The Road of Life

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and all its characters. I'm just playing around with them.

A/N: Yeah… The whole schedule thing kind of went out the window immediately, didn't it? Oh well. I did say that I'm not giving up on this story. I've put in too much time in writing the drafts, and I do really like this story.

Just so you guys know, Saisu Kamano isn't an OC. He is the kid with dirty blonde hair that used to harass Itachi during his academy days. I'm going to use some more obscure canon characters in the future, so keep your eyes open.

A Hundred Verses under the Gazebo

I looked at Shisui, whose eyes were glued to the stars above. It was close to midnight – the drinking session we had went on longer than either of us expected. Still, I looked at him, noting how similar our builds were. Well, it was to be expected, considering our situation.

"Shisui…"

"Hm?"

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you _"

"Huh?" Shisui chuckled. "It's not like you to dwell on the past. Don't get depressed on me. Might set a bad example for Haku. The poor boy, hahaha…"

"Humor me."

Shisui leaned back on the fence we were standing on, mismatched eyes scanning over the grass field before us. After a while, he let out another chuckle. He didn't seem drunk, although I wondered if shadow clones could get drunk in the first place.

"Actions you take during childhood are all mysterious," Shisui began. "None of them can be really explained. I have no real idea why I did what I did that night, really. My train of thought was completely different than what it is now."

I never felt like that. I, who had been born with the mature mind of a teenager, truly felt like an old man now. What did I miss – did I miss the blissful ignorance that most children enjoy so much? I couldn't help but feel jealous. That was the kind of man I am. So petty.

"But I can say this," Shisui continued. "If you are to die tomorrow, I'm fine with my life ending then as well. But if for some reason you want to live for another day, I'll go on living with you as well."

Shisui jumped backwards as the ninjato almost sliced his head off. The attack did not subside, and Shisui did all he could to avoid his opponent's attacks, narrowly missing death with every dodge. His opponent was good, with clearly more training and experience under his belt.

He was running out of room to dodge. With a cat-like leap, Shisui distanced away from his opponent, only to be bombarded with more swings. Even with his Sharingan, Shisui was barely able to keep up with whoever it was.

His opponent was good – really good. He might have bitten more than he could chew. Quickly scanning his surroundings, Shisui jumped up on top of a set of crates, before unleashing a fireball jutsu. The searing heat would've burned through most things – if it had hit. But it wasn't Shisui's intention to hit his target.

Even before his jutsu subsided, Shisui already turned around, and he wasn't surprised to catch his opponent's blade with his own kunai before it had the chance to pierce his torso. His hand was practically shaking at the force of the blow. Pushing back the assailant with his feet, Shisui jumped back on top of another set of crates, assessing the situation.

He already had a good general idea on what was happening inside the facility, but the problem was getting out of it. The boy in front of him was much better trained than he was. Give him a few years to catch up, and he might be able to beat the boy, but not now.

He feared that with how boring the academy had been, they'd been too complacent. That wouldn't do.

Still, there wouldn't be a chance to return if they don't get out of here. Pulling out a few sets of wires from his pouch, Shisui concocted a plan to slow down his opponent while he escaped. It wasn't foolproof, but it was better than anything he could come up in such a short amount of time.

All that mattered now was executing said plan.

The masked boy charged, and Shisui tensed, already looking for opportunities to execute his plan. He did not expect a newcomer to come jumping down from the ceiling and block the incoming attack. Shisui eyes widened at the unexpected interruption, things seemingly playing out in slow motion as the newcomer expertly warded off the masked boy. His opponent gave some distance between Shisui and the newcomer, and it was then that he saw who this newcomer was.

It was a young man with a dark mask covering his lower face and a mop of silver hair on top of his head. He was wearing the standard Chunin-Jounin uniform complete with green vest. In his hand was a kunai used to block the attack.

"K-Kakashi-san?" Shisui uttered out, remembering the teenager who had taught him and Tora how to climb trees.

Kakashi glanced at Shisui with an annoyed glare, sighing, "You kids are more trouble then you should be."

