A/N: The long waited chapter 9 is finally here. I would get it done sooner, if not for the school (cries in the closet with my beta, who experience the same sleep deprivation as me), but still, I got it done on Saturday!
As many of you may know, the review system went a bit wonky last Saturday, so I wasn't able to reply to many of the comments. But now they are fixed, and I see all of them! Thank all of you who bothered to take precious time to review, and they make my heart cries out in joy! I don't even know how to respond to many of your questions, without spoiling the content, so I might as well just post the next chapter ^_^. Regardless, I love all of you readers!
Beta'd by Alice J, whose dedication to correct my grammars even if we are buried by home works deserves a standing ovation.
Chapter 9 - Existentialism
[noun: a philosophical theory or approach that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent determining their own development through acts of the will.]
He launched at me at full speed with a sharp kunai in hand. Despite the shock, I still managed to draw the tantō and blocked the attack. The metal clanged against each other for a second before they broke apart.
Itachi was serious about the fight, and I was too. With us Uchihas, in this period, the best way to solve arguments was always with strength. He was trying to stop me, and I was trying to show him that I could take on the burden.
I charged at him with my sword, aiming for the thigh and the knee cap. I took a swing at his leg, and he jumped up to avoid it. Meanwhile, he brought his leg down in a scissor kick, and I turned my body to narrowly avoid the kick. I swung my sword up again and felt it hit something, but quickly I retracted the sword once I realize it's a replacement technique. I rolled away to avoid being crushed by the log.
Immediately a wave of shuriken flew from my left, I quickly repositioned myself and hit each shuriken away with my sword. After a few clinking of the metal, there were no more shurikens. I made a few seals with my left hand and gathered fire chakra in my throat, then I spit out a few dozen small fireballs and sent them flying toward Itachi. When I first got the sword, I was practicing how to do one hand seal and trying to reduce the number of seals needed to activate the ninjutsu, now I was able to use one hand sea for a few easy fire ninjutsu. To my surprise, instead of using water ninjutsu to get rid of the fireballs, Itachi also sent the exact number of fireballs back at me. I narrowed my eyes, seeing that they are not fireballs but rather shuriken embedded with fire chakra, it's a further developed ninjutsu of Katon: Phoenix sage flower. The fireballs and the fire shurikens crashed. The fire chakra on his shuriken dimmed after crashing with mine, but the shuriken kept going, heading toward me. Once again, I hit them away, dodging the ones still had flames on them. I moved closer toward Itachi, knowing that if I couldn't catch him in close combat, I would definitely lose.
I use body flicker and appeared behind him. Just as he turned, I grabbed his right arm and twisted it in an unnatural manner. I heard the familiar popping sound and Itachi's grunt, before he kicked me in the ribs. I managed to cling on to his body and use the force from his kick to swing my leg up, then latched them onto his head. I pushed my body up again and letting one of my knees choking on his throat and the other leg around his neck.
The moment I locked onto him, his left hand shot up, revealing a molten red hand. I dodged the palm coming for my head, trying my hardest to hang on to him, tightening my legs around his neck. Then, he fell on purpose, sending me to the ground. I was stunned by the impact for a moment, and that's when his palm came toward me again. Unfortunately, I had to let go of his neck and roll away.
When I stood up again, Itachi sent a water release wave at me. I wasn't sure how I would counter that, even though the water slows down my movement, it was a small effect and temporary. I thought people only use this technique for sensing. Unfortunately Itachi had better ideas, just when I was about to jump to a tree from the water, he appeared in the water and grabbed my ankle. It was a smart idea, even with my Sharingan, it had limit in distinguishing chakra, he would do well to hide in his own chakra water and I wouldn't able to notice that for a moment. As I stumbled, he kicked my in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and sent me flying toward the sky. As I was gasping for oxygen in mid-air, he body flickered beside me and kicked me again, this time toward the ground.
