179 Chapter 174: Horrible World.

Opening her eyes a little, she felt a little cold under the sheets. The sunlight came through her window and caressed her face. The wild animals were emitting their song as usual and that cold wind coming through that same window made her realize that, under the sheets, she was completely naked. She lifted the sheets a little and realized that the bed was stained with a small drop of blood and strange viscous fluids. However, instead of being embarrassed by this, she smiled relaxed and remembered everything that happened the night before.

Everything that happened last night was too intense for her. She looked at her chest and noticed that she had several kiss marks there. With a bit of curiosity, she touched one of the marks Toru had left on her and felt a bit of pain. She vaguely remembered how this boy licked and sucked her on different parts of her body, which made her feel a strange shiver run through her body.

'At the time it felt great, but now it hurts a little...' she thought. Still, she smiled because she also did the same with Toru. She kissed him, licked him in different places and even went so far as to bite him. So, they were both even.

Taking a good look around, she frowned a little. She didn't see her clothes anywhere, but then she remembered that Toru tore them at that moment. So now she was completely naked without any chance to get dressed. Well, there on the table was still her Akatsuki robe.

'Where's Toru' sitting on the bed and covering herself with the sheets, she looked at the window until a noise came from the other side of the door. She looked at the door and for some reason, from the sound of that person's footsteps, she knew perfectly well who it was.

The door opened and Toru walked in. Konan was a little surprised to see Toru's clothes. He was wearing a gray kimono style elbow-length sleeved shirt with black details on the edges of the sleeves, black pants up to his calves where there were black bandages up to his fingertips, where gray shinobi sandals went. He also had a thick dark blue obi that covered part of his waist and hid the union of his pants with the kimono. On this occasion, the bandages on his arms were removed and, as is customary for him, he had the emblem of the Asahi clan on his back. An emblem very similar to that of the Uchiha clan, only this one itself was modified to look like a red sun rising from a round black mountain. He no longer had his cloak and scarf, as he left them on the table next to Konan's robe.

"Good morning, Konan."

"Uh..." she smiled slightly after seeing him. "Good morning... Toru."

"I brought food. Do you want some?" He held up his hands with bento boxes that were inside some cloth bags and tilted his head slightly waiting for an answer.

Konan nodded her head, to which Toru responded by doing the same. He approached her and, placing the cloth bags with the food on the table, took one of the boxes out of the bag and offered it to Konan. She accepted the food without getting up from the bed and took the chopsticks and then opened the box. The contents looked quite appetizing, so Konan, without waiting any longer, took a small piece of meat and put it in her mouth.

Almost instantly, a bead of sweat fell down this woman's forehead. She looked at Toru and smiled at him.

"You prepared this meal?"

He answered bluntly. "Unfortunately, yes..."

"I see. It has no taste..."

"I know..."

The boy didn't change the expression on his face, just looked at Konan silently after answering that way. Toru literally wrapped the meat in salt, but it still came out tasteless. To him it was strange, as if he was cursed in the gastronomic realm. However, even though the food literally had no taste, Konan continued to eat with a slight smile on her face. Seeing this, Toru sat down on the floor at the foot of the bed and began to eat as well. The two ate in silence, but as had become a habit of theirs, that silence was soothing, calming both of their hearts.

"Your clothes... I'm sorry..." he said.

"It's okay. It's okay, I'll buy clothes later."

Toru raised his eyebrows a little when he heard this. He looked up to see Konan and said, "No need. I already bought clothes for you."

"Really? I see...thank you" she smiled slightly again.

That smile on her... Toru hadn't seen her smile much in all these years, but now, she looked more relaxed, more... happy.....

When he finished eating, Toru touched his ankle, where a seal was on the bandages, and then a small cloud of smoke gently exploded. When the smoke dissipated, some female clothing appeared. Konan watched this with curiosity. This made Toru take those clothes and put them on the bed next to Konan.

