61-70

Tomoka had continued fighting off the incoming root members through the usage of her insane speed and chakra reserves alongside the many insidious traps she had prepared. Some ninja's had been reduced to chemically burned corpses after being trapped in clouds of corrosive chemicals infused with genjutsu.

Tomoka had already taken the lives of ten Ninja's by the time her clones informed her of the approach of a dangerous target. Looking towards the coordinates she had been given she saw Itachi Uchiha looking from afar. The bright blood red eyes peering back at her shone with murderous intent.

In a moment she felt her chakra shake as one of her phantom minds jolted her out of Itachi's genjutsu. Tomoka couldn't help but smile as plan P-1 was a success.

~flashback no jutsu~

'I need to find a way to counter Itachi's genjutsu. Afterall, fighting while concentrating on not making eye contact is a pain'

[I could always shake your chakra to break it] Kurama didn't see much problem with that

'The thing is Kurama, Itachi has a mangekyou sharingan. He could also put you under one just like Obito did back then'

[How about your clones then, they could do it]

'Yes, but that would mean I would need to keep a clone with me at all times and protect it from being destroyed' Tomoka passed back and forth while she thought of a solution.

[Well, it's a shame you can't make them in here otherwise that would fix the problem]

At that comment it was like a light bulb lit up in ontop of Tomoka's head. She had a conjecture she wanted to test instantly. Waving hand signs she quickly made a phantom clone and ordered it to possess her. This was a skill she discovered her phantoms had.

Since the phantoms are made out of mostly pure Yin chakra they could enter someone else and possess them. Of course this had many restrictions. The stronger the target the harder it was to possess and the less time they could be possessed for. The chakra in their bodys acts as a natural barrier blocking the phantoms and making things difficult.

However, what if a phantom tried to possess Tomoka? Since their chakra was one and the same there would be no rejection. Like that, Tomoka ordered the new phantom to possess her. As it did she felt a new mind within her mindscape. The weird thing was that it was still her mind, rather an emotionless copy of it. With this she could now think of two different things at the same time.

~flashback end~

Plan P-1 or phantom possession had been a success as one of her phantoms managed to jolt her and the other phantoms out of the genjutsu. After all, there was a limit to how many minds Itachi could put under his genjutsu in a single second.

Without losing any more time Tomoka concentrated on stealing as much chakra from Itachi as she could while ordering her many hidden clones to do the same. She would now employ plan C-1 to try and buy time.

"Itachi Uchiha, the girl living under this roof, is under my protection. Leave or I will be forced to use underhanded methods to secure her safety." Tomoka began sweating a little as she saw Itachi ready for combat.

Before Tomoka could say anything else Itachi had sent over twenty shuriken and kunai at her in extremely complex angles thanks to his technique. Concentrating, Tomoka took out a pair of Kunai and began deflecting the lethal ones while the non-lethal ones stuck to her arms and legs.

"Fine! If you continue I won't have any qualms about murdering Sasuke as revenge" As she shouted that Itachi's tanto stopped a few centimeres away from her neck. His emotionless expression had changed into a frown.

Without moving Tomoka began talking once again. "I know you made a deal with that bastard Danzo. You would kill your clan's men and take all the blame in exchange for your brother's safety. I don't give a rat's ass about that. The girl living here is what matters to me and I propose a similar deal to you. Leave and I won't do anything to Sasuke"

"Why should I not kill you then. If you die you won't be able to kill him" Itachi was tempted to do so. However, even if the possibility was low. He wouldn't put his brother in harm's way.

"Yes you could kill me but then the little gift I left with him would kill him" Tomoka wasn't bluffing. She had left a bomb in Sasuke's room with a phantom. As soon as she gave the order, all the phantom had to do was push the button then boom.

"Fine, but I am not responsible for what the others might do" With that Itachi left as his body decomposed into a murder of crows.

Tomoka's lungs deflated into a sigh as Itachi left. Now that she doesn't have to worry about him things should be easier. As soon as she thought that a bang could be heard inside the house. One of the inner traps had been triggered.

'Fuck!' Without losing a moment Tomoka went inside through the nearest window sprinting towards Nozomi's room. She had put Nozomi to sleep so she wouldn't cause any trouble or trigger the traps by mistake.

Once inside she saw a pair of ninjas. One was dead on the floor with his head blown up thanks to her shotgun trap. The other was hurt but very much alive, plunging a kunai towards the blankets Nozomi was under.

