, so I was thinking of starting prices off at 115,000 and seeing what happens from there. I'm not expecting us to actually have any takers until there's only a few houses left on the market," Toru says.
"Huh," Sasuke responds, only really half-understanding what Toru's talking about. "Do anything interesting today?"
Toru shakes his head, "Not really. I looked at the prices for the properties that are already rented or leased out, and upped the prices with the help of someone from a rental agency. Did you do anything interesting today?"
"I think I scared off almost all the civilians in my class from the other day," Sasuke says blandly, and cracks a small grin when Toru starts laughing.
"Did you actually?"
Sasuke nods proudly, "I managed to get rid of most of the fangirls aside from two that just don't go away! However, I don't have to deal with most of them now, so it's alright."
"That's good," Toru says, "I'm surprised Naruto didn't follow you home again."
Sasuke scowls, "You make him sound like a stray dog," he complains, even as he bends down to scratch Teisatu's head, the puppy licks his hand excitedly, and then there's Aki bounding over and knocking Sasuke over.
"Well, we do seem to be collecting pets," Toru murmurs with a smile as he puts everything away. "Don't we?"
Sasuke bats Aki away, "I don't know what you're talking about," he responds. "We only have these four because you couldn't give them up."
Toru laughs, "Watch this, I managed to start teaching them something new." He whistles, and instantly the two playful dogs at Sasuke side turn to face the older Uchiha, Haruto and Ken joining them. Toru whistles like an owl, and instantly Aki and Ken perk their ears and look around, while the puppies run off and out of view.
They hold the position for a minute, before Toru whistles softly. Ken instantly drops to the ground, closing his eyes, while Aki bounces over to Sasuke once more, Teisatu at her side, while Haruto plants himself beside Toru.
"What was that all about?" Sasuke asks, "I can see they were doing something, but I can't tell what. Aki and Ken were on guard but the pups went into hiding."
"Essentially, Aki and Ken were on watch and prepared for enemies to come and the pups went into hiding because they can blend into the surroundings and be ready to attack from other areas, or go get help if necessary," Toru says.
"Toru, they can't actually use chakra, I don't think they'd be that helpful in a mission or a fight, unless it's against civilians," Sasuke says.
"Well, Haruto is part wolf and he's quite different from a normal wolf, already showing signs of growing bigger than most wolves. Teisatu is much faster than any other dog in the park I took them all to the other day, and she's not even fully grown. Aki actually avoided anyone who looked like a ninja, even if they were in their civilian clothes. Ken, I'm pretty sure, can actually see in the dark. Besides, the Uchiha are a ninja clan, I doubt that all their pets were simply normal animals, especially considering how much chakra soaked into the Clan Compound over time."
"Huh," Sasuke says, "You got any way of telling whether they have a larger amount of chakra than a normal pet?"
Toru shakes his head, "No, and I doubt any sensor could either, as it would be like natural energy, just more. A sensor would have to be exceptionally sensitive to sense it."
"I suppose we'll just find out as time passes then," Sasuke says.
Toru nods in agreement, "Guess we will. How do you feel about heading out and going through some katas and doing some stuff in the Compound?"
"Thought you would never ask," Sasuke says, already putting his bag down and checking over his weapon pouches.
It isn't rare for Tsume to speak to members of her clan, but searching for a specific member is uncommon. Tsume barely withholds her growl of annoyance, as she knows that the specific kunoichi and her partner are in the compound, but she didn't know where the jōnin is.
Tsume's ninken huffs from next to her, and Tsume rolls her eyes. "Yeah, you're right, I'll give you that. I should've just gotten Hana to retrieve Mochiyo."
As if she had heard her name, the kunoichi Tsume's been searching for finally comes into view. "Mochiyo!" Tsume shouts loudly, and the jōnin turns around. "I've been looking for you!"
"Tsume-sama," Mochiyo says, lifting her head a little, "why have you been searching for me?"
"You've worked with Toru Uchiha, right?" At Mochiyo's nod, the Inuzuka continues talking, "What are your thoughts of him?"
Mochiyo thinks, goes over the mission she took with the chūnin and the spar she had with him. "He's smart, intelligent, more than most his age," she starts slowly.
"Another Itachi?" Tsume asks sharply.
Mochiyo shakes her head, "I don't think so. He's smart, yes, and he might be a genius of some description, but he's kind." She frowns, "I wouldn't say naïve, but almost… gentle. Natsumi-san told me about the C-rank mission their team had. He was content with helping the children, enjoyed doing it apparently. I would say he's worried about something, and I'm not sure what. He desperately wants to build up his strength, but not just his – everyone's around him."
"You think he's afraid of Itachi coming after him?" Tsume asks and Mochiyo shrugs.
"Could be, maybe, I don't know. He's inventive, could go places if he really tried to. He has thoughts, ideas, but he seems content to just discuss them for now – improve already created jutsus."
"Anything else you got for me?"
"He's close with his teammates," Mochiyo offers, "despite the fact they've already been promoted. Haru reckons they meet up often, because their scents often intermingle."
"You think he's loyal," Tsume says, "of course, not like our pack-bound loyalty, but loyal all the same."
Mochiyo waves her hand, "I think it's a little like village-bound loyalty and pack-bound loyalty, just not – well – pack-bound. He's certainly loyal to the village, considering that stint when he went missing and returned to Konoha after being tortured. You heard about that?"
"Who hasn't heard about that?" Tsume responds with a roll of her eyes, "The whole damn village heard it. A chūnin going missing in peacetime, an Uchiha no less? People were worried he'd joined Itachi or Itachi had gotten him. He came back and the news, meant to be secret, was spread quite a bit."
"Well, yeah, he returned. Apparently requested to see baby Uchiha and his team before he got healed. I'd certainly say there's something like pack-bound loyalty in that chūnin."
Tsume shrugs, "The Uchiha always did like to instil clan loyalty in their members, don't think that turned out well for them in the end."
"Except, it wasn't just to his clan, but his people," Mochiyo points out. "Why do I have a feeling that you know he has pack-bound loyalty anyway?"
"Kid might've ended up with a pack of dogs almost immediately upon finding them, one with wolf blood, and the previous leader being an attack dog," Tsume says with a rough and crooked grin. "Kid was good with them, and they responded pretty easily to him."
Mochiyo returns Tsume's grin, "Can't say I'm surprised. He's good."
Tsume pauses and surveys Mochiyo, "You sparred with him," she states and Mochiyo nods nonetheless.
"He's got some good ninjutsu, and once he got his head into the fight, he did damn well," Mochiyo says. "He's quick on his feet, thinks of ways to utilise jutsus unusually to benefit him – used a wind release to boost himself into the air to gain time and separate Haru from me. His replacement and transformation techniques are used strangly as well. The transformation for hiding and the replacement for gaining distance and moving further away. Once he settled into his rhythm, he matched me pretty damn well for a chūnin. Gave me a better fight than some jōnin I know."
"What would you say about him as a Clan Head?" Tsume asks, his gaze serious.
Mochiyo thinks, and Tsume appreciates that the kunoichi actually bothers to take her time to do so. "His clan is small, and they've got a bad reputation after everything. He's got his work cut out for him if he wants to do anything, but he has determination in spades and I reckon he'll have plans already lined up if he's really taking that position."
"He took the position a while ago," Tsume reveals, "but he says he wants an alliance."
Haru barks beside Mochiyo, and Tsume scowls at the ninken while Mochiyo grins. "So, did you already respond considering you are exactly as straightforward as Haru says?"
"Heck no, I actually put some thought into this thing. He says he has plans for things to bring up in the council and changes in mind," Tsume responds, her scowl fading and the seriousness nature of the conversation creeping back in.
