X - Lost Leaves
Anko Mitrashi wasn't a fool.
She knew why she had been denied a promotion, why she remained a Special Jonin despite all her efforts. That feeling, that curse, would always remain on her neck.
A brand.
Her superiors would smile at her, but they would whisper in hushed tones behind her back.
Snake.
Are you sure you want to choose her?
There was no sadness. There was only anger, and a deepest resentment against the system that had created her.
She had nowhere else to turn, and her friends could only support her for so long.
But that was when she received a request to join a new branch of Ninja, led by the reclusive Elder Shimura. She had heard the rumors, about how that man worked with the Snake.
But she had too, hadn't she?
She had fallen for his witty act, for his happy smile.
So she would give this a try-
For there was nothing left.
The wiseman Aesop attributed to the snake many stories. But perhaps the one of the Laborer and the Snake is the most fitting.
Once a snake bit and killed a man's son.
The distraught father readied his axe and attacked the snake.
Alas, he was too slow and could only manage to sever its tail.
So fearful of retribution was he, that he offered the viper a tribute.
The serpent responded:
"For whenever I see you I shall remember the loss of my tail, and whenever you see me you will be thinking of the death of your son."
All the young girl could do was keep moving forward.
For what defines a shinobi most—
Then to endure?
The masked boy paused before delivering the killing blow.
His target was simply a merchant who had gotten too successful for his own good and attracted the envy of a richer man.
The white saber in his hands pulsed, and he looked towards his shaking hands.
What had this man done to deserve such a fate?
Shouldn't he be able to smile too?
This wasn't the first time he had killed.
The blade fell, and blood stained his hands.
"K —!"
He had too much blood on his hands.
No amount of water could wash them away, wash away those he killed.
His father had said his comrades were his lifeblood, hadn't he?
Complete the mission.
As nightmares filled his sleep, the boy lost himself further and further.
Lightning ensnared his path, filling his dreams.
A true shinobi follows the rules.
The mission always comes first.
He wanted to scream, to say that was wrong, but how could he?
For the child always finished the mission.
The old man would smile and praise him.
"What's the purpose of all this, Elder?"
Peace is created by victors.
Hatred is born to protect love.
"To create a better world."
The boy could not understand, for his books said something else.
His soul roared in response, and he earned countless titles from Elder.
All of them were meaningless, except one—
Jin Take.
And when he gazed at a map and spoke to the people of the villages he glimpsed.
The boy learned the truth of his ideals.
There would be no world where everyone could smile, as long as there was shinobi.
His father had died with a smile to protect him, hadn't he?
"The White Fang was a Hero!"
He massaged his left eye.
Elder had taught him well.
Perhaps too well.
For he had learned the convenient truth.
Only the strong can enforce their ideals.
And he was far from that level.
He gave some Ryo to the kids at the orphanage. Elder had allowed him to visit it with a somber smile.
"—I'm going to become the Hokage!"
The children all laughed, but Jin paused.
"K******!"
When the boy sat by himself, Jin approached him.
"Who're you?" The boy sniffled as he sat by himself.
"A shinobi."
The boy's eyes light up like brilliant sapphires, and Jin wonders where he has seen that smile before.
"Can ya teach me, mista!? Pretty please!?"
He can't refuse now, can he?
He teaches the boy some of the basics and offers him some pointers.
The white-haired nin doesn't know why the boy is so isolated, but he recalls his own youth.
Only Elder had given him a hand.
If he can be there for the blonde boy, maybe he can make another friend.
Maybe together they can bring peace to this world of shinobi.
But that's a long time away.
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why they call it the present, Jin.
"My name's Naruto Uzumaki, future Hokage!"
Jin smiles.
That phantom pain hurts even more now, and he wonders why a tear falls from his eye.
How funny.
It's his left.
Maybe he can be Elder too.
When Tenzo first meets Kakashi and Gai, he's surprised.
No more hiding in the shadows.
He can use Mokuton in front of the world now.
Lord Danzo is surprisingly kind to him.
"Think of your friends, of your bonds."
He is happy that he has them now.
Now he can share his story, and his roots.
Kakashi and Gai wince but look no less surprised.
"You'll always be our amazing junior, Tenzo!"
And when Gai gives him a blinding smile, Tenzo can feel his walls breaking down.
Being in the light is good.
But he hasn't forgotten the shadow.
When he meets 'Jin', he knows something Is up.
He does his best to help the lost boy, and they become friends as well.
