The mission was a fairly simple one; track and eliminate.
For the past several years a group of bandits had been plaguing the land on the eastern border of Hi no Kuni. They would ransack small villages overnight, always killing the men and burning the houses once they'd removed all valuables. The women and children disappeared, presumably sold into the illusive slave trade that persisted to hide in the shadows of the underground, flinching away from ninja inspection and so managing to survive. It was only due to the fact that Hi no Kuni had very little to do with slavery that the forbidden trade hadn't been eradicated by the more kind-hearted of those in power. Interfering in the affairs of other lands was frowned upon, although exceptions were usually made in the case of missing-nin. In terms of assassinations, espionage and blackmail…well, if you couldn't keep it in the shadows, you didn't deserve the title of ninja.
These bandits, however, were well within Hi no Kuni's jurisdiction. Usually the small bands that roamed the land were little more the annoyances to the wealthier – and thus relevant – citizens, and so were often ignored at the expense of those unable to fight back against them. This particular band however had managed to garner an unfortunate amount of attention in their audacious murder of the daimyo's nephew.
The teenager had been travelling with only a few samurai for protection, and had been ambushed by the group. Several bandits died in the attack but ultimately they had won the short battle at least partially by virtue of greater numbers and surprise. The victory itself had been largely attributed to – what investigations had revealed – an assailant with an admirably precise aim, sneaking what appeared to be a short blade between the kinks of the samurai armour and very near always striking vital spots, or at least ones that severely wounded the men. It was suspected that a ninja might have been responsible, which was one of the reasons the daimyo hadn't sought retribution with his own forces, but instead hired the services of Konohagakure-nin.
Another reason was that the leader of the group was of some interest. His former address was Sakagami Ryo and he was the dishonoured second son of a noble in the daimyo's court, disowned due to the cold-blooded murder of his younger brother. He made the bandits more of a threat than the usual; with a high-class education behind him and military training – though not ninja – he organised his group remarkably well, eluding several attempts at capture over the years, even from a low-level chuunin team who had never been recovered.
The team that had been assigned to kill the bandit group were far from ordinary chuunin. The mission was to be viewed as a training exercise for several green members of Root, and it was their first expedition outside of Konoha for longer than a few days. For this mission they had been assigned temporary aliases for the necessity of communication, and the man designated as Hiroki was acting as leader to the four-man team, though the oldest of the three was nine-years-old so they could hardly be called men.
Still, they had been deemed skilled enough by their instructors that they were ready to be sent on this mission. It would be the first kill of two of the boys, and Hiroki was ordered to make note of any hesitation on their part that would need to be remedied. The large number that they would kill should aid in the desensitising process, and the nature of the mission encouraged the mind-set that it was a positive thing for them to kill in the name of Konoha; enhancing the distinction between Us and Them with uncivilised, vulgar and supposedly 'evil' bandits as the template of 'Them'.
This method was found to have a higher success rate than Hiroki's own; he'd been ordered to torture a potential Iwa spy slowly to death. Whilst he himself had come out unscathed many of the other Root members had regressed in their training, becoming overly emotional or oppositely traumatised. Those who could not be salvaged were discarded.
Hiroki ran slightly ahead of the small team, setting his pace at one which the boys could match without exhausting themselves needlessly. They'd had a vague idea of Ryo's last known location but had soon had to rely on rumours to narrow down their search. Fortunately – at least on their part – the bandits had attacked another minor village just recently, and when the Root-nin arrived their tracks, however well hidden, were still discernable. A day later and they had almost caught up to the group.
Hiroki raised his hand in the signal to halt when he caught sight of a flicker of light through the trees. It was night, around two or three in the morning, and due to the fact that it was early November there was very little visibility; any light stood out like a beacon. If it weren't for the fact that the four ninja had received training in utilising their other senses they would've been blind.
Remaining amongst the higher branches the Root team stalked closer to what was evidently a camp site. Around twenty simple tents had been set up in four ordered rows, each tent large enough to fit two or three men. In one corner of the clearing several oxen were loosely tied to thick branches dug into the ground, four wagons holding various supplies settled nearby. In the centre of the clearing there was a large gap where a campfire was burning, and five men sat on logs set up around it. Three more men patrolled down the rows of tents, and four stood at each point of the clearing's edge, their distance from the campfire allowing their vision to adjust to the darkness and thus be effective in watching for enemies.
Hiroki noted their efficiency, before giving the order to kill whilst he observed. The large number and armed men clearly identified them as the bandits they'd been ordered to kill, if the rough symbol painted on several of the tents wasn't enough of an indication. It depicted a howling wolf's head – the signature of the arrogant group of bandits that they often left behind after ravaging a village.
