"Yes," Toki still in her disguise as Sagi said. "I was hoping that by disguising myself as the Cursed Warrior, I could discover who was behind the death of my father and brother." Her eyes narrowed. "Instead I was used as a pawn by Mōsō. I am truly sorry for the trouble I have caused you."
"It is fine," Chomei waved the apology off. There really was nothing to be sorry for, especially when he had not made an attempt at facilitating communications between him and the young Daimyo either. "It is I who should be apologizing. Perhaps if I had caught onto his plans sooner, none of this would have happened."
'Was the Shodai really that strong?'
'He was beyond strong. Your Shodai Hokage was the strongest shinobi of his time, and I should I know, I fought most of those shinobi at one point or another. While many of the stronger ninja managed to survive against me, they only did so because they were not alone. Hashirama fought against me and survived on his own. Sure, he was half dead before he escaped, but considering he had underestimated me and not used his Mokuton ninjutsu that's saying something.'
'What about the teme's ancestor? That Madara guy?'
Kyuubi hissed angrily at that name.
'Do not ask me about that man ever again! What happened between Madara and I is something that shall never reach the light of day!'
'Alright, alright. Yeesh, no need to get so angry. A simple 'I don't want to tell you' would have done it.'
'Don't expect me to apologize. I've done enough of that with you already.'
Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Don't worry, I don't.'
"What do you plan to do now, Sagi-sama?" asked Chomei.
"What do I plan to do now?" Toki repeated the question with a hint of sarcasm. "I plan on making Mōsō pay for everything he's done." She stood up, her fists clenched. "I'm going to kill him and avenge my father and brother."
"And I suppose you're going to do this all by yourself," Naruto spoke outside of his mind for the first time since Toki started explaining everything to Chomei. "That's what you're going to do, isn't it? You're just going to go off and try and kill Mōsō on your own, without even asking for our help."
"Naruto, you've done a good job with everything so far, and have helped me out, and I am grateful." Toki narrowed her eyes. "However, I do not need, nor want your help for this. Mōsō will die by my hands and no one else's."
There was a very prominent frown on Naruto's face as he stared Toki down. The young woman tried to give him a defiant glare, but after several seconds she looked off to the side, unable to maintain it in the face of his steadfast expression.
"I see," the blond said quietly. "So revenge is more important to you than your country? The country your father and brother gave their lives for? You're just going to throw everything away so you can kill this guy with your own two hands, all for the sake of your petty revenge."
"You don't understand anything!" Toki shouted, teeth grit and fists clenched so tightly they were shaking. "I have to do this! I need to kill Mōsō! If I don't time will never start flowing again!"
She yanked the watch he had seen her holding out from where it had been hidden within her sleeves.
"You see this watch! This watch was passed down from father to son for generations, but no more! This watch is broken! It's time has stopped just as mine has, and until I've settled this with my own two hands, my heart will remain as broken as this watch!"
The intense star down between Naruto and Toki lasted for only a few seconds. Yet, for some reason, those seconds seemed to stretch on for hours.
In the background now, Chomei observed the pair with indecisiveness.
"I see," Naruto closed his eyes. "You really are lost, aren't you?" He chuckled bitterly while Toki bristled. "Then go ahead and do what you want. If you want to throw away your life for the sake of something as stupid as revenge, I won't stop you."
Toki bristled at Naruto's blatant disregard for her need for revenge. He knew nothing about how she felt! She needed this! More than anything else, she needed that final release that would only come from completing her vengeance on the one who wronged her. Why couldn't he understand that!? Why... why...
… Why did she care about what he thought of her so much?
Taking a few deep breaths, she forced herself to calm down. Her fists unclenched, and her posture relaxed.
That's right. She shouldn't care about what he thought. She didn't. Naruto's opinions didn't matter to her. All that mattered was killing Mōsō and avenging her father and brother. Anything else was superfluous at best, and unimportant at worst.
Toki prepared to leave the room so she could get dressed and head out. She had to kill someone after all.
"You can't be serious!?" Chomei finally spoke up, having recovered from his shock at seeing the blond Konoha shinobi arguing with his Daimyo. "I know you are hurting right now, Sagi-sama, but revenge is not the way. It will only lead to more pain and suffering."
"I don't care," Toki said harshly. "So long as I attain my revenge, nothing else matters. I would gladly suffer a thousand years if it meant I could claim vengeance over the one who wronged me."
Naruto closed his eyes. This woman reminded him so much of Sasuke, the boy that had lost himself to darkness and willingly given himself over to an S-ranked traitor. She was willing to do anything if it would allow her a shot at revenge.
He didn't want to see someone take the path Sasuke took. While he would not really consider himself or Sasuke to be all that close, he had still been a comrade and someone he saw as a rival for a good portion of their time together. And as much as he didn't want to admit it, it had hurt when Sasuke left the village. Naruto didn't want to witness that happening to someone else.
But what could he do?
'What you always do...'
'Kyuubi?'
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