There was a loud sound of crashing, and I was trying to sit up in a small crater. Yep, there's definitely a rib broken if not two. Immediately, I felt the impending danger as a natural instinct and brought my sword up in defense. The brute force of a kunai pushed my sword back a bit, but I mustered up some strength and pushed it back. I quickly rolled my body away, not wanting to sit in the crater and be the hitting target again. Ah, my body ached, and my breathing was short, probably not gonna die from a punctured lung, but you never knew. Taijutsu was a bad idea, considering our conditions. I had a broken rib or two, along with a few bruises and a few shallow cut on my body. Itachi didn't look any better, with a limping arm dangling, along with a big bruise around his neck, and some cuts on his body from the tantō. I was hoping that dislocating one arm would stop him from making double hand seals. Sadly, I was wrong, he managed to bring his right hand together with his left and forcefully started to perform the seal despite the excruciating pain. I knew for a fact that most of lower level ninjutsu Itachi could perform with one hand or even none, but if he's using two hard, it must be something powerful.
Immediately, I brought my hands up for seals as well. We finished the seals at the same time, four lightning dragon shot out of my hands as one huge fire dragon flew out of his. The lightning and the fire crashed in mid sky, my lightning dragons mingled and twisted around the fire dragon, trying to restrain it and negate it; his fire dragon roared in the air, fighting to overthrow the lightning restraining it's body. There was an explosion, some light and some smoke, and the two ninjutsu negated each other. When the smoke cleared, I looked up in Itachi's direction, and realized that I made a horrible mistake when I saw the overwhelming redness of his eyes. This was Itachi, and his genjutsu was leagues above mine.
I gasped and screamed, willing my own sharingan to break free of whatever illusion he had planned for me. I was careless, thinking just because I also had sharingan that his eyes wouldn't affect me. It was like trying to stay afloat in a thick, murky water, even with my sharingan spinning furiously trying to counter his, it was like the effort of a cup of water on a house of fire. When did his genjutsu become this powerful? I had no answer for that, and apparently, no solution for it either.
I felt my world warp into non existence… Then I saw, I saw myself clad in black, along with others in the same attire. No… How did he know? How did he know OLYMPUS? I felt a wave of fear and panic wrapped around me. It was a painful thing, watching yourself killing others from a third-person point of view. One thing became clear when I saw myself breaking other's neck, stabbing people's hearts and destroying their brain stem in one swift motion, I was not in OLYMPUS, I was in Anbu. I watched as the erie white mask covered my face, yet I knew for that that this was me. So dreadful, the death around me, the death caused by me and the death because of me. I saw my 'comrade' died one by one yet I couldn't shed a single tear. Everything was so bleak and black, every kill felt so quick and common it's terrifying. Was he trying to show me that my future in Anbu would be this bleak, showing me that I was terrified of what will happen if I cluelessly took on the job. Ah, he was right, despite all the killing I did in previous life, I wished that I could leave it behind. I was a coward, for trying to run away from the sins I committed, as if being reborn would have erased that. I was a coward, for forcing my own heart, that Itachi had to put me into a genjutsu to show me that. That was the last thought that crossed my mind before my world went black.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
"Did you really have to do this, that genjutsu was a horrible move." Shisui said to Itachi as he jumped into the cliff behind the training ground with a limping arm.
"If not, how could she understand." Itachi responded, "Help me set this arm back, Shisui, otherwise my arm will be ruined."
"You guys sure don't hold back, by the way, I think we need to check your trachea, your neck is purple." Shisui said as he held onto Itachi's arm and pushed it back with a strong force. Itachi grunted because of the pain.
"I did hold back; she held back as well. Despite what I said, there's no way we could kill each other. But that doesn't matter now, I got my point across." Itachi answered as he rolled his arm gently to test the damage.