What the hell? What the hell is he doing here!? With an arm on his throat, I could only glare in surprise at the newcomer in front of me. Although it wasn't anyone dangerous, his presence here still risked a lot of danger. Did he follow the three of us from the entrance? Or was it even before that?

"What are you doing here, Saisu?" I asked the boy in front of me, taking my kunai off his eye and pocketing it back. He could only wither under my glare, his messy mane of hair even messier after our brief tussle. The shorter boy glared back at me, but I could see that he was afraid.

"I followed you, of course!" answered the boisterous Saisu Kamano, my classmate from the academy. I put a hand over his mouth.

"Not so loud!" I told him. "Why the hell were you following me?"

"I wanna know your secret!" he answered

Huh? What secret?

Saisu continued, "You, who kept up with the two Uchihas in our class. There must be some sort of secret that you're hiding in order to do that!"

I'm dealing with an idiot, was what came to my mind initially. But the rational part of my mind prevailed, reminding me that I was dealing with an immature child.

"There's no secret," I retorted. "Get out of here. It's not safe."

"I can take care of myself!"

"Really?" I huffed. "Then that means that you won't need an escort to get back out."

"O-oi! You jer –

I slammed my hand over his mouth and pressed him against the wall. Seeing as he won't make another sound, I carefully took him with me to stand behind a shelf.

I had heard footsteps. From the sound of it, it was only a single person. But I wasn't taking any chances. I may be much stronger than the average academy student, but a full-fledged ninja was not something I wanted to tangle with.

As the sound of footsteps came closer and closer, I pressed my arm over Saisu's chest, plastering him against the wall in fear of him running away in fright and giving off our positions.

As the figure came to light, my breath hitched. Had my resolve been weaker, I might have hyperventilated from the sheer amount of trouble we were in.

It was Orochimaru, still in his uniform and holding some papers in his hand. He was walking slowly, immersed in whatever he was reading. Looking back at the tubes I have a fair idea on what the notes were about. Saisu seemed to have noticed the tubes as well, as he was shaking in fear at what he was seeing. I desperately sent a warning glance at him and covered his mouth to prevent any sound of getting out.

Forget about fighting a full-fledged ninja, this was one of the freaking Sannin. We would be obliterated with no second to fight back if he found out we were here. He was walking in a direction that would pass us. His head was turned away from the shelf we were hiding behind, murmuring something that I couldn't hear.

Then he stopped.

His shoulders seem stiff, as if he was noticing something. I could feel a bead of sweat trailing down my temple. Beside me, Saisu was soundlessly shaking, quivering at the sight of the Sannin.

"This chakra…" Orochimaru muttered. I stiffened, afraid that he had sensed out our chakra. "Kakashi?"

I could've screamed in relief. A bigger chakra presence was nearby. I even recognized the name. It was the masked teenager that taught me and Shisui tree climbing. Well the guy was kind of famous in the village anyway.

Thank you, you aloof bastard…

"Danzo's soldiers haven't been doing their job," Orochimaru muttered, visibly irritated.

I did not know who this Danzo was, but I could only internally jump in joy as Orochimaru left the room to deal with whatever disturbance was in the area. Was this "Danzo" the person the Third Hokage was talking about? The one who sent that Anbu after me?

I only let Saisu out of my grip after the sound of Orochimaru's footsteps were gone. I let out a huge sigh of relief before glaring at the shorter boy who wasn't doing any better – if not worse than me at the moment.

"You need to get out of here," I said to him, and he nodded none too eagerly.

"W-what about you?" he asked.

"I need to find Itachi and Shisui," I said, already preparing to scour the base for them.

"No need for that."

I went still as a new voice came from behind us, and I did recognize the voice. I turned around to stare at a masked young man with silver hair. Even with most of his face covered, I could see it clearly in his eyes that he was mad.

"Um... hey, Kakashi-san," I said to him.

He was still glaring at me.

"You two are coming with me," he whispered just in case anyone was nearby. Even in his hushed tone, I can still hear the frustration within it.

Without another word, and heedless to Saisu's protests, Kakashi wrapped his arms around each of us and Body-Flickered out of the area. I was still reeling from the high speed movement when I realized that we were just outside the premises.