Mochiyo nods, "That doesn't surprise me, but I don't think anything bad will happen as a result of his plans. He's a good chūnin, a dependable comrade. He treats Haru right."
Tsume raises an eyebrow and hums, "You'd follow him."
Mochiyo blinks in surprise and evaluates her own mind, "Yeah, I would actually. I think he'll discuss his plans as long as you stand beside him. He'll value your input and take everything you say into consideration."
"Maybe I'll say yes to that brat then," Tsume muses.
"As long as you don't kick him out of the compound first," Mochiyo says.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because he will definitely set his newfound dogs on you if you keep calling you brat," Mochiyo responds with a chuckle.
"Get lost," Tsume growls at Mochiyo, and the two ninken who are laughing at her. "See that I ask for your advice again!"
"I'll talk to you tomorrow then," Mochiyo says with a very wolf-like smile before striding off and Tsume laughs at the brazen attitude of her clan as she turns and leaves with her ninken at her side.
"Thank you for agreeing to meet with me," the Uchiha Clan Head says, tilting their head in semblance of a bow.
"I believe that honour is mine," the Kurama Clan Head responds, even as she tilts her head in a bow. "Rare is it when one of the higher clans speaks to one like mine."
"I do have to refute you there," the Uchiha says with a soft smile. "There are no higher clans or lower clans, but simply differences in status due to the knowledge regarding the clan. My clan is simply well known for our part in Konoha's founding and the disasters that have forever dogged our footsteps."
"It may be as you say," comes the response. "Nonetheless, the Kurama Clan is fortunate in your presence, no matter the rumours that surround one."
"For that, I thank you," the Clan Head responds. "I am Toru Uchiha, and the Kurama Clan has always been one worthy of my respect. My teammate, Kiku Kurama, has always been a steady presence and I am glad to call one such as she a teammate and a friend."
"Kiku-chan has spoken fondly of you, Uchiha-san, and her words are not incorrect. I am Sawano Kurama. I believe you have some information you wish to part with."
"I did, in fact, ask for a meeting for a reason," the Uchiha replies in agreement. "I will be straightforward with you, I am wishing to make an alliance between the Kurama and Uchiha Clans from today and onwards until whenever such an alliance is terminate by a Clan Head from either Clan within reason."
The Kurama Clan Head conceals her surprise and takes a sip of her tea, giving herself time to think of a response and evaluate the new knowledge the Uchiha Clan Head – willing or not remains to be seen – has given up. "Forgive me for asking, but what does the Uchiha Clan bring to such an alliance? What do you seek to gain?"
"Currently, simply backing in the clan council and advice regarding plans and ideas for improving Konoha's system. The Uchiha Clan cannot bring much to an alliance now, but the future has many things to be explored."
"And why should my clan ally with yours, when the only thing the Uchiha Clan comes with is the disasters that follow it, as you previously mentioned?"
"What do you have to lose?" The Uchiha Clan Head responds, opening his arms. "The Uchiha Clan has negative connotations that it carries beside its name, and disasters have followed it, more so in recent years. However, the attention on the Uchiha Clan has never once faltered, and we are still to lose our status and the power that it brings – undesirable reputation or not. Furthermore, the Uchiha Clan has one of the largest libraries within Konoha, and consists of numerous genjutsus that will only be used by few due to the Clan's limited numbers."
"You offer the closely hoarded information in the Uchiha Clan library for an alliance?" The Kurama Clan Head asks, voice mild but eyes watchful. "I don't think any other clan can ever say such a thing has been offered."
"Perhaps because it is not," the Uchiha responds easily enough. "We offer information and jutsus that would benefit your clan. Yes, these things my clan has hoarded jealously, but for what ends?" The Uchiha leans forward, dark eyes intent and heavy with something the other Clan Head knows not. "My Clan is small right now, and it could remain that way for a while. However, we have been left with a legacy, and I refuse to see it go to waste. The Uchiha Clan does not need this alliance, not really. I seek it because comrades and alliances are important, as two or more can prevail where one alone may fail."
"You speak wisely, for one so young," comes the response while the Uchiha takes a sip of his tea.
"Young, maybe, but an adult nonetheless," the Uchiha responds, quickly undermining the Kurama's hidden insult. "You ask what my clan can bring, and I have responded thusly. Our wealth has not faded with the movement of time and our businesses still make money without interference from anything or anyone else. The Uchiha Clan is wealthy, as it has always been, in both money and information. Does your clan have anything to offer the Uchiha?"
"Our backing within reason, of course," the Head of the Kurama Clan says quickly, almost too quick given the way the Uchiha's eyes narrow. "Our aid in times of difficulty, and our less known jutsus that are powerful still. Food, we can offer too, in scarce times, as long as the Uchiha Clan holds to their end of the contract – backing us within reason, information selected by the clan members, and their help in times of need."
"An alliance then, by word if not by ink right now, but one nevertheless," the Uchiha returns smoothly.
"Indeed. Do you wish to have a contract drafted by an impartial third party or are you willing for the Kurama Clan to draw one up?"
"The Uchiha Clan places its trust in the Kurama Clan," the Uchiha returns, taking one last sip of tea. "That trust is not misplaced, and therefore my Clan will allow the Kurama Clan to draft a contract up."
"Your trust is well placed, Uchiha-san. We will have a contract drawn up within a five days, if that is agreeable with you?"
"Notify me when it is done, and I will read through the terms and sign it," the Uchiha Clan Head promises.
"Thank you," the Kurama Clan Head says in return.
"Your gratitude is received and returned in like," the Uchiha Clan says, and the Head of the Kurama Clan does not see the spark in the dark eyes or understand the sharp edge of the mind across from her. Instead, she smiles softly in response, thinking there is only a child across from her, attempting to play in an adult's game, and only half-succeeding.
(The ANBU Commander, the Uzukage, the jōnin, the chūnin, the Mizushima, the Uchiha, the Uzumaki, sees this as forward movement and very few see this as the truth, far more remain ignorant and do not see the threat that lays in the chūnin's – the child's – body.)
Toru takes hides himself in shadows, Haruto beside him, a cluster of dark colours with odd ears, and a gleam in his dark eyes. "Follow," Toru says quietly, before using the transformation technique and shrinking into a dark brown dog with a crooked tale and floppy ears and a long, wiry coat.
Haruto licks the snout of the newly formed dog, and Toru shakes his head as he gets used to the new balance and way of walking. Minutes later, Toru's slinking through side alleys towards the district known as the Red District.
The two dogs are completely ignored as they nose around trashcans, slowly but surely making their way towards the brothel known as Blossom. Toru makes it to the back door and loses his dog-form, ending up crouching at the door with Haruto at his side.
"Camouflage," Toru whispers to the dog, who nods and slinks off, taking up position by a trashcan, pulling out a bone and lying down to chew on it. Toru nods at the dog, who flicks his ears but makes no other motion.
Toru knocks on the door, and remains unsurprised as Yumiko opens the door. "You've been making waves and casting boats out as rumours," the prostitute says bluntly. "Interestingly enough, it's actually dragged some attention off certain individuals and organisations, allowing them to start making their moves."
"Odd, but ultimately a side-effect," Toru responds. "I need information regarding the Ninja Academy."
"That sort of thing isn't easy to get," Yumiko discloses as Toru enters the brothel, closing the door behind him. "You have plans Uchiha, care to share them?"
"Changing and improving the Ninja Academy, completely tossing it on its head. Making the chances for civilians, second-generations, and clan-members roughly the same."
"That will certainly change Konoha," Yumiko says, eyes wide in surprise. "Do you have any idea of the things such an event would cause? The initial impact will be huge, and that's only short-term effects. The long-term effects can be detrimental, but ultimately will… will give rise to the belief of Konoha being fair for both civilians and clan-members. Huh, you do seem to know what you're doing. The information will be extremely difficult to get, but not impossible. What do you want it for?"
