Mistake - A Naruto Fan-Fiction 19 Cursed Eye

I calmed myself down after breathing so heavily, thinking back to a thought in the back of my mind. That thought is very haunting, especially when it's about me not being able to control whatever the h.e.l.l the golden thing is. Worst case scenarios also played back in my mind—about me accidentally putting everyone in their demise with my gaze.

Tou-san hugged me, "It's okay, Ori-kun…" he a.s.sured me, rubbing a hand on my back. "Inoichi's gonna check them up to see if they're okay. He's on his way now." He smiled, leaving the unspoken words of, 'Inoichi's gonna check what your eye did to them.'

I nodded, shaking a tad bit before sitting up, rubbing my cold, left eye, refusing to look at anyone directly at the moment and letting my long, curly hair to cover up my eye. It seems like whoever falls into my gaze will land on the same fate as the jounin ninjas earlier.

I don't want that to happen again.

I also don't want to get eaten alive by a ma.s.sive centipede, please.

I sighed, closing my eyes as I lay myself back at the ground. It's better to be lingering in darkness than having people die because of these eyes. Why does this golden eye feels more like a curse than something that could benefit me in the future?

Who am I, Medusa?

One single gaze and you're good as dead.

__________

Kuro sighed as he placed a white cloth over his son's closed left eye to prevent another disastrous event. Golden light seems to seep through his son's closed eye, proving him that his son's eye is overflowing with an unknown and untamed power. Taming such ability could be very helpful, but since his son is still a child, he doesn't know if Orion could control it by himself.

Orion slowly opened his eyes, his right eye wandering about and meeting scared gazes coming from the people behind his father and uncle. He only looked back down, eyes filled with disappointment to himself. He felt as though he was responsible for everything… but he really didn't mean it.

It all started earlier that day, when Kuro had decided that it'd be a great idea for Orion to conquer a bit of land in the Forest of Death to let every critter and giant, deadly creatures there know the child's existence—to test his capability to survive in the scenarios as well.

Orion sighed after hearing this from his father. After all, he believes that nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity… and his father had forsaken that he's actually a child. Well, sure Kuro's not that ignorant.

Orion only thought that because he swear he saw a giant centipede crawl a few feet away from them—and he's scared of it. The centipede can pretty much compare to Orochimaru's giant summon snakes in the anime. It's really big, like, really big.

The child sighed, colours draining as his father pushed him forwards with a bright smile. "All men dream, but not equally," the Nara started, "those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity," he ruffled his son's hair, patting his back, "but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." He leaned closer, his chin resting on the child's shoulder, whispering what he considered his a.s.suring words, "And you are one of them dangerous dreamers… you can make things possible, my dear child."

His son blinked as he took a step closer towards the dark area of the forest, even though it's very early in the morning. Though his words are motivational, Orion's still uncertain about this "little quest" for him to conquer a part of the deadly forest.

The centipede's still there, dammit.

The Hatake-Nara sighed, looking back at his father with a bored gaze. His father gave him a closed-eye smile, waving goodbye and good luck to him. "What's more dangerous is not to progress and develop anything…" The child mumbled, going through the bushes warily, "… this challenge might actually push me over my limit, if things go right."

s.h.i.+kakuro and gave his gaze to his son's back as he disappeared into the forest. Pus.h.i.+ng his son to his limits is his plan. It's not only to make the child stronger, but hopefully make "something" happen. They've been three weeks in training and, honestly, his son has improved a lot.

And this is the best thing to push that improvement further.

Of course, he's not gonna let his son wander in the forest alone where a big-a.s.s centipede had taken its territory. Absolutely not. He's going to follow him in a far distance, along with a Hyūga jounin by his side to monitor his son. He also got several other ninjas and ANBU's dispersed around the forest where he calculated what path his son could take after parting with him.