"NO!!!" Using all her chakra, Tomoka opened the portal of speed force. In an instant loud crackling could be heard as Tomoka appeared next to the ninja with a kunai in hand. Said kunai had gone through the back of the ninja's neck and appeared on the front.

Ignoring the fatal injury, the ninja plunged the kunai into the blankets before dying. Crimson tainted the white blankets as Tomoka's heart dropped. All the exhaustion accumulated over the many nights she spent planning, over the fights she had just fought, all of it crashed on her.

"No" It was just a whisper as her shaky hands approached the blankets. With all the care in the world she began peeling them back. Below them she saw Nozomi's pale complexion as blood drained from the wound on her chest.

At that moment Tomoka's world seemed to crash and burn. Her heart beat so fast and hard in her chest she felt like it would explode. The ringing in her ears made it impossible to think. Worst of all was the thumping. It was like a second heart had grown within her chest and thumped loudly to drown all else.

Hate. She hated. She hated Danzo for the order of the massacre. She hated the stupid puppets for killing Nozomi. She hated Itachi for distracting her. She hated Sasuke, she hated Hiruzen. She hates Konoha. Above all else she hated herself. Hate clouded her mind and hate was all she could feel.

In the mind's escape the lush green grass turned to cold ash. The trees became petrified and the clear water became black as tar. The bubbling in the center of the lake intensified and spread as clouds of red smoke rose to the blue sky turning it blood red.

Kurama was scared shitless as the pressure mounted. He believed he had been blinded by hate in the past but this, this made his hate seem like a kid's temper tantrum. He looked to his left were a metal box sealed away some of Tomoka's memories.

~Flashback no Jutsu~

'Yo! Kurama, I need you to take care of this.' Said Tomoka while pointing to a metal box with chains around it.

[And that is?]

'Some sealed memories. I left a note for myself saying that I should leave them with you. I can either unseal them after the massacre or if you deem it necessary' With that Tomoka shrugged like it was none of her business.

[Whatever]

~Flashback end~

If this was not enough reason to unseal whatever was in there then nothing would. Thinking that, Kurama began the arduous process of removing the chains as he saw the mindscape change around him.

As he was about to finish he saw how from within the middle of the lake, where the loud thumping was coming from, Ivory white bone began to appear. It looked like the skull of a lizard with jagged yellowish fangs. The more he saw the more terrified he became.

Could it be that he wasn't the only one sealed in here? The thing continued to surface as the bone began to be replaced with dark green scales around the end of the snout. On Top of its head straight black hair flowed like a waterfall of tar. Then he saw the eyes, a pair of hate filled yellow eyes.

For a moment Kurama's mind went blank as he could feel the hate the creature felt. A hate for everything and anything in the world. A hate so powerful that it threatened to consume and destroy it all. Without wasting a single moment Kurama broke the last chain.

From within the metal box a set of books flew to the haggard looking mental library that still floated over the lake. Its once pristine white walls had flecks of paint peeling off. The wooden pillars looked rotten and frail, while the marble ones were broken.

[Please work] Was all Kurama could think as he saw the books fly inside the library.

Within the mindscape as the books settled in their rightful place everything stopped. The decaying plants, the bubbling water and the bleeding sky, all of them stopped. As if time was rewinded the decay receded as the flora regained its vigor and life. The red skies went through a similar phenomenon as the crimson began to banish giving way to a nice and calming cyan. Finally, the lake's water began to clear up.

The creature that had appeared within the lake gave Kurama one last glance before receding into the waters alongside the last of the tar-like substance. The fox for his part breathed a sigh of relief. Whatever the fuck that thing had been gave him a sense of danger like nothing else ever had.

Outside, in the real world Tomoka sat frozen as her mind processed the memories she had just acquired. As she did her heart became calm as her eyes began to tear up. She was safe, Nozomi was safe, Plan K-1 had been a success.

While thinking that Tomoka looked again at the girl covered by bloody blankets as her figure changed back to its original shape. Another Uchiha girl of similar age to herself was there, not Nozomi though, just some random girl.

'Plan K, k for kidnaping. Kidnap Nozomi and carry her to a safe zone before replacing her with another person' Those were the memories she had sealed.

'To trick the enemy you have to trick your allies first. Taking it one step further, you have to trick yourself' It had worked, her plan had worked spectacularly. A crazy grin appeared on Tomoka's face.

The girl had been too caught in the rush of emotions that she didn't notice a ninja had approached her with a tanto in hand. The next thing she knew a blade had pierced her chest from the back. However, she didn't care.