"I don't know what kind of clothes you like, but I had the seamstress make clothes similar to what you wore. There's underwear there too."

"Toru, when did you send to make these clothes? I don't think you had time for this."

"Well..."

-A few hours ago-

Toru's shadow clone arrived at a nearby village near the old Sound Village. His clothes were quite deteriorated from the burns, which made the villagers look at him strangely. This didn't matter to the clone, though. Silently, he walked through the streets of this town and observed everything carefully. The town looked a bit, how to say, traditional, different from Konohagakure or Amegakure. The houses looked old, but he could also see some signs here and there. The people looked quite worried, as everyone was aware that the war had already started. This struck terror into people, but they still had their own hope left. If hope was not lost, humanity could still move forward.

'It seems that in this town there is not what I am looking for' After seeing everything, the clone denied in disappointment. But he soon realized that he still had one more place to check. As he reached the end of a little-traveled street, he saw a rather peculiar sign. No, it was more than obvious. 'It's not a clothing store, but if I can get what I want, it works for me.'

Approaching the wooden and paper door, the clone called out to whoever runs this place with a greeting.

A second later, a girl with black hair and eyes appeared running and thus bumping into Toru's clone.

"Hi, customer, what do you need?"

"I-"

"Say no more. Come with me!"

The girl was quite energetic, so much so that she simply wouldn't let Toru speak and grabbed his arm forcing him into the place. He saw this a bit awkwardly, but went along with it. Apparently, the girl, upon seeing Toru's clothes, went into a strange fashion designer frenzy and couldn't restrain herself. She dragged Toru through the house until she reached a specific room and then screamed:

"Okaa-san! We have a cute boy here!"

From the other side, an older woman's voice was heard.

"What did you say! Send him in, Nora!"

She opened the door and walked past Toru. Immediately an old woman of short stature and long, gray hair appeared. She moved so quickly to where Toru was that this surprised him a little. The old woman saw Toru from head to toe and nodded her head each time she looked at specific places. The old woman brought a fan. She used the fan to make Toru raise one of his arms and then hit him on the head.

"How dare you damage such good quality clothes in combat, kid! Those clothes are not for fighting. Hm. These shinobi don't know the value of good clothes anymore. Nora, get everything ready, I'll take the measurements."

"I will, okaa-san!"

After that, the girl left and left Toru alone with this tiny old woman. She took a tape measure and approached Toru again.

"Raise your arm."

"Uh..."

Well, Toru didn't understand what the hell was going on. It all happened so fast that it was hard to react. Still, he heeded the old woman and raised his arm.

"Tell me, boy, what do you specialize in? Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu. which of the three?"

"Mostly Taijutsu, but I combine it with my Ninjutsu."

"Good. That gives me an idea of what I should do. It was a good decision to wear a tight shirt and shorts. The material these clothes are made of isn't bad, but it's obvious that, if you get incised, the clothes will end up getting damaged."

"I had that in mind when I bought my clothes, but they didn't have a stronger material."

"It's because you don't know where to shop, kid. But luckily you've come to my store. I'll make you a nice kimono that will fit your mobility. I like traditional and considering your face and the expressions you make, I see elegance in you, so I'll use that concept. A calf-length pant will also look good, plus it's easy to do and you can use sturdy materials on it. That way you won't be naked when you fight. I'll add an obi and shinobi sandals"

While talking nonstop, the old woman continues to take Toru's measurements.

"Do you like the bandages?" she asked.

"The bandages on my arms and legs are to reduce the damage from my jutsus, but the bandages on my arms, I also use them for storage seals."

"I understand. There will no longer be bandages on your arms, but we will keep the bandages on your legs and there you can put the seals on them. You will understand what I mean when you try on the clothes."

"I understand. And since I'm here and everything has escalated so quickly. I also need clothes for a woman."

"A woman? Why didn't you bring her with you?"

"She was sleeping. I didn't want to wake her up."

