Chapter 168: A Place in the World

-Konohagakure-

There were hundreds of shinobi mobilizing throughout the village. They were all making preparations for the coming war, the war that Uchiha Madara brought with him and, at this moment, inside the residence of the Hyuga clan's main family, a certain girl was preparing for what was coming.

"I should be ready by now..." She put on the tactical vest typical of Konoha shinobi, the bandana with its respective badge and tied a red scarf around her neck. "With this I'll be able to stand out from the whole army" She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed. For a few moments, she saw herself and realized that she has now become a soldier. "I will go to a war..." Because of her young age, it was hard for her to take things seriously, but this time is different. She witnessed the destruction and rebuilding of her own home, saw her father die at the hands of someone she considered an older brother, and was now preparing to join the Shinobi Alliance army.

On the badge of her bandana could be seen this very thing. There was no longer a Konoha symbol there, instead, there was simply the word "Shinobi".

This will be a war... people die in war... people suffer in war... there is no certainty of winning the war....

One after another, these thoughts passed through her mind. She felt overwhelmed, as she just turned 11, but she graduated faster because of her born talent. 

"Calm down... calm down... calm down... nothing is going to happen, we are the good guys, the good guys always win..."

Hanabi walked out of the room and met her sister at the exit of the house. She looked at her for a second and admired the coolness with which Hinata handled the situation, even though she inwardly knew that her older sister wasn't having a good time. 

"Onee-sama. I'm ready now. Let's prepare our strategies. It's still four days before we start mobilizing the army. We have to-"

"Hanabi..." Hinata held the ANBU mask in her hand and sighed. "How I wish you weren't part of this. It's too dangerous..."

Hanabi smiled gently as she saw her older sister's concern.

"I know..." she replied. "But there's nothing we can do. The Alliance needs shinobi and I can't stand idly by knowing that there's a crazy guy out there who wants to sow Chaos in the world."

She understood Hanabi. She could tell that this girl had grown up mentally, but she hated to admit that it was Toru who forced her to grow up. Children grow up to become adults and adults fight for the future of children. She tried to think that way.

"Don't worry, Onee-sama. I'm very strong, didn't you see how I punched Naruto in the belly during the final battle of the chūnin exams? Even though I lost, I won the right to be chūnin rank."

"I know, I was there. It was really stupid to make Naruto use the Sennin Mōdo."

"It's just that if my opponent doesn't use his full strength, my victory wouldn't be satisfactory. I still lost though, hehe."

Somehow, the fact that the conversation turned away from the war made Hinata feel more confident in her younger sister.

"Well, let's not wait any longer. Let's go train, Onee-sama. We have to aim for victory" Smiling, she pulled out a kunai that was strangely decorated and raised it high.

"Hanabi, how many times have I told you not to treat your weapons like toys?"

She smiled as she heard her older sister raise her voice, dropping that cold and distant aura.

"I know. I'm just trying to distract myself from thinking that this is all just going to be a nightmare for everyone. I know this will be a war and war is not good" Hanabi started to walk away from the place. "However, we are the good guys, we will fight for peace in the world. So we will win, Onee-sama." 

It's not that Hanabi is confident that the war is already won, it's just that she wants to believe that everything will be fine. Light is always supposed to defeat darkness, that Order will triumph over Chaos, that all will be well for those who fight in the name of justice. But that would be too much to ask. 

In the end, Hanabi stepped forward and left Hinata thinking.

'War is not good...' She looked at the ANBU mask in her hand and remembered Toru. She feels so much hatred for him, she hates him so much for what he has done. No doubt for her, Toru has become the darkness of this world, but inevitably, she couldn't deny that deep down she still felt love for him, love for the Toru of the past, someone who currently no longer exists. "It doesn't matter anymore" She put away the mask and followed Hanabi.

-Konoha Hospital-

"We still have patients to treat. Sakura, you take care of the afternoon patients. I'll be busy with the evening patients, so you can use that free time to rest."

