The Hard Way: The Hard Way

They never warn you, in the Academy, that the person you face tomorrow, may be your best friend today. Honestly, one would think this is something they'd consider teaching you after Orochimaru, Itachi and all the other cases of missing nin. But no. They leave you to figure it out the hard way. They prefer to teach you techniques, jutsus and chakra control. The easy stuff.

The stuff that will protect your body.

So here I stand between my duty and my most precious of people wondering what little signs I missed, where I went wrong. What made him choose this path? What happened to turn the gentle little boy who released butterflies from spider webs into man who kills his friends and team mates?

The man who killed Ino.

Where had he begun to stray? Was it me? Someone else? Is he being controlled? Is someone manipulating him?

Is it the time I left him to fight an enemy that would have left him dead if it were not for Tsunade's expertise? Was I not a good enough friend? Was it everything left unsaid I thought was understood anyway? Was it one too many stolen chips?

Asuma told me I'm a genius. If so, then why the fuck am I completely stumped now? Why can't I figure out a way to make him stop? Why can't I figure out what's wrong?

Where did my friend go, the little boy I knew so well who'd sit with me and watch clouds until it was too dark to see anything? Where did the little boy who I used to get into so much trouble with run off to, and who is this monster in his place?

Same face, same tank frame, same wild hair, but eyes so alien… Eyes full of death and rage. So much there I can't understand in the place I used to find familiarity.

As I feel his blood run down my hands, my kunai in his chest, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing. I wonder if there was another way to do this, to fix this. I can plan out an entire battle at the start, but I can't figure out how to save my friend. What good is genius in a time like this?