Sure, it might be wrong to, well, let a four—nearly five-year old son wander around a deadly forest to "train". Even s.h.i.+kakuro had once dreamt of raising his son normally because he doesn't want to let that silver-haired child turn out to be like him… but as his son grew more and more knowledgeable and aware of thinks, and think maturely than a normal Nara child would, it brought the child more trouble.

No, Kuro's not saying having a genius son is a bad thing, but rather, he's saying that having too much knowledge can bring one down if not balanced enough. Right now, he could see through his son's eyes this unexplainable gaze of intelligence that one had gone through much—and he doesn't know why.

Maybe Orion got it from him.

Has he become a neglectful parent? He sure has because of his work as a ninja, but he tries his best to set the right example for his son whenever he can, but why did things turn out this way? He wanted Orion to grow up to live his life peacefully, not worrying over people coming for his life for whatever his eye he holds.

Oh, how fate loved to toy with their life.

He let out a sigh, watching Orion from a distance as he fought with killer rabbits he had encountered. His eyes followed his son's movements as the young boy gracefully jumped over the leader of those blood-stained, seemingly innocent, rabbits.

What actually relieved him, somehow, was when he saw that Orion wasn't trying to kill the killer rabbits. It might be strange, but it shows that his son isn't interested in pointless fight.

Kuro was glad that Orion didn't become as ruthless as he was back when he conquered this part of the forest, and it became his hideout in war time. He'd use creatures here as practice dummies for his experimental jutsus and would often cause more damage than intended. He did gain respect from the animals living in the Forest of Death, but that respect was earned from fear for him, which he isn't really proud of.

Now, those killer rabbits looked as though they're striking revenge against his son because those types of rabbits won't attack unless provoked—and the Nara didn't see his son ever provoking them. It makes sense since his son's scent is close to his…

But Orion's laziness to fight with those rabbits is way beyond his imagination.

Kuro refrained a snicker, but failed horribly as he saw his son just sitting on a branch, watching the rabbits down below as they go crazy around the area. He smiled as his son stared with boredom at the rampaging animals, yawning and muttering about something.

"Kuro-san," the Hyūga next to him called his name out. The Nara blinked, looking at the ninja, Tsutsuji Hyūga, humming as he raised a brow at the kunoichi. "Your son really got your lazy blood, huh?" She sounded bemused, her Byakugan activated as she kept her eye on the young Orion.

"Did he?" Kuro snickered, "I'm sure he got his laziness both from the slothful clans. He's not even eager to fight those rabbits."

"Ori-kun just jumped over them and ran… we should get going." The kunoichi swiftly moved out, making the Nara to follow after her after a short pause.

They continued trailing after Orion, who doesn't seem to be interested in little creatures running about and that are sometimes blocking his way. He's just casually jumping over them as though he's trying to find something in particular. This went on until noon, and the child just sat on a tree branch after a long while.

He seems to be looking at something.

Tsutsuji didn't need to hear a command from her superior in order to know what the child was looking at. She didn't have her Byakugan on, yet she still felt a chilling chakra from whatever the child was looking at. Of course, Kuro knew this as well, narrowing his eyes as the familiar aura made contact with him.

It was the centipede.

The King Centipede.

__________

It was strange, really. Deadly animals seems to be staying away from this wooded clearing. The killer bunnies that were trailing after me were gone as well, as if they're hiding from something. Out-of-the-world giant wasps that were chasing me left as well.

I have a feeling that the one I'm looking for is near.

I briefly remember what tou-san told me about territorial creatures living in the Forest of Death, and, earlier, before I fully dove right into the forest, the centipede that was lurking near disappeared without a trace, so I a.s.sumed it went deep into its territory. Even if my hunch about the centipede being the owner of this part of the forest turns out to be wrong, I'm still gonna go for it.

It's worth a shot going straight for the boss, right?

