It's been a long, long time. I have nothing in my defence. A case of writer's block, when I just didn't know how to put thoughts on paper, combined with the arrival of a few nasty exams heralded quite a break from uploading a chapter.
My profound apologies. On the up-side, the next chapter, in my opinion at least, is bound to be a lot of fun, and I've already put in work for that. However, go ahead and read the current chapter right away, yeah?
DISCLAIMER : I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ASSASSIN'S CREED. I OWN A POTATO, THOUGH. I LIKE TO CALL IT DAVE. KTHXBAI.
"When a ninja steps into battle, he must've worked out all the possibilities in his head. Battle isn't something you waltz into, expecting to win. Even if you think you could beat an opponent with ease, that's only your attitude. Reality might be in stark contrast."
Naruto nodded at their sensei, who was leaning against the tree, gazing at the three of them. The man named Ezio Auditore was sitting behind all of them, observing thoughtfully.
- Learn To Walk -
"In battle, things like stamina, chakra availability and injuries aren't things you can afford worrying about. All of these must be strung into your strategy, and each factor must be accounted for, you get it?"
Uzumaki Naruto stared at their sensei. He seemed calm, at ease. He spoke in a quiet tone that matched the rather lazy afternoon that followed quite the interesting morning, what with the Hokage coming out with the new system of integrating the Genin cells with Assassins, not to mention the introduction of people he'd not known about.
"What I mean is this; Your stamina and Chakra levels need to be at a point where you don't need to worry about them. Your strategy, apart from being well thought out, needs to be well-rehearsed. And even after this, you might not really win the battle."
"So, you ask, how are you going to get to this level? That, my cute students, is what we'll be working on," he clapped his hands together, bringing attention to the three of them.
"Each ninja has the freedom to work on any branch, any aspect of combat, be it Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Dojutsu, Kenjutsu, healing, or even Fuuinjutsu. Now, what you need to understand is that each of these branches become available to you only after a certain amount of knowledge has been acquired. In that respect,"
Kakashi moved forward, getting off the tree. He signaled for his three students to stand up, as Ezio watched on interestedly.
"Our first exercise for this phase…is Chakra."
All three of them stared at him, excited. Sakura seemed to know a bit about chakra already, and Sasuke was staring keenly at Kakashi.
"So…what exactly is chakra. With chakra, as you all know, a multitude of things can be done. Naruto, for example. How are you able to pull off your Kage Bunshin?"
Naruto looked at him, pausing before answering, "Well, the scroll said you channel your chakra outward through the Ram seal, right? And you work on giving it a manifestation…"
"Exactly. Did you listen to that, Sakura, Sasuke? Channel your chakra outward. Now Kage Bunshin is only one among a positive thousands of Jutsus. And-"
"Is it possible for me to learn the Kage Bunshin?"
At Sasuke's question, Naruto opened his mouth to speak, but Kakashi was faster.
"No. Simply because the Jutsu requires an unnatural amount of Chakra for basic usage."
Silence met Kakashi's words. Sakura was the first one to speak. "And…and Naruto…Naruto has that much chakra?"
Kakashi looked at Naruto momentarily, and smiled.
"Yes, Sakura. Naruto is, fortunately or unfortunately, from the Uzumaki clan. They were known for their large…almost staggering chakra reserves at peak condition."
Naruto looked at the gray haired sensei, quite forgetting to speak. Well, a talk with Kakashi-sensei was long overdue now, especially if he knew things about his…family.
Kakashi broke the silence. "But getting back on track. We'll be working on chakra control from right now. Today marks our first lesson…tree walking."
"Sounds pretty lame."
"Hn."
"Why walk on trees?"
Kakashi ignored their remarks as he turned. Without giving anything away, he calmly walked over to the tree. And then, as if he didn't notice it was even there, he put one foot on the bark, and then another, and soon was standing comically upside-down from one of the branches.
Both Sakura and Sasuke stared at him, surprised. Naruto looked at him interestedly.
