The Road of Life
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and all its characters. I'm just playing around with them.
My eyelids felt heavy, but I still tried to open them. It took quite the effort, but when I did, I was greeted with a hand putting something on my forehead. A compress? A wet towel? My head felt hot. Unbearably so. It felt like a fever. It took nearly everything out of me not to swat the wet towel off my head.
"Izumi?" I called out through my fever. She answered me with a hum, and I sighed in relief knowing that I wasn't alone. I didn't think I could bear it, knowing what happened just a few days before. "Where are we?" I asked.
Izumi took a seat next to me, and I realized that I was in a sleeping bag on the ground, and that we were in a cave while the rain raged outside. "Away from Konoha," she answered curtly.
I took her answer in. "Good," I sighed in relief. But she only glared at me.
"You never told me what happened," she said. "Why did Itachi-
"Later, Izumi," I dismissed her. I turned around in my sleeping bag, but I didn't miss the look of disbelief and anger directed towards me. "We'll talk about it later," I said, hoping that she won't pursue the subject.
Thankfully, she didn't. "You said you have a friend in the capital?" she asked instead.
"I do," I answered her. I didn't know if she was going to continue with her questions, but I wouldn't blame her if she did. There were a lot of unanswered questions, and she knew that I had the answer to most of them.
"Get some rest, then" she spoke with finality. She quietly laid her own sleeping bag and entered it. I still kept my silent, not trusting my voice and my fevered mind to soothe her.
It would only make things worse anyway.
I woke up with clothes drenched with sweat from another forgotten dream. It took me a moment to realize that I was in my room; the room I had been sharing for two years with five other children. I glanced outside the window and noticed the position of the sun, silently cursing the other children for not waking me up.
"Ah… I'm late."
Itachi glanced at the empty seat next to Shisui on the row furthest to the back. It had been about a week since their days at the academy started, and Itachi couldn't help but glance at Tora's seat worriedly. While the older boy was never much of an early riser after the Nine Tails attack, he was never late to class either. Shisui, despite being a bit uneasy over Tora's tardiness, didn't seem to be that worried, as if he knew Tora's reason to be late.
The teacher continued to speak in front of the class, boring the students with his droning voice. Even Itachi had to admit that he was getting bored as well, especially since he had already studied this particular material with Shisui and Tora. Ever since their parents died, both Shisui and Tora had been going to Itachi's house more often. Not that he minded, and neither did Sasuke, for that matter. His brother had warmed up considerably to the two boys, and often times, either Tora or Shisui would even play with Sasuke when he couldn't.
Itachi held back a yawn from coming out of him, something Shisui didn't even bother doing. Glancing to his right, Itachi caught a glimpse of Izumi Uchiha shyly turning her head to the front to avoid his gaze. Ever since they had met during the Nine Tails attack, the girl would often find the time to watch him train or even look at him from afar. He had always noticed her, of course. Although, the presence of either Shisui or Tora, but mostly Tora, would usually scare her off, to which he wasn't sure he liked or not. It wasn't that he liked the attention, but he never minded it either. She never got in his way, and if he were to be honest, he found her shy gazes a bit endearing.
His thoughts were interrupted, however, when his sharp ears caught the sound of small footsteps outside on the walls. Turning his head, Itachi saw Tora peeking inside the room, cradling his school bag to his chest, and hanging upside down from the half-open class window. Fortunately, the teacher was too absorbed in droning on to hear Tora's steps. Mastering the art of walking on walls had certainly opened a lot of doors for their training possibilities, and his chakra control has improved drastically after Shisui and Tora had taught him how to walk on walls as well as water, although, he wasn't sure if he agreed with Tora's method of breaking in.
Tora planted his eyes on Itachi and made a shushing gesture with his fingers. Itachi merely raised an eyebrow. Shisui, however, had the corners of his mouth slowly curling upwards in amusement. Tora crawled upside down on the ceiling as he entered the class, carefully minding himself over the half-open window. He had his hands and feet latched onto the ceiling's surface, slowly crawling as to not make a sound.
Thankfully, Shisui was sitting on the furthest row on the back which had very few other students. And the ones that were there were either sleeping or busy taking notes. Once he was in position, Tora unlatched his feet and hung from the ceiling with his hands, before letting go of his chakra control and smoothly sitting himself next to Shisui.
