"Fear of death is worse than death itself."
Publius Syrus
I bolted from the residence, racing across Konoha rooftops to the Academy. My head was a mess of thoughts and guesses. Now I regretted pausing at the door and asking that damn question. Better to bite my tongue.
So that's how it went down, Minato... If events follow this script, mission success is off the table. I won't make it; I'll die. Sooner or later. Maybe in five years, or...
*Stop! Enough! Banish those thoughts. Defeat's unacceptable. I'll succeed—no one dies! No, not me. We'll succeed. Naruto and Sasuke will help; I know it. I'll help them,* I pep-talked positively, but deep down, savage doubt gnawed. *So think about the exam instead, Ariza.*
If not canceled and scores count, we're through to round two. I wrote well; so did Naruto. Sasuke? Sharingan—he knows how to use it.
On the Academy roof, I spotted classmate Jiro nearby. Beige tee under always-open gray-green jacket with long collar. No traditional Uchiha garb, but clan symbol on his back. Bridge pants mid-calf, black high ninja sandals instead of Sasuke's shorts. Forehead protector holds his messy hair from eyes. Usually serious, collected—but now different.
Hunched, swaying gently on the swing Naruto used in the anime, glancing at empty Academy doors.
*Did he fail? Weird. Jiro aced theory and practice last year,* thought flashed; I paused. Watched briefly, then: time to friends. Pity him, sure, but exam ended a minute ago.
About to window-jump—stairwell down to auditorium—but last second, Jiro looks up, straight at me. I freeze, turn; eyes meet.
He stares; I stare. Something stirs inside. Want to approach. Just talk.
About anything; we're not close. Chatted often at Academy. But around village, always alone. Hurt to watch. When alone, I felt nothing—but echoes of suffocating pain. He was utterly alone. Never saw him out with anyone except Makoto at Academy.
Couldn't think; shunshin'd to tree branch with swing ropes—above Jiro.
"Hello, Ariza," he greeted politely, looking up.
"Hi, Jiro," I smiled. "How'd the exam go?"
"Fine," confidently; eyed happy genin crowd exiting Academy. I scanned for Naruto, Sasuke—no luck. Still inside.
"Then why so glum? That's good," encouraged.
"Thanks, all good," eyed me intently. "What's with the scroll on your back?"
"Some good person gave it minutes ago," hand on scroll.
"I see..." drawled. "What's inside?"
"Don't know yet..." shrugged. "Hey, any sparring in the exam?" changed topic.
"Probably. It's an exam," smirked. "Miss our spars?" recalled times I faced him 90%—and lost.
"Nah, no fun... You always won," whined.
"You always held back," suddenly beside me.
"How'd you..." stood quick on branch, faced him.
"...know?" finished for me. "You underestimate my eyes. Knew from the start," thumb to chest.
*Damn, figured he knew,* bit lip silently. "So?"
"Nothing. Won't tell. Be more vigilant—no more holding back," slight smile.
"Why tell me?" puzzled.
"Want you as friend and ally, not enemy," extended hand. Shake?
"Ally? Same village—we already are," hesitated. Something off.
"Good you see me as ally—grounds to shake," insistent, silent. Couldn't speak; stared at palm till silence unbearable—shook.
"Thanks," lowered hand, head. "I'll help if needed." smiled again, vanished in smoke puff. Body Flicker? Clone?
"What was that?!" clutched head, sorting day's chaos. *"Drunk? Nah, crazy. Was at exam minutes ago,"* theorized. Everyone acting weird... Minato odd, Jiro too.
Never this friendly... No aggression, though.
"Okay then," sat on swing. "Time to think."
First, yanked from exam to Hokage, teleported underground, given scroll. Mystery Uchiha behind me. Then Jiro's nonsense. What's next?
*Third in underground—how?! Lighting corridor torches?* chuckled at thought, grabbed scroll. Open it? Nothing else while waiting Naruto, Sasuke.
Checked surroundings—no chakra. Untied iron rod holding parchment (to prevent tearing over years), pulled right.