"Blackmail, retrieving evidence of sabotage and corruption to reinforce the idea that the Ninja Academy needs to be revamped, and also to ensure that certain people are no longer part of the Academy and go under investigation regarding suspicious circumstances and tasks," Toru says bluntly.
"Is this the only plan you're focussing on at the moment?" Yumiko asks, "We'll help, but I feel as if this is only something you've recently started thinking about."
"Indeed," Toru responds. "My primary focus so far has been going through the Uchiha Clan Compound and making it ready for inhabitants, both those who can pay and those who can't. Konoha shouldn't have street-kids."
Yumiko lets out a soft chuckle, "Interesting person you are. Very well, I will do what I can. I will also let the other leaders know. I take it you wish to go under a pseudonym?"
"Try Ryuu," Toru responds.
"Big thing to call yourself," Yumiko says, "Big thing to live up to."
Toru grins, sharp and teeth bared, and Yumiko gets the feeling that despite the dangerous woman she is, despite the dangerous information she holds, this chūnin, this boy, could bring her and her entire organisation down if he wanted. He is dangerous and there's a weight to his shoulders that suggests at something more, at there being something in this boy's gaze that goes beyond her and into the future, further then she can even dream.
"Good thing it's a name I was given," Toru responds. "Keep your thoughts sharp and words watched, and remember the Uchiha Clan Compound is always open, only for few selected and theirs though."
Toru gifts Yumiko once last sharp grin, and then he fades in a burst of smoke, and Yumiko lets herself be amused by the boy's honed mind and dramatic exit. "Curious as always," she says to herself, even as she turns away from the alley door. "Wonder when he'll next return."
Sasuke walks beside Toru, a leash in one hand with Naruto yabbering beside him with a leash in his hand. "And then Iruka-sensei said he'd take me to ramen if I gave him all the tests I had from maths and history and like every other subject, so I went home and cleaned my entire apartment and found almost all of them and Iruka-sensei said I'd done good and gave me ramen! It was such a good day, Toru-kun! It would've been better if Jiji and you were there, even Sasuke could come and it'd still be an awesome day, and– hey, Toru-kun, where we going?"
"Inuzuka Clan," Toru responds easily enough, even as Sasuke rolls his eyes in disbelief that the boy hadn't bothered asking when Toru had dragged him out of his apartment after the Academy had finished for the day. "These guys need a check-up, and I thought an extra hand would've been helpful."
"We didn't need it though," Sasuke says, "could've done it without you."
"Well, I'm here anyway, bastard!" Naruto says loudly, all riled up at Sasuke's comment.
Sasuke blinks, slightly confused, "I… was saying that? We didn't need you but we brought you along anyway."
"Oh," Naruto says quietly, "Right. Sorry."
"Easy mistake to make, Naruto," Toru says in the silence that follows. "Now, I heard about a trapping event that happened yesterday…?"
"Oh, yeah! I was amazing – and I guess Sasuke wasn't too bad – but, anyway, Iruka-sensei does this trapping event every year and its real fun, and I'm really, really good – the best! Iruka-sensei said this one was harder than last year's, but I only got tagged once at the point where the explosion seals are, except they aren't real explosion seals Iruka-sensei explained, they just hold chaka in them or something."
"It's chakra idiot," Sasuke interrupts. "How can you not even say the word properly?"
"Whatever," Naruto says, ignoring Sasuke's comment, "Iruka-sensei says I'm almost as good as he was for trap avoidance when he graduated! That means I'm gonna graduate soon, and then I can go on missions with you, Toru-kun!"
"You're not going to graduate until after I graduate," Sasuke retorts. "I'm going to go on a mission first with Toru, and before you even graduate!"
"Sasuke, Naruto," Toru says sharply, and the two stop squabbling as they reach the Inuzuka Clan Compound. "Behave yourselves properly. Naruto, you still have a bit of time to go before you can graduate, there's lots of information left for you to learn. Sasuke, the same goes for you. To be honest, I wouldn't be overly surprised if you both graduated at the same time."
"Do you think we can graduate early?" Sasuke asks.
"You probably could," Toru says slowly, "but you wouldn't be allowed to due to the age limits and the fact that if you're good enough, it's believed you can work on learning things from our Clan, so it doesn't matter that you're too good from your class. The only way you, Sasuke, would be able to graduate early is if I, as the Clan Head, pushed Sandaime-sama to get you to graduate early. Naruto can technically graduate as long as he passes the final tests well enough, as he doesn't have anyone to teach him anything like you do, Sasuke."
"Are you gonna push for Sasuke to graduate early, Toru-kun?" Naruto asks. "'Cause if I'm gonna graduate early, I wanna graduate with or before Sasuke does."
"Depends on Sasuke and if he's at a level ready for graduation," Toru responds. "I'd recommend neither of you graduate early, as it only increases risk of burning-out early and also places you under extra strain. Furthermore, it can result in bad psyche evaluation, which can have you taken out of the Corps."
"Oh," Naruto says quietly. "Is it bad to graduate early, then?"
"Not necessarily," Toru says, "It really depends on the person graduating, but it can have detrimental impacts. It depends on the person, how they cope, and how good their social support system is. Most ninjas who graduate early are geniuses and have a terrible or no social support system, and therefore don't cope overly well."
"Anyway, that's not important, because we're here for a reason. Naruto, if you give Sasuke Aki's leash, then you can helpfully hold the door open for all of us to enter," Toru suggests.
"Sure thing," Naruto says, easily bouncing back from the negative atmosphere. Sasuke blinks and enters the door, looking slightly worried and confused. Toru worries for him, but hopes that Sasuke will feel comfortable approaching Toru with his problematic thoughts later.
"So, Uchiha-san, you came," Tsume says, hands on her hips, "and you brought pups."
"Yes," Toru responds, face and voice flat, "All four of them."
Naruto and Sasuke both turn to Toru, "That's mean and rude," Naruto says, and Sasuke turns a pouting expression on the older Uchiha.
Toru lets his lips twitch up and he smirks at the pair of Academy students, he ruffles their hair with the leashes in hand and turns to face Tsume. "Check-up?" He prompts.
Tsume stares at him for a moment before jerking her head in a nod, "Follow me Uchiha, Uzumaki brat, Uchiha brat."
When they get to the examination room, Tsume turns her gaze on Naruto who's squinting up at her. "What do you want brat?"
"You look like the mutt from the Academy," he says bluntly. "You related or something?"
"They're from the same clan, idiot!" Sasuke says turning on the other boy, "Didn't you notice the fact they have the same surname?!"
"What? They do?!"
Sasuke makes a strangled noise, "How have you not noticed? How are you surviving when you're so unobservant?"
"I'll have you know I rated better than you in the trapping avoidance thingy!" Naruto responds. "So, I'm better than you. How are you surviving when you're so bad?"
"That's– that's not how anything works!" While Toru watches the pair bicker, Tsume quickly and efficiently checks over the dogs.
"They're all in good health and looking much better than they did last week. They're still recovering, but at this rate, I'd say they should be fine by their next check-up in a month," Tsume says. "Now, I have something to discuss with you."
Toru nods. "Naruto, Sasuke," he snaps out, and instantly the two boys stiffen and turn to face their elder. "Take a pup each and head out, yeah? I'll be out in a moment."
"Sure thing, Toru," Sasuke says, as he reaches for Teisatu's leash.
"You got it, Toru-kun!" Naruto shouts back, grabbing Haruto's leash, and ignoring as the puppy huffs at him. "Let's go bastard!" Sasuke sends a wounded look at Toru before following the blonde out.