Naruto knew how he was doing it, of course. With no one to teach him at Masyaf, he himself had discovered chakra. Of course, there wasn't much he could do, and he'd doubted being able to stand on still water could boost one's chances in battle. After all, back then, he'd had to focus on different things…
But now, here their sensei was, telling them that tree-walking was an exercise…
"Sensei…? How exactly does this help our Chakra reserves or whatever?"
Kakashi dropped down from the branch nonchalantly and looked at Naruto.
"Do you know what happens when I walk up the tree? It's simple, but a tricky to execute. Watch carefully again."
He motioned for Sakura and Sasuke to come closer too. As they walked up to him, he lifted his leg and placed it on the tree. At this distance, the three Genins could quite clearly see the silky-white layer between Kakashi's foot and the bark.
"Whoa," Naruto gasped. He'd seen his own Chakra, and it surely wasn't white. He slowly lifted one foot up and placed it on the bark. Closing his eyes for a second, he tried to concentrate on expelling chakra from where he wanted to.
At once, there was a crack as Sakura gasped, and Sasuke stared. Kakashi looked at the boy before smiling.
"Very nice, Naruto. Can you feel the golden layer between your sole and the tree? That is chakra."
He stared at his foot, pressing against the tree, but not quite physically touching it. Feeling a spark of confidence, he pushed up foot and raised his other one, planting it firmly of the bark. Only a millisecond later, he realized that he hadn't applied chakra on his other foot, and he fell on the ground with a soft thump.
Both Sakura and Sasuke were still looking at him. Sasuke turned silently and walked away to a tree. Sakura still stood there.
"What, Sakura-chan?"
"Nothing. I mean, how do you…know all this stuff? How do you know so much?"
Naruto looked surprised, then a bit abashed.
"Nah, I don't know much, really Sakura-chan. It's just…go ahead, and try it."
He turned, getting up. He raised a foot, and tried to expel chakra. Almost like magic, a golden layer materialized under his foot, moving slightly, as if searching for something to latch on to. He marveled at how it just stayed there, effortlessly. He wasn't feeling any difference…just a bit of concentration was required, that's all.
"Admiring your own chakra?"
He turned, as Kakashi patted his shoulder.
"It's fine. Take your time…understand your chakra, maybe," the gray haired sensei turned and walked towards the Assassin sitting under the tree. Naruto watched as Kakashi sat down too next to him, and they seemed to lapse in conversation.
He turned.
'This tree's going down.'
Sakura heaved a sigh of relief as she finally made it to the branch.
While life back in the Academy was straightforward and mostly structural, in the sense that not many things really happened out of the blue, life after that, well, had taken quite a turn. And it had all started with Uzumaki Naruto's return.
Naruto's return had heralded what seemed to be a slew of surprises. Starting from the very fact that he'd returned from a strange place, and called himself an Assassin, was amazing at the throwing test, worked a completely new style of combat, knew Jutsu that even Sasuke-kun couldn't learn…and the surprises didn't just stop with that.
There were the five Assassins then, one of them who was Naruto's teacher, and another who was now more or less part of their team. And then, those three that had arrived after that, the blonde-haired man who kinda' reminded her of Naruto, the quiet, tall man in blue and the quieter Assassin who looked terribly strong.
She'd been ashamed, in the beginning, actually, to see just how far ahead Sasuke and Naruto were of her. And that was why, she felt happy just now. When she'd first seen a layer of green coating the air between her feet and the bark of her tree, a happiness she couldn't describe filled her. To her joy, she'd realized that it felt…easy, natural in fact, as she ascended slowly.
And so, she finally reached out her hands, catching the branch and heaving herself up. As she exhaled, she looked around. Kakashi-sensei was under the tree, reading his…book. Suddenly, he turned to her, and clapped softly, giving her a thumbs-up. She laughed at him, returning the gesture.
She looked towards the far-end first, spying Sasuke. Her face fell when she realized that her crush was struggling to do what she'd done with, well, relative ease. She watched, as he picked up into a run. He ran up a few steps before exerting chakra, and steadying himself, as the momentum carried him forward. He seemed to cover a distance, and was almost close to the mark when he lost his hold and fell. And then, as if nothing had happened, he walked back, turned towards the tree to try again.
