Chapter 87: Memories of the past...

How is it possible that you reached 70 power stones so fast? Well, this time I won't be so kind, so for the next chapter, you'll have to reach 130 power stones, I wish you luck :D

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In front of him, two large statues rose from the ground. Two statues of great ninjas whose lives are now history, lives that were buried in the past of Konoha... and the ninja world.

"Sasuke!"

"Naruto!"

The sound of the screeching of a thousand birds and chakra rotating over and over again in the shape of a sphere was heard, just a second later, a great explosion of chakra moved all the water under their feet.

Toru squinted his eyes due to the wind that the chakra shock caused and when he opened them again, he saw Naruto and Sasuke coming out of the water.

Naruto was kneeling on the water, he was holding his arm in pain and a few tears came out of his tear ducts. This made Toru squint his eyes, as it brought back memories of the past... of the time he gave a mask to the boy they called "demon".

Sasuke, however, kept a smile on his face as the marks of the Cursed Seal of Heaven began to cover his body.

"Naruto, did you know that if your opponent is a first class ninja, they can only read each other's minds when their fists cross?"

"What?"

"You're still very innocent, so, I wonder... if you'll be able to read my mind!"

Clasping his hands together and inhaling a large breath of air, Sasuke expelled a large fireball, which was about to impact Naruto's body.

He managed to dodge it, but Sasuke appeared behind him with superhuman speed. Naruto failed to react in time, so he ended up getting hit in the face, which sent him flying into the cold water once again.

Due to the force of the blow, he sank into the water and, when he tried to get out of the depths, Sasuke grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air.

Blood splashed out and Toru opened his eyes.

***

Years ago, when Toru was just a boy who did not know of the cruelties of the world, he met another boy, a boy like whiskers, who, for some reason, was despised by the whole village.

That child was lonely, so, on a sudden whim, Toru decided to take advantage of this, turning that lonely child into his experiment assistant.

He was clumsy, he spoiled all the experiments Toru had, but still he could not get angry with him. Although he sometimes had a sad and lonely expression on his face, every now and then he would smile.

Toru listened to this boy's dream and thought that it would be impossible for someone like him, but Naruto was determined to excel, so... to become Hokage and be respected by the whole village.

That lonely boy... got tired of crying and decided to do something about it. This time...

"I will become Hokage..."

"That's impossible, Naruto."

"Huh? Why?"

"To become Hokage, you have to become a Jounin first, for that you must study hard and become strong. The people in the village must also trust you, that's how it works. And I don't think you're capable of doing all those things. Your dream is ridiculous, something meaningless that most kids in this village want..."

"Well... I know everyone wants to be Hokage, but that's why I have to work hard to achieve my goals. So, Toru-chan, you'll be there to support me as my friend."

"Friend...?"

"Yes, we are friends, aren't we?"

"Hm... I guess. Besides the week you had to pay me for the mask is over, you're still coming here, so... yeah, we're friends."

"Hahaha. then I'll try my best to be the coolest and strongest ninja ever!"

"Yeah, whatever you say. Don't yell!"

***

The drops of blood fell, mixing with the water and dissolving until they became part of the water.

Sasuke, using his hand had pierced Naruto's right shoulder.

"You managed to stop it from hitting your heart at the last moment, but it's useless. With that wound, you won't be able to move your arm and it will be difficult to breathe. You won't be able to use jutsu either..."

Holding Naruto's jacket, Sasuke removed arm from the wound and, using the same arm, held his neck tightly.

However, Toru frowned as he saw the lines of death on Naruto's body begin to move at an abnormal speed, it was almost the same as with Kimimaro, only this time he wasn't trying to take his life, this was his own strength manifesting to avoid losing his friend.

Tears ran down his cheeks and his eyes changed shape, they now resembled the crimson eyes of a feline. Her hair stood on end and the nails on her hands became pointed like those of a canine.

'This killer chakra... he's a monster.'

"What the hell are you!" Sasuke asked....

And the answer Naruto gave, made Toru close his eyes and sigh.

"Your friend!"

Naruto adopted a fighting stance and with tears spilling down his cheeks, he clenched his teeth tightly and frowned.

"That's why I won't let you go with Orochimaru, even if I have to break your legs and arms, I'll stop you!"

He lunged forward, raising his arm.