"Aki, Ken, follow and guard," Toru orders quietly, and the two older dogs head out. "What did you want Tsume-san?"
"Yes to your alliance," Tsume says, "Don't care about the terms or conditions. We have one and we're bound until someone breaks the alliance or betrays the other. If that happens, the betrayed one has rights to hunt down and crush the oath-breaker."
"Hold to your terms then," Toru responds, lifting his head and fixing Tsume with a dark gaze. "I am not afraid of the hunt."
"That's what I thought Toru-san, now scram, I have things to be doing," Tsume responds, and Toru nods and heads out.
Just before he leaves, he pauses and says one more thing, "I hope I have your backing for an overhaul of the Ninja Academy."
"Do you think… do you think Itachi killed them all because he graduated too early?" Sasuke asks softly, and Toru looks up from his book. Sasuke's staring at his hands, and Toru never wants to know what it feels like to have someone you trust so much betray you (there's something on the edge of his mind, something he should know, something he should confront, but this isn't the time or the place and Uzushio fell a long time ago, surely those memories can wait a bit longer before Toru attempts to remember the whole thing).
"I think that the Uchiha Clan put a lot pressure on Itachi due to the fact he was a genius, which caused his early graduation. I doubt he had the social support system needed to truly deal with the stress he faced. In addition to that, there was – still is, really – a lot of bad connotations regarding the clan, and certain rumours gave us a terrible reputation. It makes sense that a lot of the Uchiha couldn't reach out to anyone outside of the clan, and with the pressure Itachi was under, it makes sense that he didn't rely on anyone within the clan."
"He had one friend… Um, Shisui, I think his name was," Sasuke says.
"Yeah," Toru says, "Shisui was my cousin, I had heard of Itachi through him. Shisui was also under a lot of pressure from the clan, to be the best and be better than that. He wasn't Heir to the Clan Head position and he wasn't actually labelled as a genius, but it was wildly acknowledged that he was intelligent and maybe was a genius, but it hadn't been confirmed. Itachi would've been under even more pressure… Do you remember anything odd or different about him leading up to the… the massacre?"
Sasuke scrunches his eyes up in thought before slowly nodding. "I don't remember much… but he argued with Father a lot more… and he kept, maybe, threatening him or blackmailing. He said something about how big brothers are meant to be hated…"
Toru frowns, thinking something is off about the story Sasuke's telling him. "He… he got really mad," Sasuke says with a shiver, "when some of the Uchiha came round and implied he was responsible for Shisui's death."
Toru closes his eyes sadly and breathes. "No one expected Shisui to commit suicide," Toru says. "He had always been really happy and expressive and it seemed like he was fine. He confided in me once, though, told me that the clan put too much pressure on their members, especially the outstanding ones. He told me that the clan never learnt from Konoha, never took on any…" Toru frowns as he tries to recall what Shisui had once told him, "never took on any advice or something like that. I can't remember exactly, which is odd. My memory is normally pretty good."
"Itachi mentioned something about the clan when he was mad," Sasuke confides, and he's crying silently now. "I can't remember what. Getting closer to that day, he got quieter and quieter, he pulled away from us. Do you think… do you think he was planning to kill everyone and that he didn't just snap? Do you think he killed Shisui?"
"I don't know," Toru says quietly, pulling Sasuke into a hug, and letting the boy sob into his chest. "I know something isn't quite right and that something's odd, but I don't know what. There are too many pieces to this incomplete puzzle. Maybe Itachi did go mad, maybe Shisui did commit suicide, maybe there was something more sinister going on and only Itachi and Shisui knew."
"Do you think we'll ever know?" Sasuke asks.
"I don't know."
"I want them back," Sasuke says, allowing himself to say the words for the first time. "I want them back! I miss them and he took them from me and I want them back, Toru! I want them back!"
"Shh," Toru says, rocking back and forth and gently rubbing circles into Sasuke's back. "It'll be alright, you'll see. They may be gone but we're going to be okay. They're in a better place, and the only thing you can do for them is be the person they would want you to be."
Sasuke hiccups and his crying slows down, "Do you think they would be ashamed of me?"
Toru kisses Sasuke's forehead, "No," he says firmly. "They are going to love you no matter what, and they will be proud of you no matter what. They're you parents and that will never change. Your name will always be chained to theirs, your blood will always call to them, they will always be your family. This is something they and you have acknowledged, and no matter what, it will always be. Love is something given unconditionally and they will never not love you."
"I want them back," Sasuke says quietly once again. "I want them back."
Toru thinks of a family once loving, "Yeah, I do too, but we're gonna get through this," he whispers to Sasuke.
"Together?" Sasuke asks, tilting his face up to look at Toru.
"Together."
Shou raps on Toru's door in the early hours of Friday morning, before even the sun has dawned. Ken doesn't growl even as Toru pads over to the door, but the dog does prowl beside him, hackles up as the door swings open. "Mission, not urgent, but still speed needed. You up for it?"
Toru drags a hand through his reddish-brown hair and notes it's getting long. "Yeah, sure, what are the details and what's the team looking like?"
"Escaped prisoners from a civilian town, apparently one of the ones being held was actually a missing-nin that a jōnin had captured, but was injured enough to require immediate medical aid. We need to find all the escaped prisoners and bring the missing-nin back to Konoha for trial and processing," Shou says. "You've got me as the tracker, you've been placed in the squad with me, and we have two jōnin as well."
"Why was I called in?" Toru asks, even as he grabs weapons and pulls out his mission pack, which had been sitting in the corner prepared. He quickly goes over the supplies inside it.
"Don't know," Shou shrugs, "B-rank mission, by the way. I think they should've called in an Inuzuka, but apparently most of them are out on missions."
Toru quickly gets changed and restocks his weapon pouches, "You think something big is happening somewhere?"
"No, I think that there are chūnin exams going on currently," Shou says. "Hadn't you noticed the lack of genin?"
Toru shakes his head, "Haven't had a mission for a while," he responds. "Might be the reason I've been called in. Give me a moment to tell Sasuke, and then I'm out."
"Meet by the gates," Shou responds, leaving via the balacony.
Toru enters the main bedroom and heads over to Sasuke's bed, he gently wakes the Academy student up. Sasuke looks at him blurrily before rubbing his eyes, "You got mission?" He asks in a slurring manner.
"Yeah," Toru responds, "Have Naruto or someone over, this mission shouldn't take too long. I'm taking Aki for a trail as well, so don't be afraid if she's missing."
"Won't," Sasuke mumbles, "Take care; stay safe."
"You got it kid," Toru whispers as the Uchiha drops off to sleep. He calls Aki over in the living room. He flares his chakra, "Follow and camouflage, Aki, follow and then return."
Aki nods and Toru lets her go out the door with him, before heading out a window and taking the rooftops. It had been only recently that he'd found out – along with Sasuke – that Aki can track scents from far away and possibly chakra signatures. Toru isn't the best tracker, but if Aki manages to follow the ninjas – and keep up – then he'll have back-up as a tracker if Shou doesn't manage it. Toru's also slightly worried about the missing-nin that managed to take on one jōnin and almost win.
Toru lands at the gates beside another Konoha shinobi. "Toru Uchiha," he says as he stands next to Shou, facing the other two jōnin.
"Shou Shimizu," comes the second chūnin's introduction.
"Osaki Nishimaru, medic-nin and second-in-commander."
"Miu Moto, team leader," comes the last introduction from the team's only kunoichi.
"Osaki-san is our healer, Shou-san's our tracker, and Toru-san's our back-up," Miu quickly explains. "I'll take point until we arrive at the town, and then the chūnins will take point to track while Osaki and myself calm the town's leaders and heal the other jōnin. Agreed?"
"Hai!"