"Art is an explosion!" Quoting a certain mad bomber Tomoka activated a bunch of bombs she had planted both inside the room and on her current body. What followed was a loud explosion as the entire place was blown to smithereens.

Outside Konoha, in one of the many caves Tomoka's phantoms had found sat Tomoka with her legs crossed and eyes closed. A moment later she opened her eyes as the link with the phantom she was controlling broke.

The same maddened grin her phantom had before immolating appeared on her face. With this field test she had managed to find a solution for one of the weaknesses of her phantoms.

'My phantoms can't interact at large with the world because they lack a physical body. Then all I have to do is give them one' The solution she had found was to create a body for them. The body she used this time was nothing more than a wooden puppet. Her phantom controlled it from the inside using a similar technique to Suna puppeteers.

Of course this solution has its own problems. The chakra drain of controlling the puppet makes it so the Phantom's lifespan is reduced to a mere quarter of the original. Not to mention the time required to make the puppets and the cost of the materials.

However, none of that mattered to her right now. What did matter was what or rather who was currently sleeping peacefully next to her. Nozomi was breathing softly on top of the mattress Tomoka had brought.

Looking to the side, Tomoka saw Nozomi's peaceful expression as some strands of her black hair had fallen over her face. With a light chuckle Tomoka moved them aside. As her eyes zeroed in on the girl's rosy lips. Something within her had changed, Tomoka could feel it.

Before, when she believed that Nozomi had been killed she felt as if her world had crumbled right in front of her. Now seeing the girl sleeping peacefully only one thought remained in her mind.

'Mine' Nothing more, nothing less. Tomoka's mind was still in turmoil but that single thought had settled like a fortress inside there. Nothing in the world could ever move or change that thought.

'Mine and only mine' Nozomi is hers. They had promised each other to stay with the other for ever and ever and she would make sure that it would be so. As she thought that she was reminded of Hinata and the fact they had made the same promise.

'Also mine' Hinata is also hers. Like a dragon she would fight for what is hers and would kill anyone that dared to think of taking what belongs to her.

With those thoughts Tomoka smiled as she came closer to Nozomi, delivering a soft kiss on her forehead. The sleeping girl stirred for a second before her expresion settled on a soft smile.

"sweet dreams my Nozomi"

All the exhaustion from weeks of preparation to the very eventful night assaulted Tomoka in an instant. Her eyelids grew too heavy to keep open while her body refused her orders. With no other option she cuddled closer to the only source of warmth in this cold cave. Her muscles became loose as her breathing slowed down.

Tomoka rarely had any dreams as instead she would just relax inside her mindscape. This time however, her mind was wide awake inside a different place. Darkness consumed it all and yet she felt like she could see with absolute clarity if there had been anything in there to see.

A moment later riples coursed through the floor as if it was made of liquid. From the center of the riples a figure emerged. Tall and lanky, almost bony in appearance. Its body completely black with dark-green scales here and there. Its exposed ribs and skull, an ivory white. Humanoid in shape and yet all of its features were but human.

From the lizard-like skull a pair of yellow eyes shone through the black glossy straight hair that reached the floor. Those piercing eyes looked right at hers with amusement. Its jaws moved and words came out, desynchronized with them giving it an even creepier feeling.

"Hello there" It spoke with a raspy and deep voice

"General Kenobi" Tomoka responded out of pure reflex.

"HAHAHAH" The strange creature began laughing madly as if this simple exchange had been the funniest thing it had ever witnessed. Tomoka for her part couldn't help but chuckle at the silliness and bizarreness of the situation.

"To think that you would be relaxed enough to throw a star wars reference in this situation." The creature's tone was amused as its laughter died down.

"Well, this is a weird dream and you feel somewhat familiar somehow" Tomoka's instincts were giving her mixed signals. For one, they were screaming at her that whatever or whoever this is, is extremely dangerous. On the other hand she felt no ill will towards her.

"You are familiar with me. After all, I am you, or a part of you" The creature's skull creaked and moved, forming what could only be guessed to be a smile, a creepy one at that.

"I am your anger, your hate, your resentment. I am the darkness resting within you. I am the plague that will rot the world by your will." The skull continued to creak as the smile grew wider and wider.

"I am one of three. One you already met, now you meet me. Who knows when you will meet the third" It continued its playful tone.

"We came to be when your new life began. We as parts of you desire what you desire. I for my part am content resting within your soul. Providing passive aid by my mere existence. However, know that once you call me, I won't stop no matter what. Rip and tear until it's done." The thing began sinking back into the floor as it spoke. By the time it finished, it had sunk up to its knees.