"Bad dream?" Shisui whispered to Tora. The other boy just shrugged before putting his bag under the desk without taking out his notebook, knowing that the current period would be over soon.
"What did I miss?" Tora asked Shisui.
Shisui shrugged. "Not much, really. It's stuff we've covered by ourselves a few weeks back. I have to say, the academy is more boring than I expected," Shisui said, in which Tora hummed in agreement.
"What do we have next?" Tora asked.
"Chakra control lessons, I think?"
Tora sighed, already dreading on doing mostly nothing for the next period. Sure, his chakra control might not be perfect yet, but the three of them had already mastered the basics for the most part. Shisui was also not looking forward for the next period, but like the days before, they just had to get through it for now.
It wasn't long before the bell ringed, which marked the end of the current period. Like most bored academy instructors, the one that had been teaching them left the room none the wiser, not realizing the late addition of a student. The rest of the students filed out of the class to head to the courtyard for chakra training, and the three boys followed the other children dutifully.
While the other students were struggling with the leaf exercise, the three boys had done it on their first try, much to the surprise of the instructors, and were now sitting on a bench while looking at the others.
"This is boring," Tora sighed. Even Itachi had to agree. He wished he had brought some sort of reading material, but the books he brought were all textbooks. Some of the students looked at them, and the three boys didn't need to look at each set of eyes to know how many people were doing it.
The girls were looking in admiration, mostly at Itachi and Shisui. Their clan's name was no secret, even among the children. The boys were looking at them with jealousy, either because they had the attention of the girls, or because they had finished with the leaf exercise before the others. The instructors, however, were looking at them with uncertainty and a bit of wariness.
The instructors' wary gazes did not stop, even during the next period of lessons, which was physical exercise. The fact that they aced most of the exercises was enough for one of the instructors to send a letter to the Hokage after school hours ended, asking for advice on the three boys.
For the next day, the three boys were called to the headmaster's office, informing them that while they would still stay in the same homeroom, they would be having lessons with a more advanced class. Itachi didn't mind the change, and neither did Shisui and Tora, who looked visibly more relieved than he was. Satisfied with the boys' responses, the head instructor dismissed them back to class, saying that their new schedule would start the very next day. For now, they would have to follow their usual schedule.
It was a free period, and so Tora opened the door to their homeroom, not looking back at the stares from their peers. Itachi pressed on to his usual seat, while Tora and Shisui went to the furthest row in the back. Unfortunately, before Tora could get into his seat, a sandaled foot planted itself in his path, stopping Tora from taking a step further.
"What did the instructors want with you three, huh?" asked a boy with light brown hair. His hair reached down to his upper back, and its messy spikes framed around his face like a mane. Itachi had to hold back a flinch at the boy's behavior. What was his name? Shirsu? Sansu? Tora, however, did not grace the boy with an answer, which visibly irked him.
"I, Saisu Kamano, challenge you to a duel!" the boy proclaimed boldly, pointing at Tora's face. Even Shisui looked a bit worried by now, afraid that Tora would simply grab Saisu's outstretched finger and dislocate it. He had never done such a thing, at least not to the knowledge of Shisui and Itachi, but they wouldn't put it past the boy to do it. It seemed that Saisu was not deterred, even with the obvious height difference between them. Tora wasn't freakishly tall, but he was still a good few centimeters taller than Shisui.
"Why?" Tora sighed, seemingly exasperated
Saisu bristled, "You three always act so high and mighty, prancing around and getting special attention from the instructors! I guess I'm not surprised with the Uchihas, but you're just like the rest of us!"
Saisu jammed a finger at Tora's chest, seemingly not intimidated by Tora's blank stare and superior height over him. This time, Itachi couldn't hold back a flinch from appearing on his face. Shisui's eyes were narrowed, seemingly ready to interfere. "I'm going to put you in your place!" Saisu exclaimed, a seemingly proud smirk on his face.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Itachi could see Izumi rising from her seat and walking towards the two boys. "Guys!" she called out. "You don't have to fight. We might get in trouble with the instructors!"
"Stay out of this, Izumi!" Saisu retorted. "This is between us men!"
Tora scoffed, finally breaking his silent act.
"What's so funny!?" Saisu demanded.
"Nothing you'd understand," Tora pocketed his hands.