"Good, let's move out. The mission isn't urgent, but we're going to try and move quickly, the less of a lead these guys have, the better."
Shou swears when the tracks end, and Miu looks like she wants to do so as well. "It seems like he's vanished," Shou says. "The others are all civilians so I can still track them easily enough, but any chakra-sense or sign of his presence has gone."
"Earth ninjutsu?" Toru asks quietly, nerves on edge in the almost-silence of the forest.
"Probably," Shou responds. "I don't know how far he could've gotten though, as depending on the jutsu, a different amount of chakra is needed."
"Suggestions?" Osaki asks calmly.
"Spiral outward," Shou says instantly, "It's our best bet of picking up a sign, but it's possible that he's gone too far in one direction, which will make it extremely hard to pick up the tracks, especially with the time constraint."
"Time constraint?" Osaki asks in confusion.
"It's meant to rain soon, which will lose both the scent and can mask any signs of the missing-nin's passing," Shou responds. "I'm an alright tracker, but I'm not good enough to track purely by chakra as I'm not a sensor, and I'm not a dog or an Inuzuka so I can't track by scent alone."
"Well, let's get to work," Miu says. "Osaki-san and Toru-san, you two hunt down the other prisoners as they wouldn't have gotten far. Shou-san and I will work from here on out in a spiral manner to try and find tracks."
"Got it," Osaki replies and Toru nods, following the older shinobi through the trees back towards where the tracks of the prisoners separated from the missing-nin's tracks. "Retrieve not kill," Osaki says as they follow the trio of prisoners.
Toru nods, keeping his eyes watchful for a sign of anything out of place. At the beginning of the mission, there had been five prisoners – four civilians and one missing-nin. However, the group of ninjas had come across a body impaled by pillars of rock, and from there they had been tracking four prisoners.
The civilians are almost too easy to track, rarely do they backtrack and attempt to leave fake paths, but even then, the two shinobi aren't fooled, and kept following the trail from the trees. The pair eventually come across a clearing with a fire in the middle.
Osaki rolls his eyes at the stupidity of it all, and motions for Toru to start attacking. Toru leaps into the clearing, ducking beneath a surprised punch, and knocking out the man with a blow to his head. In the time it takes for Toru to take one civilian down, Osaki uses the distraction to take out the other two.
"Head back now?" Toru asks, hefting the man over his shoulder and Osaki nods. The pair quickly take too the trees, not bothering with complete stealth now that they had their quarry. "Does this mission seem off to you?" Toru asks.
"What do you mean?" Osaki asks instantly, "My nerves have been on edge, but I assumed that was because there was a missing-nin of unknown strength around."
"If the missing-nin escaped, why take the Konoha jōnin out? Then there would be no mention of his escape reaching Konoha until it became noticed that the jōnin was missing, and by that time they would be long gone."
"They might've thought that the jōnin was dead," Osaki pointed out. "Except, the poison used takes about a week to kill despite its quick effect of causing muscle deterioration. Damn, you might be onto something. What are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking that the missing-nin deliberately left the jōnin alive – possibly as a message for Konoha – mainly so that the jōnin would send a message to Konoha, and Konoha would send out another team. The missing-nin may be working alone or may be on a team."
Osaki swears, "I can see that happening. What reason would the missing-nin want a Konoha team on their tail if they're working alone, though?"
"Proof of his strength, take out a whole team of Konoha-nin," Toru shrugs. "They might have a revenge scheme in mind, there could be quite a few reasons."
"I don't like the idea of splitting up and leaving the others to fend for themselves," Osaki says, "Let's up the speed." Toru grunts in acknowledgement.
"What if the missing-nin separated from the civilians to split our forces?" Toru says, and he can almost see how the plan is clicking into place.
"Let's hope that we're wrong," Osaki says, pushing himself faster.
They reach the village quickly, unload the civilians to the jail, and then return to the forest, taking to the trees. They move silent and swiftly, adrenalin giving them the boost to make it to the point where their team split.
There's a spike of chakra, rising and flaring, and the pair quickly change direction and head towards where they can feel Miu's chakra. Osaki lands next to Miu, while Toru sticks in the trees, henge in place and chakra as hidden as he can get it.
The missing-nin stands opposite the two jōnin, a wide smile on her face, and Shou unconscious in one arm. Toru feels rage and anger grab hold of his mind, and his chakra almost rises to the call of his emotions before Toru manages to beat it down (this isn't the time nor the place, anger and rage will get him killed – him and Shou. No, he has to wait, bide his time, the missing-nin doesn't know he's here, doesn't know what he can do, and Shou's healthy right now, and he needs to analyse his opponent, locate his weak spots, prepare the best plan).
The missing-nin stands tall for a female, taller than most men, with a surprisingly muscular body. Their hair is shorn short, and Toru can barely make out the blonde hair. The missing-nin has blue eyes and dark skin, and Toru thinks they're probably from Iwagakure.
Strong, is his first thought, possibly focusses in taijutsu. However, the evidence points to the missing-nin having a focus in ninjutsu, which means that the missing-nin may focus in both categories, which simply makes Toru's job harder.
The missing-nin is strong and tall, but her weight would slow her down, although she could be quick, (Toru doesn't know and he has no way of knowing and Shou could die! He needs to be calm, he needs… he needs… he needs to focus, to breath, to think, to ready himself). Toru can just sense the missing-nin's chakra pool, and considering that Toru's sensory ability is pretty much nil, that means the missing-nin has an impressive reservoir of chakra to pull on, which isn't good.
The likelihood of the missing-nin focussing on ninjustu and taijutsu is high, and she probably mastered the basics and intermediates of genjutsu as well, but not to a high standard. Toru isn't very good at genjutsu, nowhere near the best, and nor does he have insanely good taijutsu. He's also small and still growing, so a bad injury could end his career and impact his growth, and he can't have that. That means he won't be able to face the missing-nin with taijutsu or genjutsu, but his ninjutsu – long range mainly – might work for him, and he could lay some good traps and taunt the missing-nin into them. Plus, if worse comes worse, then he can use his seals, whether or not he has mastered them doesn't matter, as they'll work (they have to, he can't accept the fact they might not, they can't fail him here).
Toru waits, patiently, watching the two jōnin for any sign that he should attack. He doubts any such signal will come as Shou is still vulnerable in the missing-nin's grasp. The missing-nin smirks and goes through a bunch of hand seals quickly, almost too quick for Toru to see, but he still manages to catch most of them. The missing-nin sinks beneath the surface of the earth, and Miu waits a second before punching the ground in frustration.
Toru leaps down into the clearing, and turns his gaze to Miu, who looks young and terribly worried. "Did you manage to track him?" Toru asks, his mind designing plans and discarding them seconds later as he thinks of numerous variables and problems with each one.
Miu shakes her head, "She found us and we didn't even know until she grabbed Shou-san and they fought, but Shou-san was knocked unconscious." Miu looks down at the ground, "I'm sorry, I don't know what to do. I failed as a leader by letting our teammate get captured."
(Toru doesn't want Shou to go through what happened to him, and it won't because he won't allow such a thing to occur.)
"She's not dead yet," Toru says sharply, and even Osaki looks slightly concerned at his tone.
"We can't track her, Toru-san, we can't do anything. I'm sorry, but your friend might be out of our reach."
Toru narrows his eyes (and he doesn't notice, but once again something settles on his shoulders as he squares them, something wraps around him as he lifts up his head, something within him looks up as he straightens his spine, something within him rises at his will). "Our mission is not over and our teammate is in danger, we are not about to give up," he says. "Osaki-san, what's the likelihood of the other jōnin being able to help us?"