"Itachi and Shisui-

"Is here," another Kakashi interrupted me, holding Shisui within his arms as well.

Another one came not a second later, holding Itachi. With puffs of smoke, the Kakashi by my side and Itachi's dispersed, leaving the original standing by Shisui. He was silent for a few seconds, arms crossed in front of him while glaring piercing knives at us.

"Disobeying direct orders from the Hokage," Kakashi drawled. "That is not something to be taken lightly. Tell me why I shouldn't just bring you three to the man himself."

I nervously pulled the mask off my face, seeing no use for it anymore. "I may have something…" I said.

I sat on my seat silently with Shisui right beside me and Itachi beside him. The three of us, plus Saisu, had gotten a mostly free pass from Kakashi due to the information we had encountered. At first, I wondered why the ninjas patrolling the village hadn't ever encountered Orochimaru's lair, but Kakashi said that the Hokage already had suspicions. They just hadn't found any proof. Concrete ones, at least.

Well, it seemed the three of us had found the proof for them. Well, perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I had stumbled upon the place on one of our nights out. It was just enough to get in the good graces of Kakashi and the Hokage after our blatant disregard of the village head's order.

Still, the three of us were still in the academy, and was now attending a more advanced class than before – which was something the three of us were glad of. Anymore droning of basics and our heads would just explode out of sheer boredom. Perhaps not Itachi, though. His head would just silently deflate out of boredom.

He was subtle like that.

And though our homeroom was still the same as before, we spent most of our day in a different class with the older students. It earned more than a few heads to turn our way, which wasn't that different out of the norm. We were constantly matching, or specifically in Itachi's case, outclassing many of our older peers in many categories.

During the first hour alone, one of the older students had approached me and jabbed a finger onto my chest, saying something nonsensical I couldn't care less about. This time, I didn't hold back as I did against Saisu's attempt at riling me up. The older student's dislocated finger had been easily fixed with a trip to the infirmary, and it earned some space for the three of us, making sure no one hounds us during our stay at the academy.

Was it too much?

Perhaps.

Call me edgy or whatever. I just wanted to get out of the academy and pass the classes. Although Itachi did mention that letting my temper take control shouldn't ever be a first solution.

To be fair, that was the second time someone tried to rile me up in the past week alone. The situation with Saisu had been the first solution.

Admittedly, it wasn't that much better, but oh well…

I turned to Shisui who sat before me, whispering, "So… You think we're in the safe-zone with the old man Hokage?"

Shisui turned to me, just as perplexed. "You're asking me? It's a good thing that we are particularly talented in class, or they'd have no reason to keep us in the academy."

Itachi cut into the conversation, "Well, the academy can't exactly expel both Shisui and I without gaining the attention of our clan."

"I seem to have noticed that I was excluded from that observation of yours," I replied.

Itachi shrugged innocently.

"Still," Shisui said. "You did get a name. Danzo, right?"

"Ring any bells?" I asked the two of them, with both shaking their heads at the mention of the name. I turned to Itachi. "Have your father ever mentioned anyone with that name?"

"Not that I know of," Itachi said. "But when I'm Genin, my father will start letting me attend clan meetings."

I felt a little unsure. Itachi would be in a lot of trouble if he relayed any classified information. "Are you sure about that?"

"I don't know yet," Itachi shook his head. "But let's shelf that for later."

I nodded once, my eyes straying outside the window. Somehow, I had a feeling that the name "Danzo" would be a name I'm familiar with in just a few short years.

"Guys!"

I turned my head around to the source of the call, and so did Itachi and Shisui. We were walking down the street together, close to the intersection that would separate the paths towards the orphanage and the Uchiha Compound.

It was Izumi, and she was jogging slightly to catch up with us. We stopped on our tracks, letting Izumi closer. "What is it?" I asked her.

She huffed, breathing a little deeper from her jog. "I'm just worried. I thought the three of you were going to be expelled after that problem in class!"

Little did she know that we had gotten into an even bigger problem that very night.

With the Hokage himself, no less.

I should put that on my resume…

Anyway, Izumi. In front of us. Almost forgot about her.