"Why, you!" Saisu growled, before quickly pulling out a training kunai from a pouch behind him. Despite being a training kunai, it was still sharp enough to pierce through skin given enough pressure. Izumi screamed in fright, while Shisui and Itachi moved towards Saisu, having already expected some kind of action from the boy.
It was all over in a flash with Tora knocking the kunai off his hand. Before Saisu could retaliate, Tora planted his hand on Saisu's head and pushed it down onto the nearest desk. Itachi promptly took hold of Saisu's wrists and held it in place, while Shisui caught the falling training kunai in mid-air and placed it near Saisu's throat, holding the boy in place.
Itachi turned to look at Tora's face. Most wouldn't have caught it, but both he and Shisui could see how Tora's gaze lingered for a moment before focusing on Saisu, as if his mind hadn't yet caught up with his actions. Itachi wasn't surprised. The intense training Tora undertook with him and Shisui had certainly paid off. After all, it was the only way for a normal boy like Tora could keep up with two boys with Sharingan.
The Sharingan allowed an Uchiha to perceive their surroundings much better, which helps with their reaction time. It was like telling where an attack would land, intercepting said attack before it even happened. With how fast their eyes react, their bodies would get used to the hastened reaction time. Tora's eyes would never keep up with the likes of the Sharingan, but his body could. Even if his eyes would never perceive the world like Itachi or Shisui, there was no reason for his body to lag behind.
If his eyes couldn't react fast enough, then the rest of his body would have to do, which produced the instinctual-like reaction that had been on display in front of their classmates. Of course, simply reacting without understanding was bound to produce its own set of problems, but they were problems that Shisui and Itachi would gladly help Tora through.
"What is going on here?" one of the teachers said, entering the room. The scene in front of him certainly did not paint the three of them in a good light, although Itachi were more worried of what happened if his father heard of it rather than the actual repercussions from the academy.
"They attacked me, sensei!" Saisu cried out from his position. Shisui and Tora looked down at Saisu unimpressed, while Izumi looked like she was about to go to shock. Itachi himself kept his face devoid of any emotion, calmly watching the teacher's reaction. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to harbor any hostile feelings within his gaze, opting instead to look at the three of them tiredly.
"You three!" the teacher pointed. "Come with me."
Itachi and Tora let go of Saisu, while Shisui threw the training kunai away from the boy's reach. Izumi walked up to Itachi, her face red and her hands clasped in front of her. "I'm sorry, Itachi. This wouldn't have happened if I had been more forceful."
"It's fine, Izumi," Itachi smiled. "We'll be fine." The class was still silent as the three boys exited the class. Even Saisu, with his satisfied expression, did not deliver any more jabs.
"You three are not making this easy," the teacher said as the four of them walked out of the academy.
"We're sorry for any inconveniences we made," Itachi apologized. Shisui offered an apologetic smile, while Tora simply kept his gaze on the road.
"Well. I guess I should've expected this kind of behavior from the boys in your class. If there's anything I'm certain to exist in any year, it's the competitive streak the boys have. And I guess one of them didn't react well to the situation, huh?"
"It's mostly on Tora, though. They're not that surprised that Itachi and I are far ahead of them," Shisui explained. The teacher looked thoughtfully at Tora for a second before sighing loudly.
"Where are we going?" Tora cut in, finally looking at their escort.
"The Hokage Tower," the teacher said. "There are some things that need to be discussed."
"I thought the academy has already sorted our curriculum. What is there to discuss?" Shisui asked.
"It's not about the academy. Regarding that, there isn't anything left to be said until you boys actually start on your new schedule."
"Then what is it?" Tora asked.
"I'm not informed on the matter, but Hokage-sama should keep you boys up to speed on the matter," said the instructor.
The three boys looked at one another, prompting a silent conversation between them. The teacher looked at them, mostly noting on how in-sync they were with each other. It was rare, bar the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, to have three academy students already getting along so well. It was certainly no argument on how they were going to be placed as a team.
"Ah," Hiruzen greeted the three boys as they entered his office. "Itachi-kun, Shisui-kun, and Tora-kun, am I correct?"
They nodded as the academy teacher said his farewells, saying that he still had assignments to be taken care of. Hiruzen only nodded, not taking his eyes off the three boys. It was only the four of them now, not counting the Anbu stationed just above his office ceiling at all times, in case of emergencies.
"You wished to see us, Hokage-sama?" Itachi asked, not a single hair off in his display of politeness. Hiruzen moved on to the other boys, noting how similar their stances were.