Sakura internally debated walking up to him and maybe…showing him that she could-
"Hey, Sakura-chan! Nice!"
She looked down with a start, interrupted from her day-dream.
Naruto was standing below her, holding a few of his small knives in his hand, and yanking his hoodie back and forth with the other.
"So you made it up, eh?"
"Yeah…It was easy! What about you, Naruto?"
"Me too! Though I think I had it harder than you…I mean, I was watching you climb. You got it so quickly!"
She smiled at his compliment, before glancing at his hands. "Um…why do you have those?"
She pointed at the small knives held between his fingers, before looking over and jumping down. Naruto waited for her to regain her balance before walking towards his tree.
"Oh, it's easy to mark your spot with the knife…you know, to indicate how high you've gone so far. See?"
He pointed at the bark of his tree, and indeed, there were several small knives lodged onto the bark.
"Wanna' see me go?"
But before she could reply, Naruto had already stepped back. Glancing once at the tree, he broke into a run. Just as he neared the tree, he leapt, landing at a height onto the bark. Without a second's pause, he continued running up, dodging his previous knives, as he climbed higher and higher, past the first branch, then the second, the third…soon he was really high up.
Sakura heard the thunk as Naruto's knife wedged onto the tree. She moved back quickly, as Naruto ejected off the tree, using his momentum to do so, and fell on the ground beside her quite gracefully.
As he dusted himself, Sakura fumbled with her words.
"Th-that was amazing!"
"Ah, thanks, Sakura-chan! I think it's easier when you take it at a run, so I didn't stop, just ran as much as I could."
"No, not just that, I mean, you jumped off the tree so…well."
"Ha…perks of the Assassin training, I suppose. Hey, what about Sasuke?"
She turned towards the direction Sasuke was practicing in. Naruto followed her line of vision, as he too saw the Uchiha working on his tree-climbing. At once he could see that the black-haired boy wasn't where he wanted to be. Sasuke was just reaching the first branch, contrary to Naruto's expectations of him doing better. With a frown, Naruto walked over. Sakura followed a few paces behind him.
As they neared the area where the Uchiha practiced, both Naruto and Sakura heard a rustle, and jumped when they felt a hand on their shoulder.
Kakashi Hatake looked down at his two students, a small smile on his lips, barely visible through the mask.
"Don't."
The man clad in white watched them quietly. The pink-haired girl, Sakura, had achieved the goal the fastest among the three children. Ezio could tell that she immediately had a knack for it. On the other hand, Uzumaki Naruto had taken a faster, wilder approach, albeit it was one that got the job done.
Ezio couldn't help smiling at the way the blonde-haired boy had practiced climbing the tree. The clever use of throwing knives to mark progress, and to instill a sense of lateral movement along with the standard vertical ascent struck him as a smart thing to do. And not surprisingly, he'd touched the mark, and gone beyond, as was seen from his boisterous display of progress to the girl.
Now, what surprised Ezio was the black-haired boy. The quiet one hadn't looked towards his other two friends when he practiced. He seemed focused, and yet, Ezio could tell that this wasn't necessarily a good thing.
The Assassin could easily figure out the dynamic between the students, and that it was the cause of the lack of Sasuke's progress. The boy seemed to have a block in his mind, without which it wouldn't have taken much to walk over to his friend to ask him about a certain knack in doing this.
Ezio got up quickly and easily. He looked over at the boy on the far end. He looked up at the tree he was sitting under.
Uchiha Sasuke bared his teeth in frustration. His ankles and calf were hurting with the effort he was putting in.
'Somewhere…somehow, I'm doing something wrong…'
He sunk to the ground, wiping the sweat off his brow. He didn't know how far Naruto and Sakura had gotten. Were they struggling like he was? Naruto, well, he wasn't sure about him. The blonde-haired boy had a certain quality of absorbing things very quickly. Sasuke was sure of that one fact. Sakura, on the other hand, he was sure would be behind both him and his friend. He didn't think it out of ego, or anything like that.