"That answers the who but not the what. So what are you and what is this passive aid you are talking about." Even though Tomoka felt a bit perturbed knowing that this thing lived inside her or rather that it was part of her she needed information so she asked.

"What I am is but a fragment of the original fused and absorbed by you just like one of the others. Where you come from it did not exist, known as mere fiction. However, it and all of its ilk do exist elsewhere. I believe you have seen it before if only out of curiosity. A fragment of 682, SCP 682-"

"The hard to destroy reptile" Before the entity could finish Tomoka whispered under her breath. The entity or rather, the fragment of 682 was right, she had known about that lizard. She had gone through the SCP wiki out of pure curiosity once.

Looking back up Tomoka saw that the entity had sunken up to its neck by now. Calling it 682 felt wrong as it wasn't the reptile, at least not entirely. Calling it entity also felt somewhat wrong.

"What should I call you?" She asked out of curiosity, not expecting an answer.

"Oditomnia" It answered as it disappeared

"Oditomnia, odit omnia, latin, hates everything, I guess it fits" Tomoka chuckled a bit as her sight went black.

Nozomi felt well rested as her consciousness slowly came back. The cool breeze that caressed her cheek was counteracted by the warmth of the pillow she was hugging, making her feel lazy. The pillow wasn't only pleasantly warm to the touch but also quite soft, not to mention its sweet and floral scent.

Unconsciously, Nozomi hugged the pillow even tighter as she wanted to feel even more of that comfortable warmth. However, as her sleepy mind began to slowly wake up she began to wonder where such a nice pillow came from.

She couldn't remember buying it, not to mention that such a nice pillow would cost a fortune that she did not possess. As her curiosity had been piqued she slowly opened her eyes. With her vision a little blurry, Nozomi had to blink a few times before she could properly see what was in front of her.

The first thing she saw were strands of crimson red. Moving a little so she could get a better view she spotted soft rose beige skin. A pair of rosy lips a few centimeters from her own, a well sculpted nose and closed eyes with long eyelashes. Her brain froze as she realized she had been tightly hugging this person, not to mention that said person was doing the same to her.

Nozomi became flustered as her mind began working to try and comprehend what she was seeing until her thoughts finally caught up. The person in front of her is Tomoka! Her best friend Tomoka! At that realization Nozomi's heart began beating wildly while her cheeks turned a bright tomato red.

"T-Tomoka!" She tried to move away but Tomoka's tight grip wouldn't let her go. However, it seemed that her words had stirred the sleeping girl. A moment later Tomoka's shut eyelids opened slowly and lazily.

To Nozomi's surprise, instead of the bright emerald green eyes she was used to, she saw a pair of shiny pink orbs staring back at her. In them she saw a bizarre picture as in the pink iris an extra pupil would open and close randomly all over. Nozomi became mesmerized with Tomoka's eyes as it looked like a pool of molten pink diamonds bubbling from time to time.

"Five more minutes" Saying those words with a lazy and somewhat tired tone Tomoka closed her eyes back up. Nozomi for her part had many questions to ask but seeing how tired Tomoka was she decided to wait.

Looking at the sleeping Tomoka Nozomi couldn't help but wonder about her past, present and maybe even her future. Being here and now, embracing Tomoka while she did the same to her felt embarrassing and blissful at the same time.

In the past she had felt empty and cold. She could never forget the looks of indifference her clan members gave her. Even her caretaker looked at her like nothing more than a burden he had to take care of. She had felt empty, cold and lonely until Tomoka appeared in her life. A bright shining star that illuminated her world.

Once she learned the joy of companionship Nozomi had desperately wanted to keep that warmth all to herself. However, Hinata appeared and she felt threatened. She didn't want to go back to being cold, empty and alone. How stupid she had been back then.

Thankfully, with time she had learned that her sun is bright enough for the both of them. Not to mention that as she got to know Hinata better she felt a sort of kinship with the shy girl. Like her people didn't see Hinata for who she is.

Unlike her, who was someone unimportant in the clan, Hinata was ignored for the complete opposite reason. As the clan heiress, huge expectations were placed on her. Hinata was ignored as people didn't want to see who she is but who they wanted her to be.

Like that, Nozomi had come to know that just like her, Hinata was also empty, cold and alone. As of now, Nozomi didn't mind sharing her sun with Hinata. The two grew closer as friends and rivals as they constantly vied for their sun's attention.