"Are you sure about going into Anbu, I know I must be annoying asking you after so many had already done so before. But let me lay it out for you, Maiko's argument. It's true her skill would have been much suited in Anbu, her taijutsu was born for assassination, even I could see that much. I don't know how, but I felt like she has been thoroughly trained in that skill. I know you are a genius and you would pick up things faster than I can blink, but if there's one word that describes you, it's 'kind' and Anbu doesn't need 'kind'. You would be leaving everything behind, breaking your family's heart, especially Maiko's heart." Shisui laid it out clearly, and then he proceeded to wrap Itachi's injury with dressings.
"Choosing between different choices, that's life. So often I didn't have a chance to choose before the decision's been made for me. But now, I can choose. This is my decision, my choice, my freedom. What Maiko felt was the guilt of fearing I had no choice. But that's not true, I did, and I made my choice. It's my freedom and I'm glad I have it." Itachi said in a deep voice, eyes following the direction where he left his sister.
"That's fine then. Just a heads up, the clan elders will be asking me to 'keep an eye' on you. So whatever you're going to do, just make sure you got a damn good cover story I can use." Shisui warned, they all knew what 'keep an eye' meant, and Itachi wasn't really surprised by it.
"Let's go, she should be waking up soon. After this fight, she should be able to enjoy her freedom, while I take pride in mine." The conversation ended here as the two teenage boys disappeared in blurs.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
When I woke up again, Itachi was gone. I could still feel my broken rib, and the pain was probably a sign that I needed to get it looked at. He is still soft about the death match, I thought. Even though he said he won't hold back, he did, or I wouldn't be getting off with just a few broken ribs.
I stood up, and for the first time, noticing the long rectangular box in front of me. I picked up the box and I noticed a familiar feeling while holding it. Carefully, I opened the box. My eyes widened when I saw a ninjatō with the familiar colour of teal. I quickly grabbed Hyakki Yakō beside my leg and compared the two blades. They have the same teal fabric wrapped around their hilt, same guardless design and the same teal sheath. The ninjatō obviously had a longer blade than the tantō, but the metal felt the same. Unlike the craving of an oni on the blade near the hilt, the ninjatō had a carving of five-petal cherry blossom. There was a card in the box, it only said one word: Senbonzakura (Thousand cherry blossoms), in mom's handwriting.
I carefully put Senbonzakura as well as Hyakki Yakō in the box and hugged it close to my chest. It was mom's promise, she didn't blame me for leaving, but rather, she wished that I could use the blades to protect myself while doing what I wanted to do. A single drop of warm tear fell from my eye. I must be getting soft, since I just cried twice within 24 hours when I only consciously cried once during the past nine years of my life (add another 12 years if you want to count my previous life).
Quickly, I walked toward the hospital while holding the box that contained the embodiment of my mom's love. I looked toward the Hokage's tower, rising above all the buildings, wondering If Itachi would be fine. After all, everything he did was for me. He will be fine, he's stronger than me. He will be fine. With that belief echoed in my mind, I continued walking.
"A broken rib and few bruises, how did you get it again?" The medic asked me suspiciously.
"Ehh, I fell down training?" I said uncertainly.
"Kids these days. Alright, no big problem, I've set it back, take it light for a few days. Give me your parent's number, I need to call them to inform them of your injury." She asked.
She looked so serious that I didn't think I could get out of it, but I was pretty sure that I couldn't just give her the Uchiha compound number. I sighed and debated for a moment before giving her a name.
After half an hour, I was waiting in front of the hospital, not sure if I should keep waiting or just leave. When I looked up again, I saw the familiar sandy brown hair and the jonin vest approaching me. Akira-sensei was here.
"I'd never took you for the trouble type, Maiko, what happened?" He asked me with a serious voice.
"A lot of stuff happened, but long story short, I got exiled from the clan." I paused a bit, he didn't look that surprised, so I could assume that Shun had already told him, so I continued, "The real question is, sensei, are you willing to teach me, let me be your apprentice?"
He looked thoughtful for a second, it would have gave me a scare with the way he was hesitating, but at this moment, I was too tired to be scared. However, he quickly smiled and looked a bit smug. He said: "I thought you'd never ask. I already petitioned to the Hokage about your assignment right after the Chunin exam. Now, it's officially approved that you will be my apprentice until further assignment. As your Shishou, I will train you and I will decide what mission you go on. So now, what do you say, my apprentice?"
