Goodbye For Now

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Hey guys! I decided to update again! Yay!

The tiger above is Tomoko!

Ha, and CHECK OUT THE AMV from SnK (Attack on Titan) because I LOVE IT GAH

Peace

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Kaji's POV

Over this past month I've learned a lot.

Skills from each member of the Akatsuki have been passed down to me, and when they die, I'll be able to carry on part of their legacy.

Itachi taught me how to improve up my fire jutsu's, along with a few Genjutsu's. They were difficult to learn, and they were only beginner Genjutsu's! (Plus, we looked out at the stars almost every night.)

Genjutsu is not my forte.

Sasori taught me how to manipulate people with chakra strings, and though I'm only a beginner, Sasori tells me that I'm making a lot of progress. (One time, I made Deidara kiss Sasori with them, but don't tell them it was me.)

Hidan, he got me a scythe. I was so excited, I literally passed out.

What can I say? I like weapons.

It was basically a mini version of his scythe, light and easy to handle, but tough and with enough force, could easily kill a man. He taught me how to use it too. You see, scythes were different than katana's. Yes, they were extensions of your arm, however you had to imagine that your arm could branch out three times on the same side. With a little bit of training, well more than a little bit, I was able to perfect my technique. It was similar to Hidan's, other known as 'Swing at everything and hope you kill your enemy in the process', however I usually incorporated my chakra into my arm, making me swing even faster. So my technique, the name courtesy of my creative brain, was called 'Swing at everything faster than Hidan and hope to fucking Kami you chop off some heads'.

Creative, right? (His swearing might've rubbed off on me. Just a little.)

Kakuzu taught me how to manipulate people into doing my bidding, along with teaching me a few money saving skills. Plus, to top it off, he taught me how to organize and commit raids.

More money for me!

Deidara taught me how to make bombs.

Boy, did that come in handy.

He taught me how to make 3 types of bombs. Small ones that would either distract people or make them lose their path, medium bombs, that would be used to injure people, and the large ones. The large bombs, though they could be in the form of a small one, were used to destroy whole cities, towns, villages, buildings, you name it. He also taught me a few handy tips on how to set them up, but I got confused when he called them by their actual names.

Like, what was a C-3P-O? (or whatever that thing was called)

That's how I got him to use the more simpler terms: large, medium, and small.

Kisame taught me how to handle swords, and even taught me a water jutsu. He told me, something I already knew, that katana's, and mostly every type of sword, was an extension of your arm. He made sure that the sword I chose was just the right size for me, and he wrote a small message on there, one that he sealed away until he died. He made me touch up on my limited number of water jutsu's, and now I have to say, I was pretty damn good. We sparred a few more times too, he won half the time, and I won the other half.

Zetsu, though we didn't talk that much, also taught me something. He taught me how to conceal my chakra really well, as the jutsu that allows him to travel through the earth makes him unknown to the outside world. I knew that what he taught me would really come in handy, along with all the sarcastic remarks that the black half made during training.

Pein, who may appear strict on the outside, was actually really gentle during training. Strict, in a way, yes. But he was a great sensei, hell, his teaching skills could match Iruka. They were both really patient and didn't complain when I got something wrong, so I saw them as similar people.

He, along with the other paths of pain (who are actually unbelievably nice), taught me how to summon my friends a lot easier. I sucked in all of that information like a sponge, and they were all really helpful with my training.

And they were similar too, not just in looks. Their personalities, almost like they were all derived from another person. Like that person's personality was inside of all of them.

I didn't delve on that for too long though, I was training really hard with them. I was a fast learner, or so they say. I practically perfected their technique of summoning easily, and I was pretty proud of myself.

Konan taught me a better way to throw shuriken, and origami. I was really clumsy with the paper and it kept ripping on me, but I figured out the technique.

Be gentle.

The gentle side of me wasn't something that I usually brought out to light, but Konan helped me. She was a motherly figure for me, and it took me a long time to figure that out. She was gentle, kind, helping... all of the things that would make a mother. When I told her so, she hugged me, and smiled a kind, warm smile at me.

Tobi taught me how to do the basics of medical ninjutsu.

I know what you're thinking: since when did Tobi know medical ninjutsu?

He didn't know medical ninjutsu himself, he said that an old friend of his did. He memorized the hand signs and the technique and described it to me, because he couldn't master it, so he couldn't show me. I easily caught on, the Tora clan were pretty good healers. Those who couldn't make it as ninja just took up medicine, either being a doctor or a nurse.