"Yes. It has come to my attention that the three of you will be placed in a higher level class, correct?" Hiruzen replied.
"Yes," Itachi answered. Interestingly, Hiruzen noted how Shisui and Tora left Itachi to do most of the talking. A silent agreement among them? Young Itachi did seem to be the most level headed among them. Considering his upbringing and how different it was to Shisui and Tora, Hiruzen wasn't surprised.
"Congratulations," Hiruzen smiled. "In this time of peace, it's not often that we speed up a student's lessons. After all, there's no immediate need for it. But considering your capabilities, I'd say you've all earned it."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Itachi bowed lightly. Shisui and Tora mimicked his movements, but still didn't say a word.
"Now that we've gotten the formalities aside," Hiruzen continued, his smile dropping from his face. "Would you like to explain your occasional late-night escapades, boys?"
Their faces did not seem to be shocked, but Hiruzen could see their shoulders stiffening. The three of them looked at each other uncertainly before planting his gaze back at him.
"Were we not discreet enough?" Itachi asked. Hiruzen almost chuckled. Trust the three of them to see the problem as their incompetence on the matter rather than the matter itself.
"Oh, you certainly tried. It's just that, some people are just better at it than you boys are. They notice much more than the average person," Hiruzen said.
"So what are you going to do about it?" Tora finally asked, breaking his silence, perhaps a little too rudely, but the old man paid him no mind. "I mean, it's not like there's a curfew in the village or something, is there?"
"There isn't, but the curious matter of your outing remains," Hiruzen planted his elbows on the table. "What is it that you boys hope to find? And what have you found?"
"Why is that so important?" Shisui asked.
Hiruzen sighed. "I'll be honest with you boys. What you're treading on is a very sensitive matter for the village. And I cannot take responsibility should you boys not tread carefully. Some things are out of my jurisdiction."
"Shouldn't the Hokage have total control?" Itachi asked.
"Unfortunately, the hierarchy of power isn't that simple, Itachi-kun," Hiruzen sighed, lighting his pipe and releasing a mouthful of smoke. "While it is like that on paper, there are many more layers to this village's leadership than you might think."
"Does that explain the part of Anbu that aren't under your direct command?" Tora asked, straight to the matter. Hiruzen sighed tiredly.
"Lord Fourth had informed me of your little encounter before he died," Hiruzen closed his eyes. "We did not expect him to be so direct on recruiting a new member."
"Who's him?" Shisui asked.
"I cannot disclose that information," Hiruzen answered, standing up from his seat. While Shisui and Tora looked annoyed, they had expected such a response. "This is no trivial matter. Whatever it is that you hope to find, I ask you boys to put it aside for now. This is not something academy students like you should be delving into. I cannot help you boys should you mess up."
"We understand, sir," Itachi answered promptly, earning looks from Shisui and Tora. "We will not trouble you more with this matter."
Hiruzen stared deep within Itachi's eyes, searching for a glimpse of honesty. He found none. But he found no trace of deceit either.
"Then I wish you boys enjoy the rest of your day," Hiruzen sat back down, inhaling smoke from his pipe and exhaling it.
"We wish you a good day too, sir," Itachi bowed, before turning back towards the door, Shisui and Tora on his heels. Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as they left the room. Glancing up towards the ceiling, it did not take more than a few seconds for the Anbu hiding there to come out of his position.
"Your orders, sir?" the Anbu asked with a knee on the floor. His dog mask covered his face, but his uniform did not cover his iconic silver hair.
"Watch those boys. Make sure they don't get into trouble. They're too good for their own well-being," Hiruzen said, leaning on his chair while puffing another smoke from his pipe.
The Anbu did not ask on what he was to do should the boys get into trouble. As an Anbu, you do not mess up your task, and if you do, you sort it out yourself. With a quick nod, the Anbu performed a Body Flicker technique, leaving no trace that he was ever in the room.
"You sure the shadow clones will hold out?" I asked Itachi. He gave me a nod, which left me a bit skeptical.
Shisui huffed, "It has to. That single clone took out a considerable amount of my chakra." Shisui stretched his neck and set his clothes straight, making sure that there weren't anything flowing in case it caught onto anything.