Like the claw of a beast, the attack came fast, which forced Sasuke to shield himself with his arms, however, Naruto's strength was so much, that the attack bounced him off the water.

Even so, he took advantage of the position he was in and launched a fireball from his mouth, but Naruto, only using his chakra dispersed the flames.

He then kicked Sasuke in the stomach, making him crash into a mountain, leaving a small crater in the rock.

"Wake up at once, Sasuke. If you don't, I'll break you like a cane and take you back to Konohagakure!"

"Shut your stupid mouth..."

"¿...?"

"What do you know about me? Someone like you, no parents no siblings... YOU NEVER HAD ANYTHING! WHAT THE FUCK CAN YOU KNOW ABOUT ME?!"

Seeing this in the front row, somehow it was sad and uncomfortable. Toru sat on the tree branch and looked up at the sky, he... remembered the past once again....

***

He was four years old when he met him.

Sasuke of the Uchiha clan, Toru of the Asahi clan. The two met thanks to the connections the two clans had.

The Uchiha, who were mostly part of the Konoha police, and the Asahi, who provided the necessary weaponry and ninja equipment to the latter.

"Don't worry, Sasuke-chan. Toru-chan is always like that, you just have to bother him a little and he'll pay attention to you" Said that woman with the emblem of her clan embroidered on the back of her yukata.

In Sasuke's eyes, the woman holding Toru's hand was beautiful, long black hair, eyes the same color as her hair, who for some reason always looked happy, with a bright toothy smile.

"We have a lot to talk about, Kyoko-san, how about we leave these two little ones alone to talk a bit while we go prepare some snacks?"

Sasuke's mother, Mikoto, smiled as she looked at Toru's mother.

She responded with a smile, taking Mikoto by the hand and dragging her inside the old Japanese style house.

"Sweet snacks?"

"Yes, that's a good choice."

"Then what are we waiting for, come on, come on, Mikoto-chan!"

"Wait... Kyoko-san, you have a lot of strength."

Sasuke looked at this with a small bead of sweat trickling down his forehead.

"Is she always like this?"

He looked at Toru and asked a question, but realized that he was going somewhere with the book in his hands. So, she ran after him to catch up, seconds later she stopped, as she saw how Toru was sitting under the shade of a tree.

'He is strange... What should I do? Nii-san told me that to talk to someone, I should be nice first, maybe that will work'.

He approached him, and leaned in a little to see this boy's face.

"Hey... What are you reading? Looks interesting."

Hearing this boy's voice so close, Toru looked up. He sighed and then spoke.

"Chakra..."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Clearly on the cover of the book it said "Learn to use your chakra", so he was quite surprised, after all, he had a brother who being young could use chakra in amazing ways. So this surprised him, as it seemed that he also wanted to use jutsu at a young age.

But this made him doubt.

"You... Can you use ninjutsu or genjutsu?"

Toru narrowed his eyes and closed the book.

"Hm... no, it's impossible."

"What, why?"

"Not many in my family can use ninjutsu or genjutsu. My father always trains me using taijutsu, the others in my family only use taijutsu too, so it's impossible. Well... my father can use ninjutsu since he is not an Asahi."

"I don't understand. Just because you're an Asahi you can't use ninjutsu?"

"Correct, I still want to try. If my father is not an Asahi, even if it's impossible, I lose nothing by trying."

"Hm... that's strange. Don't you know why your family can't use ninjutsu or taijutsu?"

"I don't know, but I've heard some adults say that my clan is cursed."

"So that's what they say, huh... Sometimes adults say weird things, there's nothing we can do. You know, I thought you couldn't talk?"

"Why would you think that?"

"Because when you came in, you didn't say anything. You just looked everywhere and then read your book. But now that I know you can talk, how about we play a little? Yesterday, my brother gave me a kunai, even though it's blunt, so there's no need to worry about us getting hurt."

"Hm...okay. But first I have to put my book away."

"Okay, then I'll wait for you here."

***

"You don't know what it feels like to lose the people you love! At least, the only person who could understand... is Toru..."

Naruto dodged a kick, landing in the water again.

'Toru, uh... I almost forgot that the two of you have experienced the same thing...'

'I don't know anything about real parents or siblings. But, when I'm with you... I wonder if it's like being with a sibling..."

A nostalgic smile showed on his face. At the same time, Toru lowered his gaze as his hair covered his face.

