Meanwhile on the other side of the world, inside the land of fire, in one of the training grounds inside Konoha, three people were standing inside a clearing, one of them was sitting on a cut down tree trunk, the other was leaning his back against a tree whilst the third was slumped against a training dummy made of wood.
"It's already been five years huh. This is where he used to spent all his time y'know? Whenever he… whenever he wasn't on missions or with his wife." The young man slumped against the training dummy said, it felt more like he was saying itself to the air rather than to the other two who were in the clearing.
"Yeah… I guess. I just… I keep thinking about it sometimes… was everything he showed us fake? It… couldn't be. If it was fake… he wouldn't have tried so hard, he did so much for the village… he went on suicide missions… he did everything… there has to be a reason." The girl who was sitting on the tree stump said as she held her head in her hands, gazing down at the ground.
"Yeah… Sensei did say that he suspected as much. He probably had no other way out besides to leave the village, if he had stayed… well Sensei said that a yamanaka mind invasion was planned… from what I talked about with him later, It could have been that he somehow learnt of it before hand? And he might have had something that restricted him in someway? Minato Sensei told you guys about those root seals right? He might have had something similar… but in the end we can't really know… unless we ask him." The third person spoke, another young man, this one had spiky white hair and wore a headband over one eye aswell as a face mask that covered his face from the nose and bellow entirely.
"Yeah yeah… guess we can't really do anything but catch him… We will bring him back… either to save him or to make him… tell us everything." Obito said from the training dummy as he released a long sigh of frustration.
"Are you guys still talking about Kazuo?" A voice asked as a series of footsteps were heard coming from the west side of the clearing.
"Kushina-nee?" Rin asked surprised to see the woman, though her surprise quickly turned into joy as she saw the small child waddling behind he red haired woman.
"Naruto-kun!" Rin instantly shouted as she shot up from her location and ran towards the small yellow haired kid, grabbing him and spinning him around in her arms.
"Rin Nee-chan!" The small boy shouted back as he started giggling loudly as she spun him around.
"You're going to make him dizzy Rin." Kushina said in a reprimand however it was soft and clearly said in a warm tone.
"Anyways, you should stop thinking about that stuff, if info comes Minato's way, you will be the first one's to know anyways." Kushina said as she shook her head at them, frustrated that the three of them were still talking about this after years.
"Yeah, yeah we know." Obito replied in a mumbled tone.
"Well, cheer up then. I brought you guys some home made bentos." Kushina said with a smile as she unselead three bento boxes and placed them on the ground infront of her, the faces of the three young ninja instantly lighting up in pure joy at the sight.
What the four ninja and the small child didn't know however was that a sixth set of eyes was on them at this moment.
Hundreds of meters away, on top of a tree looking down at the clearing, a small paper sheet could be seen for barely one moment before it fluttered in the wind and vanished.
Meanwhile on the other side of the village, inside the Hyuga Compound that had been completely repaired from the damages of that night three days after the Kyubi attack, inside a small home by the edges of the territory, a woman was sitting in a meditative position.
"You're here." She said in a soft almost emotionless voice.
"Yes… Do you have the report?" A voice asked from behind her, the shadows of the room engulfing it completely, making sure that they couldn't be seen.
The woman didn't reply in her voice, she simply brought out a simple black paper scroll from inside her yukata and placed it behind her without turning around.
A moment later, the scroll was gone and the room's lighting turned back into normal, the faint presence that had been sensed moments ago was gone as if it had been a simple mind illusion.
Life outside continued as always, the leaf village had moved on from five years ago, a new generation had been born and was now about to start their first years in the ninja academy, the past had not been forgotten, nor had it been erased and its marks could still be felt in every breath, in every road and wall of the village however the people had moved on, had continued on with their lives as that was the only thing they could do.
Atleast, most of them had. Some were still stuck in those memories, whilst some others were still engulfed in the shadow of an angel that had betrayed their home years ago yet never left that person.
On the other side of the continent, Kazuo gained back a sliver of chakra and a rush of memories, his emotionless face gaining a faint smile as he continued to walk, Orochimaru and Deidara walked besides him.
'Giving someone nightmares about a certain night and then dreams about a hero who saved her… really is effective.' Kazuo thought as he chuckled inwardly and continued on his way.
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Here's the chapter, a bit of an update on what has been happening in the village.
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