Before Sakura could respond, Ino came out of the nurse's office and looked straight ahead with a serious expression. There was no time to think about trivialities anymore, for a war is coming and all available shinobi must be at 100% to fight against Madara. She was also going to be present in that war, but for that she had to see to it that everyone could fight. 

She walked around the hospital, visited the patients in their rooms and performed the respective checkups. The medical ninjas of the place were overwhelmed to see Ino working as if there was no tomorrow. They all thought that at some point she would collapse from exhaustion, but that would not be the case.

***

After a few hours, Ino found herself in Tsunade's office, reporting everything she had for her. Her position in the war was already decided. She, as a medical ninja that she is, would be in the rear of the Third Division of the Shinobi Alliance alongside Sakura to make sure that all the Shinobi in the same division could recover quickly. Still, Ino refused this. She wanted to participate as well. If she was at the front next to the strong shinobi, then she could heal them and support them with brute force.

Tsunade understood Ino's conviction, but she could not allow that.

"You must understand that if we lose you, we lose a large part of our power as an Alliance. The same goes for Sakura, you can't throw yourself into the battlefield being such an important piece on the board."

"Tsunade-sama, with all due respect, I think it possible for me to be able to fight alongside the others, alongside you. I will not be a burden, I will be a pillar that supports everyone in this war. I will not let our bridge to peace collapse."

"Ha~. I can't just accept your proposal, Ino. You must understand that-"

"Please, Tsunade-sama." She bowed. "I need this, I need to change myself. I need to let go of the past and for that I-"

Tsunade's eyes widened in shock at hearing this. [Forgetting the past] that was something Tsunade, in the past, always wanted to do, but after so many things, she managed to overcome those painful memories. She smiled gently and looked at Ino letting out a slight sigh.

"It's not about forgetting the past, Ino" She stood up from her chair and walked to the window. "It's about getting over it. Don't let the wounds of the past make the scars hurt" She turned around and looked at her again "You're very strong, both physically and mentally. So..." She folded her arms. "I could let you be part of the front in battle."

Ino smiled at hearing this. She took her teacher's hands and bowed.

"Thank you very much, Tsunade-sama. I won't let you down, I promise."

After that, she left the room in a bit of a hurry, which left Tsunade alone and thoughtful. She was going to be busy too, as she had to go back to meet with the other Kages, as she only returned to Konoha to make sure everything was in order and to promote the new chūnin in rank.

"No time to waste."

-In some distant forest-

Trees rose from the ground, moving and twisting, forming a new forest among the mountains. There were large hollow trees that looked like houses. Well, not just looked like, the trees were new homes for the wolves of the Ōkami clan. Toru made sure to make everything as close to the old Okamitsuki village as possible. 

Okaminaru watched this with her jaw almost on the floor. It was already the second time Toru used such a magnificent jutsu without tiring. This was astonishing.

"What if he and I fight to the death again?" a defiant grin showed on her fangs. She felt her blood boil as she imagined herself fighting Toru and his new powers. 'That would be amazing...' Everyone around her watched her breathe heavily as she drooled. 

Kaminari, Okamitsuki's assistant, approached her and whispered in her ear.

"Okaminaru-sama, you need to calm down a bit."

"Uh? Oh... yes. I'm sorry" Yes, she realized what she was being. 'Never mind, I'll ask him to train when he's done growing the trees'

At the same time, Okamitsuki and Okamikase stepped forward and stood next to Toru. 

"Those eyes of yours turned out to be surprisingly useful, brat" she said.

Okamikase played along. "Well, he's still young, he's got a lot to learn. But I guess you don't have anything to teach him anymore, Okamitsuki. I'm sure he's already surpassed you at last."

"Shut up, you decrepit old wolf" Clicking her tongue, Okamitsuki walked into the new village and searched for the perfect house for her and her daughter. 

Considering that the new village bears quite a resemblance to the old one, Toru gave herself the liberty to make some changes. Now, thanks to the tree roots, he was able to make a subway area in the village. It was quite spacious and had quite a few perfectly arranged areas.