If I don't defeat it, or if I fail horribly, I'm sure the ninjas that are behind after me are going to save me. Surely they're not going to let a child get eaten alive by a ginormous centipede, right? The scolopendra gigantean, or the giant centipede that I know from the world I once came from pales in comparison with the f.u.c.king centipede I'm about to fight.

Getting the high ground is an advantage, for now anyways so, I leaned closer and narrowed my eyes at the centipede on the ground. I s.h.i.+fted my foot from the branch I'm standing on and took a kunai from my pouch.

Heck no, I'm not gonna throw the kunai at that s.h.i.+t that looks to be 20 or more metres in length. Its exoskeleton could be well harder than the d.a.m.ned bedrock judging from the looks of it. A kunai won't pierce through that. That's a bad idea. I'm doing something different.

Releasing a jagged breath, I was about to jump down, but I hesitated… and hesitation can lead one to their grave. I prove that phrase to be true. I slipped. I slipped and fell into the ground, almost landing on my face but "luckily" managed to land on my feet with a nasty crack.

If things couldn't get any better, I broke my right foot.

f.u.c.k—I'm an absolute idiot. A d.a.m.ned, useless paper clip—

As I tried my best not to scream in pain, the ground beneath me rumbled and shook. I think my already pale skin lost all of its colour when I saw something move from the corner of my eyes. I slowly looked up, eyes meeting the towering body of the centipede that rose proudly like a king cobra would do.

"f.u.c.k." I breathed, jumping to one side as the giant insect spat something at me. I turned around just in time to see the "something" melt the ground I once stood. It was purple and gooey yet runny enough to melt the soil and rocks on the place.

My heart felt like it sank. I suddenly want to go back to where the killer rabbits are. I might've picked on something I can't take fully on.

I ran up to a tree as soon as one of the centipede's legs tried to stab me. Yes. Stab me. It was startling, I know, but I managed to get myself together to go to a safe distance away from its pointy legs. My heart is beating like crazy when it spat another goo of poison that I thankfully dodged in time.

I threw a kunai that just swiftly touched the centipede. I threw another one and it bounced off to the side—and guess what? It made a clanking sound when it hit the centipede's body, proving my horrid thoughts. It seems like the centipede's "body armor" is as strong as, maybe even stronger than the toughest metal that exists in this world.

I might've been exaggerating… but it's very likely to be the case.

I gulped, pouncing forwards and grabbing onto the centipede as it got close. I stood behind its back, trying my best to hold on for dear life as it tried to shake me off. Using my Shadow Cage, I managed to mobilise a few of its thousands of legs, making the monstrosity fall forwards and make the ground tremble.

With the centipede's sudden action, I accidentally placed my weight onto my right foot, making me fall as the pain from it jolted me in shock. My Shadow Cage dissipated as soon as I fell into a muddy pit. I groaned as I sat up, now covered in cold mud.

I bit my lips as I tried my best to stay silent. I looked up and noticed that the centipede seems to be looking for something… or for its attacker-turned-prey, me. Oh, yeah. Most centipedes don't have any eyes. Some rely heavily on their sense of smell and sense of hearing—and this monstrosity seems to be one.

My luck may be horrible, but good luck bounces back.

I rolled into the mud to conceal my scent, my plan coming to close as I threw another set of kunais around the giant monster. The sound reached the centipede's senses and it whirled around, as if to face me. I almost froze up but I mustered enough courage to pull all of the ninja wires connected to every kunai I had thrown before.

As I pulled, the centipede became more and more stuck into the now fully retracted wires—like an unfortunate insect caught in a spider's web.

I smiled. "Yes…!" I panted, stepping out of the mud before starting to fall over, but someone caught me.

"'Ya wild, wild boy." Tou-san chuckled, ruffling my muddy hair, "You did a great job."

Ninjas started to come out of their hiding spots before surrounding the place. It seems like my father went over the lengths of recruiting a whole squad of ANBU's and Jounin ninjas just to secure my safety. How thoughtful.

I smiled at him, lifting a gaze at the trapped centipede.