"They're in bad condition," Osaki reports, spine straightening at Toru's tone. "The poison did quite a bit of damage before I managed to neutralise it. They need to go to the hospital to get looked at further and will need to go through rehabilitation before they come back into the field or do any taijutsu."
Toru nods, "Miu-san, did you make any observations of the missing-nin that we can use to our advantage?"
"She wasn't fully healed when she attacked, and she limped, favouring her left leg, but she's still strong and quick. She clearly uses ninjutsu, but in a close-range fight, she didn't bother using it," Miu reports, and Toru nods his head.
He tilts his head, wondering if he's imagining hearing a bark somewhere in the forest. "Sorry about this," he says, before whistling loudly. The two jōnin jump, turning confused gazes on him.
Something runs through the bushes without a care for stealth, and the two jōnin grab a weapon. A black-and-white dog leaps out of the bushes, sides heaving and muck clinging to her fur. Toru meets Aki's eyes and smiles at the dog, "Good girl."
"This here is Aki, I've been hoping she'd catch up to us since we left Konoha. She's not a ninken of any kind, but extremely well trained and I think she has heightened chakra senses. She's a tracker," Toru quickly explains. "I told her to follow when I left Konoha, but you can tell it's taken her this long to get here. I doubt she's had much of a rest. She may be able to track the missing-nin."
"So, we're going to place all our hopes in a normal dog?" Osaki asks, "I'm not sure how that will work out."
"Neither am I," Toru freely admits, as he pours some water for the hound. "However, it's the only plan I can think of, unless either of you two have one?"
The jōnins share a look before they both shake their heads. "Alright, we'll take a momentary break here. Ten minutes, max. Check over your supplies. Miu-san, were you in the fight at all?" The kunoichi shakes her head, "That's alright. Osaki-san, if Shou's injured, the first thing you need to do is get them out of there and retreat to another position. If they're only slightly injured, heal them enough to fight. However, we're most likely going to need to retreat. When we get there, I'll be the one with the advantage of surprise unless the missing-nin is working in a group, which I doubt based on their treatment of the civilians and the fact she attacked Miu-san and Shou alone.
"Miu-san, you'll be our leader in the fight, simply because I don't know either of your fighting styles and you seem to at least know each other. If either of you know genjutsu – and well – then use it as long as it doesn't drain a lot of chakra. I don't recommend using taijutsu unless you have speed to back it. They primarily use earth ninjutsu, so stay wary of the ground. Their current technique seems to be going underground to either get away from their followers or attack when the target is no longer wary. Osaki-san, what's your belief of the missing-nin using poisons as an attack?"
"The poison she used against the injured jōnin was clearly an already-made poison and had been kept for a while, as the effects were a bit delayed. They may have some more poison, but I doubt they use it often. This was more of a planned attack," Osaki responds.
"Right, okay," Toru says, closing his eyes briefly. "Okay, be wary for poison but it shouldn't be used. We'll survey the area before we attack, so full stealth with no talking unless it's a must. Hide your chakra as well," Toru orders and the two jōnin nod.
Toru turns to Aki, who's stopped panting so much. "Aki, I need you to find," Aki perks her ears, bright eyes focussing on Toru. Toru taps a patch of blood with his foot, "Locate," he says. "Shou."
Aki sniffs the blood, and then moves over to the spot where the missing-nin had disappeared. "Aki," Toru adds, "stealth." The dog grunts before circling the spot and taking off at a trot, nose fixed to the ground.
Toru signals for Osaki to watch Miu and his backs, before taking to the trees. He follows Aki from above, the transformation slithering over his skin like a helpful patch of darkness used to hide from enemies. Aki keeps leading the group onwards, sometimes curving in one direction, but surely leading them in a specific direction.
Aki pauses in one spot, and Toru joins his dog, and notes the rocks all jerking out of the ground. Toru touches it and can sense the chakra fading from the rocks. :Exit point: Toru signals to the others. :Missing-nin; exit here.:
:Acknowledged: Osaki responds and Toru turns to face Aki who waits a moment before taking off at a slow lope.
The trio of ninjas retreat to the trees once again, and continue following the Guard Shepherd that trails the missing-nin they're following. Now and then, they see signs of a ninja passing through, recent signs, and drops of blood as well.
Toru wants to hurry and rush ahead but he can't, because he has a mission objective and a teammate in danger, and he can't afford to make mistakes here. So, the Uchiha keeps following Aki, knowing that he can push his teammates and his dog, but knowing he shouldn't, knowing it's a bad idea.
Aki pauses at one point and lets out a low growl. :Wait: Toru orders his team, and drops down to Aki's level. "Good girl," he whispers softly to her. "Stay and return," he says. He motions for his team to join him among the undergrowth.
"The missing-nin is nearby," he reveals. "Quite close, so I'm going to go survey the area and check for traps. This will be our return point, with the next return point being the village, and the one after being Konoha. Stay here and be wary," Toru warns.
"How are you going to remain unnoticed?" Miu asks.
"And will you need back up?" Osaki adds.
"You'll know if I need back up, and I'll be like this," Toru says, quickly going through a few hand seals, and allowing his chakra to change and warp his features. He waves his tail at the others, before moving as a fox through the undergrowth.
He reaches the edge of a clearing, and this one's clearly set up as a long-time camp. There are traps all around the clearing, in the trees and near ground height, but still taller than a fox.
Toru uses his small shape to survey the traps and figure out the best path and the worst path. He then turns his gaze into the clearing. The missing-nin is humming softly as she skins what looks like a rabbit. Shou looks completely unharmed, their arms tied behind their back, and their feet tied up, but otherwise Shou's lying on the ground with a blanket over their body. Toru can't tell if Shou's injured or not, but the chūnin has a pained expression on their face, and they're curled up in a ball, so Toru thinks Shou most likely is.
Complete with his survey, Toru flicks his tail and leaves the clearing, burrowing through the undergrowth in the opposite direction of his team. When he's far enough away, he lets the transformation drop, and heads around back to his team while keeping an eye out for the missing-nin.
He drops back in the clearing moments later, Aki instantly licking his hand. "Shou's tied up and looks injured, but I couldn't get close enough to tell," Toru explains. "There are traps at about 50cm all around the clearing on the ground, the highest point is about 55cm coming from the northwest, and there are wires in the trees, so they're prepared for Konoha-nin or anyone coming from the trees. However, the missing-nin appears quite content and is almost fond of Shou? I'm not sure, but they had put a blanket over Shou, despite having tied their feet and hands."
"Possibly insane," Osaki says quietly. "Doesn't change much."
"What's the plan?" Miu asks Toru, "I might be team captain, but you're the one who surveyed the clearing, and you have a better grasp over the situation than I do."
Toru sketches a quick design out in the clearing in the dirt. "Miu-san, you're going to lead the straight attack. I don't care what you do, but get the missing-nin's attention and act as a distraction. See if you can get them to bumble into their own traps. If they go underground, get above ground. Got it?" Miu nods, "I'll join you when the best moment to strike occurs."
"Osaki-san, you're going to go for Shou, cut the ties restraining them, and then try and heal them. If there's something major wrong, head out and come to Aki. Tell her guard and she'll stick with you the best she can. If the missing-nin follows you or attempts to try and go after you before you get to Shou, we'll distract the missing-nin and do our best to drive them away."
"Not much of a plan," Osaki says.
"Finely detailed plans go wrong easier as so many things have to be done," Toru responds, before turning his gaze to Miu. "Does this all work within your capabilities."
"Yes," Miu says. "Best of luck team," she says. "Osaki-san, follow."
Osaki nods and follows Miu, and the pair take to the undergrowth. Toru takes a moment to focus (and how he wishes his team is with him – Tori, Tora, and Kame all who knew him and worked with him and they didn't even have to speak as they all knew each other so well). The chūnin takes a deep breath and lets his emotions take a backseat. Important, yes, but not necessary and a problem if they overwhelm him. He needs to be wary, to be careful, to think.
