Chapter 47: Symphony of Death

The fight between Rock Lee and Gaara had been intense. Right now, the medical ninja had taken Lee to the infirmary to treat his injuries. Gaara on the other hand, standing at the top of the fighting arena, had a look of disgust on his face as he watched Rock Lee being carried away by the medical ninja.

"That was too much, I think I got hungry."

"Chouji, you're always hungry."

Being a little tired from all this chunin exam stuff, Shikamaru touched his head and sighed.

(Toru, Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, Neji and Rock Lee, those guys are monsters, especially Gaara and Rock Lee. However, Toru is hiding something, I could see it when he was fighting, and I could confirm my doubts when he protected Hinata. The speed he reaches... it's too much, at least what I could see. Besides, his movements are silent, compared to Lee, who seems to move like he's going to destroy the ground.)

Shikamaru's perceptive mind wasn't wrong, after all Toru is a monster that doesn't show its fangs yet, a monster that prefers to hide in the dark, waiting for its prey with the gleam of death in its eyes.

"Ha~ give me a break..."

On the other side of the arena, Ino found herself looking at Toru. She wasn't sure what she had seen after Neji's fight against Hinata, but Toru's speed was something she already knew about. His strength and bloodlust was something she could never erase from her mind.

"There's only Chouji and the guy from the Hidden Sound Village left..."

Letting out a big sigh, Ino let her arms drop to her shoulders.

"Looks like it's all calmed down now, so let's finish with the last bout of the preliminaries."

Hearing Hayate's voice, Chouji's skin bristled, as if he had felt the gaze of the ninja he had to fight.

"Hey, I think it's better to surrender. Then I won't get my ass kicked."

Chouji was a little scared, after all he will have to fight one of the ninja from the Hidden Village of Sound. Chouji already knew what kind of abilities his enemy has, but just remembering it made him shiver on his back.

"Don't be a coward, Chouji. If you win, we'll make Asuma-sensei pay for the barbecue."

"Hm... barbecue you say?"

"All you can eat."

"Oaaghhh! I'm motivated!"

After hearing his friend shout in excitement, Shikamaru laughed internally. Convincing Chouji would always be easy, obviously if it involved food.

At the same time, the screen showed the last names.

Kinuta Dosu vs Akimichi Chouji

(This will be easy. Too bad though, I couldn't fight the idiot who broke my arms).

Closing his eyes, Dosu threw himself into the battle arena. He had a broken arm, the cause of this was Sasuke. This made Dosu a bit resentful towards the ninjas of Konoha.

"I'm going to destroy you! Ahhhh! Barbecue!"

With a flame burning in the pupil of his eyes, Chouji glared at his enemy, but the enemy only looked at him with an arrogant smile.

"So, since you are here. Let the last fight of the preliminary exams begin."

Raising his hand high in the air, Hayate hard started the fight.

[Last fight summary:

Kinuta Dosu vs Akimichi Chouji

Time: 37 seconds

Winner: Kinuta Dosu

Decisive Hit: Resonant Echo Drill]]

The outcome of the fight was disappointing. Dosu defeated Chouji with one punch. This made Shikamaru feel ashamed, still, Asuma would have to pay for a three-man barbecue. Why isn't Hakuto included? Because she is just now recovering from her injuries.

"Dude, what a disappointment. I would have at least put up some fight. But beating someone like that is embarrassing."

Touching his head in pain, Shikamaru was tired. At last, the preliminaries were over, but now the last test remained.

Everyone was exhausted, some were seriously injured. Therefore, Shikamaru thought that the last exam would not be today. It was a logical reasoning, Toru also thought the same.

(It's finally over. I'm not tired or anything, but everyone else is. The chakra drain has been excessive, I must admit that everyone is too strong, but according to my reasoning, the only one I won't be able to defeat is Gaara. He has a very high defense and devastating attack power. He was able to survive Rock Lee's attack with the five internal doors open, I'm sure that if I had received that attack, I would be in the infirmary right now, with many broken bones).

Looking up, Toru looked at the ceiling and remembered Rock Lee and Gaara's fight. That boy with the bowl hairstyle was undoubtedly strong, one of the strongest Toru has seen so far.

"Toru..."

(He should look for a weakness in Gaara...).

Crossing her arms and touching her lips, Toru began to wander in her mind.

"Toru..."

(The sand shield is troublesome, but what bothers me the most is the sand armor).

"Toru!"

"Hm...?

Realizing the existence of his teammate, Toru looked to the right, the place where Ino was standing. She had a slight blush on her face, and seemed to be angry.

"What the hell, what the hell are you thinking so hard not to hear that I'm calling you?"

"Hm... adult stuff."

When Ino heard Toru's reply, Ino's face turned as red as a tomato.

"You imbecile! You want to die! Is that what you want, because I can kill you right now!"

"Yes, I want to die, kill me if that's what you want!"

Spreading his arms wide, Toru closed his eyes and waited for Ino, but nothing happened. Ino had left in the direction of the battle arena, a place where the ninjas who won their respective fights were gathering. The Hokage was in front of them, this made Toru tilt his head in confusion. Apparently he had missed something when he was remembering some things.

So, disappearing as if his body had become air, Toru reappeared at Ino's side.

"Kya!"

Noticing the presence of her teammate, Ino let out a small cry of surprise. But when she tried to yell at Toru, he just ignored her and stood in front of the Hokage.

"First of all, let me give you my most conservative congratulations. You guys have enough fortitude to advance to the next exam. Still, it's a pity that two of the participants are not with us."