It was just that she was to…unfocused, wayward, in what she did. Sure, she was level-headed, and could probably assess situations better than him, but Sasuke was confident of only that much. In his mind, there was no possibility of her-
Sasuke moved around wildly in only the last second. Heart beating, he scrambled to his foot to see the large figure of Ezio Auditore clicking his tongue while dusted his robes.
"What the hell was that?"
"I wasn't quite sure you would dodge that…boy."
"Is this a thing with you Assassins? Do you derive some retarded pleasure out of surprising people?"
His voice had a metallic ring to it. He wanted to make sure Ezio realized that his intrusion wasn't very welcome.
However, the tall man seemed to both receive the hint and remain oblivious to it, something that, Sasuke found, reminded him of a certain loud-mouthed idiot.
"You're not making much progress, are you, little fighter?"
Sasuke let the address slide as he sat down once more, facing the Assassin.
"What stops you from asking your friends about it, little boy?"
He looked up at him. What stopped him…? Well, what did stop him? Maybe the fact that this was something he wanted to do, learn on his own. Maybe the slight frustration about the way Naruto seemed ahead of him at almost every turn…Maybe-
"They…what makes you think they're ahead of me?"
The man laughed. "What makes you think they're behind you? In any case, shouldn't you check? Shouldn't you ask your friends…for they are your friends after all, aren't they?"
Sasuke stood up. He didn't want to reply. There was something in the blunt truth of the fact that the man's words indicated. And he didn't like it.
He walked up to the tree when he felt the man's hand on his shoulder. How he'd gotten up so quickly and walked over to him noiselessly puzzled Sasuke for a moment before he heard the man's words.
Naruto looked at Sasuke, making sure that his surprise didn't show.
"Do you know Sakura's better than both of us at this?"
A look of surprise crossed the Uchiha's face.
Naruto gave a sudden, rather rough laugh, like he wanted it to pierce his friend.
"Worse than the girl, aren't we, Uchiha? Suddenly worse than the stupid girl who knows nothing, right? How can she have done it? Well, teme, you can ask her. I'm not saying anything, not because I'm angry, but because I don't know how I did it, myself. She can probably articulate and explain it better than I can."
Sasuke's pallor remained impassive at the blonde's rather angry monologue. Yet, he couldn't let the words slide off him, like normal. It seemed to hit him, what Naruto uttered.
He stared into his cerulean eyes for a second before closing his eyes.
"What do you see in her? How do you-"
With unnatural fluidity, Naruto's hand seemed to slip out and grab hold of Sasuke's shirt.
"If I'm gonna' have to explain that to you, you're more of a prick than I think you are."
"Fine."
'Concentrate on maintaining your position. They key isn't thinking ahead, it's in thinking in sync with your feet.'
"Sorry…dobe."
Naruto looked at his friend, who was looking anywhere but at the blonde. Naruto smiled as he twirled the small throwing knife in his hand. Uchiha Sasuke didn't need to look at Naruto to hear the involuntary 'No need, teme' that was never uttered between the two of them.
"Did you thank her at least, though?"
"Yeah."
"Cool."
They lapsed into silence as they waited for Kakashi-sensei to return. Sakura had struck up conversation with Ezio, who was pointing at the ground, and making motions with his hands. Naruto could tell that they were discussing future stamina exercises for Sakura, who'd now decided that Ezio was the person to tutor her on the subject.
Naruto lifted the small weapon high above his head. Staring at the tree in front of him, he swung his arm. The object whizzed through the air before wedging itself on the branch of the tree, becoming one among many other knives that marked Uzumaki Naruto's progress.
The boy moved back, his mind clouding, his vision blurring. No…this couldn't be right. This couldn't be…happening.
It's all your fault, Kakashi.
Kakashi could hear Rin's voice, even though she didn't say any of those words. She didn't speak to him for a long time, after that. Her face was downcast, broken.
Kakashi could feel the revulsion building up inside him.
It's always my fault, isn't it?
My fault for being my father's son…my fault for Obito dying.
'Hey…Kakashi…it isn't your fault…'
'How do you know that?'