Toru takes to the trees, plans in his mind and one particular one claiming his interest (he thinks Sasuke would like this one). Toru pauses among the trees, not even using a transformation to hide himself, he watches as Miu enters the clearing, chakra raging as she throws a barrage of a weapons at the missing-nin, who flips out of the way and snarls. Miu snarls back, flipping through hand-seals. However, the missing-nin's attention flips to Osaki who approaches Shou.
The missing-nin slams her hands on the ground, and something earthen slams into Osaki. Toru can tell this is going to go badly unless he does something. He calls his chakra to him and goes through hand seals, a mad grin on his face (because he is angry and he needs to go into this with almost everything he has because his survival depends on this, others survival depends on this, because he has people to return to). "Fire Release: Great Fireball," he says softly, sparking his chakra through the razor-sharp ninja-wire and breathing fire out onto the wire.
Toru's chakra acts as fuel, and the fire follows it through the wire, and everything seems to catch alight. Toru grins and thinks, this is why you don't use the same roll of wire for all your traps.
Toru flips over the flaming wire, everyone's attention seems to be focussed on the fire around the top of the clearing. "Fire Release: Flame Bullet!" Toru shouts, spitting bullets of fire at the missing-nin, who comes out of her stupor and reels out of the way. One bullet burns her shoulder, and she hisses in pain. Miu attacks with another fire ninjutsu, and Toru lands on the ground, throwing three kunai from each hand at the missing-nin, who's forced to continue backing away.
Miu moves out of the way as Toru's chakra surges, "Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!" Toru calls, and the flaming dragon roars and slams into the missing-nin, who covers herself with rock. The fire rolls over it as the flaming dragon disperses, leaving black marks on the rock. The missing-nin rises, and Toru can tell that his jutsu had injured the missing-nin.
The injured ninja glares at them with hatred in her eyes. Toru stands between the missing-nin and Shou, Miu at his side, (and he dares the missing-nin to try getting past them, for this it the shinobi who refused to die until almost everything had been gone).
The missing-nin snarls at them, and rock rises, pillars launching at them on the command of the missing-nin. Toru rolls out of the way, and the pillars crash into the ground, shards rising and some slicing Toru's skin.
The Uchiha barely acknowledges the injury. As more rock flies towards him, Toru flips through a new set of hand seals. "Water Release: Wave!" He says, and water swamps the rock, stopping its momentum and carrying the chunks back to the missing-nin, who flips in the air and out of the way.
Miu weaves a genjutsu and Toru can see it take hold of the missing-nin. He takes the second to check over at Shou and Osaki; Osaki whose hands are glowing green and Shou who doesn't seem to have any injuries aside from the one on their shoulder.
Toru turns back to face the missing-nin just as the genjutsu shatters and breaks. The missing-nin growls and goes through a set of hand seals and sinks beneath the ground. "Air!" Toru shouts, heartfelt and panicked, and the three ninjas leap into the air and onto a tree. Toru takes this moment to cut down part of the ninja wire.
Toru watches the ground. :Ready: he signals Miu and Osaki. They look at him unsurely by nod.
Toru leaps to the ground and then leaps up, body twisting and chakra shifting beneath his skin as he flicks through hand seals. "Wind Release: Gale Palm!" He shouts, and the wind slams into the ground as the missing-nin rises, and she shifts, trying to recover, but then Toru is on the ground and scurrying around the missing-nin.
Toru lands a kick to the missing-nin's sternum, and uses the missing-nin's strength to bounce off their torso and flip backwards. "Water Release: Stormy Upheaval!" Toru says, slams his hands onto the ground, and water surges up and forms a wall in front of him, before crashing down onto the missing-nin, who can barely move beneath the force of it.
Miu uses that time wisely, and fire rises around the missing-nin, and just as Toru cuts off his own chakra, the fire closes, and the missing-nin shouts even as they leap out of the orange-yellow-red fire.
Toru's heart beats in joy as there's movement from two people behind him. He can feel Shou's chakra on the edge of his senses, flickering but strong and there. Toru snarls at the missing-nin (because who dares, who dares, take away those he calls his friends). The missing-nin starts going through hand seals, but she's forced to stop as Osaki aims deadly senbon at the missing-nin, who has to move out of the way, and grab a kunai that almost scratches her face.
The four ninjas face the missing-nin, and Toru strikes out with a fireball, which he follows up with Wind Release: Galm Palm. The wind-boosted fire doesn't strike the missing-nin, but that's okay because Toru has teammates and back-up. Miu weaves a genjutsu that holds the missing-nin in place briefly, while Osaki aims deadly weapons at the missing-nin.
Shou stands beside them, safe, and Toru almost wants to laugh at the world that thought they could take them from him.
The missing-nin goes down between a hit from Osaki and one of Miu's fierce fire ninjutsu, while Toru manages to avoid most of a rock pillar that came up from behind him. The four regroup, and Toru grits his teeth against the pain in his shoulder where the pillar had slammed into him. He's starting to feel the pain from his injuries now, and he shakes his arms out as he watches Osaki carefully approach the missing-nin, who seems unconscious.
The missing-nin doesn't move, and Osaki binds her limbs, just as he's about to tie the last knot, the missing-nin rises with shout. Osaki squirms away, leaning back to avoid the quick-moving missing-nin, and then a black-and-white shape slams into the missing-nin, knocking her back to the ground, and Shou follows up with a strong punch that knocks the missing-nin out.
Shou shakes out their hand, "That felt good," they say. "What to tell me exactly what happened and why Toru's dog showed up?"
Miu laughs, relieved, "How about we do that when we've got this missing-nin tied up properly with chakra-locking seals and actual chains?"
"Sounds good," Osaki says, "I've had enough of this one's rocks. When we get back to the village, I'll do a proper check of you all. Can you all manage for now?"
"Hai," comes the reply.
"Let's move out then," Miu orders.
The return to Konoha is much slower than their original journey, mainly because of the injured jōnin, but also because Miu's keeping their pace to the quickest pace Aki can run without tiring out too quickly. Toru had told his team leader that it wasn't needed, that Aki is perfectly capable of following behind them, but still Miu seems unwilling to do so.
Not that any of it matters when they enter Konoha through one of the side gates mainly used by ninja carting in prisoners. Toru doubts he'll ever admit it, but he's almost glad to see the missing-nin taken by the Torture and Interrogation Division – T & I as they are often called. Shou gives a grin, tension finally easing off their shoulders.
"I'm glad to see her go," they say, nudging Toru with their shoulder.
Toru stretches his arms out and hums. Osaki grins at the pair of them while Miu laughs softly. "Okay, reports handed in by this afternoon," Miu orders. "Get some rest Toru-san, and let your injuries heal before you do anything."
"See you," Shou chirps, almost dragging Toru away from the two jōnins, and Toru casts the pair a wave before following Shou at a steady jog, Aki loping along beside him. "What are you planning to do on your break?" Shou asks as she heads towards the Ninja Academy. "You don't have any hobbies."
"I do so!" Toru retorts with an easy grin on his face as his pace quickens, eagerness to see Sasuke influencing his actions.
"You do not. You train, go through the Uchiha Clan Compound, and occasionally you read," Shou responds. "Those aren't hobbies, they aren't relaxing. Well, reading may be, except the stuff you read is largely the things you train on, so it doesn't count."
"I do other things," Toru says.
"Plotting the downfall of the Academy doesn't count as a hobby," Shou says with a wicked grin.