We had agreed that tonight would be our last night. No point in more when we had found what we were looking for. It took a considerable amount of time, but after weeks of following many individuals, it all came to head. A strange masked Anbu had led us there. Many Anbu moved about during the night, but they usually report back to the Hokage tower after a mission. Not this Anbu, though. Upon returning from a mission, said Anbu did not go to the direction of the Hokage tower. Instead, the trail led us to a decrepit building. We had ended our scouting there, deciding to investigate the building tonight.
I pulled my cloth mask over my mouth, ensuring my identity would remain a secret, but not hindering my vision. Itachi and Shisui did the same with their masks.
"You know you don't have to do this with me, right?" I asked them.
"You said the same thing a few weeks back," Shisui chuckled. "Do you really think we'll have a different answer?"
"Besides, we are also curious about the mysterious Anbu who attacked you, as well as the Anbu squad who tried to take you both two years ago," Itachi quipped in, looking at Shisui and me. "You said you suspected something strange in the orphanage. Some of the kids went missing despite not being adopted, right?"
I nodded, "At least I'm sure they're not being adopted."
"They may be connected," Shisui said, looking at me. "I know you've been fine during those two years, but watch your back in that orphanage."
"Well it's not like I'm very popular over there."
"You should try being a bit friendlier," Itachi suggested.
I scoffed, "You're one to talk, Itachi." It was a low jab, but Itachi brushed it off like it was nothing. I didn't know if it was his unflappable patience, or the fact I had done it so many times that he got used to it. I like to think it was the former. It made me feel less guilty.
"Like usual, we'll spread out, but keep each other within sight," Itachi laid down our strategy. "Once we're in, try to avoid combat at all costs. Not only would it bring unwanted attention, remember that we're going up against people with Anbu training."
"And if it's unavoidable, knock them unconscious as fast as we could. No killings. The usual, right?" Shisui said, not minding Itachi's warning of people with superior Anbu training. Itachi also didn't point out how it would be near impossible for someone of our level to kill an Anbu, although I did see him roll his eyes from the corner of my eyes.
"Just reminding us all of the limits we can do. Remember that the Hokage already has his sight on us. He probably has someone watching our clones back home," Itachi replied.
With a quick nod we spread out across the rooftops. I easily jumped from building to building, running up a water pipe with chakra-covered feet while Shisui swung from one terrace to another. At times, I couldn't help but be impressed at what chakra enabled us to do. Itachi was less flashy with his movement, but no less graceful.
I looked up at the moon, the same glowing hunk of rock that was there during the Nine Tails attack. I never really liked looking at it after that day, but its light illuminated our path, seeing as the path we were taking was mostly above the street lights.
It didn't take long until we reach the familiar rundown building. The moon lighted the structure in all its splendid glory. The windows were broken in, probably from looters. The doors were on the end of its hinges and the garden unkempt, wild grass growing up to the window sill. I swore I saw a rat scurried off among the grass. No doubt there were more inside.
Shisui entered the building inside to scout ahead. When the all clear sign came from a window, Itachi and I swiftly moved inside. The inside of the building wasn't any better than the outside. The paint was scrapping off and the tiles were cracked in various places. Dust matted nearly every surface that I could see. There was a small detail that I noticed, though. One that Itachi noticed as well.
The hum of a generator coming from inside.
"With how far in it is, I doubt anyone outside could hear it," I mused. Itachi nodded, taking point. Shisui followed behind Itachi while I take the rear. The halls were pretty unremarkable. Nothing for us to know what the building was used before its abandonment. Other than the sound of generator, we neither saw nor heard anything of interest.
"It's an intersection," Itachi pointed from the front. Shisui looked a little unsure before glancing at me for an opinion.
"We split up?" I asked. Itachi looked turned his head towards me, Sharingan already activated. A year back, I would still be intimidated by the sight of it, but constantly training with Itachi and Shisui while looking the Sharingan in the eye made me used to it. If he wanted to harm me, he would've done so during the many other times I stared at his Sharingan. Probably with a Genjutsu. I didn't know his capabilities with it, but considering it's Itachi, I somehow had no doubt that he's already pretty good with it.
"Are you sure of splitting up?" Itachi asked me.
I shrugged, "You did say this is simply an in-and-out thing, right? As long as we avoid combat, I think we'll be fine."
"…"
I felt one of my eyes twitched in annoyance, "I'm not gonna go looking for a fight, if that's what you're thinking!"