Looking at the girl in her arms, Nozomi couldn't help but feel happy and warm. Her heart felt strained with emotions she barely understood. Every time she spent time with Tomoka she felt happy and warm but now it was different. Right now Nozomi felt like her heart was melting into a puddle.

Maybe, just maybe, this was what she had never felt before, what she heard others talk about. Maybe, just maybe, this was love.

Tomoka's body felt heavy and her mind groggy. Despite having the best sleep of her life, the exhaustion of months of planning and a very eventful night couldn't be cured by a night's sleep. Even so, she felt bliz as she cuddled with her warm pillow. It felt so comfortable she couldn't help but rub her cheek against it.

"T-Tomoka, s-stop that, it tickles" A sweet voice assaulted her ears, jolting her mind with realization. Opening her eyes Tomoka realized she had been rubbing her face against Nozomi's nape, like a cat marking what is theirs.

"Sorry" Moving as quickly as her tired body would allow, Tomoka disentangled herself from Nozomi. Though while doing so she felt reluctant she didn't want the situation to become even more awkward.

"Erm, I know you must have a lot of questions so ask away. I will answer truthfully no matter what." Tomoka hadn't thought about things till this point. Her sole priority was to keep Nozomi safe. Now she had to somehow explain things.

"Why are your eyes pink?" Nozomi looked straight into the pair of pink orbs. They were hypnotic to her with the extra pupil constantly appearing and disappearing.

Tomoka, hearing Nozomi's question, felt confused until she realized she could see Nozomi's chakra aura. Her kinagan had remained active through the night as she slept! Panic assaulted her mind as she feared that Nozomi would find her kekkei genkai creepy.

As the red head focused her sight on Nozomi expecting to see fear or disgust instead she found fascination. Nozomi's eyes shone with curiosity and a tinge of longing which greatly confused Tomoka.

"Don't you find them creepy? or disgusting?"

"What!? No! They are beautiful!" Taken aback by Tomoka's question, Nozomi answered instantly.

"T-thanks" The sudden compliment made Tomoka feel embarrassed and giddy. Coughing to re-gather her composure she decided to go back to the original question.

"This is my dojutsu. I call it kinagan. It allows me to see the chakra aura of people, things and whatever else might have chakra. It also lets me steal some of it for myself. I haven't told anybody else about it, not even my parents so please keep it a secret" Tomoka answered truthfully as she trusted Nozomi.

As Nozomi listened to Tomoka she felt awe. She knew of the sharingan and byakugan. However, she had never heard of anything like Tomoka's Kinagan. She wanted to know more but seeing as Tomoka looked uncomfortable talking about it she decided to ask something else.

"Where are we? and why are we here?" Having satiated her curiosity for Tomoka's eyes she decided to go back to her sudden and mysterious situation.

"We are inside a cave I designated as a safe space. As for why? This will be hard to believe but know that everything I speak of is the truth" Tomoka's gaze was pained and uncertain. She didn't know how to break the news gently so she decided to just go for it.

"Your clan, the Uchiha clan, has been massacred by the clan's heir Itachi Uchiha under the orders of his superior Danzo the leader of a secret organization in konoha called root." Tomoka decided to just tell her things as they were, not even hiding information she should not have.

Nozomi's mind went blank for a moment as she desperately tried to process the information Tomoka had just told her. She wanted to scream, to call her a liar, she wanted to deny every word that had left her mouth.

Even though Nozomi wasn't well liked by the clan's members she was still part of the clan. Not to mention that the non-shinobi from the clan did treat her fairly well. Being told that all of them were killed was hard to believe.

"The reason why we are here is because I knew of it beforehand and did whatever I could to protect you. I am sorry I couldn't do more for your people" Tomoka chose her words carefully. She needed to handle the situation with tact so Nozomi wouldn't hate her or the village, though the latter could be handled with ease if it came to that.

"Y-you knew! Why didn't you tell Hokague-sama! He could have done something about it!" More than anger, Nozomi felt confused. Why!? Why hadn't Tomoka helped her clan?

"I didn't because things would have been even worse then. Even if Hokage-sama stopped the massacre things would have become even worse. Do you know why the Uchiha patriarch called all the clan's men?" Nozomi simply shook her head before Tomoka continued.

"It is because he was going to announce the start of a coup" Hearing that Nozomi's mind went completely blank. She wanted to shout, to scream that Tomoka was a liar. However, deep in her heart she knew that Tomoka spoke the truth. Not being able to cope with what she heard she passed out.