'You're just being stupid as usual, aren't you, Kakashi? Don't be so stuck-up and self-centered. The world doesn't revolve around you! Everything isn't your fault!'
'…Thanks…my friend.'
"So…the geezer finally decides to remember he has some students, eh?"
The three students were standing in front of Kakashi Hatake. The afternoon had passed, giving way to a cool evening.
Kakashi smiled as he looked at his students. Long ago…all that 'team-building' had finally come in use now. And he'd watched on interestedly when Ezio Auditore had walked over to Sasuke, just to have a few words with him. Indeed, it was very interesting to see the dynamic of Team Seven in action as they trained.
"Now. Are we sure we can climb up to the first branch of the tree as of today, you three?"
"Yes," chorused all three of them.
"Good. Now that we have this…irksome exercise out of the way, I have a few exciting things to tell you. Sit down, and listen carefully."
As Naruto sat down in between his two friends, Kakashi began, "A shinobi's technique…is much like an arsenal of weapons. You can all learn a million different moves and jutsus, but they're going to be useless unless you factor them into battle, right?"
"And at the same, you must realize that not all techniques can be learned by just one person. Each of you have your own strengths and weaknesses, and it is important that you play to them. For example, Naruto, can you name your strengths and weaknesses?"
Naruto looked up at the gray-haired sensei. "Er…my strengths'd be…stamina, I suppose, and a big chakra reserve…I can move and strike quickly due to my training…and yeah, that's it. Well, my weaknesses…I could use a bit more chakra control…and I could learn to evaluate situations better."
Kakashi clapped lightly, smiling. He was happy with his student's self-assessment. "Well put, Naruto. Now you see, each of you have such strengths and weaknesses. None of you lack strengths, and none of you are flawless. So here comes the good bit. I want you to spend some time, starting from today, to research a bit. Go through what kind of things you want to learn, and do it on your own. How do you want to improve…where and how do you see yourselves many years later?"
"When we assemble tomorrow afternoon, I want you three to at least have a basic idea as to which direction you're going to walk in, alright? We'll be doing tree-walking every day until you're perfect at it. Once that is done, each of you can work on your own styles. With that, my little students, best of luck, do your research, and I'll be off."
Before the three surprised Genin could respond, Kakashi poof-ed in a puff of smoke, leaving the three of them and Ezio in training ground Seven.
Naruto was the first to break the silence.
"So…our own styles, huh?"
"Sounds interesting."
Sasuke got up. "I'll see you around. I want to go home. There's something I need to do." Without waiting for a reply, the Uchiha stalked off. Sakura turned towards Naruto.
"Um…Naruto…thanks."
"For what?"
"I heard you telling Sasuke that he should ask me for help."
Naruto turned towards her, a small smile on his lips. "It's nothing. I meant what I said, Sakura-chan. Well," he got up too now, "How 'bout that research? What're you going to do?"
"Well, first, I think I'll go home, and then I'll go to the library. There'll surely be something there, right?"
"Yeah…okay, Sakura-chan. See you tomorrow, then!"
"Yeah."
"Excited, Naruto?"
"Hmm…I don't know, it's a little intimidating, and…yeah, pretty damn exciting. I mean, I can finally define my style of combat!"
Ezio laughed at the boy's energy. "You still want to persist with the sword?"
Naruto looked up at the taller Assassin. They were both walking slowly out of the training ground. "Of course. But I want to concentrate on Ninjutsu too…you know, the cool water thingy Kakashi-sensei did, and all that? I want to wield both. It'll be so cool if I can make it work, see?"
Ezio nodded. "Well then, young Assassin…hadn't you better do that research of yours?"
"Yeah," Naruto replied as they walked out, and parted ways.
"See you, Ezio!"
"Farewell, Naruto."
Naruto walked along the street, a smile playing on his face. The statement, 'A shinobi's technique…is much like an arsenal of weapons…' seemed to keep ringing in his head.