What I saw shocked: blank page! Empty! Damn white parchment reflecting sun! Empty scroll! No super jutsu, artifacts—nothing! Bust! Nearly decapitated, pulled from exam, dark dungeon—for fancy empty scroll! Thanks, Minato! Eternal gratitude!
Damn, dreamed of killer jutsu, super strong. Yeah, Ariza—keep dreaming; harmless.
"Hey, Ariza-chan!" Naruto's yell; hid scroll behind back quick.
They stood by Academy. Naruto pointed, chattering to Sasuke; headed my way. While walking, I made clone—took scroll, shunshin'd home. *Why no sooner?*
"Hey, guys!" yelled back. Close now, ready excuses—had idea.
But silent—not needed. Next words shocked:
"Searched whole Academy; you're just chilling," Sasuke eyed me, faint smile.
"Why search?" gripped ropes tighter. No clue what's happening—hiding it. Key: what after my detention?
"Tell you what happened after you left."
"Uh... what?" poker face strained. Clueless!
"Some crazy lady crashed through window! Turned out examiner! Next round's Forest of Death!" Naruto gestured wildly. Only cared: "after you left."
"Means meet tomorrow at one by Training Ground 44," Sasuke clarified.
"Guys, scariest exam part?" asked both, eyeing Naruto. Needed his answer.
"Last question!" firm; confirmed memories wiped clean as that blank page. "Freaked at first, but figured since I wrote answers, I'd handle it! Big thanks, Ariza-chan! Your mini-clone helped tons! So cool! Teach me?!"
*So that's how: powerful memory wipe jutsu on everyone there. Only shinobi unaffected: our Sensei. Why else burst into Hokage's office? Could've wiped just genin—but then no one comes (all know I'm fine) or more sensei (shocks one Kakashi).* — *Back-figure and wipe-guy: same Uchiha.*
"Yeah, Naruto—I'll teach. No worries," smiled. "Guys, see Jiro at exam?"
"Yeah, front desk," Sasuke; mentally scratched from suspects. Sasuke's family, Obito, Hitoshi left.
Jiro likely uninvolved. But intuition screamed meet/talk—knows something. If not him, maybe Sensei Itachi—meet him.
Ask our Sensei too—must know aftermath.
"How'd exam go?!" Sensei appeared on branch. *Speak of sun...*
"Great, Kakashi-sensei! Next round!" Uzumaki beamed.
"Good job, keep it up," eye-smiled.
"Sensei, if a Chunin-rank+ shinobi attacked a genin during exam?" direct, jumping down. No other way.
"Uh... probably postpone till attack reason clear," rubbed chin, eyed me sharp. "Why ask?"
"Wondering cancellation conditions."
Clear—his mind wiped too, later.
"Only if one village attacks another's reps. That's war."
"Got it..."
"Hey!" cheery Naruto. "Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate! Noodle speed-eating!" arms back, slurping face.
"Naruto, round two tomorrow—no speed-eating," Sensei reminded.
"Er—right," scratched neck.
"Become Chunin first, then party," Sasuke arms crossed, eyeing Naruto.
"I'll handle without you!" bickering again.
"Bye, Sasuke, Naruto—home time," to them; Sensei: "Goodbye, Sensei."
Rushed home—sort scroll, prep tomorrow. Who knows; poor prep, tomorrow last day?
"Ari, wait!" Sasuke's yell. Caught up, walked beside. "Morning, said door broken—help?"
"Sure, let's go," smiled; headed home.
***
Stars glowed softly in night sky. Countless twinkling lights dotted the firmament, one brighter than next—like racing. Sometimes feels like evening, someone lights them colors to fill void.
Against distant lights loomed enormous moon. Brighter, vaster than ever—reach out, touch it.
I wanted to admire them forever, but I knew that sooner or later I'd have to look at the road I was walking on so I wouldn't crash into someone.
I went out for a walk through the evening Konoha, taking the scroll with me. I absolutely didn't want to leave it at home. That way, I'd look at it again to make sure it was empty...
