Mistake - A Naruto Fan-Fiction 21 For The Better

I opened my eyes, blinded by the sun's light. I blinked and sat up, pulling my knees up to my chest, careful with my bandaged right foot. I then gently placed my left hand over to my left eye, getting a cool feeling from my said eye.

I don't really know what happened after I trapped the ginormous insect… but weird things are happening since. I've been having weird dreams since after the centipede incident. Things are often going strange around the temporary cottage tou-san built for me to stay in.

Tou-san's out and had something to do so he went away, a.s.signing s.h.i.+sui as my body guard while placing others around the forest for protection. He postponed the training for now, saying he has something to do back in his work. He took Inoichi-san with him too, so I don't really know where they're going.

Inoichi-san seemed so panic these days too. It has only been a few days after the Centipede Incident… I don't know what happened after I caught the king-cla.s.s centipede in my trap—but it seems like it's enough to shake up the adults. Tou-san only said that I pa.s.sed out after I trapped the said thing due to chakra exhaustion… but I doubt that. I'm sure something happened.

The jounins around me are definitely hiding their uneasiness behind their soft smiles. They would often avoid my gaze and just "observe" and "guard" from afar, like they're more afraid to me than anything else. When I approached one jounin and asked him why they're sometimes distancing away, he really wasn't sure and even questioned himself too.

"You up—woah…!" I heard a voice as the door slid open, making me to turn my head ever so slightly towards the person. It was s.h.i.+sui. He's close to dropping the tray he's carrying. "Do 'ya know how to turn that thing off? It's cool and all but I'm never gonna get used to it." He pointed at his own left eye. I raised a brow.

Well, I'm not going to get used to your chatter-box, s.h.i.+sui-nii.

I blinked at him as he snapped his fingers, a small mirror appearing between his hands before tossing the said item to me. I caught it, startled from the reflection that greeted me from the mirror.

A golden gaze.

I blinked.

It disappeared.

["You do not own that power. That power owns you."]

"… so yeah. That's why I'm here—are you even listening?" I heard the Uchiha sigh, "As I was saying, I'm asking you if you want to walk around a bit? Kuro-sama postponed your training but you could definitely use a walk. You have horrible dark circles under your eyes for your age—much darker than mine, seriously."

He placed a hand on his waist in a lazy manner, "You definitely remind me of a little crow back in my compound…"

My head feels light at the moment, so I kinda just nodded at him.

After breakfast, s.h.i.+sui-nii prepared me for the walk. At this point, I don't really care what he's doing to me. I was really out of it and didn't realise that he already bathed me and dressed me new, saying that he's used to this since his brother at home is just the same as me.

Well, unlike Itachi, the brother he's talking about, I've been feeling off. I didn't voice it out but just let s.h.i.+sui carry me on his shoulder, making me sit on his arms for support as we went out of the door and off into the forest.

I blinked.

["I'm really lucky to have a brother like you."]

What's with those voices echoing in my mind? Not only they're irritatingly intriguing, but they seem familiar, somehow, like I've heard those voices before… but I really haven't. Heck, I don't even know why they're familiar.

They had been echoing in my mind these past night.

This is trippy.

I'm not high, am I? Definitely not. I'm clean since birth, geez—since my last life, actually. Never did drugs even though I was mistaken as a part of a thieves' gang that did drugs while I was just minding my own business

I rested my chin on s.h.i.+sui's shoulder before letting out a big sigh. He raised a bro but didn't question why I sighed and just continued chatting away.

I then let my eyes wander around lazily, eyes catching something blindingly white mixed into the greeneries.

I narrowed my eyes.

__________

Kuro never really wanted to postpone training his son… but it's for the best. He felt that it was his fault that his son's left eye activated anyways. He was responsible for his son's endangerment, and he wanted to make up for it, so early break for his son it is.

He was actually glad that Inoichi brought out the subject of erasing the short memory of Orion using his eye, because they were very sure the child is going to be consumed by guilt when he wakes up—even when it turns out that everyone that went momentarily crazy are actually okay.

They removed the particular memory not only to protect Orion's mentality, but also to protect him from any harm—because they had a feeling that things will go wrong if they didn't. They were about to erase the affected ninjas' memories too but it seemed like they don't remember the things that happened to them after they "fought" the centipede.

It seems like their memories were replaced, but it was for the better. Kuro and Inoichi didn't know how that happened, but it sure did save them time.

He was also glad that his child's right foot is close to being okay now. It was fractured before, but thanks to Tsutsuji, it's far from worse.

"It seems like what the eye did is far from its true ability." Kuro said to Inoichi as the two entered the Hokage Tower, "Seeing the eye's powers is far more different than hearing a story about it. I mean, Ori literally breezed through the air, saving everyone from the King Centipede's poison."

