One year had passed since "The Crimson Night," as some people called it. That night, two clans had fallen at the hands of a single person: Uchiha Itachi, now a rogue shinobi of Konohagakure.
In front of him, Asahi Toru, the Hokage, took a puff from his pipe and released a small cloud of smoke.
"So, you've finally made your decision..."
He smiled with a hint of pride on his face.
"Yes. I decided what I wanted to do four years ago, so I have no doubts now."
The boy standing before Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Hokage, had grown considerably, but his gaze was even duller than it had been on the day of the funeral. His silver eyes had lost some of their luster, yet they still retained that strange, life-filled glow. Toru still seemed to have hope in his heart.
"Good. Then you'll attend the Academy after taking an entrance exam. You'll be considered a transfer student. So, good luck."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Toru gave a small bow and left the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen merely sighed at this. If Toru had decided to become a shinobi at this point, without even waiting until he was old enough to claim his family's inheritance, then it could only mean one thing.
'Vengeance, huh... Your blood won't let you stop hating. That's how I see it...'
—A Few Days Later, Shinobi Academy—
The whispers from the children who had already heard the news didn't take long to begin. They wondered among themselves who the boy transferring into the Shinobi Academy was. Konoha only had one school for shinobi, so it was most likely that the boy came from another village.
Even so, that wasn't certain.
Standing in front of the children with his hands resting on the desk, Iruka, the sensei of this class, frowned as he read the document he had been given. He recognized the transferred student's surname and realized that his future as a shinobi would be difficult.
'Hm... They're one of the clans that can't use chakra normally. The bearers of a unique jutsu...'
The door echoed, and everyone turned their attention toward it. Iruka sighed and walked over. When he opened the door, he looked down. A boy with silver eyes and black hair was patiently waiting outside. The boy wore a large red scarf around his neck, a beige sweater, and dark blue shorts. On his right ear was an earring shaped like a claw, and he wore the typical sandals used by shinobi.
"The Hokage-sama told me this is my class now..."
Iruka was surprised by the boy's emotionless voice, and even more so by his sleepy-looking expression.
"Yes, I was already informed. Come in. Don't be shy."
"Okay..."
Iruka and the boy entered the classroom. The room immediately erupted with voices as almost everyone began talking about the new student.
"Hey, look. He's cute."
"Who is he?"
"He looks calm..."
Most of the girls began commenting on the new arrival's appearance. He was certainly a boy with above-average looks, and that alone was enough to make people talk about him. However, three people in the classroom recognized the boy. A girl with dark blue hair and moon-white eyes, a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, and finally, another boy with black hair and equally black eyes. The three of them had mixed feelings upon seeing him.
"Come on, calm down. It's not the end of the world."
He picked up the sheet of paper from his desk and read it one last time.
'He got a perfect score on the entrance exam, huh...'
He was a little confused by the Hokage's sudden decision, but who was he to question someone like the Hokage?
"I... I think he's really handsome..."
Among the girls in the classroom, a brown-haired, black-eyed girl spoke nervously. Although she already liked someone else, she couldn't help but give her opinion. Her name was Hoki Hakuto.
"Are you serious, Hakuto? Sasuke is way better. You shouldn't even have to think about it."
Refuting Hakuto's words, Yamanaka Ino crossed her arms. She had blond hair and green eyes, and among all the girls, she was the most, so to speak, eye-catching. In fact, this was what made her somewhat offended by everyone's reaction to the new boy. He was so... ordinary. Or at least, that's what she thought.
"Black hair, those clothes... The only thing that stands out is his eyes. They're cute, but he doesn't beat Sasuke."
"I... I just..."
Because of Ino's harsh words, Hakuto became nervous and shrank her shoulders. She was very shy, but she was good at talking to others, although her shyness tended to ruin that from time to time.
"Please lower your voices and pay attention. Today, we have a new student who will be with us until graduation."
Suddenly, Iruka silenced the children's chatter and made everyone look toward the front of the classroom.
"Well, don't you have a few words for us?"
Toru felt the sensei's gaze on him and lowered his head. Then, he sighed and looked at the children in front of him, but as soon as he did, he felt an immense pressure from the eyes staring directly at him. A shiver ran through his entire body. He felt his chest tighten and begin to ache.
'This has never happened to me before...'
But the feeling it evoked was quite familiar to Toru. He tried to say his name so everyone could hear him, but no voice came out. He felt a knot in his throat, and all of this caught the others' attention. Iruka watched as Toru tried to speak, only to stop before he could say anything.
Before things became awkward, Iruka helped Toru by writing on the blackboard:
[Asahi Toru] Written in kanji: Asahi — Rising Sun, and Toru — Transparent.
"His name is Asahi Toru. Please be kind to him and help him with anything he can't do. You can take your seat now."
He said the last part while looking at the boy, who lowered his head and climbed the stairs until he reached the seat furthest away from everyone else.
Once in his seat, Toru looked at the blackboard, but he realized that everyone was still staring at him. All those eyes were showing him a feeling he couldn't shake. He touched his chest in pain and tried to calm himself down. When he looked around a second time, no one was looking at him anymore.
—Lunch Break—
Eating a fruit-filled bun alone on a tree branch, Toru read a book about electricity.
'The human body is an excellent conductor of electricity. If I had finished my electric shock glove, I could have used it on the day I became a ninja.'
Taking his eyes off the book, Toru could see his classmates talking among themselves. Unfortunately, everyone had ignored him because of his gloomy attitude from the very beginning.
He had even invited a girl to eat with him, but she had completely rejected him. Her name was Enko Onikuma, from the Onikuma Clan. For some reason, Toru had felt like he could invite her to eat with him, but rejection was the result.
'It seems like most of them are friends.'
Looking at the others, his eyes stopped on Naruto, who was completely alone and sitting on a swing. The demon child watched the other children play and talk among themselves with a sad expression on his face.
'I should go talk to him, but I've ignored him for the past few years. It would be pretty hypocritical to suddenly go and talk to him out of nowhere.'
He sighed while looking at the sky.
'I'm alone too. Everyone ignores me and sees me as some weirdo who doesn't know how to talk, but... I really don't care in the slightest.'
After finishing his fruit-filled bun, Toru closed the book and climbed down from the tree. He slowly made his way toward the classroom. Even though he was surrounded by many people, he felt completely alone, but somehow, that loneliness was comforting.
—Final Class Period—
Iruka had to leave for a few minutes to give his report on the students assigned to his class, so everyone was free to do whatever they wanted until their sensei returned.
The sound of a pencil gliding across a sheet of paper made everyone look at Toru for a moment before ignoring him completely, but there was someone who didn't ignore him. In fact, she had kept her eyes on him all day.
That person was Hyuga Hinata. Ever since that fateful day when the funeral for those two clans had been held, Toru had stopped talking to her. No, not just her—Toru had stopped talking to everyone.
'After all this time, it seems he's still drawing.'
Hinata stared intently at Toru, watching the movements of his hands, his hair, and his eyes. She had been watching him for so long that every time she saw him, she felt something strange in her chest—and she was far too young to be having a heart attack.
'Even so, I'm happy that you're here. Finally, after all these years, you've left your house.'
A faint smile formed on her lips, and a blush appeared on her cheeks. At that time, she didn't have the words to understand what she was feeling, but perhaps, in the future...