"Thank you Shishou!" I beamed at him brightly, pushing out every ounce of happiness left in me and gave him a big bow.
"So what are you going to do now? Where are you gonna live?" Akira-sensei - wait, it was shishou now - sat beside me, waiting for me to answer the question of the day.
"I have no idea. Itachi brought me all my stuff, which is not much. I have a few sets of kunai and shuriken, some mini blades, some explosive tags that I never use. I have two swords on me, and I also have some money on me that I earned from all the missions. Shishou, do you think I could buy a tent and camp out on the training ground?" I asked.
"Why do you sound so poor? You have your teammate with you. No, you can't camp out in the training ground. Go crash with Shun for a few days before you get a mission paycheck and find your own place; despite how much he'll complain, he won't mind." He said, "Meet me at the training ground 6 at 1900 today. I see you've got a second sword, good, I hope you know I was serious about fixing your kenjutsu. Trust me, with your current skill in kenjutsu, don't you dare go out there and say you are my student."
"Ah, Shishou you are the best. Don't worry, I don't plan on wasting your kenjutsu lessons. So this is it, a new chapter in my life, usually, it sounds so poetic." I stared at the sky, ignoring the weird look my teacher gave me.
"Just be glad this new chapter is starting out in a positive direction. You may not always be this lucky. Seven at training ground 6, don't be late." That's the last thing I heard before Akira-shishou walked away.
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Akira-shishou beat the crap out of me with a bokken against my two metal blade that evening. Although part of it was because I wasn't familiar with the ninjatō, nor was I familiar with the two hand kenjutsu. Nevertheless, I was beaten to the ground like a sack of potatoes.
My body was full of slashes and bruises, from the fast striking sword play Shishou performed. Even with a wooden sword, the speed and power of which he struck were enough to leave cut marks on me.
"Your grip and strength is lacking. Usually, your speed makes up for what your strength lacks, and you aim for spots that are vulnerable. But what would happen if your opponent's speed exceeds yours? Well, this is what happens. You are too reliant on your close combat skills, but right now, they won't work their full potential. So from now on, you are only allowed to use pure kenjutsu when you are training with me. Practice your close combat in your free time, but now, you need to bring your kenjutsu up to speed." He said harshly, but everything he said was right on point. I moved painfully to pick up the scattered sword, stood up once again, and got back to the starting position.
Strike, hit, block and slash, that's the routine from seven to ten. Akira-shishou already told me that he was not going to baby train me, now that I'm officially under the tutelage of Shinbara, and I couldn't agree more. By the time the training session was finished, I was dead from head to toe.
"Get up, it's time to go home. But before you go, I need to talk to you about something." Akira said as I picked up my body and walked next to him.
"I can teach you kenjutsu and other basic skills, and it seemed to be that your taijutsu already had a full system that you can practice, and that will be enough for now. However, your talent in ninjutsu should not be forgotten, but my affinity is water, so it would be hard for me to teach you ninjutsu full time. So instead, I found someone else to help." he said, "so come here tomorrow at seven in the morning, actually, eight should be fine. You guys can work out the details."
"Wait what?" I asked, but there were no answers, seeing Shishou had already taken off.
When I arrived at the training ground at seven, there was no one in sight. I leaned on a tree and waited. I felt the time passing, one hour, two hours. Suddenly, I felt a presence looming over me, without any hesitation, I drew my ninjatō and slashed at the shadow above me.
There was a sound of metals clinking, and then my sword was stopped by another sword. When I saw the owner of the sword, I resisted the urge to curse out loud, but seriously, Akira-shishou? Seriously?
"That's not how one should greet people." Kakashi of the sharingan said emotionlessly.
"If one wants to be greeted properly, they should make themselves known first before creeping out the other." I responded, still holding onto the blade, refusing to let go.