He sighed lightly and then looked up again.

'Sasuke... I know how you feel, because I too wished for revenge. I wanted to kill the man who took everything from me, I was angry, I was sad, I felt worthless. I never knew how to appreciate what I had and, when I lost everything, that feeling of regret and emptiness flooded my heart. That feeling increased when I recovered the memories of my past life. Realizing that I had a better family than the one I had... haha... I even felt like crying. But it is because of that feeling that I decided to let go of revenge, my mother would never have liked me, her son, to follow such a steep and sad path. She was... my real mother...'

Naruto and Sasuke's fight continued, however, Toru continued to think as he watched.

Every punch from Sasuke was loaded with murderous intent. Naruto, on the other hand, did not want to hurt his friend, but doing so was necessary for him to return to the village.

'Suuke... the third Tomoe has appeared in his Sharingan. That means that he, at this moment... feels pain.'

A battle to the death between two Konoha ninja, the two were like monsters trying to kill each other. Each used everything at hand, in Sasuke's case the Sharingan, and in Naruto's, the Kyuubi's chakra.

And in a single moment, that killer chakra of that demon fox, covered Naruto's body as if it were a cloak and a tail appeared on his lower back.

The battle continued, Sasuke was now at a disadvantage. It was like that for a few seconds, but then, what Toru saw next made him sigh with disappointment.

'Where did the guy who wished to grow stronger next to his brother go? Sasuke... the darkness is devouring you, and that Cursed Seal Orochimaru gave you only accelerates that process. That power you've been given...'

***

"Amazing! Toru only missed one kunai out of ten targets. Haha, I'm not going to lose this time. Look at me, Nii-san, Toru, I'm not going to miss."

He threw the ten kunai, one after another, however, he only managed to hit seven of the ten targets that were in the trees.

Itachi applauded this, he intended to encourage his brother, but he succeeded in quite the opposite.

"Don't cry, Sasuke" Toru said as he saw small tears peek out of the corners of Sasuke's eyes.

"I'm not crying! Nii-san, I can do it again, I just have to get the kunai back!"

"It's okay, Sasuke. You don't always have to try to be the best at everything. Toru isn't good at using ninjutsu, something you're better at. Everyone has things they're better at than others, so don't feel defeated. Besides, you have plenty of time to improve."

"Itachi is telling the truth. You can use Katōn and, although I can too, you use it a thousand times better than me. I can only make a small fireball that goes out a second after I summon it. Don't forget that my family specializes in taijutsu using weapons."

Sasuke wiped away his tears and sighed. Every time it seemed that Toru was getting better at everything he could already do, and that frustrated him quite a bit, as he felt weak because of this, but there were things that Toru still couldn't do that he could, so before he learns that, he must improve so he wouldn't be surpassed.

"Well, it's late, Toru, do you want to go to our house for dinner? I'm sure Kyoko-san won't be mad if I explain it to her."

"I'm sorry, but I have things to tidy up in my room."

"Of course, yesterday your house almost caught fire because of your crazy experiments. Let's not forget your room, everything turned to ashes and your mom got pretty mad, she hit you on the head and then hugged you while crying" Said Sasuke.

"I don't want to remember that. Still, I'm leaving before she comes out looking for me."

"Haha, it's okay. See you, Toru."

Itachi raised his hand, waving goodbye, Sasuke did the same.

"Bye, Toru, don't blow up anything else or you'll bankrupt your family!"

***

His skin was covered by a strange grayish-brown color, his hair grew, turning a dark blue color and a mark in the shape of a cross formed in the center of his face.

"Do you know, Naruto? This place is called 'The Valley of the End', the border of the fire country. This is a perfect place, don't you think? Because this is where it all ends... There was battle, until now and from now on..."

The shrieks of the thousand birds were heard again in this place. Black lightning began to accumulate in the palm of his hand and then, he looked up and saw Naruto.

He too, held his arm tightly, place where a sphere of red chakra began to accumulate. He frowned and looked at Sasuke and then started to run in his direction.

His feet touched the water, and Sasuke's feet propelled from where he was.

Together, the Chidori and Rasengan collided, causing a giant explosion that covered much of the place.

Seeing this, Toru put his hands in his pockets, but right in the middle of the explosion he realized something.

'My mother's cloak... after this I have to go back for it...'