A while later Nozomi opened her eyes. She felt comfy as her head was laid on a very soft pillow. Her groggy mind refused to reboot properly as she felt a soothing sensation on her scalp. However, as her mind finally began working properly she saw Tomoka's face with a warm smile. The pillow her head was laid on were Tomoka's thighs, and the sensation on her scalp was the soft cares of Tomoka's fingers slowly combing through her hair.

Nozomi wanted to close her eyes again and enjoy the sensation but the memories of their previous conversation prevented her from doing so. She wanted, nay, she needed to know the truth, all of it. Sitting up, Nozomi stared at Tomoka with a steely gaze.

She began thinking about Tomoka's words. She soon realized why Tomoka hadn't told lord Hokage. If her clan indeed was planning for a coup then even more blood would be spilled should they survive. However, that didn't remove the grief from her heart.

"Why?" That was all she could manage as her throat closed up.

"The coup had been long coming. After the second Hokage shunned your clan to the outer edges of the village tensions had risen. Danzo, that rat bastard, saw the Uchiha as a danger and did all he could to increase the gap between them and the village. To put it simply, the coup had been planned by Danzo so he could use it as an excuse to exterminate them."

Tomoka decided to blame everything on Danzo and hide the fact that the third had agreed, albeit reluctantly, to the massacre. If Nozomi found out later she could just feign ignorance of the fact.

Nozomi for her part closed her eyes as they began to itch. Her entire body trembled with uncontrollable hatred. Danzo, the name felt like a vile poison on her tongue as she said it under her breath. She would make him pay with blood. As the Uchiha girl continued to drown in her hatred she felt soft and warm arms coil around her. Opening her eyes she realized Tomoka was hugging her.

"Don't let hatred cloud your mind. Use it instead, hate those that wronged you and fuel your conviction to become better with the hatred born from their actions. Control your hate, don't let it control you." Having said that, Tomoka released the girl from her hug as she wiped away her tears with her hands.

"We will grow stronger together, and we will make that bastard pay" With a kind smile Tomoka stood up offering her right arm to Nozomi.

"You have already taken your first step towards that objective, see" As she said that she took a polish kunai to use as a mirror.

As Nozomi gazed at her reflection she saw a pair of blood red eyes with one tomoe circling around her pupil. She had finally awakened her sharingan. She should have felt happy for her progress, instead she felt hollow. These eyes were born from tragedy and she would use them for her revenge. No, not only for that, she would also use them to protect what she has left.

A while later the two had infiltrated back into konoha as Tomoka explained a few more things to Nozomi. For starters, she explained about the sharingans progression. As she explained the method to acquire the mangekyo and its eternal version Nozomi became light headed.

"I would rather gouge these cursed eyes than kill you!" She screamed as her hands snaked towards her eyes intent on doing as she had said.

"Calm down! There is no need for that. The advance through a special chakra that gets produced when the wearer goes through immense grief. That is why it is believed to be necessary to kill or witness the death of one's most loved one. However, we might find a way to produce that chakra through other means so calm down"

After hearing Tomoka's words, Nozomi calmed her nerves. Though she hadn't abandoned the idea of gouging her eyes if it did come to that. She swore in her heart that she would rather kill the entire village's population before harming one of Tomoka's hairs.

They continued talking while walking as Tomoka also told her that she wasn't the only survivor amongst other things. Finally, the two stood in front of Konoha's bureaucratic building where the Hokage's office lay. After all, they needed to report Nozomi's survival.

Old man Hiruzen was having the worst headache of his life. To think that an entire clan would be killed in his time as Hokage. He understood their actions though he could not in good faith approve of them. In the end, he blamed himself as much as them for the blood that has been spilled.

The only silver lining to the entire thing is that Sasuke Uchiha survived. Perhaps they could in time revive the clan and make amends. Wishful thinking but that is better than nothing. As of now he knew that other villages had their eyes on Konoha. Two major incidents have taken place and weakened them.

"Lord-Hokage, great news! There is another survivor!" Suddenly a ninja that worked in the lower offices entered his office shouting. Oh how happy and confused was Hiruzen to hear this. He didn't expect there to be another survivor. More accurately, there shouldn't be another one.

"Who are they!? Where are they!?" Hiruzen couldn't help but raise his voice. The only reason Sasuke had survived had been due to a deal Itachi had made with the council. Now, this new survivor could be a source of joy or trouble.

