15 Unnamed

//This chapter will make much more sense once I post the revised 13th Chapter - Bottomless Eyes. Once again in case you didn't remember, I fucked up Hiruzens character in that chappy and have to go back and readjust. That being said, enjoy the read

Time flies, especially when one falls into a repetitive schedule that distorts hours and makes the days blend into one another.

Zetuo Tetsuya found himself in one of these cycles where he ended up on an endless grind, living one day after another doing the same tasks for 12 days in its entirety. After consolidating his position within the Leaf for a solid 24 hours, running schedules, plans, and information by Hiruzen and even talking with various workers throughout Konoha with his hidden entourage in tow, the black haired child set in motion a uniform schedule unto which he followed religiously from the start of every single morning.

Having already made a deal with the Hokage prior about holding back on his contributional hours, Zetuo spent the first two hours of the day giving out various pieces of information that would undoubtedly show his own value and demonstrate that he was worth keeping alive and free instead of isolated in a cell. Truthfully, he had always known that the easier way of things would be him locked away and having the memories extracted, so he figured the least he could do was give the Village something substantial to show his own gratitude. Blueprints on making better homes, cooking recipes, and even smaller things such as sports and games were all gifted as compensation.

From what Zetuo could tell, after spending quite a bit of time around its inhabitants, it seemed like the Hidden Leaf wasnt all that bad of a place as its citizens were, for the most part, pretty nice. Even the various patrolling ninja that the youth ran into seemed pretty cool despite possessing a level of power that Zetuo had yet to reach and that they treated him like any normal person. Of course, it could have just been because he was outted by the chefs as the guy who made all the, now immensely popular, new dishes such as crepes as well as the almost equally popular chimichangas. All in all, blending into the Village had been properly accomplished as after over a full week, almost everyone was treating him like one of them rather then an outsider.

That being said, with those who were in the know, little to no trust had been established and he was pretty sure none ever would be. On the surface things looked like they were running smoothly but Zetuo had had too many experiences to take things at face value and already knew that plenty of things were moving just beneath ground level. To relax his guard just because he wasnt being immediately threatened was akin to suicide as in this world a simple order would be enough to end his entire existence. He understood this far too well which was why he never did anything that looked remotely suspicious as his hidden observers kept tabs on his every move.

In reality, he reasoned that the only thing separating him from the dark chambers and a future autopsy table was the third Hokage, of whom seemed to run on a different mindset from the rest of the Village. He had no way of proving it, but just the fact that he was still alive and roaming around despite the obvious security was enough for him to draw upon some conclusions. As the head honcho around these parts, it was only natural that every call was orchestrated by him, save the exceptions he had yet to be aware of.

Of course, he couldn't trust anything without concrete proof, or at least more information to back up his hypotheses.

Regarding information, the next part of his predetermined schedule was intelligence gathering which lasted about three hours, during which he would study up on whatever he data he was allowed to look into. This mainly covered geography regarding the outside world as well as trivial details that were memorized before being neatly stored away within his memory banks.

Obviously none of those in the know would dare trust him with facts that could prove detrimental to the Village and it seemed that both Kushina and Minato were aware of this as every scroll they brought him never revealed anything big. The odds of the scrolls being overlooked by his babysitters before making their way to him was pretty high as both Red and blondie nearly always acted strangely whenever they came to give him a new scroll. He always felt appreciation for them both as they persisted to keep delivering the news despite being accosted by the masked men.

That was one thing that improved his mood tremendously. Even though he had blown apart their reality with his declaration of being an otherworlder, these two had stuck around and helped him even when it would've wiser to keep their distance. They never once showed signs of regret at their choice nor show signs of distrust in anything Zetuo did, instead simply helping him and even trying to get to know him better through constant back and forth conversations.

Over the 12 days he worked, he strengthened his relationship until he could almost genuinely call them allies. He learned more about their pasts, their tastes, what they liked, what ticked them off and a whole bunch of other things he never would've learned had he not made the offer to partner up.

//Just gonna put this out there. I literally meant to push the "Authors Thought" button and clicked update because I wasn't paying attention. It feels weird to take it back now so I'll be leaving it here for a second while I finish the second half of it.

Also, the real reason I took so long to post was because my confidence was brought down a peg....maybe my confidence is fragile? 🤔 I dont think it is which is why it's strange.

Anyways, let me finish the rest