~~~
POV: Naruto
To be able to understand others you must have an important ability within your arsenal that gives you the ability to such that.
Empathy.
That's why psychopathy is hard to detect within your everyday lives. These people, these hideous creatures, they are unable to be affected by the emotions that harbour their soul.
Yet, they have such a high capacity of understanding it.
That's why they are dangerous.
Hiding their true faces behind a facade of fake feelings, wearing a smile that only a clown could replicate.
Empathy was truly an amazing thing.
And that's what I was trying to do now-- I was trying to understand why Aoi was even lending me a hand with my current affair.
My information on her was shallow, and the bits that I had gotten were stuff that I managed to extract from the internet and deep-rooted research that I poured my time into.
I wouldn't say it aloud directly...
But this help that I was supposedly getting...
I didn't deserve it.
I wasn't the "real Naruto," yet these memories were nothing short of an ethereal burden. The people that I had hurt during that long, gross path.
Bending the rules of second chances...
Tch.
Second chances aren't for everyone, and most certainly not for someone like me. The sins I carry will continue to haunt me until the day I die in this life.
Yet, the feeling of knowing someone was there for me, even when they don't know what I had done.
It felt...
So comforting.
I needed to move quicker because the way things are now, I could not do what I wanted. I could not control the things that I wished to control.
And I wanted to explore the world, see everything that it had to offer. The books that I had once read, giving me a fictional outlook and image in my mind--
They were real now.
More than that: I was living in that reality.
"What time are you going do it at?" Aoi's words were stern, obviously very apprehensive of doing this and allowing me to continue my operations.
"10 P.M.," I said, replying honestly. Lying was out of the questions.
"Mhm. Alright."
We soon arrived at our house. Getting out of the car I felt the cold breeze hit my face. It was intense, but I shouldered it as I entered the house, feeling the warmth that crossed my body.
"Take a rest. You'll be needing it if we'll be doing vigilantism during the night." I nodded my head, understanding Aoi's words that had been a mutter.
Disobeying her was out of the question.
And I also needed a good quality nap. I had been getting a lot of lack of sleep during the past few days, so this was a good time to unravel myself.
Walking to my bedroom, I threw my handbag on the floor right beside my bed and plopped myself down, crashing asleep.
~~~
POV: Yu
I walked along a long, dark corridor that rung loudly with every step that I took. This was a sight that you'd only see in a nightmare.
I had been the same.
Before, crossing this dark corridor had me fearful, and it had my body shaking in fear of the dark, the unknown.
As time went on, that feeling went away, and only my calmness remained as I walked the corridor that had me at a clutch before.
"Welcome," a voice, one as smooth and silky as a snake said. I had opened the door to this secretive room that only a few people have access to.
Orochimaru's Laboratory.
There was a vile smell that clenched my nose shut, the disgusting smell never getting old as I walked on a floor that was full of garbage and dried blood.
"What are you working on?"
I asked as I looked around.
It has always been like this. Go to Konoha, come back here and ask the same, mundane question that I had long since grown tired of.
But I said it anyway, because that was all I knew what to ask. I was smart, but I wasn't smart enough to understand what he does.
The green liquid that bubbled in their containers.
And the bodies that hung around the walls, their intestines hanging from their stomach. It was disgusting, but I was able to refrain myself from gagging my life.
"Experimenting," he told me.
A vague answer to a vague truth.
Whatever he was experimenting, it'd probably result in failure. He has gone through this many times, and when he tries something new, he'd always fail the first hundred or so tries before getting an adequate result.
But I guess that is what a scientist does - a mad scientist in fact.
"Do you have any updates on Naruto?"
I shook my head.
"He's been sleeping in our homeroom class. And he did the same thing as always during our lunch period together."
"Hm... I see. Perhaps that incident took a toll on him. Maybe a form of trauma had struck him? Having to endure your life almost splitting into two may be quite the shocker."
"Maybe."
I doubted that.
I saw his eyes during that day. As he fought an opponent that far outclassed him, he did not care for his own safety.