How much did they know? How old were they? Are they loyal to the clan or to Konoha? Those and other questions held great importance and would determine their survival or not. As he continued thinking, a girl entered the room. Around the same age as Sasuke with raven black hair and eyes. Wearing black pajamas with the Uchiha clan symbol on them.

"Lord-Hokage" saying that Nozomi gave Hiruzen a respectful bow. While walking here she had listened to Tomoka's plan. She needed to act dumb but not so dumb that it would rouse suspicion.

"Nozomi Uchiha, right? For starters let me say I am glad there is another survivor of this tragedy" The old man's kind eyes turned sad however, Nozomi wasn't buying it. She had felt that Tomoka had hidden some info from her. Now she understood what it was. This old man also knew of the massacre and he did nothing.

Nozomi's anger and indignation boiled deep in her heart. The only thing she wished at the moment was to shred this old man into tiny pieces with her fuuton. However, she had to reign in her temper and act normal. Her life was at stake here and she would not let Tomoka's effort go to waste. So all she did was nod.

"May I ask what happened? How did you survive?" There was the important question that might determine her survival or death. She and Tomoka had been brainstorming all types of questions and answers and so she was prepared.

"I don't know. I was home preparing to sleep when someone covered my mouth and nose with a wet cloth. It smelled weird and made me feel sleepy all of a sudden. Next thing I knew I was waking up in one of the nearby forests"

Listening to the girl's words made Hiruzen feel confused. Someone had kidnapped her on that exact night just to leave her unobserved and unrestrained in a random forest still inside the walls of konoha? That leads to only two possibilities. Either she is lying, or whoever did this knew of the massacre and saved her for unknown reasons.

"Did you see anything else? Something to clue us in on who this mysterious savior was?" All according to plan, thought Nozomi. She didn't know how but Tomoka had predicted this question as well. Sometimes Nozomi felt that Tomoka was far too smart for her age.

"When that person put me to sleep I tried to see their face but all I saw was a featureless porcelain mask" With this she had just blamed a member of root.

This strategy was born from two factors. Tomoka knew full well how secretive the old eye thief is. He wouldn't under any circumstances let anybody else look into his organization. In this way, Hiruzen's investigation would enter a dead end. On the other hand, Danzo might investigate who the traitor is but with such a simple description finding a non-existent traitor is simply impossible. Not to mention that, if this world is still following cannon then root should be disbanded after yesterday's events but in reality will continue existing under the nose of the third Hokage.

"I see. Well, I am glad you survived Nozomi and once again, my condolences" With that Nozomi left the Hokage's office. Meanwhile Hiruzen felt his headache worsening. The girl was hard to read. Throughout the entire thing she had looked at him with dead eyes. At the very least there was no hatred and seeing how young she is the chances that she was just acting are rather low.

"What a mess, I really need to retire"

While Nozomi reported to the Hokage, Tomoka sat on a nearby roof thinking about the future. She had a few clones in henge observing the office through the windows from afar. However, she was sure that nothing would happen. Instead she was thinking about the events that would take place in five to six years.

By then the teams made from her class would take the chunin exams and the snake man would attack. The question is, should she do something about it? She wondered how much her presence had changed the future and how much more could she influence it.

Did she even want to change anything at all? Some time ago she wondered if it was worth it to save the third but now she doesn't feel like it. Because of that old man's idiocy and trust in the eye thief, Nozomi almost lost her life.

'I guess I could give him an anonymous heads up'

[So will you tell him about Orochimaru's attack?]

'Kind of, I will write it in a cryptid and mysterious way'

Like that she got to work and wrote her message on a piece of paper. Within she wrote: When the new blood ascends the snake will bite the leaf using the sands. By the end of it the shadow of fire will die taking with it the arms of the snake.

Satisfied with her little message she had one of her clones that had a puppet deliver it. With that done she began wondering what to do with the souvenirs she had stolen during the massacre.

In a cave some ways away from konoha, multiple jars with floating eyes rested on the hard and cold stone floor. Thanks to her preparations Tomoka had managed to make a total of three puppets that her clones could control.

She had wanted to make more puppets but the materials needed aren't just costy but also restricted. Transactions involving chakra metal are heavily guarded by the authorities. She had to pull the strings in the underworld and pay three times its usual cost to acquire what she did.

Tomoka hadn't minded the costs since to put it simply she was loaded. The problem was the amount in stock. She had tried to get more but her connections in the underworld had run out. Especially when her order had come out of the blue. The only silver lining is that by next month she should get enough to make another ten puppets.