"If you noticed, we will use this area to store things. The houses upstairs will be for everyone and the subway especially for those things. I also made a small lab for myself, I'm going to develop a new jutsu and I need somewhere to do it. I hope all this will be to your liking."

At Toru's kind words, Okamikase felt strange. Toru had changed so much in such a short time and he already had a suspicion as to why. 

'A female always changes a male's heart. Maybe the female the boy brought is the one who was able to change him' He approached the village but first. "Good job, boy."

"Thank you, Okamikase-san."

"You are too respectful. Go back to your old self, but don't change your values" with that said, he went to find the most welcoming house for him.

The wolves in the village did the same, a little excited at how easy it was to get new houses. 

"Toru-dono! Now that you're free, could we-"

"Okaminaru, are you feeling better already? I'm going to be busy, so tell me what you need."

"Well... I was thinking we could train again."

With an expressionless face, Toru looked Okaminaru up. "I see. I'll be busy for another day or two, but when I'm done, I'll train with you. I also need to get stronger."

"Okay. That's fine with me! Thanks, Toru!"

She left and Toru raised his eyebrows when he heard that Okaminaru no longer used that old-fashioned honorific in his name. He nodded his head and looked at Konan, who had stood quietly watching everything.

"I also made a house for you, Konan. I know our stay here will be temporary, but you'll need a place to stay until we manage to find a way to defeat Madara."

"Yes. I know, but I feel like I'm causing too much trouble" She looked down at the ground disappointed in herself. She herself said that she would be the pillar that would hold the bridge that would lead future generations to peace, but she felt that, after running away from Madara together with Toru, she was causing trouble to everyone, especially to this boy who saved her life in exchange for risking his own.

In response to this, Toru frowned slightly and shook his head. "The one who is causing us trouble is Madara. You want to stop him and I will help you do that. I feel I must do this not only for you, but for myself" With the Rinnegan active in his eyes, he floated over and sat on a tree branch. Konan followed him and sat down next to him. "Lately I've been questioning myself. After killing Danzo, I feel like I lost a part of my being. I ask myself over and over again... Who am I, what is my purpose in this life? You may think I'm too young to think about such things, but because of the events, I don't know what to think of myself. It's hard for me to imagine a future, but maybe... if I defeat Madara, maybe I'll get to understand that part of my life."

As the boy said all this, he watched the sun's rays pierce the leaves of the trees. His face was expressionless at all times, different from that "cute" expression she saw when he woke up. Konan saw in Toru a troubling feeling, something told her that Toru thinking that way is not right.

If there is anything she could do, it was to accept this and help Toru search for that answer. Konan understands Toru, as they both lost everything. However, who was she to try to help him? If she was also on the same path. 

She closed her eyes and thought deeply, but she couldn't come up with anything to answer what Toru told her. [I like sad stories] What was it that Toru tried to tell her at that moment? He seemed to want to tell her more about himself, but something prevented him. He was silent, looking at the ground, like a blank stare, as if inside he was remembering things that cause him suffering. 

Without her noticing, Toru floated in the air again using Rinnegan. He looked into her eyes before saying something to her.

"I'm going to be busy with some things. If I want to defeat Madara, I need new jutsus capable of hurting him. I'll use the lab for that. I already have a specific idea."

With nothing more to say, he turned away from Konan before she could speak to him. 

She looked at her hand and a small paper butterfly appeared. She remembered that she usually sends paper butterflies to Toru when she wants to communicate something to him and like a strange wind wave, all the memories together with this boy gathered in her heart. She squeezed the paper butterfly tightly because she was already beginning to realize what she was feeling for Toru.

'Something like this can't happen' She shook her head and climbed down from the tree to see the house Toru had built for her. She needs to train too, she needs to get stronger. 'Maybe, something like that can't happen, but I will try to help him with everything I have' Just like she helped Nagato and Yahiko, now she would also help Toru.

To be continued...