What did he visualize himself as, then? A picture of a taller version of himself drawing two swords out their sheaths immediately sprung to mind. Older-him seemed to twirl the swords in his hands enticingly before executing a small flourishing move. And then, he planted the swords on the ground forcefully, making them stand where they touched the ground. Forming a few quick seals like Kakashi-sensei had back in their previous missions, his palms seemed to emit a glow as he moved blazingly fast-
"Hey! Watch it, ya' little shit! Oh wait, it's the little Assassin!"
His thoughts were brutally cut short when he collided with Mitarashi Anko in the middle of the street. Spluttering, Naruto collected himself.
"O-Oh…Sorry, Mitarashi-san! I was just-"
"Lost in thought, eh? Figuring out great strategies in your head, are you? Or is that pink-haired teammate of yours in your mind?"
He looked up at her indignantly, "What? No!"
"Aaah, to be young and in love…little Naruto-chan!"
She twirled around him, talking in a sing-song voice, not caring about all the other people who were staring at them with raised eyebrows.
Naruto decided that a change of subject was in immediate need, and acted promptly.
"Um…Mitarashi-san…I need your help."
"Well, I'm no match-maker, so if it's girl-trouble, you should ask for Might Guy."
He frowned at her, trying to ignore her jab. "Where were you going, anyway, Mitarashi-san?"
She looked down at the boy, amused. He was terribly interesting, she couldn't deny that. He reminded her a bit of herself, in fact. Mitarashi Anko reached forward to flick his head-band.
"I was going to eat. Come with me."
"Sure! S'long as you're paying, Mitarashi-san."
"Cut the whole 'Mitarashi-san' act, kid. It's Anko. And what kind of guy doesn't pay for a meal with a shy, beautiful woman such as myself?"
She bustled him forward through the street, Naruto trying to shoot glares at her, indicating his displeasure at being embarrassed.
"Right…so that's what you wanted, eh? Well, it's simple enough, though Kakashi was right in asking you to do your research."
They were sitting at a small place, one that was apparently Anko's favorite. She seemed to enjoy the dango that they sold, and had initially had an argument with the blonde as to which was the true Gift of God, Dango or Ramen.
"So…as I said, it's simple enough. Small chakra reserve equals easier control, which reflects on ease in learning techniques. This is, of course, down-sided by the fact that can't keep using these techniques due to that small reserve of yours. You can figure out the other end of the spectrum yourself, kid. So where do you think you fall?"
Naruto regarded her as he ate the dumpling.
"I…I have a large chakra reserve…at least that's what sensei told me. And…I think I have some measure of control over it. I mean, back when I was at, you know…the Assassin's place, I discovered I could use chakra, and I kinda' got used to it there."
Anko nodded, keeping in line with him.
"So…that means…good chakra control isn't something that's totally out of reach, is it? Ideally, I wanna' learn good jutsu, but not get exhausted. Do you think that's possible, Mitar-Anko-san?"
"Sure! Nothing's impossible, as they say. But yeah, it'll require a shit-ton of work. You up to it?"
"Course I'm up to it!"
"Yeah!"
"Um- Anko-san, you're pretty loud, ya' know."
"Kid, when I need counselling, I'll be sure to tell you."
They got up, Naruto feeling cheerful. Mitarashi Anko was undeniably a lot of fun to be around, and he hadn't even interacted with her all that much. As they headed out of the shop, she slapped his shoulder.
"Kay then, little Assassin. Keep your…Hidden Blade safe, eh?"
"I-what?"
She laughed as she walked away, waving. And as he turned too, Naruto couldn't help thinking she was a helluva' lot like him.
He pulled up his hood, walking towards the monument. 'All right then. To the library. Time to get shit done.'
Ezio walked into the cool compound outside the Academy. He smiled when he saw that the others had already come. A blonde-haired man was sitting on the branch of the big tree, talking to Master Altaïr. The father-son duo were both there too, Haytham sitting in corner and examining a kunai, Connor leaning against the tree, waving at Ezio as he walked up.
As he neared the motley gathering, Edward exclaimed, seeing Ezio, "So the Mentor has arrived, eh? How's it been with your team?"
They all looked at him. Ezio smiled. "Very pleasant. It's a pleasure watching them work, you know?"