All of that didn't matter now. Her primary and secondary missions had been a success. She had managed to save Nozomi and steal a bunch of sharingans from those killed. Tomoka felt giddy thinking about Danzo's sour face when he got less eyes than what he expected.

As for what she was going to do with the eyes she had stolen? Well they could be a nice gift for a certain snake she wanted to learn from. After all, Orochimaru is a genius in his field. Learning from him could net her some very nice improvements to the technology she was going to develop. Learning from Tsunade was also an option but she didn't feel like it.

She could also keep some eyes for herself and see what she could learn. Now that she knew that a certain lizard had somewhat fused with her she wanted to know what she could get from it. With the over twenty pairs of eyes she had stolen, wasting a few was no problem.

'If whatever I do ends of working and I somehow get a sharingan I wonder if I could do the same with a byakugan'

[You know, I sometimes wonder if you really are a human. Not that I care, you can eat the eyes for all I care.]

'Actually, maybe eating one might do something. Might as well try later'

[Okay… sure… By the way, do you remember that promise you made me? When are you going to get started on that]

'Right, making a body for you… well I will need to learn a few things from Orochimaru if I want to do it. Back in my world cloning was a thing so I believe I could do something similar here. Anyway, it will take at the bare minimum six years, maybe eight'

[Sure, just don't forget. As nice as this place is, it gets boring sometimes]

'Alright, let's start with the experiments. First and simplest experiment, what happens if I eat a sharingan' With that said, Tomoka took an eye from one of the jars.

The eye had a one tomoe sharingan on it. Taking a cloth she wiped the excess liquid and popped it into her mouth. She decided against chewing and swallowed the thing whole. Waiting for a while she felt like nothing special happened. Taking her notepad she took a few notes.

'So eating the eye whole didn't do anything and I doubt that chewing it would net any different results'

[I can't believe you actually ate it]

Ignoring the fox, Tomoka decided to proceed with her next experiment. This one was far more troublesome and had required some other experiments beforehand. One of those experiments had to do with her regeneration. She had discovered that she could stimulate her cells to heal faster using chakra and speed force.

Tomoka made small cuts on her skin and they healed. Then she cut deeper and those healed too. She then had cut the tip of her finger. The skin and flesh had regrown and no mark had been left. Unfortunately the amount of chakra needed had left her winded and barely standing.

By the end of her testing she concluded that she could heal any injury as long as she had enough chakra. With that in mind she decided to perform her second experiment of the day. She had spent a week testing her regeneration for this day.

[Nervous?] The fox could help but snicker as he saw Tomoka shiver.

'Of fucking course! I am about to pull out my own eye damn it! I am sure I can heal or even regrow it back but it is still hella scary!' After her little rant Tomoka took a deep breath and did as she had said. Using her right arm she pushed her fingers around her eye before pulling. The pain was horrendous to say the least.

'Mother fucker!'

[You are insane Tomoka, I can't believe you actually pulled it out!] The fox was sure she would get cold feet and wouldn't do it. But there she was with her right eye on her hand.

'Would you look at that' Tomoka couldn't help but notice as she saw her right eye's iris turning pink as an extra pupil began appearing and disappearing here and there.

After a while of getting used to the pain Tomoka took a sharingan with three tomoe and pushed it into her socket. She wanted to know what would happen if she did. Would her body connect with the eye? or would it reject it?

Without further ado Tomoka began pumping chakra into her right eye socket. What came next was horrendous pain. She could feel her chakra flowing into the sharingan and tear it apart. Not only that but she could even feel her cells actively eating the eye.

She wanted to stop the flow of chakra to stop the pain but no matter what she did her chakra wouldn't stop flowing. The pain was so overpowering she fell to the floor writhing in pain while screaming her lungs out.

Tomok could hear in the back of her mind the worried fox trying to ask what was going on. However, she couldn't answer nor did she feel like doing so. The pain continued for a few minutes that felt like hours until her right eye socket was empty again.

Opening her left eye she saw her right eye looking at her as it layed on the floor. Tomoka felt like shit and wondered why her body hadn't regrown her right eye. Feeling slightly exasperated she decided to simply put the eye back to where it belonged.

As she pushed her right eye into its socket she felt it draining her chakra as the nerves and muscles she had torn mended. Moments later the pain she had just experienced came back with a vengeance as she felt both her eyes change. It felt like thousands of ants crawling on and inside her eyes while biting whatever they could.

'Mother fucker!' Once again she had been reduced to a wreathing mess as she felt like gouging her eyes out.