Taking a puff of smoke from his pipe, the Hokage sighed, letting out a small nanny of smoke.

"Now, as for the third exam, it will be in a month's time."

With a confused expression, Naruto raised his hand and spoke at once.

"Aren't we going to fight it right now?"

"No, this time is so that you can prepare yourselves, mentally and physically. The third exam will test your skills and abilities as ninja, since, this last exam will consist of individual fights where you will show your worth as ninja."

Again, inhaling some smoke from his pipe, the Hiruzen sighed. In addition to giving the genin time to prepare, other things also had to be prepared, such as the summons to the guests from the other villages, the place where the last exam would be held and most important of all, to announce the finalists of this exam.

"Elder, I don't know what you have planned, but I think this is ridiculous."

Spitting out some words with an authoritative tone of voice, Kankuro looked the Hokage in the eyes, however, the old man only smiled slightly then replied.

"It is simple, everyone here knows of the abilities of your enemies. Therefore, you must take advantage of this month to be able to polish your skills and discover new techniques. If you go to the last exam with the same techniques you showed here, it is very certain that you will lose. Also, don't forget to rest, the human body has limits, that's why you should take the rest that the body needs, you can also add to this a good nutrition"

After hearing the Hokage's words, Toru closed his eyes and crossed his arms.

He hadn't shown much of his skills, just a small demonstration of his speed and a bit of his taijutsu, besides, he had many tricks hidden up his sleeve, after all, the one who shows his true power, also shows his weaknesses. Toru understood this, so he limited himself to using only taijutsu, as his ninjutsu is his last resort, something he can only use when the situation warrants it.

"That's all, you are dismissed."

Turning around, the Hokage walked out of the place, leaving the rookies with many questions.

"Hey, Toru. want to go get some ramen?" Approaching the gray-eyed boy, Naruto asked. At the same time, Toru narrowed his eyes and sighed before answering.

"Right now I have something to do, how about later? I'll come find you myself."

"Really? Then so be it, if you don't show up I'll come find you and kick your ass."

Somehow, Toru was a bit surprised by the sudden interaction that Naruto initiated. Well, it's not that Toru hates Naruto or anything, he just found it a bit strange.

But this is something the Asahi clan boy didn't understand, that was Naruto's way of saying he wants his scientist friend back. After all, watching Toru fight, that sentence brought back a lot of memories from the past to Naruto, this made him feel nostalgic. Then he thought, how about going for some ramen?

-Minutes later at the Konoha hospital-

She was hooked up to some machines that kept her stable. The view was a bit depressing. Toru felt he had done something wrong, however, he never understood why.

"You don't need to be so worried. We were already able to stabilize her, so she'll have to rest until she regains her strength."

Appearing behind Toru, a beautiful medical kunoichi doctor spoke into his ear. She had brown hair and amber colored eyes, she also had a very well developed body.

"I'm not worried."

At that moment, Toru kept an emotionless expression and a neutral tone of voice, however, this kunoichi had a lot of experience in life, she knew what the boy in front of her felt just by looking into his eyes.

"You're not going to fool me with that. So... Do you like her?"

With a sly smile, the kunoichi covered her mouth as she let out a small teasing laugh. However, Toru didn't respond, he remained silent as he looked at Hinata.

(It's more than obvious, kid. You must realize, or are you one of those kids who's as dense as a black hole?)

Touching lips and looking through the window, the ninja woman smiled before touching Toru's shoulder.

"Take your time, and don't worry too much. We'll take care of getting her home safely."

With a gentle smile the woman left the room.

Though it was for a few seconds, the shadows of that woman lingered in Toru's mind.

(Having that kind of feeling for my teammate is out of the question, otherwise, something like that would become a weakness that will cause me trouble in the future...)

Even though he may have thought that, the fact that he was looking at Hinata with a faint look of concern made all those thoughts go to shit. Toru is someone who repressed his emotions for years, so as not to give in to his darkest and most bizarre desires, this was what kept him away from the feeling of revenge that Sasuke has.

For Toru, having desires for revenge was stupid, eventually that desire for revenge will turn against you, turning you into what you swore to destroy, that's what could happen to Sasuke, that's why Toru left those thoughts deep in his heart.

While looking at Hinata, Toru let out a long sigh. No matter where, he always thought of things he couldn't figure out. Even if his mind is one of the brightest in Konoha, the feelings of the heart are something he still hasn't managed to decipher.

(This scene... somehow it's familiar to me).

Looking at the machines that were connected to Hinata, a fleeting memory flashed through Toru's mind, giving him a huge headache.

"Agh!"

Touching his head in pain, Toru fell to his knees. At the same time, the memory slowly began to appear.

He was in the middle of a white room.

*Beep... beep... beep... beep... *

The symphony of machines keeping an elderly woman alive echoed through the room. She had a respirator attached, her skin looked gaunt and pale. Her hair was falling silent and a few drops of blood trickled down from her mouth to the top of the patient's gown.

Across from this woman stood a bespectacled man, he had on a lab coat, shiny body shoes and beige pants. The look on his face showed no emotion.

"The time has come to bring down the curtain, the show is over."

Disconnected one machine after another, the patient's soul was escaping his body.

*Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiip...*

The symphony of death has begun.

The patient has died.

"What was that...?"

Breathing heavily, Toru snapped back to reality. For some reason... a tear ran down one of his cheeks.

_______

Author's note: What will this strange memory be? Hm... this will be interesting...

By the way, sorry for the delay, I was studying since I had to take an exam. Now I owe you a chapter, so tomorrow there will be a double chapter :D