"What if it's your Shishou, do you still point blades at him?"
"Shishou doesn't creep up on people from trees, and you are clearly not Shishou. It always pays to be vigilant."
"Ah, fine, I was just trying to gauge your attention, after all, you are one of Akira-senpai's prized students." Finally, he put his blade back to its sheath, and we proceeded back to our staring contest. If not for the fact that we didn't use the sharingan, one might though we were in some intense genjutsu competition.
"So, Hatake-san, I take it you are here on Shishou's request? Why, though? You hardly seem to like children, and I'm sure you are quite busy." I asked, still staring at him.
"A few reasons here and there, one does not simply ignore a senpai's request." He responded, not moving his visible eye either.
"I'm just going to say it out in the open, Hatake-san. I respect your skills, and if you are really willing to teach me, then I must be winning a jackpot or something. But I'm sure you already heard my little rant earlier in Shun's place, and I don't think any Anbu operative will like my speech." I said, "I just want to be clear, that I don't hate any Anbu operative, or the people running it. I understand that for a hidden village like ours to work, an agency like Anbu is necessary, in fact I think it's a smart decision to set up a black ops division. However, while I understand it, I also find it hard to accept. So if you are still willing to teach me after that, then I will thank you in advance for all your time and effort." A little bits of lie here and there, I didn't find Anbu hard to accept, I just wanted to run away from it, as fast as I could, as far as I could.
"Sprouts out the harsh truth on the first meeting, interesting. It's fine, when I agreed to Akira-senpai's request, I already understand your view towards us. Although I must say that your claims were different from the hatred that I thought you'd bear." he said, giving me a smile for a first time, even though it's hard to tell if that's really a smile considering his mask.
"What, you thought I'd hate Anbu because of my comrade's death? No, Daichi's death was unfortunate. At first, I did complain about the unfairness of the whole event, but somehow, I've come to accept it as it is. Still hurts, though, the feeling that I've somehow failed him. Speaking of which, I should probably thank you, for saving my life. If you didn't skewer that Kiri-nin, I would probably have been cut in half." I laughed dryly.
"I'm surprised that you remembered me, I was sure that all my distinct features were hidden behind a mask."
"I just thought the figure seemed familiar, nothing more than an instinct. So you are really going to train me?" I asked with a smile.
"I wouldn't really say 'train', more like 'instruct'. As you already guessed, I am an Anbu Captain, and I'm on active missions, which means I can only teach you when I'm not on a mission. I can only teach you once a week, maybe at most two times in between missions. Sometimes, I have to leave the village for weeks, even months. I will give you instructions on ninjutsu, especially lightning nature, but for most of the time, you need to work on your own, practice as much as you can." Suddenly, his voice turned serious. Unconsciously, I stood up straight under the aura of a Captain.
"I understand. So what should I call you, Hatake-sensei?" I asked, shaking off the heavy air around me.
"Just call me Kakashi-sensei, Hatake-sensei makes me sound so old." Suddenly, his demeanor returned to a casual setting.
"Okay, Kakashi-sensei, what do you plan to teach me now?"
"Lightning chakra, my favorite." …
(づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ
Time Skip: Two Years (Maiko: 11, Itachi: 12, Shun: 16, Sasuke: 6)
"Hurry up, Shun! I'm gonna be late for the mission!" I screamed as I pound the bathroom door, out of all the foresight I had, why didn't I thought about this?
"Just wait, I haven't even been using it for long!" A voice yelled from the other side of the door and I just rolled my eyes at the statement.
"Not long? Are you kidding me, you've been using it for at least 20 minutes, how long does it take to tie your hair?" I yelled again, clenching my fist to keep my anger in check.
"Your mission doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, with your speed and body flicker, you will be fine!" Shun yelled again, and this time, I snapped. One thing you learned from renting a cheap two bedroom/one bathroom apartment in Konohagakure was that if you turn the bathroom doorknob hard enough, it will eventually open.