"Calm down, Tora," Shisui chuckled. "I say we split up, but don't take too long. Thirty minutes tops."
Itachi nodded, "Agreed. It wouldn't wise to spend more than necessary here. We meet back at this intersection."
After making sure we had enough to defend ourselves, Itachi took the intersection to the right and Shisui to the left. I took the straight path, a kunai already within my grip should anything happen. I walked cautiously for a few minutes, my eyes already used to the dark hallway. It was a few minutes later that I noticed something on the ground. I walked up to it and crouched down to inspect it.
"Cables?"
Electrical cables were laid on the ground. Sprouting out from the wall to my right, the cables continued down the hallway. Following the cable, I narrowed my eyes as I heard a sound. An electronic beeping sound. Pressing my back to the wall behind me, I crept closer. There didn't seem to be any sound other than said beeping, but I wasn't taking any chances.
As I turned around the corner, I was greeted with the sight of green tubes filled with liquid lining up the walls. I let out a silent gasp as I realized what was inside those tubes. Bodies. Bodies of children about my age with tubes connected to them, pumping some strange substance. It was only a few seconds later that I notice some of them were twitching. Those weren't bodies. They were alive. The computer screen near me only reinforced that fact, seemingly monitoring each and every one of those tubes with their status displayed in bright green letters..
I heard footsteps behind me. Tensing up, I hid behind the computer console. It didn't sound heavy, which meant he was probably around my age and height. Was it the one who attacked me that night? Or another one? Gripping my kunai, I lashed out from behind the console and pushed my stalker against the wall, my forearm against his throat, and the kunai in my other hand pointing at his eye.
Shisui took in his surroundings as he came upon what looked like a small storage room. Activating his Sharingan, he scanned the room, noticing the roof window, which let the moon illuminate the room. Nothing seems to be of interest here, until he noticed a crate with yellow tapes around. It wasn't very large, probably as large as a weapon case. Crouching down in front of it, he pulled out a kunai and cut the tapes off. With a huff, he lifted the lid of the crate, letting it fall down on the floor.
Shisui was confused at what he saw. A severed right arm lay inside the crate. It was pale, ghostly white, even. It had a few bumps on its skin which looked like closed holes, but for now, it was shut tight. Looking to the side of the crate, Shisui noticed a name for it, however crudely written it was.
"Project Shin?" he mused out loud.
The sound of someone landing alerted him out of his musings, and Shisui turned around, kunai in hand to see an individual, a little taller than him, standing below the now opened roof window of the storage room with a dark hood covering his form.
The opened window let in the cold night wind, and the newcomer's cloak swayed, showing Shisui the individual's scarred uncovered arm, as well as the white mask under the hood; the image fitting nicely with Tora's description of his attacker two years back.
Twirling the kunai in his hand, Shisui narrowed his eyes, "Can I help you with something, pal?"
The masked individual just stood there, not gracing Shisui with an answer.
"I bet you're disappointed that I'm not the one you're looking for, huh?"
This time, the masked figure responded, not with words, but by pulling out his ninjato. Shisui looked down at his kunai before shrugging. It would have to do.
"So it's going to be like that? Fine."
Haha! How long has it been since the last update? Over three months? I feel like I have to explain myself, but at this point, those who follow this story should probably know that I've been busy with college.
That being said, I can't continue like this. I have to put up a target for my updates. At most, a new chapter will come out a month after the previous one. How's that? This story has to get somewhere, after all. And the draft I've prepared for future events can't just go to waste.
With that said, I'm sure you've noticed one of Tora's new problems. Reigning in his anger. He's quite the temperamental guy, with even Itachi having to put up with it. He's not going to be like this for the rest of the story, though. There is such a thing called "character development", after all. Just don't expect it to come swooping in out of nowhere.
As for pairing, well, you'll have to be on your toes. I'm sure I've dropped quite a few hints with Konan, but I'm asking you now. Are you sure it's the final pairing? After all, the dream segments have mostly been seen from Tora's perspective, and I am a sucker of the "unreliable narrator" trope. Oh, and if you haven't checked it out, I completely revamped Kushina's (or Naruto's) dream in chapter 6. It's not a simple edit as well. I completely changed it. Go back two chapters if you're interested.
Anyway, follow, favorite, and review. I really want to hear your thoughts on the plot and your prediction on future events. It encourages me to write faster, seeing your opinion on the matter.