"I see. A girlfriend or something, huh. That's none of my business, but if she's not there, I can't take her measurements."

"I can do something."

Toru clasped his hands together and was surrounded by a cloud of smoke before the shape of his body changed. He immediately transformed into Konan.

"I see. This works for me. Then I'll take the measurements and it'll take me two days to finish everything."

Toru frowned.

"I don't have that much time. I'll pay this to be done with everything in two hours."

"Are you crazy, kid? It's impossible to finish this job that fast-"

The old woman's eyes widened as Toru pulled out a large wad of bills. With this old woman's greed aroused, she went into serious mode and replied.

"Say no more! Nora, get ready! The time has come where we test our limits!"

-In the present-

"After that, they began to run from one side to the other while confecting everything."

"It's amazing that they did all that so quickly."

"I also thought the same thing. When my clone arrived, I took the time to prepare food."

A meal that had no taste. Konan was disappointed by this, but that was what there was. Still, she didn't understand how someone could literally take away the taste of something, it had no logic. Well... already in itself what Toru can do has no logic, so she, as long as she is with this boy, can only wait for the surprises he will bring her.

"Thank you for the food" Konan said as he handed the box back to her.

Toru sighed. And took the box. He got up from the floor and put the boxes on the table. When he turned around to look at Konan, he realized that she had gotten up from the bed completely naked. As if he had been hypnotized, he stared at her. At the same time, Konan removed her face piercings and put them aside. She arranged her hair and took the black bra that Toru brought along with the clothes. She looked at this for a few seconds until she realized that he was staring at her.

Being watched by Toru while naked was strange, it generated a strange feeling in her. She remembered the night before again and a hot sigh escaped her. She turned around and approached Toru. She stared at him as he stared at her and brought her lips close to his. She felt a little numb in her legs, but she could take it if it was with Toru. Touching her lips to his, Konan slipped her tongue into Toru's mouth and kissed him passionately.

"It's okay, you can do it" Taking Toru's hand, she made the boy grab her breasts.

She didn't understand how she could be so bold in these situations, but that's how she is. It doesn't matter if it's with Toru because after all she realized that she loves this boy and will accept everything from him.

As they kissed, they slowly walked towards the bed until they both stumbled and fell on the sheets. Konan again lay under Toru, helpless, naked and with a flushed face. This made Toru feel aroused again.

What happened next is obvious.

-Division 2 of the Shinobi Alliance-

Kitsuchi, the general of this division of the Shinobi Alliance, folded his arms and scanned the horizon. He frowned and then shook his head. For a moment he thought about how difficult it would be for the new soldiers to be on the battlefield and even if the rookies were inexperienced, they must strive to give victory to the world.

"We have new information."

In the rear, a man sitting on the ground with a strange helmet attached to a large box frowned as he saw what they had to face. Undeterred by this, however, he took it upon himself to communicate to the nearest shinobi, who would pass the information to the front.

"General, there are about two hundred thousand enemy troops below us. They are 25-30 units below ground."

Kitsuchi kept a cool head. "So that's what this is all about. Then we must act immediately."

Among the army, Hinata pulled out her ANBU mask and put it on. The veins around her eyes bulged and a sigh escaped her mouth. From her own experience, she knew that one of her weaknesses was for the enemy to hide underground. After all, Toru...

'Don't think about it...' she shook her head and took a step forward.

Neji and Hanabi also put on serious expressions and moved forward.

-Division 3 of the Shinobi Alliance-

The air around them began to cool, covering everything with a thick layer of cold mist. She watched along with all the other shinobi as a strange light moved from side to side, at a terrifying speed. Every time the light moved, someone died.

This is war, this is death. However, she was no longer a child, she could not stay hidden and scared as she watched her companions fight. From now on, moving forward, she would no longer turn back.