He sounded rather fascinated.

"I… know what you mean." Inoichi slowly nodded, golden eyes still engraved in his mind. "I saw his golden eyes too…"

Kuro halted on his steps, turning his head just enough to see the Yamanaka by the corner of his eyes, "Pardon?"

"I saw… your son's golden… eyes?" Inoichi blinked at him, his hands raised in a surrendering manner after seeing Kuro's panicked face.

"Eyes?" The Nara repeated, quickly dragging the Yamanaka into the Hokage's office and closing the door behind him before signalling the Hokage to activate his privacy seals, and the Third did. "Seriously? You're saying that Orion got both of the golden eyes? And you saw them? How are you okay then?" He simultaneously asked the confused ninja.

The Hokage narrowed his eyes at the two as they brought up an interesting topic as soon as they got into his office.

"Yes, I did see them… though I'm not sure if they are 'his'." Inoichi nodded casually, patting the Nara's shoulder. "You should calm down for a quick moment, Kuro. I should be the one who supposed to freak out, actually." He coughed before clearing his throat. "After I went inside his mind, there… was definitely a lost void of time in there. I didn't even get to remember what your son's mindscape looked like. Everything became hazy as soon as I met the pair of golden gaze you described. Then and there, something in the back of my mind is commanding me to protect your son from any harm." He sounded serious.

"It seems like we don't really know who your son is, Kuro-kun." Inoichi looked into the Nara's eyes as sternly as he could, "We cannot take your son's powers lightly. It is something we won't understand… so stop trying to dig deeper, okay? It's okay for you to train your son for whatever reason—but don't ever push him over his very limits."

The Yamanaka bowed his head, turning around and opening the door to leave, "Treat your son well, Kuro-kun." He left those words as he exited the now silent room, leaving the two person inside bewildered.

The Hokage coughed, snapping the Nara from his daze. "Care to fill me in?" He asked with a casual face.

Kuro blinked, facing the Third. "Right…"

Kuro explained the situation to the Hokage, and the said old man listen very carefully at his words. The Third understood very well why the two were acting out of their character and why they suddenly barged into his office. It was a rather alarming situation, knowing that the Nara's child may actually be wielding a potentially useful and at the same time, potentially harmful weapon.

"Not a single one remember what the eye did to them?" The Third inquired. Kuro nodded, "Their memories were replaced of them "fighting" the King Centipede, but no such thing happened. My son even saved them using an unknown ability."

Just as the Sandaime was about to speak, another person barged in, screaming the Nara's name, "s.h.i.+kakuro-sama!"

__________

Narrowed eyes followed a pair of adopted-brothers as they trudged along the Forest of Death. Those eyes belong to a white-masked man wearing his all white clothes. His name? Many probably know him already. He had hypnotized many using his amazing tunes to find the person he had been looking for. He had killed his father and sided to a wrong-doer.

He's Xavier Rukas, aka s.h.i.+ro.

No, he's not planning to kill the two, no, no. It took him great trouble to escape from that "Gee-sama" so he's taking his time to let the two go wherever. He's even looking out for enemies. How nice of him. He's just observing them at a reasonable distance, his presence completely concealed as he do so.

Well, it's not like he's blending in really well considering he's wearing all white all the time, but he's doing just fine, casually standing and hopping branch to branch to closely follow the two that snuck out of their camp just to take a walk.

Xavier doesn't really know why the two decided to take a walk knowing that an enemy could jump at them, but he's just there to observe, just in case something interesting happens.

Oh, and the reason he thought to appear now? Well, looking at the young boy, he seemed to be quite out of it, bringing his curiosity to its peak. It's rather odd for the silver-haired boy to be so out of it when he's all smart and clever. Xavier saw the child as rational and someone with great stability, but why is the child like that now?

Why, he wonders.

He had hypnotised many to find someone suitable to help him defeat the person who killed his kin, and he found Orion to be perfect. The only thing he didn't consider is the fact that the person he's serving under is actually targeting the same child he had set his eyes on.

Well, if things work out on his end though, he'd succeed avenging his family—with the child's help, of course. If his memory doesn't fail him, the child's name is Orion—a Nara too, so he's glad he got a sharp black key to his side. Probably.

If things doesn't go to plan, however, he's going to embrace death and accept his failure. It's not like it's going to change anything, right? At least he tried even though he might've been treated like the villain… but he's no villain nor hero. He's just some random dude in white clothing who wanders around endlessly and aimlessly to spread his beloved music for a good cause—before everything happened, anyways.