The sentries showed that they were more intelligent that Hiroki had thought, but the Root team had planned for this and each ninja knew what to do. Hiroki would only intervene if he deemed it necessary; if the three died on a mission as simple as this they wouldn't be deemed suitable for advancement from recruit to a full-fledged member, and unless they had some particular skill that allowed for leniency they would be left to their fate. This pressure would allow them to unlock their potential as a ninja, and if they didn't then they weren't worth keeping alive any longer.
The three boys darted towards the camp, steps silent upon the branches. The boy who had been dubbed Takao pierced the hearts of the men standing at the north and east edges without the bandits ever being aware of his existence, blending in with the shadows to the point that all which could be seen was the momentary flash of a blade. Hiroki noted that this would have to be remedied; something as brief as that could give away your position and allow the enemy time to react. Dulling the shine on a kunai was hardly an impossibility, or even simply tilting the blade in such a way that light wouldn't glint off of it.
Another boy, Keiji, struck the men in the south and west with precise blows to the backs of the neck, neatly breaking their necks. A simple genjutsu muffled the sound of snapping bone, and both boys quickly pulled the corpses a little deeper into the surrounding woods in order to avoid immediate detection.
The third boy, Shin, was the fastest and so went after the men patrolling the tents. Shin ran down the rows, avoiding the few torches that had been set up, and silenced the bandits from behind with his tantō. The tents were tall enough that the other men couldn't see over, and so the deaths of their comrades went unnoticed. He caught the bodies as they fell, spinal column severed at the neck, and with the aid of Keiji who set up another genjutsu erasing the sound he dragged them into the woods. Thus far, the operation had lasted no longer than thirty seconds.
As was often the case, it took no more than a stroke of bad luck for the mission to, if not fail, grow in complication. A flock of birds took off in the west, gaining the attention of a bored guard with eyesight slightly better than his fellows. This would've gone without consequence if he hadn't noticed that one of the sentries, a close friend of his, wasn't at his post. He may have passed this off as the other bandit taking a piss if it weren't for the fact that this man was rather paranoid, and took only a moment of deliberation to raise the alarm – a small but loud bell that he happened to be in charge of.
The three Root recruits froze for a few crucial moments as bandits tumbled out of their tents, most in the armour they'd gone to sleep in whilst others wore only shirts and trousers, but all armed. It was enough time for them to be spotted, and even half asleep the bandits were quick to identify their enemy, and immediately charged at the blank-masked boys with bloodthirsty yells.
The three immediately fell into formation with their backs to each other. Shin lashed out at his opponents with quick strikes before retreating back, his tantō unobstructed by the leather armour many wore, and findings its way around the stronger metal. Takao unleashed his collection of kunai and shuriken, piercing soft flesh until the bandits were overwhelmed, and with a flick of the attached wire the weapons returned to his hands. Keiji preferred to ensnare his attackers in low-level genjutsu that distracted the men for just long enough that he could dart forwards and either crush their throats of break their necks with his surprisingly strong blows.
The one-sidedness of the battle was quite clear until the bandits appeared to wise up, no longer attacking individually but instead working together in their own formation. Ryo was the one directing them now as he barked out orders, remaining out of the line of fire for the most part.
Four men surround Keiji just as he'd dispatched a bandit, cutting him off from his team whilst they attacked at once. Surprised, the boy didn't have time to make any hand seals before he had to twist away from the sword swipes. He avoided the strikes to his front and sides, but the man who approached from behind lodged his broadsword deep within Keiji's shoulder, cutting to the bone and leaving a heavily bleeding wound when the bandit removed his sword with a vicious grin.
Confident in their victory, the bandit was too slow to avoid the kick that slammed into his side, shattering his ribs and piercing his organs with shards of bone. Keiji landed with a slight stumble, grimacing momentarily as his shoulder was jolted, before his face smoothed out to its usual blankness. The three other men fell to a swarm of kunai and Shin's tantō, allowing Keiji to regain his bearings and adjust to the pain.
More confident with the knowledge that the three weren't infallible, the bandit attacked with vigour. They had a clear strategy; separate the three boys. Conscious of this the Root members huddled closer together and remained on the defensive, resulting in far less bandits being killed or even seriously injured since they were limited in their movements to primarily counter-attacking.
A giant of a man who favoured a hulking hammer managed to drive Takao to the side where five bandits converged on him. The least flexible of the three and worst at taijutsu, Takao had difficulties avoiding all their attacks from every side, having to use his weapons to entangle and misdirect the strikes. A blow to the back of the head sent him pitching forwards before he recovered himself just in time to avoid an axe to the neck, kicking off the ground so he flipped backwards away from the swing. He returned the favour with a kunai through the grizzled man's eye, piercing his brain.