"To change myself..." Ino closed her eyes and felt the waves of chakra touch her body. It was hard for her, as a sensor type kunoichi, picking up movement at high speeds was difficult, but... "I'm faster!"

Boom! Raising her fist, before he could move between the demonic mirrors, Ino punched Haku in the stomach and forced him to rise upwards from the recoil of the blow. At the same time, taking advantage of this, Kakashi appeared and threw another punch at Haku to leave him buried in the ground.

"It's been a long time" Kakashi recognized two of the four shinobi who were brought to life once again by the Kinjutsu 'Edo Tensei [Reincarnation of the Impure World]'.

Demon Zabuza and Haku, both returned because of the one who is controlling all the people revived by the Edo Tensei.

On the other hand, Ino recognized the Kekkei Genkai of the woman back there. 'That thing she uses is Shakuton, but it's different from the one Toru uses...' seriously thinking about how she should neutralize that woman, Ino let Kakashi and Gai take care of Zabuza and Haku.

-Somewhere on the other side of the battlefield-

Hiding his scaly skin under a hooded robe, Kabuto smiled after seeing what he was provoking with his Edo Tensei invocations. No doubt it is difficult to control so many at once and that is why he is in this cold, dark cave, sitting on the damp floor, concentrating all his chakra on doing what he wanted.

'Naruto-kun, you've given me a new way to live, but it's still not enough. I feel Orochimaru's greed coursing through my blood. I still can't get Sasuke-kun, but I should consider finding Asahi Toru-kun just in case, and for that, I have this...'

He gave a wry smile. Behind him, two eyes glowed sky-blue, blood-red, with a four-petalled black clover-shaped pupil slowly rotating inside the iris. She was a slender young woman, with black hair and eyes, holding two wooden daggers in each hand. She had a large, worn black cloak covering her body.

'Oh, Toru-kun. will you stop having that expressionless face when you see the gift I have for you?' thought Kabuto.

However, controlling this woman was much more difficult than any of those who were revived with the Edo Tensei. She was too resistant and did whatever she pleased. It was very difficult to deal with such a person.

"Looks like the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist are having trouble, how about you go help them?"

"Ara? You need my help that fast? I see, I see. Then I'll go have some fun. It's been a few years since I was last in a war. What good times those were. Well, I'll be going now, Kabuto-chan."

After that strange exchange of words, Kabuto adjusted his glasses. With this, it was confirmed. An introvert like him can't deal with such an extroverted person like her. A person as crazy and sadistic... as The Bloody Thorn of Konoha.

-Ōkami Clan Village-

Near the river, Toru watched Konan bathe in silence. It's already noon and there's a certain conversation that has been going around in his mind. Well, right now he is quite relaxed sitting on this rock by the river, so thinking too much was not the right thing to do. The water was colder than it looked and he had taken off his sandals and bandages so he could sink his feet into the water.

Inside the river, Konan felt this boy's gaze. Although that gaze had a certain lustfulness about it, this did not make her uncomfortable. She continued to take her bath in a relaxed way, as she was doing it with Toru again this morning and was soaked in sweat and her own fluids.

***

When Konan finished bathing, Toru handed her the new clothes and she put them on in front of him.

"It looks good on you," he said as he gave a thumbs up in approval.

Konan found it a little funny how Toru raised his thumb without changing the expression on his face, which made a small giggle escape her lips.

Konan's clothes were the same as the ones she wore under the Akatsuki robe, those same tight clothes, the short dark blue blouse and the tight pants that were attached to her sandals. So, nothing in her way of dressing changed except that now she no longer had the piercings on her face let alone the flower on her head. She decided to keep all this as a memory of the past, because since she confirmed her feelings for Toru, she decided to fight with him and help him in the search for "that" answer. Even though the past is not forgotten, Konan decided to be better and overcome those painful memories.

"Aren't you going back to the village?"

Seeing that Toru remained sitting on that rock even though she was leaving, Konan tilted her head curiously.

