SHADOWS OF THE VILLAGE (Naruto)

Chapter 19: What are you afraid of?

But even those memories Imori doubted. While they felt so real, he couldn't be sure they were actually his memories. Memories of the past often escaped them no matter how hard they tried to hold onto something, anything that made them... themselves. Individuals who deserved to have a past and future that wasn't dictated by anyone other than themselves.

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The two jounin concealed their chakra as they entered the grounds, keeping close to the shrubbery to stay out of sight. Though Aoba was warned it may not be enough to escape the attention of an ever paranoid Imori. But as they walked deeper into the forest, they were met with a surprising sight.

Imori was laying down with his head in Sakura's lap. The boy sniffled while Sakura ran a hand through his dark blue hair, humming a pleasant tune. His eyes were closed and lips parted, murmuring in quiet conversation with Sakura, who nodded every so often.

The jounin could barely keep the surprise off their faces as they assessed the scene. It didn't take long for them to opt to sit in the trees and just observe the children. They didn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon. The jounin strained their ears to hear their conversation and used a jutsu to enhance it.

"... I just freaked out and left Kuma." Imori's voice was hoarse and the jounin could feel the stress in his tone. "I left him with the Nara's and I don't trust them. It's like they said, I'm nothing more than a tool to be manipulated and I don't know who's got the upper hand. All I know is that it isn't me... Fuck. How stupid can I be?"

At first, Sakura visibly struggled to find the words to comfort Imori from his self deprecating thoughts. After being silent company for years, there were times both found it difficult to talk. Still, Sakura was relieved Imori trusted her enough to share his thoughts.

Her voice came out as a whisper, not meant for anyone but her friend. "You're not stupid. And I'm so sorry, Imori." Sakura closed her eyes to prevent any tears from falling. "I'm just glad you're alive. I- I was so worried when I saw you... like that again." Her hand continued to run through his hair in an attempt to comfort him.

The jounin shared a look. Again? It as then that Aoba found himself weaving hand signs and using his psycho mind transmission to enter Imori's subconscious to extract information, even able to access memories and information forgotten. He found many barriers that would take ample time to crack, and any digging would alert Imori to someone in his head. But given the erratic state of the boy, his jumbled thoughts and heavy seals on his mind, Aoba could only hear bits and pieces of his immediate thoughts.

"Everything is progressing faster than Kuma and I anticipated. I'm afraid that-" Imori's voice cracked as he spoke but he didn't dare shed a tear. His hand came up to rub his aching head, assuming he just had a headache coming on from all the recent stress, so he began to practice breathing techniques Aoba knew Yamato had been teaching the boy over the last few days.

Aoba was mouthing Imori's thoughts to Kakashi who was reading his lips. Aoba expressed how Imori cursed himself for being so damn emotional - after all the work they had gone through to destroy his emotions, it was clear he needs more training. If he had more training, maybe he wouldn't of lashed out at Danzo-sama and tried so hard to protect Kuma - they have to kill each other in the end anyway, so what's the point?

All caring had done was make things worse. Heck, he shouldn't even be close to Sakura, he'd only drag her down or personally suffer because of their friendship. At what point was he going to be selfish and protect himself? Imori couldn't answer that question.