He casually blinked, stopping on his tracks as he observed Shuns.h.i.+n no s.h.i.+sui and Orion stop just before a clearing deep in the Forest of Death. His eyes then trailed onto the clearing that is an unsettling sight. Old, deep craters were littered on the ground, so he understands why the two ninjas are intrigued.

Actually, he too is very intrigued. He had wandered inside the Forest of Death before, and this is the first time he has seen such place. The clearing had a condensed, heavy chakra surrounding it like a barrier, as if one can only get in the area, or even see the area using a specific "key". The chakra is very dense, and quite dark… dark enough to resemble—

"What are you looking at?" Someone asked him.

Without really thinking, he answered that 'someone'. "Nothing in parti—" He froze, almost letting out a startled shriek as the person whom he has been looking at is right next to him all of a sudden.

Orion looked so bored at him. "Is my stealth that good, or you're just dumb for not noticing that I'm already next to you?" Did he hear that right? Did he just get called dumb by a child no less?

Oh my go—this Orion child reminds him of 'that person'. They're not only similar by the way they do their things, but the way they speak too! They seem so bored all the time like they already know what h.e.l.l looks like! This is quite unacceptable for him! He's a young adult and those two treat him like he's any other person?

Well, it's not like he has a choice to retaliate…

He simply sighed, giving his full glance at the silver-haired boy next to him.

"Okay, I know you're not dumb, but strange things are happening lately and I just vented that out to you." The young boy sighed deeper, sitting on the branch casually, letting his small legs swing back and forth from his seat.

Xavier blinked at him and looked back down to where the boy was before he appeared next to him, and wha—he's still with the Shuns.h.i.+n Uchiha guy… Now which one's the clone…? He really can't tell, like, what? Things like these should've been easy to figure out but why is it d.a.m.n hard to look for the fake one, Xavier wonders. He's someone trained, and could be considered as a ranked ninja—someone high up there, at least, but figuring which one's which is confusing.

He narrowed his eyes focusing his gaze between the two identical boys. Dark shadow envelops the two's chakra, so it's very hard to look for the real one. Come to think of it, when he had "found" Orion, it was the same too. Something dark is definitely surrounding the young boy—something more dangerous than his current boss's aura.

Well, he could just hit one of the Orion's but… that's not a smart choice.

"So? Why are you trailing after us?" The child asked him casually, "'Ya trynna kill us again or something? You know very well that this forest is surrounded by high-ranked ninjas so you won't get away like last time."

"I could very well kill the both of you if I wanted to, little white deer." Xavier smiled behind his mask, sounding amused.

The child chuckled, "Could you, though?"

Xavier blinked at the puzzling child. He knows that the child can tell that he could easily kill them this very instance, but it seems like the child is placing his trust onto him. "I could… but I'm too lazy to."

"Hah." Orion smiled, leaning back a bit.

The forest's ambience enveloped the two's surroundings as they both fell into silence after their short conversation. They both stared down at s.h.i.+sui and the other Orion he's carrying on his back.

"What's with your code?" Orion suddenly spoke up, "No villain would give out clues to their prey."

"That's the thing." Xavier didn't bother to look at the young boy next to him but kept his gaze down towards the two that wandered below, "I'm no villain… nor a hero. I'm just someone who seeks great revenge against someone I'm sure I cannot defeat."

"Don't ever say you're an avenger because that's stupid." The child rolled his eyes, muttering about some "duck b.u.t.t" and "a copycat".

"Ha. No. Absolutely not, young child. That name's a trademark. You don't want to get sued." Xavier chuckled.

"Really, now?" The child seemed very amused, laughing about as the white-clothed man strengthens his sound barrier for the child's laugh not to reach anyone else's ears.

To be truthfully honest, Xavier was startled when the child started laughing without a care in the world. He didn't know that something so little could make this child's day. It even seemed like the dark circles under the child's eyes disappeared the moment he laughed. He was too bright for Xavier that the young man needed to keep his tainted aura off of the child. His lips curved into a smile, laughing along with the child.

It seems like he wasn't wrong for choosing this precious child as his destined black key. How he wished the moment could last longer, but he doesn't belong in the child's bright world.

It's quite ironic, really. Xavier's black key is someone blindingly bright, someone too high and priceless for him to reach.

…

That's why it was too great of a shock when the Orion next to him disappeared in a quick poof, making him swiftly glance over to the two below him.

It wasn't a pretty sight.

"ORION!" s.h.i.+sui called the child's name, who seems to be clutching his chest.

Xavier narrowed his eyes at the two and placed a reasonable amount of chakra to his eyes to see clearly what on earth happened.

His eyes widened when the child coughed.

'Is that… blood?'