"Oh, we're fine," Shisui answered for us. "We didn't even get that much of a reprimand."

"Still!" Izumi huffed. "You guys shouldn't get into any trouble like that! Some of us in class actually care about you guys!"

"We're fine, Izumi," Itachi answered her. "There's nothing to worry about. In fact, I think things are looking up for us."

"Really?" she asked, a bit skeptical.

"Yeah," Itachi said. "At the rate we're in, we might even graduate early."

Izumi huffed, eyeing the three of us. "Figures… I'm not surprised."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You haven't heard?" Izumi asked back. "You three are practically the talk of the academy, whether it's the teachers or the students."

I crossed my arms. "I mean, I do notice the stares and talks a bit."

Izumi continued. "I heard that the teachers have already assigned a Jounin instructor for when you three graduate."

"That ahead?" Shisui asked.

Looking beside me, I noticed Itachi's wary gaze staring at nothing in front of him. That meant he was deep in thought. I turned back to Izumi.

"Anyway, Izumi. Thanks for the concern, but we're thinking of getting some late training in," I said to her.

"Ah, that's fine," Izumi replied. "See you guys tomorrow!"

As the girl ran off home, the three of us stayed rooted in place. We did not approach any of the training grounds. It was our day off from training. The body also needs rest, after all.

Then, Itachi spoke up unprompted, which was a rarity itself, even with the three of us. "Do you think it's safe to assume that one of… them is within the academy, watching us?"

I looked at Shisui, who simply narrowed his eyes at the implication. "That's certainly possible," Shisui said. "But I don't want to point fingers. We barely got by scot-free with the Hokage."

"So, we wait and see?" I asked the both of them.

"I mean, what else is there to do?" Shisui asked. "We'll just get into more trouble."

I did not like it, but I agreed with him. The sun was far from setting, but we had all agreed that this day of the week would be our day-off. I was also dreading on returning to the orphanage just yet. With that, Shisui and Itachi went off on their way to the compound, while I walked about in an aimless direction. The orphanage was nothing but a roof to sleep under for me. I didn't have much of a reason to spend time there.

I reached into the bag on my side. I left most of the academy textbooks under my bed, not really seeing any point on bringing them along when I barely used them. Pulling out a small book, I read the title.

"A Hundred Verses from the Warring Era"

A book about poems. Not really something I'd usually pick up from the book store, but Itachi recommended it to me, saying that it wouldn't be a bad thing to pick up on. I didn't really know what reading poems had to do with being a ninja, but I would take his word on it.

The book had been in my possession for about a week now, and with our nightly outings, I never really had the time to truly dive into it. There had been a few dips, but I don't think I had even passed the introduction just yet.

With book in hand, I walked to a small park near the edge of the village, close to a training ground. Not many people came to the park, as most preferred the one in the center of the village. But that was just fine with me. I had been visiting the place for the past few weeks during off-days, even before I got the poem book. It was quiet, and sometimes I just prefer it to be that way. The orphanage was filled with too many kids for me to have any solace.

I entered the park through its main gate, and I couldn't help but let out a long breath as I walked along the small man-made lake within the park. The atmosphere was calming, and with the trees acting as shades from the sun's rays, the temperature was warm, but still windy and refreshing.

I kept walking until a small, familiar gazebo by the side of the lake came into view. It was where I usually spend my time in the park, away from prying eyes. I could act as if the world around me didn't exist. It would just be me, the lake, and a book in hand.

Although…

It seemed that I would be having company for the day. There was a girl sitting on one of the benches under the gazebo. I didn't mind, actually. As long as she didn't disturb me, I wouldn't disturb her.

I walked closer, finally noticing the girl's features. Purple hair cut to shoulder-length. Brown eyes gazing impassively across the lake. She was older than me, perhaps by three or four years, which would make her around the age of ten or eleven.

"Excuse me," I said as I walked under the gazebo, taking a seat on the bench under it, which circled its inside. She noticed my presence, and proceeded to scoot a bit further from me to make some room between us.

How thoughtful.

