Hey guys. The second chapter part I is up. I'll post the part II really soon. Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy it. (and I'm sorry if you guys in any way feels that my story is depressing. Well, it is kind of depressing in the first few chapters and up but I'll try to lighten things up a little later on. Maybe when I get to some romantic scenes, I might make the tone much lighter.) Anyways, thanks for reading and I know it's not really that good but for reading it anyways, you have my gratitude.

-Kaerelie Cecilia, the keeper and guardian of B1aCk RoSE

Chapter 2: Kano

"The past is the past… and the future is the future. A man is a man, and a woman is a woman. I am who I am, and you are who you are. Like it really matters anyway…"-Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop)

"For it is a land of illusion, a place in the mind, a shimmering mirage of riches and mystery and death. These illusions have distorted its landscape and contorted its history." - Richard E. Lingenfelter

II

The 5 gates. To me, they were part of my mind, nothing more. But they were more important than that. It's like what I said. They were part of my mind, locked forever until I broke free. And only then, when I could truthfully say that I could go to the deepest parts of my mind, that I could go beyond that. Beyond my mind. But what exactly is after the mind? That's not important right now. But they will be.

Don't be fooled by my seemingly innocence. Because I don't trust you, the reader of this book, to know everything yet. But as an act of trust, I'll give you a taste of my past. And of my future.

If you think you can't take it anymore, then just stop where you are and run. Run far far away where hopefully none of this will catch up with you. Maybe you will be luckier than I ever was. Maybe you will be luckier than Reiko was. If you can't take it, it's fine with me. I really don't care anyways.

But one thing will always remain the same. This is the real world and face it or run. What you live in is only an illusion and you probably won't like it. It's really too bad if you can't take it. This is the reality, this is the Truth.

-Naruto

"Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." - Mark Twain

"Illusion is the first of all the pleasures." - Voltaire

"Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces." - Sigmund Freud

"It is natural for man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts... For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it." - Patrick Henry

You know what? I'm going to let you have a taste of my life but don't come crying to me when you can't take it anymore. It's the truth and face it. You asked for it and now you are going to get it. Me? I'm nothing. I'm a weapon, I do not exist. I have a name but it really isn't me. I do not have a name. I do not have an identity. I fight and I kill and I die for the sake of Konoha. I am a weapon and I'm warning you right now. You. Don't. Want. To. Know. Me.

I don't know what Konoha is. To me, Konoha is just another master that I work for. I am the personal weapon of Konoha, the one to be disposed at anytime, the one that she can turn her back on. Why? I was raised that way. You might think you've heard of me but let me just get one thing straight. You. Don't. Know. Me. and you never will.

Am I happy? Some of you ask. Well to tell you the truth, I don't know. I don't know and I don't want to know. All I know is this, the present. I am the tool of Konoha and I guess you could say I'm happy. But as I said before, it doesn't really matter. After all, I don't exist.

-Reiko

"I have realized that the past and future are real illusions, that they exist in the present, which is what there is and all there is." - Alan Watts

"We must select the illusion which appeals to our temperament and embrace it with passion, if we want to be happy." - Cyril Connolly

I really apologize if you think all my part ones are boring. I just think it really spices up the chapter (especially with the depressing tone) and sets up the theme. Besides, I'm having so much fun having little Naruto and Reiko write depressing things that kids should never learn. But I always liked when odds are stacked and especially when the protagonist actually breaks down. I always thought and think it really puts the force into the story. Thanks for enduring my story.

-Kaerelie Cecilia, the keeper and guardian of B1aCk RoSE