"I'm not plotting the downfall of the Academy," Toru returns with a roll of his eyes. "I'm planning on helping it; I'm doing what's necessary! Ay–"
Toru falls silent, his words abruptly cutting off. Sorrow overtakes his features, and Shou's features soften in both sadness and worry. "You know you can talk to me if you need someone to talk to," they offer quietly.
"I know," Toru says softly, (but they can't with this, because no one can know he is and who he was and still is, and everything he carries within him). Toru shoulders the chūnin and takes off, "C'mon, I'll race you there!"
"You're on!" Shou shouts, bounding forward and instantly passing Toru. The Uchiha picks up the speed, refusing to use chakra as he takes a giant leap, grabbing the street lamp, and pulling himself up to crouch on it for a beat, before leaping onto a roof, rolling to rid himself of the momentum, before continuing.
Toru knows that Shou will quickly join him on the roof-tops, but he easily speeds along to the beat of his heart, wind tearing through his hair and tugging on his clothes. Toru laughs as he stays with Shou, step for step, leaping across rooftops and streets without the use of chakra, the danger that surrounds them when every step can send them following, and a simple slip can have them on their knees and legs sliced up.
Shou leaps off the last roof easily, rolling, before coming up to stand. Toru follows less than a second behind them, leaping from the roof to the tree and then the ground. "Good win," Toru says with a smile in his voice.
"Had to increase my speed to keep up with you," Shou responds. "I'll catch you later, yeah?"
Toru turns his eyes to look at Shou, a harsh gaze centring on Shou. The Uchiha analyses his fellow chūnin before nodding, "Look after yourself," he responds quietly. Shou nods, and tilts his head in a clear acknowledgement, before taking to the rooftops again and disappearing from Toru's view.
Toru turns his gaze to focus on the students leaving the Academy, before his eyes fix themselves on a pale-skinned boy. The person in question is quick to spot Toru, and quickly walks over – hurrying, Toru knows, even if no one else would say so. Then again, Toru may be the only one who knows Sasuke's mannerisms extremely well.
"Toru, you're back," Sasuke says, nothing but cool surprise in his voice. Surprise, Toru reckons, regarding his own appearance, the calm nature of the response due to Sasuke's own personality and usually unruffled mindset.
"Indeed, I am," Toru responds, scuffing a hand through Sasuke's hair, even as he gives the boy a one-armed hug. Sasuke recoils from the hug, a smile growing on his face anyway, and Toru judges that the younger Uchiha isn't a fan of public displays of affection.
"Anything of interest happen?" Sasuke asks as Toru stands and the pair start heading towards their apartment.
Toru shrugs, "The mission was pretty straight forward," he says, (fear and panic roll through his veins, his heart pounds, his mind races, his strength is useless here and turbulent anger keeps disrupting his plans). "Few things came up, but it was mostly within mission parameters."
"Did you have to fight?" Sasuke asks, and Toru picks up the hints of curiosity and eagerness in the boy's voice.
"Yeah," Toru replies, "Hard fight, bit worrying, but Aki helped us in the end."
"Going to tell me about it?" Sasuke asks, (and Toru wonders if he's missing something because he finds himself uncaring of the boy's keenness for a fight, and maybe that's because he understands the idea of giving it all, throwing everything in, putting it all in for the fight, where very move can be your last, when it's all you can do to concentrate on your opponent, when distractions mean death and pain, and fighting is something straightforward and it makes sense, even when it doesn't seem to).
"Sure," Toru says, "but maybe once I've cleaned up. I have to admit, this mission was close. Shou almost died and was taken captive, it was a bit… worrying."
Alliances grow within Konoha's boundaries and various things occur, organisations make their moves, and many people almost find themselves dead – and some do, in fact, die, but they don't make any guest appearances here. Certain things are explored and many subjects are spoken about as both Sasuke and Toru continue to grow and learn. Furthermore, a mission commences and almost ends with Shou's death at the hands of a missing-nin and the Konoha team struggling to follow a non-existent trail. Thankfully, it appears that the dogs that the Uchihas now own, aren't overly normal, but they are Uchiha Clan dogs after all, what more would you expect?
Apparently my chapter titles are becoming Latin phrases when I can't find a word that has a fitting definition.
On a side note, a lot of research went into this price thing, and I have my research in notes, so I can explain prices if people want!
On another side note, this chapter was 12,000 words and literally 6000 of it was an accident because I wanted to reach a word count of around 8,000...
Political alliances! They've been coming for a while, just waiting to pounce and enter my writing. Tsume asks for the advice of someone in her clan, pretty normal considering Mochiyo's the only one who actually knows Toru within the Inuzuka Clan. Mochiyo analysed Toru, not much, but just how good of a comrade he is, and obviously Toru revealed some of his intelligence when discussing the henge. Plus, they sparred, which often gives people a very good idea of how other's minds work. Considering the fact that Mochiyo is a jonin, she was going to be better than Toru and able to think and analyse him. Pack-bound loyalty is a little concept I made up that I think suits the Inuzuka Clan. The Inuzuka Clan's alliance is pretty straightforward, essentially Tsume thinks and then says yes. The Kurama Clan alliance is much more different, and those words exchanged had all sorts of connotations and hidden things, and I feel like I'm getting overly good at analysing conversations while I write (and I'm starting to do it in real life, interestingly enough).
Haruto has always been my favourite of the dogs, and he has always been one to come, whether or not Aki was the one found first. And yes, it's simply because of his ability to blend in with the Underground and remain ignored, but also the fact he looks like a wolf so can pretend to be a wild animal while going to report to Toru (ignoring the fact he can't speak).
Also, Toru's nickname of Ryuu... Flashback to his first C-rank mission, but also because something fire-based won't be recognised as something from the water-and-wind based Uchiha, despite the fact he can use fire ninjutsu. Plus, Toru's pretty plain looking and despite his intelligence, no one thinks how manipulative he is or anything... No one actually realises his potential or what he could do and how much power he has. Well, a few notice, but whether you've noticed they've noticed remains to be seen (gosh, I have plans that will eventually rise).
So, I have a psychology exam (one week and a day) coming up soon, and that's bleeding out into my books. Mental health was my last unit, and I'm definitely pulling that in to help me out here. Maintaining good mental health is influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors (the factors can all be split up into these three categories, and four other ones, but I'm not going to talk about the 4P model here unless someone wants me to). A social factor that can help mental health is having a good social support network (Itachi had none aside from Shisui and they didn't really want to put more pressure on the other). A psychological factor that influences mental health is how the individual copes with stress (and Itachi was under a ton of stress without anyone to talk with and very little methods of coping and he wasn't coping well). A biological factor is the person their self and their genetics and any vulnerability they may've inherited due to their genes (Itachi's disease anyone? That will come up later in this book, but as something entirely different).
On another note here, Sasuke continues to cope with the massacre, and we see here he isn't fully Alright but he's Getting Better.
This bloody urgent-but-not-urgent mission. I wanted like 2000 words, not 6000 words. What is this. I didn't ask for this. Am I writing this or are the characters writing this? Not much to say about this, it was all pretty normal and a good mission, with few problems that come up and that - when you think about it - are pretty normal and can occur in any mission like this. Remember people, don't split up if you don't know where your enemy is. Splitting up weakens your forces and halves your power and makes it easier for someone to die. Hence, Shou's capture.
Aki is a life-saver and everyone should remember what I said in the last chapter in the author's note about dogs being Clan dogs and that changes things.
Shou teasing Toru about his hobbies is my laugh for that end bit of the chapter. I'm still laughing. 'Not plotting the downfall of the Academy', that's such a lie. You so are. You're going to bring the Academy down and build it up (probably with a lot of words, but I'm thinking a fight and fire might not be out of place). I give brownie points for the person who figured what Toru was going to say when he stops himself at 'Ay'.