(Book the Third) Crimson Hatred in the Uchiha

Conflicting Thoughts

Chapter 19

Third Person's POV

Akira stood alone in the forest. He had headed far enough away from the village so that no one would see him. One month... He had one month to train, and out of all the people to fight against, it had to be Shiga Akane.

Akira slid out his katana. Right now... He had no training partners. One could only do so much with himself. He needed a sparring partner...

Akira's higher-ups weren't so concerned with his training. They expected him to use the power of the kami inside of him to defeat the opponent, then, when Gaara would transform at the signal, Akira would immediately-

No. No no... Akira was nearly out of time. He had one month to... To what? You want to save the village, but you don't want to die. To live you'll need to run the village to the ground. But destroying Konoha is out of question! So what do you do? How do you plan to save everyone if you also want to save yourself?

But I can't die... Not after all I have been through... I gave up so much just for the act of living, and now I'm supposed to die to save a village?

Your village. 'Welcome back home,' the Hokage had said. How do you plan to destroy your 'home?' Are you trying to convince yourself that you don't care if people like Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun die? And what about Sasuke?

I'll save Sasuke.

Do you plan on saving Kakashi too? What about the Hokage? What about those you don't even know, little kids like Konohamaru? Are you going to save them?

I want to! I really want to! But if I make a single move against a Orochimaru the snake inside of me will... will... I don't want to die.

You never wanted to die from the very beginning.

But especially not now. Not when I'm so close to what I've always wanted.

Idiot, you always told yourself you weren't ready to meet him, and all of a sudden you are? You just want to stay alive. But this will be at the cost of others-

"Sugitani Akira?"

Akira snapped out of his thoughts and straightened, "Who're y-" he saw a familiar girl, a girl he had never talked to before. Two buns and a nin outfit that was more traditional than ninja-like, "You are Tenten."

Tenten grinned, "That's right. What are you doing here in the middle of a forest?"

"... What about you?"

Tenten pointed past Akira, "A year ago when I first graduated Academy, I came into the forest by myself and hung up a bunch of targets in random places. I usually go there now to practice on my own. It's my secret base, but it isn't so much of a secret now eh?"

Akira shrugged, "I was planning on training here."

Tenten crossed her arms, "Are you serious? How do you plan to train for a match when you don't have a partner."

The boy picked up a rock and threw it at overhanging branches. Leaves rained down and Akira silently took out his katana. Akira placed his foot behind him in a stance and with a few graceful sharp turns, he had cut every shingle leaf in half before they touched the ground. "This is what I usually do. Sometimes I add a handicap."

"That's cool," Tenten admitted, "and impressive, but I don't think cutting leaves will work against Shiga Akane. She looks strong you know, and nobody knows how she fights, since her sister immediately forfeited the match."

"You're giving an awful lot of advice for a stranger."

Tenten grinned, "Though we're not really strangers now, are we?"