Chapter 71: Danzo

Toru's eyes met Ino's and he immediately understood where this was all headed. This girl had just filled with courage by confessing her feelings to him, however....

"I'm sorry, Ino. I can't accept your feelings..."

Taking Ino by the shoulders, Toru slowly pulled her apart and stroked her hair. At the same time, Ino opened her eyes unable to believe that the boy she likes had rejected her without a second thought, even after everything she had to go through to accept that she was in love with Toru, in the end it didn't work out and Toru ended up rejecting her feelings.

Up to this point you might think that Toru didn't feel anything for Ino, but that was far from the truth. The truth is that Toru knew that he had strange feelings not only for Ino, but also for Hinata and it was his own conscience that revealed this to him when he recovered his memories. However, Toru had failed to understand it very well, as he had never in either of his two lives felt anything resembling love, after all his obsession with science could not be called love.

"Why?"

Ino looked at the ground as she clenched her fists tightly and at the same time tears began to fall. She felt sad and disappointed in herself, after all she believed that Toru would accept her easily, but then she remembered how it was that she treated this boy when they had to form team 11 together with Hinata and Yamato. It was then that she realized that she had missed her chance from the beginning.

However, Toru didn't think the same, since, by this time, a hidden enemy was watching him from the shadows, there was also Orochimaru, who for some reason wants to kidnap him and Sasuke, so accepting Ino's feelings is the same as killing her indirectly, since if someone discovers that Toru has a weakness, they will be able to use it against him.

(This isn't easy... Ha~ but in the end it is what it is, I can't do anything against it. If I accept Ino's feelings, I'll be signing my own death warrant, since apparently there's more than one person who's behind the secrets in my eyes. One of those is Orochimaru, however, the one who has been sending ninja to watch me still won't show his face...)

Toru understood his position as a shinobi, he had already revealed his true power during Sunagakure's attack on Konohagakure, so at this moment all eyes were on him.

"Because I'm not interested in those things now..."

Toru closed his eyes as he shoved his hands into his pockets. For a moment he felt guilty, as giving Ino this kind of answer was lying through his teeth. Though somehow for him it was hard to say that he wouldn't accept her feelings just to protect her and Hinata, it wasn't his style after all. However, he knew very well how he felt, pitifully....

(The eyes of many are on me, I'm sure that the guy who has been spying on me since my clan was exterminated will make his appearance at any moment, until that, I must avoid showing weaknesses, otherwise... it's not only me who will suffer. Ha~ there's also the return of Itachi...).

Letting out a long sigh that seemed to last an eternity, Toru had too many things to think about. He had had enough fun with the suffering of the ninjas inside that mansion, now he had to think hard about what he would do about the matter of Itachi, Orochimaru and the mysterious guy who sends ninjas to spy.

(When we return to Konoha I'll take care of investigating everything, there won't be anything I don't know about. So...) Adjusting his scarf, Toru turned his back to Ino and then smiled before speaking in a soft tone of voice.

"Maybe in the future I might be interested in such things. So, for the time being, don't cry, because we have to go, we've finished our mission."

Seeing the warm smile on Toru's face, Ino felt even more confused, however, this was more pleasant than being rejected in such a pitiful way. After all, she understood that she wasn't being rejected, well... yes she was rejected, but she understood it in a different way than Toru thought.

"Okay..."

Wiping away her tears, Ino smiled tenderly as she watched Toru walk away.

(I guess... it's not bad to keep everything like this a little longer...).

Shaking her head, Ino sighed and followed Toru. As she watched his back, she thought she should try her best to make that 'future' Toru was talking about happen faster, so she wasn't going to give up, Ino won't let anyone snatch this boy from her arms.

(I must try harder... so Toru can look me in the eyes and reciprocate my feelings...).

Closing her eyes with a slight smile, Ino walked by Toru's side, looking straight ahead, a look that observed that future she longed for so much.

-Outside Kirou's mansion...-

By this time, Yamato was talking to the captain of the ANBU reconnaissance division, the main topic of conversation was Toru, who had killed everyone inside the mansion with clean cuts that killed instantly. Undoubtedly the ability to kill that this boy possesses is exceptional, few ninja in Konoha have the talent to kill large numbers of enemies in just a few seconds.

However, the captain of this squad sighed wearily. The entire mansion was stained with blood and some of the lifeless bodies were missing limbs, mostly the head, if it can be considered a limb, obviously.

"Then that would be it, we'll take care of the cleanup and autopsy of the corpses. Oh, I almost forgot, we gave clean clothes to the ladies who were held captive, in a few minutes another squad will arrive and escort them back home. So you can return to Konoha at ease, Yamato-senpai."

"Thank you, I'm counting on you..."

Nodding, Yamato looked at the man in the cat mask. This ninja had the white colored cloak, which differentiated the ANBU squad leader, moreover, the mask had some red lines painted around the cheeks.

Yamato knew who was under the mask, so he smiled slightly and walked away from the place while looking for his students.

On the other hand, in a slightly more distant place, was Hinata, who was looking at the moon shining in the sky with a sad expression on her face. Certainly hearing Ino confess her feelings for Toru surprised her, which also left an empty feeling in her heart.

(I left so fast that I couldn't hear Toru's answer...)

Interlacing her fingers and with a blank stare, Hinata tried to remember how it was that she started to feel that way, this feeling that brought tears to her eyes as she watched Ino confess her feelings for Toru.

'I was the first' that was what she thought when she saw Toru and Ino put their lips together. Since they were kids, Hinata was arguably the first friend Toru had ever had not counting Naruto and Sasuke.

She was the person he spent the most time with, the two of them hanging out together almost daily. Toru used to invite her to eat ramen or sweets from time to time, even though Toru hates sweets except for bread with fruit filling, but this was not enough to find the moment she started to feel that way.