Besides from that, aside from their individual teachings, I had to go through various tests.

Balance, agility, stamina, they tested it all. And improved it. Even if it was only by a little bit, they still improved almost every aspect of my fighting techniques.

Pein also taught me one more thing, breaking a force field.

I didn't understand why I had to learn it, but he insisted and I gave in.

He told me that this was something only a Tora Clan member could do, thanks to our chakra manipulation. He made me read a huge book, (don't tell him, but I only skimmed over the pages, taking in the necessary information) and I did as he said.

He made a force field around a rabbit, it was purple and it scared the snot out of the unsuspecting rabbit. I found the weak spot of the force field, the corner, and made my chakra break it down until it could pass through. Once it did, I spread it out over a wide area of the force field. It broke down the force field, or as Pein described it, it made it disappear, the force field started to dissipate.

Apparently, our chakra is naturally hot. The more chakra I add, the hotter it gets (in that particular area) and it basically melts the force field. He told me that it didn't work for all force fields, just ones that are strong enough to keep people out of somewhere for a while.

Whatever that meant.

I also learnt a lot more about my tigers.

For example, Daichi, the biggest tiger, was actually a summoning animal coming from an ancestor that used to be a Sannin. So technically, he was one of the four summoning animals for the legendary Sannin, though his master died a long time ago. Apparently I was his new master (his second one too) because none of the other demon children were able to summon him, except for one. He knows Gammabunta, Katsuyu, and Manda. Daichi was actually really immature, like Naruto. He loved ramen and pranking, and I asked him if he was the early reincarnation of Naruto.

Ai and Ao are very good at genjutsu, and as they said, ripping people to shreds as they suffered their worst fears.

How they remained so casual and carefree was beyond me. The also loved to tell jokes, and no matter how corny, they always made me laugh.

One of the tigers, who is actually pretty similar to me, is Kenta. I learned that he likes hand on hand, well hand on paw, combat. He loves bloodshed, and he hates seasonings on his food. He was once a summoning for Hashi's parents, which surprised me. He was someone that mourned over Hashi's death just as much as I did, and that made me feel safe around him.

Shun was a very nice tiger, shy, but once you got to him, he was an extremely kind tiger. I learned that his specialty was speed, he was the fastest tiger out of the whole group. I had that thought in the back of my mind when I saw his lean body, but I wanted to hear it from him. He told me he used to be extremely confident, but his old summonner told him that he wasn't that good, making Shun shy and not so confident. I made sure to give him a pep talk and told him he was welcome to be as confident and cocky as he wanted to be.

Tomoko was really relatable, and gave really good advice. He knew what it was like to loose someone close to him, in fact, I learned that he was alive when the Tora clan first came to the village. He even got to meet Madara and Hashirama!

He told me all the vivid details, and I learned quickly that he was kind and reliable. He would be the one I usually summon to talk to, tell him about my day, and he would tell me about his. He was like my brother.

And that took a lot to say.

But today I had to leave.

Right now, we were all sitting outside in a circle. It was in the middle of a field full of tall grass and flowers, and we all sat shoulder to shoulder in a circle.

"Thank you... for everything." I say quietly to the group, looking up at the sun that was peeping over the mountain. It was dawn right now, we stayed outside all night, just telling stories or relaxing together.

"Tobi-chan thinks Kaji-chan should sing!" Tobi yells out, making everyone agree. My nose scrunched up slightly, though I'd be embarrased, I guess I want to do it in a way.

It'll be like a goodbye, for now, at least.

I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and let the words fall out of my mouth.

(A/N This is called Castle of Glass by Linkin Park LISTEN TO IT)

Take me down to the river bend

Take me down to the fighting end

Wash the poison from off my skin

Show me how to be whole again

Fly me up on a silver wing

Past the black where the sirens sing

Warm me up in a nova's glow

And drop me down to the dream below

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

Bring me home in a blinding dream,

Through the secrets that I have seen

Wash the sorrow from off my skin

And show me how to be whole again

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

For you to see

I finish my song and I see a few sad smiles thrown my way, and the sun finally rises into our view.

Itachi grabs my arm, and I say my final goodbye to everybody as we poof in front of Konoha, my face full of determination.

I'm ready.

I know I am.