He closed his eyes and sighed.

The wind shook all the trees, the earth shook and half of the place was destroyed because of this chakra shock.

When the explosion ended, Sasuke was standing in the middle of the battlefield and right in front of him was Naruto, lying on the ground, completely unconscious.

Toru was able to make sure of this because his kill lines were still moving.

Still... as if the sky felt what Naruto felt at that moment, the rain started, touching the ground with small drops of water, soon, the small drops turned into a big drizzle that covered the whole place.

At that moment, Sasuke's protective band fell to the ground and a few drops of blood came out of his mouth. He looked at Naruto for a few seconds, and then walked in some direction.

Toru seeing this, jumped up, falling on the battlefield.

He looked at Naruto and then at Sasuke, who was leaving without even sensing his presence.

He took the injured boy in his arms and sighed.

"Are you always so cruel to your teammates, Sasuke?"

His eyes widened as he heard her voice. Slowly he turned around, that's when he could see who that voice belonged to....

"...Toru? You...you want to stop me too?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Then why are you here?"

"One of the reasons why I'm here, is because I was forced, after all I promised not to get in your way. Every decision you make, is your own responsibility. However, I already said it once, but I'll say it again. Sasuke... once you step foot out of the land of fire... I hope you won't regret the decision you have to make. From now on, you will be an enemy of Konoha, you will be my enemy..."

"That... I don't care..."

"I know... that's why this will be the last thing I say to you. Sasuke... goodbye..."

Without looking back, Toru began to walk carrying Naruto in his arms. For a moment, his Shigan activated for no reason, no, there was a reason for this...it was just too embarrassing to admit it.

He looked at Naruto again, he didn't have many wounds on his body, however, inside his body, most of his bones were broken, the explosion sure had done it, this made him sigh.

"Let's get out of here, the mission has failed."

***

After seeing Sasuke for the last time, Toru met Kakashi and Yamato, who had been on a mission, so they couldn't be here to help.

"Yamato-sensei, it's been quite a while since I last saw him."

"I've been busy lately. I'm sorry you had to come on this mission, besides failing..."

"No... that's okay. It's better that everyone made it out alive after being involved in this farce."

"Still, two of them are in critical condition. Nara Shikamaru only has some bumps and scrapes, Inuzuka Kiba has a deep wound due to a kunai, but after that he's fine. As for the remaining two"

"Chouji and Neji, in critical condition..."

"That's right..."

Toru narrowed his eyes wearily.

Too much had happened in a single day. And now everyone had paid the price for messing with Orochimaru. Some got the worst of it, while the others, though they are doing well, having failed this mission hurt them mentally.

They're just kids playing at being ninjas... that's what Sasuke told Naruto when he found him on the statue of that man... the one with the same last name, Uchiha Madara.

-Somewhere near the border...

He hid in the shadows and watched patiently.

"Hahaha, this just got interesting, don't you think?" he looked at his companion with a smile.

He replied as he stepped out of the shadows, as if he were one of these.

"Yeah..."

The black cloak with the red cloud embroidered on the fabric danced to the rhythm of the wind, as these mysterious ninjas disappeared, going back to hiding in the darkness.

-Konoha Hospital

The other members of Sasuke's recovery team had been treated by the medical ninja, so they were now out of danger. Right now, Toru was in one of the rooms, where a nurse was treating the small wounds he had received during his battle against Kimimaro.

He looked through the window and sighed.

When the nurse finished her work, she gave Toru a small pat on the back and left the room, leaving him alone.

Now, all he could think about was Hinata and Ino. If he was tired, surely seeing them would instantly recharge his energy, but apparently they still hadn't arrived at the hospital, or they just didn't know yet that the mission was over... in failure.

"Ha~ Hokage-sama will walk through that door any moment and yell at me like when I was training to perform Lee's surgery..."

He shook his head as he accepted his fate, however, after a moment, he felt watched again, that feeling was all too familiar.

Just at that moment, Tsunade entered the room accompanied by a man with his right arm and eye bandaged.

Accompanying them, four ninjas whose masks were similar to those of the ANBU organization, appeared and for some reason surrounded Toru.

It was then that the man next to Tsunade decided to speak.

"Asahi Toru, we need you to appear in front of the Konoha Council to stand trial for your crimes of treason against our village."

"Wh...what?"

To be continued...