"Do you feel dizzy?"

"Hm? Uh, I... no, I'm fine, sensei. I was just thinking about some things."

Yamato appeared, making Hinata come out of her little world. He could tell quickly that she was not well, he could see it in her eyes, which were a bit irritated because she had been crying, but telling her just like that would be a bit cruel, so he simply answered with quick words.

"If you don't feel well, you can ask the medical ninja to help you..."

"No, I'm fine. Really, I'm fine, so you don't have to worry, sensei..."

(Not fine, not fine at all...)

It was obvious to Yamato that Hinata was not fine, after all right now she was shedding some tears while trying to keep a calm expression, which was not working.

This went on for a few seconds until Hinata's eyes opened when the voice of two people were heard. It was Toru and Ino, who had returned after their little 'meeting'. This made Hinata wipe away her tears quickly as she tried to keep a neutral expression.

"Are they done already, Yamato-sensei?"

"Uh... yes, as a matter of fact, we can go home now..." Yamato said as he looked at his students.

Ino's face was a bit flushed, while Toru remained the same as always, with a face that expressed no emotion at all.

Although watching this was awkward, for some reason it was very uncomfortable, so much so that Yamato felt overwhelmed by the scene he was watching.

Normally Ino would stay away from Toru, give or take about two meters away, however, at this moment the two were too close, just five centimeters apart, which was very strange, but Hinata either knew the reason for this or just misunderstood.

"That's good... I'm exhausted."

Stretching her limbs and regaining her usual expression, Ino let out a sigh. Now that she had let her feelings out she felt lighter, though that feeling disappeared when she felt someone's gaze.

It was Hinata's gaze, who looked a little distressed. Ino was about to ask, but stopped herself as she felt it wasn't right.

"In that case, I'm ending the mission, we can return to Konoha now."

To avoid feeling more awkward, Yamato stepped forward to avoid being between these three little ninja. On the other hand, Toru and Ino looked at him confused to seconds later follow him, Hinata did the same, although with the small difference that she was looking at Ino and Toru with an uncomfortable and sad expression.

-Days later, somewhere in Konoha-

Moving through the darkness of the night, with only one goal in mind, the mysterious ninja stopped in front of a door, which he slowly opened.

Inside the place, there was an old man standing in the center of the room with a slightly angry expression. This old man had his arm and the right half of his face bandaged.

"Danzo-sama, I have my report ready, would you like to hear it?"

The ninja knelt with his head down, waiting for confirmation from his master.

"Hm... go ahead..."

The old man replied with a sigh, as if everything in this life was going wrong for him.

"Uchiha Itachi has been seen in Konoha five days ago, apparently he had a small fight against some of the Jounin, among them was Hatake Kakashi, who got hurt because of this fight. A day after that, the same Uchiha Itachi attacked his own brother, Uchiha Sasuke, leaving him in a coma due to a mysterious Genjutsu. So far, no further appearances of this man have been recorded. As for Asahi Toru..."

When he got to this part, the ninja kept quiet, he felt that revealing this information would make Danzo feel angry, but since this was his job he continued without fear of what would happen.

"As for Asahi Toru, as I informed you earlier, Danzo-sama, this boy took over the Jinchuriki of Sunagakure along with Uzumaki Naruto. During the battle, Asahi Toru showed great talent for ninjutsu and taijutsu. He seems to have his own kekkei genkai, which goes by the name of Shakuton, and also possesses a strange dojutsu which we believe to be a new type of eye ninjutsu. It has a strange sky blue pigmentation in the iris, but after that we don't know anything else. Approximately two days ago, team 11, to which Asahi Toru belongs, was sent on an assassination mission, it seems that this was a test that the Council put in place to measure the abilities of this boy in order to make a decision to raise him to the rank of Chunin."

Crossing his arms, Danzo narrowed his eyes. Toru was a Chunin candidate, which was not surprising considering the abilities of the Asahi clan, after all they themselves are descendants of the Uchiha clan.

"In this assassination mission, about sixty ninjas were killed by Asahi Toru, who fought alone. The mission was carried out successfully. In addition, there are records that the last survivor of the Asahi clan is extremely intelligent, he has simply hidden it until now... here ends my report, the details of each event will be in the documents that were sent to you in advance, Danzo-sama..."

With these last words, the ninja finished his report and, what he received in return, was a death stare from Danzo.

Quickly understanding the intentions behind Danzo's stare, the ninja got up from the floor, bowed and left the room fast enough not to look like a coward.

(Asahi Toru...)

Taking a seat on the cushion, Danzo folded his arms as he sighed.

Everything was definitely going wrong for him.

After the death of Sarutobi Hiruzen, Konoha was left unprotected, so finding a new Hokage was the wisest decision, this is where the Konoha Council, which Danzo belongs to, came in.

But what was it that had him upset? Simple, Danzo recommended himself for the position of Hokage, however Homura and Utatane flatly refused, with the only excuse that they had already chosen the new Hokage, which would be Jiraiya, but here was the rub, Jiraiya refused to take the position.

Then, taking advantage of Jiraiya's refusal to become Hokage, Danzo recommended himself again, but Homura and Utatane refused again, as the new Hokage was already on his way to Konoha.

(This is all getting annoying, but I must stay as I am for the moment, the first thing will be to get rid of that brat... Asahi Toru, he's dangerous, he'll get in the way of my plans and, if I'm lucky, I might get those eyes, which seem to be a strange mutation of the Sharingan.)

Thinking of various methods to get rid of Toru and get his eyes, Danzo smiled slightly, after all this was just beginning, his real plan to take Konoha...