I was already heading home and passing by Ichiraku when I noticed one very interesting person there.
It was Jiro, sitting with his back to me and eating ramen. If this had been a few weeks ago, I would have just walked by, but due to the events that happened today, I turned around and went into Ichiraku.
"Hello, Teuchi-san, could I please have one portion of ramen, but don't put too much noodles," I sat down next to Jiro and handed money to the cook.
"Really on a diet?" he laughed and, taking the money, started cooking.
"No, just don't want to stuff myself before bed," I smiled at him, then turned to Jiro. "Hi. Enjoy your meal."
"Hello, thank you," he greeted politely as always, after chewing. "How are things?"
"Everything's fine..." I replied uncertainly.
"Really? Doesn't look like it," he said, actively wielding his chopsticks.
"Why's that?"
"You're nervous, it's obvious. Something bothering you?" he said without even looking my way.
"Here you go," Teuchi-san handed over the bowl of noodles.
"Thanks," I thanked him and broke my chopsticks. "How to put this... Mmm, you see, so much happened today that my head's spinning," I said and started eating.
"Is it because of that arrest at the exam?" he said calmly... And there I found a witness who kept his memory.
"Not only," I lowered my gaze and pointed behind my back. He already knows everything about me anyway, no point hiding more, "but this thing too."
"That's the scroll that one good person gave you?" he replied with my own words.
"Exactly, that one 'good' person gave me an empty scroll," I emphasized "good" and "empty" with my tone. Saying I was offended at Minato would be an understatement.
"Hah," he chuckled.
"Listen, can you tell me what happened after I was caught?"
"When you and the ANBU members disappeared, a lot of people started worrying, but mostly everyone stayed put, of course except your two teammates who refused to continue the exam."
"Hah, right up their alley," I commented.
"So anyway, they told us nothing bad would happen to you, which calmed them down. As soon as everyone was back in their seats, a person in a white robe and mask suddenly appeared behind Ibiki Morino. Not everyone noticed him right away since he appeared without a sound. Even the examiner himself didn't sense it at first. Then this person raised his hand, and that's it."
"That's it? What?" I stopped eating noodles.
"A bright white flash, and everything went back to normal. You were sitting at the last desk writing something, the people around me were also writing. Ibiki and the other examiners were calmly watching the participants. Everyone acted like nothing happened! Only I, like an idiot with activated dojutsu, was spinning around in surprise. Though, probably, if I hadn't activated it in time, I'd have walked around with a wiped head too."
"So that's how it was... a bright white flash..." I stared at my noodle bowl and thought. Are there really people that strong? With Mangekyo and teleportation. Is he even human? Wait! Mangekyo... and teleportation... Obito?
'No! Obito has a different pattern,' I immediately refuted the idea. 'And if Obito lives in this world and leads Akatsuki, I doubt Minato is dumb enough to invite him to Konoha to wipe everyone's memories. That's pure nonsense. But if Minato and this Uchiha know each other or even are friends, that's great. Allies won't hurt.'
"I thought I hallucinated it all, that I was glitching out. But you convinced me when you said someone gave you a scroll a few minutes ago."
"And what about those 'few minutes ago'?"
"As soon as the exam ended and they said we were free, you bolted from the classroom first. I ran after you. I almost caught up, but lost your trail when you jumped out the window. I didn't know where you went, so I sat on a bench waiting for my team. But then I saw you on the academy roof already with the scroll. I thought you'd run, but you came down."
"Um... and still, what's with 'few minutes ago'?"
"That's it took no more than a minute."
"What if I just misspoke?"
"That's why I asked you to shake my hand. When I almost caught you, I tried to grab your hand but only touched it. Anyway. It was hot. But when you shook my hand, it was already cold. Weird, right? A hand can't cool in twenty seconds? And the scroll on your back. Anyway, it all points to that not being you at the exam."
"You're completely right... That wasn't me," I admitted reluctantly. So that's how it is, and he's pretty smart, analyzed the situation and came up with a way to prove his theory in time. He'll be a strong shinobi with that potential. Now I need to build theories about the scroll and figure out how to prove them.