In response, Toru looked up at the sky and smiled slightly. "I'll stay here for a while. You can join me if you want."

She saw something odd in this response. It's as if Toru was trying to tell her that he wanted to be alone and that worried her a little. Still, she trusts him, so, if he needs some personal space, she'll give it to him.

"Relax a little here. It's already a little late for lunch, but I'll go prepare something with what Okamitsuki-san brought last night."

Well, she doesn't want to eat Toru's food again either. The fact that that food has no taste was a bit... sad, to say the least. However, she wasn't going to criticize that part of Toru. So, she went quietly leaving the boy to relax.

Seeing this, Toru returned his gaze to the river and saw his own reflection. He saw his eyes, his face, he saw myself and for a moment he saw the first person who didn't treat him like dirt after reincarnating. He saw Asahi Kyoko and then confirmed Jiraiya's words.

'I look like her... just a little...'

He closed his eyes and covered his eyes with one hand. When he removed his hand from his face and opened his eyes again, the Rinnegan showed itself. He still didn't understand the reason why he has awakened these eyes, but this was not normal. After some thought, he deduced that it simply isn't enough to have the DNA of the Uchiha and Senju to awaken these eyes, there was something else he was overlooking, but not finding an answer, he gave up.

'Family...' he remembered Okamitsuki's words at the time. If she considered him part of her family, then he has a place to belong, he has a place in this world, but that's not enough for him. There was something that was bothering him ever since Konan hit him that time. 'Konan... that's right...' as he thought of her, he touched his chest painfully. He now had something to protect...

No, that would be too hypocritical. He was supposed to be protecting Hinata, Hanabi and Ino, but....

'What was it that I did...?'

He looked at his hands and his mind saw Hiashi's blood, Sakura's blood and also the tears of those girls.

Closing his eyes, he clenched his fist tightly and a small smile formed on his face.

"It's true... I'm used to this... and that's why it's okay."

Searching through his memories, he realized that in his entire life he had always been hated by someone else and that he had become accustomed to that feeling. The hatred of others...it felt so familiar...that hatred he grew up with in his past life. He got used to the hatred, got used to loving in spite of it. He got used to holding back suffering and worst of all, he had forgotten how to feel emotions. That's why everything is so confusing for him, that's why his attitude was always changing. He simply had no identity, he was nobody... he had ceased to be somebody in this world and in his old world. But if he manages to find that answer, he is sure that he will be able to recover his own identity, he is sure that this time he will really be able to "reincarnate". If he manages to find that answer, maybe....

"Maybe I could see the sun rise over the horizon..."

Without realizing it, he found himself floating in the sky with the Rinnegan in his eyes. He watched the forest, watched the sky. The air, like the water in the river, was quite cold. He felt a chill run through his body, but somehow it was comfortable for him. Being so high up, he felt like he was on top of everything, but at the same time, he felt like he was chained to being on that top.

Letting out a melancholy sigh, that conversation he had with the old woman who made the clothes circled in his mind.

-A few hours ago-

"It's all finished now. Thank you for waiting, boy" the old woman took all the clothes and wrapped them with a big thick red cloth.

"I thank you for finishing so quickly."

"Say no more. Seeing so much money, anyone's eyes would dance with happiness. My hands hurt, but it was worth it. Now, before you go, let me give you some advice, my boy. If you go to that war, try to keep your cool. You look pretty young, but from the scars on your arms and the expression on your face, I can tell you've seen death on more than one occasion. Well, it's something you already seem to know, but you're young, young people get excited very quickly."

"I wasn't planning to go to war. I'll let the shinobi take care of that. I have other things to do."

"Really? I see. Still, I suppose you could see it in the people of this village. They are all frightened. Surely the war has already started and it's more than certain that many people have already died. If you value your life, then you're doing the right thing by staying away from the conflict."

"I understand. Thank you very much again. I have to go now."