He betted his life as it hung on a single thread, and he did not even hesitate to put forth his cards, unleashing everything he had so he could kill the man that was opposing him.
If I was a foolish boy, I would've envied such braveness.
But I was not foolish enough to let myself be killed because of a certain desire.
Naruto...
He was a fool, I had thought.
~~~
POV: Naruto
I walked around my room, the wooden floor creaking under the pressure of my steps. I had been doing this for the past few minutes, collecting my thoughts.
I wanted to think over everything, make sure nothing is left undone. There were a few dozen minutes until the clock struck 10, and I was going to make sure nothing is left unnoticed by my eyes.
What do I need?
I questioned, letting my thoughts roam as I searched my room. After awhile, I stumbled on the small box that held the vast room of make-believe.
I sighed.
I hadn't the time to experiment on the box in awhile, which was rather unfortunate if I had to say. But a thought had occurred to me as I studied the object that lied on the floor.
If...
I just use a Shadow Clone - something that I had been refraining from using - to do this singular task for me, then it wouldn't be too bad.
Yeah.
I summoned a clone.
"Configure it in the closet," I told him, and he nodded his head. I turned, my front facing the balcony that had a slight condensation from the wind that echoed about.
I was going to have to rely on my clone for a little bit. Shadow Clones were very useful, yet I was hesitant on using them for furthering myself.
Why?
Why was I so apprehensive on using my clones to gain more power?
Was it because of what Aoi had told me before? I remembered it clearly, the peaceful breeze as she told of me pouring my all into what I wanted to do.
Her logic deeply embedded into her mind, was something that had took over my mind. Shadow Clones were a tool to further and assist.
But only an apprehensive outlook was being given to them by me. I didn't think of it much, but her words that engrained itself more comfortably than I had took noticed.
I touched my forehead with my finger, feeling the cold sweat that lightly coated it. My unmoved facial expression turned into a sudden frown.
There were more things wrong with me than I had thought.
So easily moved by the words of someone else; they had soothed my ears and eased my burdened mind.
I was just walking around in circles with myself. This perpetual motion that I had been undergoing since even before this time had caught up to me.
It had only become apparent when I had fought Zabuza.
Even with all this intellect and talent I hold, I'm still not using any of it at all.
How foolish was I?
Very.
KNOCK!
There was a loud knock on my front of my door, ringing loudly as my head flung towards its direction. Softly, I responded to the knock.
"Come in."
The door opened, the soft steps of Aoi clacking against the wooden flooring. The quiet creaks irked my ears as I looked at the balcony.
It was dark, grim, and the perfect time to go on a hunting trip for a mercenary swordsman that held a blade that could heal itself by the mere touch of blood.
"Shall we go?"
I looked back, my eyes meeting Aoi's.
"I'm surprised."
She rose an eyebrow at me, obviously puzzled. "For what reason would you be surprised?" I didn't know why, but my neutral expression had turned into a slight smile.
A soft one, with the edge of my lips slightly curved.
"You're stronger than me, but you are asking when we'll be going." It was probably a dumb thing to think about, but it settled inside of my mind.
Did she find it weird for me to think of that?
"You're the one who has it all planned out, so I think it's only natural for me to listen what we'll be doing." Maybe so.
"Alright. I think this would be a good time to get going-- I still have school tomorrow." I couldn't be out too late or I'd miss everything during the day. So I had to be very careful of the time unless it was a weekend.
I walked towards the balcony door, opening it, letting the chilling wind enter the room as my jacket fluttered under its guidance.
"Ladies first," I said, somewhat in a joking manner.
She rolled her eyes.
But she did not move a shred of muscle.
"Do you not get the gesture of you going outside first?" I asked, curious. Aoi shook her head, a tiny smirk appearing on her face.
"I don't see a reason why I should be going first when you're here," she told me.
"After all, you look more like a lady than me."
Asshole.
~~~
Done.
This shall be it for now.
Short chapter ik.
But until next time.
CYA!