"Really dragged you from the exam just to give you an empty scroll?" he chuckled, drinking the broth.
"I think they dragged me for something else, and shoved the scroll in for show."
"Weird, the scroll's beautiful, doesn't look empty."
"I thought the same..." I ate my noodles and now just stirred the broth with chopsticks.
"Can I see it?" he asked unexpectedly. At first I didn't want to give it, but then decided. If he doesn't give it back, I'll take it by force. Maybe the scroll's empty, but it's mine.
"Fine, take a look," I pulled it off my shoulder, handed it to him, and watched. He first turned it over from all sides, inspecting it, then decided to open it.
When he opened it, he hit the same thing I did. Empty white parchment. But then the scroll started glowing blue and shrinking in size at tremendous speed. I already wanted to snatch it back in panic, but Jiro was faster, shoving it back into my hands.
As soon as his hands let go of the scroll, it stopped glowing and shrinking. And I sat there holding a scroll that was half the size of the one I got.
"What the hell?" burst out of me loudly, and I hurried to apologize to Teuchi-san.
"Don't know," Jiro stared at his hands. "This scroll took my chakra."
"Got it," I mumbled. This situation opened my eyes a bit: first, now I know the scroll absorbs chakra; second, right now this scroll belongs only to me (maybe someone else from the Uzumaki clan); and third, now I get why I didn't sense the Third and Fourth's chakra. The scroll was between us, absorbing theirs even closed, not letting me feel it.
"You know, Ariza, I'd better head home. Enough adventures for me," Jiro stood up from the table. "Exam tomorrow, you should get some sleep too," he gave the bowl to the cook and, saying goodbye, left.
Obvious—he doesn't like adventures up the ass.
"Mda..." And how do I find out now who that mysterious person who wiped memories is? Fine, Jiro's out, Sasuke too. I'll keep investigating. Next up—Itachi, Jiro's team mentor. "Exactly!" I jumped up from the table. "Thanks, Teuchi-san, goodbye!"
I slung the scroll over my shoulder and ran in the direction Jiro went. I forgot to ask if Itachi knows! All mentors were at the academy then, they'd definitely know I was held up, at least from the sounds and noise. Which means they wiped their brains too! But Itachi's strong, with Sharingan, doubt he can be beaten easily!
I turned the corner and braked hard. The alley was poorly lit by lanterns, but the bright moon let me spot Jiro lying in the middle of the street. I checked for traps or enemy shinobi nearby, then rushed over.
I ran up to him, and the first thing I did was check his pulse. Alive. Heartbeat weak, but there. Breathing too. He's unconscious. I was about to start first aid, but something horrible made me stop and slowly raise my head.
I saw the silhouette of a person standing on a pole dozens of meters away, and immediately stood, ready for battle.
'It's him...' was my first thought. No chakra emanated from him. Like an invisible. I'd never notice him if he wasn't right against the moon. He had a hood on his head, a cloak billowing in the wind. Face hidden, but one glowing Sharingan burned in the dark perfectly visible...
My mind says he's our ally, but my intuition screams this meeting won't end well... and my blood chills at the thought. With a trembling hand, I grabbed my tekko-kagi. One thought contradicted all logic:
'I'm a dead man.'
I don't even know who it is. But I'm already scared. Haven't seen him fight, but I feel the power.
I just blinked, and he vanished from the pole.
"Not looking for me?" a neither male nor female voice came from behind. I wanted to attack, but didn't make it... My mouth was covered, hand on my nape. I know this grip. They snap necks with it.
My legs shook, body wouldn't obey. Couldn't lift a hand. Like paralyzed. All I could do was brace for pain.
'No, please, don't...' my heart pounded loud, I squeezed my eyes shut.
Maybe die in five years, or...
...tonight?
The last thing I heard was his muffled laugh and...
***
Read the story months ahead of the public release — early chapters are available on my Patreon: Granulan