There's one thing we all seemed to have forgotten because of the relief we all felt after I had trapped the giant boss of an insect. I paled, one word escaping my mouth as the centipede released that gooey, toxic thing again from its mouth, "RUN…!!!"

My chest constricted as I pushed away my father and the surrounding ninjas using my Shadow Cage. I over exerted my chakra but it doesn't matter as long as I push them away from the mess I had started.

Everything became as slow as they can be when the purple goo came close to where I am. A cold feeling washed over my body and soon, that cold feeling condensed into my eyes. Somehow, with it, I could see everything clearly without a fail as they slowly fall into place.

Everyone's… everything's pace was slow… the toxic liquid too. I was confused of what was happening but, questioning thoughts aside, I dragged myself into a safe place and used another Shadow Cage to pull everyone out of the way.

A wave of tiredness. .h.i.t me as everything went back to their original pace, the purple goo hitting the spot to where I was before and melting everything with it until it evaporated. I stared back at the centipede in horror, my eyes feeling as though they're getting colder every second.

Silence lingered as I stared into the creature's soul, if that's even possible.

The centipede then deafeningly screeched, squirming in the wire web I had set up.

I thought it was going to escape but tou-san appeared behind its head without a single warning. He then proceeded to kill it with a single slash using his darkened shadow over his hands (like a chakra scalpel but with shadows), his face all casual yet evidently furious. The centipede's head rolled over and stop just in front of me, its antennas and sharp, strong jaws still moving like it's still processing what just happened to it.

I breathed heavily, stepping back a couple of steps, a shaky smile slowly appearing on my face. Almost getting liquefied because of a toxic liquid isn't really in my to-do list… and everything that happened seriously felt so surreal. I stared at the centipede's body that is stuck at the wire web before staring down at the now dead head. It's definitely unreal.

My father started commanding everyone to "get their s.h.i.+t together" and go see if everyone was alright. I could hear him approaching while my eyes are still fixed at the centipede's head, calming myself down and noticing the cold feeling from my right eye vanished, but the cold remained on my left one.

Another person approached, and I swiftly looked up, recognising the kunoichi as a Hyūga from the sight of her Byakugan. She was smiling when she approached me, but she froze upon meeting my gaze. I blinked at her, looking around as nearby ninjas also froze on their spot, probably from the same reason.

I then unconsciously covered my ears when they all let out an ear-shattering scream, all falling down to the ground and clutching their heads. I hastily stood up, eyes wandering over them and trying to figure out what on earth just happened to them.

My sight then became blurry, and my left eye started to hurt like h.e.l.l. I held it with my left hand, as if it's going to help to reduce the pain. Flashes of different dream-like vision came into my mind—they were like perspective of different people facing the deepest horror they had encountered, and my brain couldn't handle the load. The world around me started to spin, but I recognised someone as he approached.

"S-Stay away!" I shouted immediately, "I-It will hurt you, tou-san!"

__________

Kuro was honestly confused when everyone started to fall over and scream in pain. What worried him more was the fact that his son seems to be the source.

He jumped down from the centipede's body, catching a swift glance at his son's left eye that is now golden in colour, before closing his own pair of eyes. Even with a single, swift glance, when his eyes met the golden gaze of his son, a cold yet warm feeling sparked in him, his mind getting a bit hazy.

He fought over it and kept his eyes closed, approaching his son slowly. Feeling his child's panic from his saddening and broken words of "S-Stay away!" and "I-It will hurt you, tou-san!", he bit his lips and leaped for his son, hugging him and caressing his back.

He had already burned a seal that will alert someone he had in mind so, all he has to do now is to keep things in tow. He sighed, pressing his forehead against his son's, "It's okay, Ori-kun…" He a.s.sured him, rubbing a hand on his child's back. "Inoichi's gonna check them up to see if they're okay. He's on his way now."

'You'll be okay, I promise.'