They aren't the closest, but Tenzo is happy his junior isn't lost.
When Jin confesses to liking ice cream, Tenzo gets some for him.
The two sit on top of the Hokage mountain and enjoy their treat.
"Thank you, Tenzo."
He nods back.
"It's a good view."
As Tenzo looks at Konoha while the sun's last light fades from the fleeting day, he responds.
"Mhm. But I think it's best shared."
Jin beams at that, and Tezno can't help but see himself in his friend.
It's sad, he thinks. Sad that Jin couldn't grow up in the light.
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like when no one had to cry?"
Tenzo recalls the snake's labs and witnessing the deaths of his fellow orphans. What had been made from wanton death?
Had it been worth it?
"It would be a kinder world."
Jin responds quietly, placing his dry popsicle stick on the ground. "Do you think it's possible?"
"I think it is."
Small acts of kindness, the little things.
They were what truly mattered. When Kakashi would offer him some of his novels, Tenzo wasn't disgusted.
He was shocked that someone would give them to him. His whole life had been just a number, a tool to be used by Danzo.
So when he met Jin, he vowed to help the boy live the life he hadn't been able to.
The sun set over the Hidden Leaf.
Shisui grinned as he ran up the stairs to the Kagami Library.
It had expanded massively now, propelled by donations from countless shinobi, mostly who were clan-less or orphans. Training arenas surrounded it, and it stood at an imposing four stories.
"C'mon guys!"
As his eyes turned back, he could see Kaito and Shiro, his new teammates and friends, panting at the bottom of the stairs.
"Give us a break, Shisui!" Kaito smiled at him, and Shiro chuckled.
"You must be really eager, huh squirt?" Shiro grinned as he ruffled Shisui's hair. The black-grey haired boy opened the doors leading inside.
The blonde-haired Kaito paused at the entrance, before glancing at Shisui.
"Can you keep up with me?"
The Uchiha had to laugh at that. His reputation as the Uchiha prodigy hadn't stopped Kaito and Shiro from befriending him when they were put on a team together.
But Shiro and Kaito had befriended him, and the trio had been inseparable since.
He remembered the death of his previous friends, and grimaced.
There was no way he was going to let these two die.
It was hard to believe that the Uchiha were isolated from the rest of the village just a few months ago based on these interactions, but Shisui knew better.
It was all thanks to this library, this symbol of the village's bonds.
His thoughts were interrupted by Kaito's hand dragging him towards the arenas.
"Thinking of getting beat?" He couldn't stop the cocky grin appearing on his face.
Shiro just laughs at that remark, but they are stopped by a tall old man.
He gives them a kind smile, and Shisui grins back.
"So eager to learn, are we now? Was skipping the academy not enough?"
Kaito smirks, before commenting. "We're just teaching Shisui some adult things, Lord Danzo. Things a kid of his age won't know skipping ahead."
Shisui blushes at the insulation, and Shiro, ever oblivious, comments.
"You should see his fanclub! There are so many girls lining up for him, of all kinds of ages! I wished I had that luck..."
Elder Shimura chuckles.
"Do not let this old man stop you, then. "
He stops slowly, before turning around and leaning in towards them.
The three students' eyes widen at Danzo's words.
"When the Sandaime was young, he was quite popular with the ladies. There is a reason he is called the Old Monkey even now."
The Baku was no fool.
He had existed for hundreds, no thousands of years.
There were few humans who took his interest ever since those outsiders arrived.
When he first had met Danzo, the now elderly man had been a whelp who had lost himself in the world of dreams.
It was surprising that a human had such strong desire to meet the Eater after all these years.
So, when the two spoke, Baku gave him his contract on a whim.
Danzo would offer him some respite from his boredom.
But the boy was distrusting and used him as little more than a glorified vacuum.
And as time passed, Danzo's started to wake up.
Their connection became weaker and weaker.
It was only a matter of time before even a child faced the reality of the world.
Baku was a little bit disappointed that Danzo had turned into such a machine.
The man was no dreamer, preferring cold logic than vivid emotion.
He supposed that it was the nature of the world of shinobi.
But when Danzo had been able to return to the Dream World...
Baku was shocked.
For Danzo to swallow his pride, and tell him the truth—
—The yokai was impressed.
But most importantly, Danzo was like a child once more.
To look past the reality of our world, and turn to dreams, no matter how impossible—
Was that not the essence of mankind?
To see what this boy had achieved, no to see what mankind had accomplished in this alternate world—
—It was something worth fighting for.