I grabbed the doorknob and poured my chakra into my hand, I twisted the knob until I heard an unnatural click, Before he could stop me, I opened the door and rushed into the bathroom.
"Hey!" Shun yelled, but I forcefully took a stand in front of the mirror and started to brush my teeth and fix my hair.
"Come on, we can share. I'll be fast and you can continue doing whatever you are doing for 20 minutes." I said as I tied up my in a ponytail, put on my Hitai-ate and let the bangs fall on it along with my two strands of hair that framed my face. "See, five minutes not even, and my hair is done, what's with yours?" I commented and Shun rolled his eyes at me.
"I don't know why you are so twitchy about this, it's not your first B-rank mission." Shun asked. It's true that over the last two years, I've completed four B-rank missions already, but…
"But it's the first one that Akira-shishou will not accompany me. So it's just me and three other Chunin." I claimed.
"But it's just a scout and elimination, right? Some disturbance over the border village, multiple missing targets, none found dead. Possibly a B-rank criminal engaging in human trafficking. Mission objective: Identify the threat and eliminate on sight. Standard B-rank stuff, you should be fine." Shun listed out the mission specific, he's always quick on getting the information now that he's in the intelligence department, training under the famous Yamanaka Inoichi himself.
"Right, but I don't to be late, nor do I want to mess up the mission, considering there are those who decided that my age doesn't match up to the rank." I said as I finished all the clean ups. I checked the time, ten more minutes, I should be on time.
"Well, tell them to back off. you deserve all your promotions and assignments. Good luck on your mission, your share of this month's rent depends on it." Shun teased as I flipped out of the window and ran to the village gate.
I actually arrived at the meeting position two minutes early, but unfortunately, I was still the last one there. I saw my three teammates standing my the gates, three Chunin shinobi, dressed in standard Konoha chunin vests. I approached and greeted them with the respect I would give to any senpai.
"Uchiha Maiko, report for the B-rank mission at 0730." I said as I dipped my head slightly toward the Chunin in the middle, whose pride stance showed me that he was the temporary leader of this chunin team.
"Finally, at least you are on time. I'm Yoshida Kazuo, Senior Chunin, the team leader for this mission. Since we are all here, we might as well start with introduction just in case some are unfamiliar with each other. State your name, age rank with years, and specialty." the lead chunin, Yoshida said with a false sense of authority. Age, huh, so we are back to that again, I thought.
"I'll start, Yoshida Kazuo, 27 years old, chunin for 12 years, my specialty is taijutsu." He said proudly like he was very happy at being static for 12 years. His body build was on the bulky side so I could see why he favoured taijutsu.
"I'm Maki Kichirou, 21 years old, chunin for 8 years, the specialty is tracking and scouting." the second man with short choppy black hair said. If what he said was true then he would be very useful in this mission, as we were required to track down the perpetrator from just the signs of missing body.
"I'm Takuma, Ito Takuma. I'm 15 years old, chunin for 2 years, my specialty is medical jutsu. This is my first B-rank mission, please take care of me!" The innocent looking teenage boy said nervously as he bowed to the two older chunin. Newly promoted chunin usually don't get B-rank mission until they were chunin for two years, the only reason I got to go on my first B-rank mission after only eight months of being promoted was because I was under the apprenticeship of Jonin Shinbara, and he allowed me to tag on some missions (I swear I was useful).
"My name is Uchiha Maiko, 11 years old, Chunin for 2 years, my specialty is kenjutsu and ninjutsu. Nice to meet you." I bowed slightly as well, I still remembered mom's lesson on the manner and proper behaviour. Generally speaking, the team was well placed, two combat fighter, one tracker and one medic in case we found any missing person need medical treatment.
"Are we so tight on shinobi that they have to send newbie kids now? Oi, little girl, are you sure you can do this, this is a B-rank mission, you can still back out." The leading chunin mocked. I knew this would happen, but I kept the smile on my face and said: "I will be fine, thank you for your concern. I believe we should be moving along now."