There was silence. Haytham was the first to break it as he got up. "Let us do ourselves a favor, and not talk about the strange man in that green suit with whom I'm condemned to spend time with."
Edward's bark-like laugh seemed to resonate through the air as Ezio sat down, completing the circle.
The kunai met flesh and penetrated it almost effortlessly. The hand wielding the kunai never trembled, for the mind controlling the hand was galvanized. It was conditioned not to think, only to act, and on a certain man's orders.
What was the absolute value of human life, really?
One…two…three, and then he lost count. He couldn't see the victim's face. He couldn't hear the victim's cries. He couldn't feel the impact of the life he was wrenching away.
Uchiha Itachi could only feel primal happiness filling him, running through his veins as he slashed away quietly.
He sat down, leaning his head against the rock, using it like a pillow as he stared at the vast expanse outside the Akatsuki hideout.
Will my mind ever collapse, he wondered. It has to, one day…so many years, an eternity of lies and secrecy of maintaining false demeanor, of trickery and treachery…one day, he'd be found out…
He didn't need to look at the lavender-haired woman to know that it was Konan sitting quietly next to him.
A crude sense of longing, of yearning filled him. For what? What was he doing this for? Was he, after all, only a pawn in more than one person's plan?
'For the village, Itachi. For your brother.'
But never for yourself. He was denied that honor.
He fought the rising temptation of wanting to stand up and scream, to just…pull out a kunai and-
'The act is not done yet, Itachi. In fact, it has only just begun. Just make sure to help this old man out, will you?'
'I obey your every order, Hokage-sama. You know that.'
'And in your long and twisted mission, Itachi, make sure to find yourself, my son.'
He turned around, looking at the dark entrance to the Akatsuki's Hideout. A wry smile played across his mouth as the answer formed in his head.
Life wasn't worth much really…which was why he wanted to make the most of it.
End.
Well, straight away, here's what I have planned. For the next few chapters, I've already started researching myself. I want to make wielding a sword realistic and true to the original art. I'm working on this representation, as well as builds for Sasuke and Sakura.
Anyway, what did you think? In my opinion, this chapter wasn't the best I can come up with, but maybe when I begin the massive edit overhaul, I'll rework this chapter a bit.
And now, to talk about a few things...
So, Naruto has ended, with all the hype up and about it. What did you think? How did it go? Is there anything in the ending of the manga that you would like to see done in this story too?
And finally, what are your thoughts regarding Assassin's Creed Unity?
Eagerly awaiting your thoughts :)
Oh, and Inuyonas , a reader asked me if Aveline is coming. What do you guys think?
Reviews :
eliwats22 : Thank you for your thoughts! I'll keep it in mind. I'm not promising anything, but we'll see, yeah?
gamelover41592 : Thank you. How was this chapter?
mrthischarmingman2 : Cool! Your thoughts are appreciated. I'm going to give that decision time before I work on it.
Spider-ManOfTheAssassin'sOrder : Thank you! I'll be sure to work on a few characters. My goal is to maintain balance between the two universes while telling a story.
Spyash2 : Thank you :) I hope I'll be able to give each of them enough time to show us their characters...That's my goal, anyway.
Inuyonas : I don't know, really. My original plan was to have the five main characters, but now, we have Aveline, Ade, Arno and many more. So 'm not sure. Do you want her to be written? I'll ask the other readers too :) Thank you for reviewing.
ShadowAssassin97 : That's a nice dynamic there, though I think it's a little early to be contemplating even more AC characters. I want to give the Kenways time to get adjusted to their new world. Thank you for reviewing, though. Hope you keep reading!
thenarutoking : Thank you! I'll surely try my best to represent Naruto's combat well. Keep reading! :)
Mystery Stranger : Thank you! I liked that you enjoy my Naruto a bit more. I want to make every character have their own quirks and features. Well, as to Ezio's playboy persona, I could write it, but I don't want to, seeing as he's brought back from when he was pretty old. Keep in mind that though Altaïr is the most senior among them, Ezio is actually the oldest.
Sundown17 : Thank you! :D
See you 'round, guys! Hopefully I can update quickly with some good stuff.