Hiroki stood at the edge of the clearing, watching all this with analytical eyes. There were less than twenty-five bandits left out of the original sixty or so, but the rate of battle had slowed as the more talented bandits proved themselves. A few had obvious ninja training, though no more than Academy level, whilst several seemed to be former samurai. Though somewhat skilled none showed evidence of the brutal efficiency the reports had shown.
Then, as if in response to his thoughts, a new combatant entered the fight. They darted out from the treeline across from him and approached rapidly, slipping between the bandits unnoticeably until they were directly behind Takao. Hiroki realised they must be a young child; they were shorter than Takao who was seven, dressed in all dark colours that obscured their gender.
Takao sensed the child, spinning around just in time to meet their blade with his own kunai. A fraction of a second later the child lashed out at the side of his knee. Though the impact wasn't particularly strong it struck just the right spot to make him lose his balance momentarily, his stance wavering. Taking advantage of this his opponent knocked his kunai aside with one hand just far enough to then drive their tantō into his throat, before kicking him away to fall weakly to the ground, clutching the wound.
Ryo, who had spent more time observing the fight than participating, grinned at the black-haired child. "It's about time you showed up. I was starting to think you'd leave us to die," he said cheerily.
The child examined their blade, turning it slowly as blood glistened along its length. "I considered it, but I was curious about Konoha-nin. Do they bleed the same, I wondered."
"Konoha-nin, huh? They must be after us because of that rich kid, daimyo's…nephew, was it?" Ryo said, apparently deciding to ignore the strange comment. "I wish I'd known who he was before we attacked," he lamented, scratching his cheek.
The child tilted their head, short black hair swaying with the movement as they stared down at the masked face of Takao. "Root…" they murmured softly.
Hiroki stiffened. The village origin of the ninja was quite obvious since they were within Hi no Kuni, but there was no way the child could possibly know of Root. It was a secret known only to the upper echelons of Konohagakure ninja, a shadow organisation whose actions, if known, were always attributed to the ANBU as a whole, not their specific sect. How could a child living with a group of common bandits possibly have come across this information?
He could see that they hadn't been trained specifically by a ninja village; their movements didn't show any indication of any Academy style and weren't quite swift enough. It was the simple economy of movement that allowed them to create the illusion of speed; this he saw clearly when they engaged Keiji. Rather than dodging all of the boy's strikes they often carefully misdirected blows with their palm or reduced Keiji's momentum by interrupting strikes. They could obviously read Keiji's movements very well, managing to react near pre-emptively and preparing for attacks that had not yet been made with startling accuracy. Any wounds they received were minor due to their method of avoiding strikes just enough for it to skim past them, or leave only bruising and scratches.
Then, when they did attack it was always to particularly sensitive areas. The joints, the throat, the fingers – already three had been broken on Keiji's right hand and two on his left – and the wound on his shoulder. The breaks prevented Keiji from using his genjutsu to gain the advantage, and with the child widening his wound with every chance they got blood loss was beginning to effect his performance. He was slower and his strikes were weaker; the child couldn't be classified as his superior in skill but they were capitalising on his weakness whilst minimalizing injuries to themselves with such efficiency that soon they would be the victor.
If the child received the training the three boys had, how powerful would they become?
Decision made, Hiroki intervened. He kicked the child away from Keiji and the other combatants, and approved when no sound of pain left their lips despite the cracking ribs he felt beneath the blow. The child landed heavily on a tent several metres away, the momentum allowing them to roll back onto their feet with a stumble.
Black eyes stared at him unerringly as he walked closer. The child's features were androgynous like many in that age range, though their cheeks lacked the chubbiness most had unless they were either starved or trained from a very young age. Their skin was unusually pale for someone who spent so much time outdoors, making the blank dark eyes look all the more startling as they watched him.
"How do you know of Root, and who taught you to fight?" Hiroki enquired, taking note of the lack of stance. The child made no move to attack nor defend, arms limp at their sides and relaxed. It was almost as if they knew there was no point in attempting to fight Hiroki; the outcome would be the same either way.
The child considered his question for a few moments, a small smile curving their lips. Hiroki thought it odd that this smile looked more emotionless than the mask of any Root member. "The whispers in my head which speak of truth and survival, the dying wanderer who knew no home that he had not betrayed, and the man that points his dog to battle," they answered in a sombre voice.