"Yeah. Have a good one, kiddo."

The old woman said goodbye to Toru and sighed. She looked at the door silently and thought of all the children who will go to that war.

"What a horrible world we live in."

-A long time ago, in some other life-

"What a horrible world we live in" suddenly uttered that boy with slightly broken glasses. He had a backpack on his back and from the dark circles under his eyes, he hasn't slept much at night.

He was on top of a building, observing everything in silence, with his hands in his pockets and an expressionless face. He took a relaxed breath, but then made a slight face of disgust as he felt the pollution in the air. The sky was covered by black clouds and the lights all over the city polluted the view. He thought how horrible the world he was born into was, but nothing he could do about it to fix it, not yet....

He had a bandage on his right arm and gauze on his face, he looked like he had been attacked by someone and ended up in that state. Images of some intimidating looking guys came to his mind, as they were the ones who beat him up, but they didn't get away with it. Fortunately the police were nearby and some guys from the university were also involved.

The wind blew hard, causing him to glance sharply back, the direction the wind was going. His silver eyes showed in the darkness and finally the boy's identity was revealed by the light of a flashlight illuminating his face.

Alek Gusev (18 years old) was him.

"At last I find you" who pointed the flashlight at Alek appeared. She was a girl with black hair and brown eyes, with a somewhat suggestive body. "You disappear as if you were a ninja. I'm Duscha, I'm in charge of the room complex for the boys. Since you are new to this university, don't you know that it's forbidden to climb up here. You know, it's dangerous here because it's high and you can slip and fall and then you know what happens when someone falls from very high."

Alek looked at her silently, but didn't say a word.

Duscha knew that this boy ran away from home and enrolled in this college days later. It was quite strange, but since he had nowhere to stay, as he now lives on campus. Also, he escaped from his room after the curfew is announced, so, some mean guys beat him up when they saw him alone at night and now he is up here.

"You're a really weird guy, you know that? You better go to your room before we both get in trouble."

Alek, with his typical poker face, walked past Duscha without even looking at her or simply noticing her and walked silently down the stairs with that same indifference. This left Duscha quite confused.

"What's wrong with that guy? Just because he came here, solving an equation that was supposed to have no answer, doesn't give him the right to act so smug. Haa... whatever. Alek Gusev, a genius who appeared out of nowhere, Ha! Like it's a big deal!"

-In the present-

Before he entered the house, a few sheets of paper passed over his shoulder. He opened the door to see what was going on inside and saw that there was a table made of paper with two chairs of the same material. In the center of the table were some plates with food that, although it looked quite plain, looked quite appetizing.

"You're just in time" Konan appeared behind Toru and entered the room before him. "It's not much, but it's all I could make with what we had on hand."

Looking at the food, Toru was left thinking about that old woman's words. He was silent for a few seconds, which made Konan approach him asking what was wrong, but he didn't answer.

"Toru, are you okay?"

"Uh..." he reacted as he felt her breathing nearby. "Yeah, nothing's wrong. It's nothing."

This didn't convince Konan, but she couldn't say anything, as Toru sat down on the chair and prepared to eat. So, following him, she also did the same and sat down.

"Itadakimasu" Toru clasped his hands together and nodded his head. Konan mimicked him and together they began to eat. Or so they should, but Konan noticed that Toru stared at the food distractedly, thinking about something, with some worry in his gaze. She wanted to ask, but just as she was about to do so, Toru interrupted her.

Thinking about everything he has had to see in this world and that there is a war those girls surely went to, Toru said as a whisper, "What a horrible world we live in."

Konan was silent hearing this. He was right, this world was horrible.

"Even though this world is horrible, we still have the flower of hope, and as long as the flower doesn't wither, we can still make the world better."

Toru smiled slightly. "Yes. I assumed you would answer that. I'm glad."

At that moment, if someone had said those words to that boy who ran away from home, Toru would surely not be in this world.

To be continued...