Soon, the little fiasco was over and we took off, heading toward the few villages near the land of rivers, where the disturbance was reported. Now that we were all Chunin, our traveling speed was much faster. I estimated that it would only take us two days max to arrive at the scene.
During the night, we put on the shift rotation for the night watch. For some reason, they thought I wasn't competent enough to keep a watch by myself, so they pitted me with the medic, Ito Takuma. He was nervous, I could tell that much even without the sharingan. His hands kept twitching and he seemed to be sitting in a closed off position. I ignored him, there was nothing I could do except for him to get used to it. It won't be his last B-rank mission since medic-nins were more in demand these days.
"Is this your first B-rank mission as well?" Takuma asked uncertainly as I scanned the perimeter with my sharingan. He couldn't see the red eyes from his angle, and it's probably best if he couldn't.
"No." I answered briefly. Akira-shishou took me on three other B-rank mission before, two raids and one assassination. Those times, it was only me and Shishou, but we managed to complete it no problem. Although Akira-shishou was the MVP in the raids, I was the one who directed the assassination.
"What, really? But how? You are so young that you looked like one of the academy students." He asked in surprised. I sighed when I heard 'academy students', yeah, like I hadn't heard that before.
"Things happen. Look, if you think I wasn't competent enough, take it up with Hokage-sama, he was the one assigned me to this." I said to him, and he immediately looked guilty for saying that. He shook his head furiously and said quickly: "No, no, no, I didn't mean that. I mean… I mean… you are so young and stuff… No, that came out wrong, I mean… never mind…"
I couldn't help but watch in amusement at his stutters, "It's fine, I'm just joking, lighten up the mood. Don't be nervous now, the real mission starts when we arrive at the village."
"How can you be so calm, we are being sent into the unknown, and we have to eliminate the target. What if they are strong missing-nin?" The teenager asked frantically, but I just left him be.
"We are always being sent into the unknown, no matter how much we think we know. That's why some are lucky while others are not." I muttered quietly when no one could hear me.
A/N: I do hope that most of you stayed long enough to read this note. Decisions had to be made, how I wanted this fanfic to go, which direction it will lead to... My beta and I had long discussions about this, like literally everywhere. I know that no matter which direction I take, there are always going to be someone that's disappointed, and I hate to disappoint my readers. So in the end, I decided to go with my guts and just write it the way I planned in the beginning, which is the direction that I think will make the most sense.
Spoiler alert! Many of you probably already linked the events in this chapter to the coughcough*massacre* coughcough. Regardless of whether or not the massacre happens, I can promise you a few things:
1. If the massacre indeed happens, Maiko will not go on a super long revenge journey the way Sasuke did in the canon. I'm sorry, Sasuke, but no matter how cute you were when you were little, in the canon, you are an asshole. I do think my OC is mature and intelligent enough to see behind the facade of the massacre if it ever happens, it might take her a bit long to figure out the "why", but she will not jump to the most obvious conclusion.
2. The story won't be following the events in canon very closely. Right now, they seems to be going on the rail, but as time passes and Maiko gains the power to do more, they will diverge more and more (some events already diverged, even if it's quite subtle). There is a blank period between now and canon, and I plan to fill those holes with plot instead of time skip.
3. This story will be long, like we are not even at the beginning of the canon yet, and I doubt we will be there in less than fifteen chapters. I do plan to continue this until the shippuden... as for how long that will be... it will remain a mystery for now.
Sorry for the rant, I just thought I clean up my thoughts a bit and make some clarification for the fanfic. (funny story about the title of this chapter)
Alice J: We've read ONE book for existentialism in English, ONE BOOK.
Author: I'm sorry, it just kind of stuck in my mind, now you see how deep it had infiltrated my thoughts, even to the place where the school was not supposed to reach.
Alice J: Can we not talk about English? (hold up the most recent book we are supposed to read, but never actually got the time to do it.)
Author: (Looking at all the assignment for English we are supposed to do, but never really got to do it) Yeah, good idea, let's not.
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