The possibility of insanity didn't deter Hiroki; in fact, recruits who were unstable often responded better to training than the sane ones. From what they said he could infer that the "wanderer" was likely a missing-nin, and if the child could be considered to be the "dog" then the "man" may be Ryo. "What was the name of this missing-nin?"
"The dying wanderer gave no name, wishing only for the eternal life of a legacy and the death of a body. He was granted his wish."
Did that mean the missing-nin was dead? Was he the one who revealed the existence of Root? Hiroki dismissed those thoughts as unimportant for now, though he made a mental note of them, and focussed on the child. They would definitely be an asset to Danzō-sama once they were properly trained, so he would not kill them. However, Hiroki had never been chosen as part of the recruitment team. This role was delegated to those skilled in emotional manipulation, displaying a mask that would attract children and the occasional teenager to their cause.
Each year the small team would visit the more rundown orphanages of Konoha and select between ten and thirty potential Root members who showed the most promise, assured that they would not be missed. Additional children were collected from Hi no Kuni, again those who wouldn't be noticed missing. Often they were 'rescued' from situations that would make them grateful to Danzō-sama and so hasten the indoctrination process.
This case was not unique, as children had been recruited from missions before, but Hiroki himself had never done so. He decided that the straight-forward approach was most suitable due to the age of the child. "You have two choices. Either I kill you now, or you become a ninja of Konohagakure and pledge your loyalty to Danzō-sama."
The child tilted their head as they watched him, and there was a flash of something in those eyes before the small smile that had yet to fall widened. "The whispers say I will become a ninja of Konohagakure and serve your Danzō-sama."
Hiroki nodded. He flashed through the six hand signs of the genjutsu Makuragi no Yume, and the child slumped over into unconsciousness. He slung them over his shoulder and made his way over to the two remaining Root recruits. The bandit numbers had dwindled to four including Ryo, and whilst Shin remained firm in his attack Keiji was lagging, barely keeping ahead of his opponents due to the wounds inflicted upon him largely by the child Hiroki now carried.
Hiroki watched as Shin dispatched two bandits with rapid jabs of his tantō, and then turned to support Keiji by knocking the tall man into Keiji's fist which ploughed through the bandit's unguarded head. The two converged on Ryo who fought them off with his katana, his jaw tightening under the pressure as he grew desperate in keeping the ninja off him, the high quality of his armour working to keep him alive.
"Girl, get over here!" Ryo yelled, fear colouring his tone. Hiroki presumed he was referring to the child and noted the gender. Considering gender biases it was interesting that she'd received combat-training from a male ninja, as outside of the Academy any ninja training with females tended to be focussed on kunoichi-specific skills.
When no aid was forthcoming Ryo took his attention off the fight for a crucial moment – it was all Shin needed. The former bandit leader's eyes had just flickered in Hiroki's direction before Shin leapt into the air behind him, driving his tantō down through the middle of his shoulders into the soft organs beneath. The pain and shock barely twisted his features before he collapsed.
Shin and Keiji panted heavily for a few moments until they registered Hiroki's presence. Instantly the two straightened despite the injuries, saying in unison, "Hiroki-taichō."
"Seal Takao's and Ryo's corpse in separate scrolls," Hiroki ordered Shin, before he turned to Keiji. "Apply basic first aid to your wounds that will last until we reach the base. I expect us to be back by the afternoon at the latest."
"Hai, Hiroki-taichō!"
. . .
Makuragi no Yume – Sleeper's dream (couldn't think of a better name). This is a genjutsu that simply knocks the subject unconscious by tricking the mind into believing it is dreaming, therefore inducing the dreaming state. Easily resisted by a shinobi with chuunin-rank chakra reserves or above, as their chakra flow is strong enough to disrupt the jutsu.
-taichō – captain
Hi no Kuni – Land of Fire
Daimyo – (in the narutoverse) the leader of a country, specifically Hi no Kuni for this chapter. The Hokage and Konoha technically are ruled by him.
I thought I'd answer a few questions that might come up.
Why can Sai kill and fight Root members when she's six? Much of the same reasons as last chapter, only with more training and experience under her belt. The Root members are also only high genin to low chuunin level, as well as already being injured (Takao, for example, had a concussion). The whispers guide a lot of her actions - where the best place to strike is, predicting what the enemy is going to do - whilst her training with the 'dying wanderer' supplements that.
I don't want to make Sai absurdly powerful but she is strong. I hope that came across okay, if not then let me know and I'll do my best to fix it.
Please leave a review, and suggestions for pairings are always welcome though in no way will it be the focus of the story. Thanks for all the reviews so far :)