I set my bag down, and took out a small water bottle. I took a few swigs before setting it down beside me. I opened up the book, settling on just after the introductions. My eyes swam from the side of a page to the other, but not in haste. Instead, they were steady. A poem was not just something you read and get on with, Itachi once told me.

I took a single deep, calming breath, before reciting one of the poems under my breath.

"We met but for a moment,

I'm wretched as before;

The tide shall measure out my life,

Unless I see once more,

Those eyes, which I adore."

I took a moment to take in the poem. I read the description under said poem, noting that it was made by the son of a Daimyo during the Warring era. He was noted for his love affairs, and so I wasn't surprised at the romantic tone of his poem.

I could see what the poet meant to portray, though. Or at least I could imagine it. I wondered if I had any experience in romance during my past life. Sometimes, I wondered if any memories of said time would surface. Knowledge was one thing, but memories were another.

Knowledge was needed to survive, to get by in the world – in any world, not just the one I was currently in. But memories… they define a person. You don't need such sentimentalities to survive, but without them… Without memories of my past life, I was effectively a blank slate. Or worse, someone with a gaping hole in his being.

Was I being too dramatic on it? Perhaps. But sometimes, I wondered if it would've been much better to not have the knowledge that I had a life before this. Ignorance is bliss, they say. Still, wallowing in self-doubt like that served no purpose. I got dealt a hand – a rather shitty one, if I was being honest. But all that was left was to make use of said hand effectively.

How long could I keep that up, I wonder.

The girl had scooted further a bit from the boy, giving him some space. He brought out a bottle of water and drank from it before opening a small peculiar book. She had never seen the boy before in her life, but she knew of who he was.

Her target.

Danzo-sama's target. The one she was ordered to keep an eye on.

She was wearing an inconspicuous set of clothes, making her look no different than any other eleven year old girl. And it seemed to have worked, as the boy, Tora Mori, did not seem to harbor any suspicions towards her presence.

She watched him take a deep breath, and she stilled for a moment, expecting him to talk to her, ask her anything. And as prepared, she would have a few set of answers depending on what he would be asking of her. It was simple. It was supposed to be simple.

But no audible words came out of him. Instead, he muttered something as his eyes glazed across the page of his small book. As an extension of Danzo-sama's will, she had quite a few set of skills to help her achieve her objective. One of them being the ability to read lip movements. And although she could read Tora Mori's lip movements, she understood nothing of what it said.

Was he talking in riddles? Codes? Did he have any method of contacting the Uchiha boys he had been with not long ago? But then, he simply stopped. A hand on his chin, his face took a contemplating expression, eyes still glued to the page – calm, yet intense.

What was in that book? She had to know, gather anything she could on him. That was the mission. The younger boy still hadn't moved, but his eyes suddenly roamed to her, finally noticing the stare. A silent question was delivered from him through their locked eyes.

She blinked.

He didn't.

She shouldn't be too forward. Her mission was to gather intel on him. "Excuse me," she said, standing up from her seat. And with that, their eye contact broke. He went back to his book, and she walked past him towards the park, intending to go deeper, away from prying eyes so that she could report back to her handler.

Yes. She shouldn't be too forward. This encounter was just one of many. Intel gathering was a slow and methodical process, but rewarding in its own way. Walking away from the gazebo, she wondered back on the words that came out of his mouth, thinking on its importance, racking her mind on where she could find info on it.

"We met but for a moment,

I'm wretched as before;

The tide shall measure out my life,

Unless I see once more,

Those eyes, which I adore."

Yugao Uzuki, her name for this mission, did not know what those words meant. But she would know eventually. For Danzo-sama.

Heh. I really doubt the ninjas under Danzo are versed in the way of poetry, especially since a lot of them are trained to be emotionless killing machines from a very young age. So yeah, Yugao Uzuki enters the stage, and in this fic, she was part of Root during her childhood.

It won't be long before Tora becomes an official genin, but it's not exactly close either. So Team Kushina isn't going to be a thing just yet. I don't really know if people are still following this fic. The last update came out nearly a year ago, and I guess that's on me. College and part time job has been taking my time, but I'll try to be more consistent.

Follow, favorite, and give me your thoughts in a review. It would really help on improving my writing.