"Welcome back Sota," Raidou greeted you.
"What happened?" You asked. From being in the Land of Rice, you were suddenly seated in front of the Hokage your sensei seated next to you.
Looking down at yourself you saw that your hands were clean and you were no longer wearing bloody clothes.
"A Yamanaka took control over your body to make sure you didn't end up in the hands of Kumo. He waited to release you to make sure you wouldn't run off immediately or start attacking your team.," the Hokage explained to you.
"I wouldn't do that. You know I would never have taken that offer, right Sensei?" you looked at him.
"This was my idea. Sorry, but I could not let Kumo get the hands of Matatabi," Raidou told you.
"So all that matters is the cat, not me?" You asked, keeping your eyes at him.
"In this instance yes," Raidou said.
'I hate you, I hate you too. I almost had it, I almost escaped everything, escaped him,' you thought to yourself and curled yourself into a ball on the chair. All you were in this village was a monster that kept the cat secure for the sake of politics.
You heard slow clapping behind you. "Well done Raidou, next time I need to break someone's spirit I will call for your help," Danzo said.
"I'm just explaining him the reality here," Raidou said.
"Sota here are more worth than his tailed-beast."
You looked up at him. Why did that bastard have to be the only one believing in you?
"Stop with that act of yours, I know very well that we see eye to eye. You're just saying that to try to make him loyal to you. This was what I wanted to talk to you about Hokage-sama. Danzo is a bad influence on Sota and I think he's been trying to start a war with Kumo and Iwa with his help," Raidou said.
"Are you insane?" Danzo asked.
"No, I'm serious. First, you have him trying to attack the Iwa kid in his sleep who did nothing wrong other than stealing Sota's food. I don't think Sota here would kill for something like that, or we've much bigger problems on our hands. Then you've got the guy from Kumo that Sota actually managed to kill and landing in the middle fo the room for everyone to see," Raidou said.
"He was going to kidnap me," you protested.
"I'm not sure if I believe you. I think you set him up to that Danzo. I know you're unhappy about the peace deal after the previous war, and this is your chance at rectifying that," he said.
"You really are insane. If I wanted Sota to start a war for me, I would have had him try to blow up Kumo from the inside so we'd start with an advantage, not in the middle of nowhere with Kumo's strongest ninja present. No, I believe Sota when he says they tried to kidnap him. It's not strange knowing he originally came from Kumo," Danzo said and looked at you.
"You don't look shocked Sota? Maybe because they already told you so?" he asked.
You nodded.
"And they asked you to come with them and you said no?" Danzo asked.
You nodded again.
"And they dragged you into their room?"
"Yes, you said.
"He's just nodding along with anything you say, tell us the truth Sota," Raidou said.
"What Danzo is saying is true, Sensei. On the first evening, they dragged me into their room. Told me about how Danzo and Orochimaru kidnapped me when I was two by threatening to release Matatabi if they didn't let me go. How Danzo killed my mother afterwards to tie up loose strings. Asked me to join Kumo and smuggle me out in their laundry bin. I took a nap there and that's why I was gone for hours and you couldn't find me Sensei. The next day before breakfast, someone grabbed me into their room, wouldn't let me go, tried to suffocate me as I wouldn't stop struggling and I was desperate to do something, so I just had to grab something from my bag and hope for the best. I didn't really intend to kill him or destroy parts of the inn, it just happened," you explained.
"Are you still going to distrust him Raidou? What do you think Hiruzen?" Danzo asked.
"From what I've read in Raidou's report and Sota's explanation. I think you're right Danzo, Sota is innocent here and can not be faulted in his actions," the Hokage said.
"What about that Iwa kid?" Raidou asked.
"I had several nightmares before that. I dreamt that he had joined an organization who's out to hunt Jinchuuriki and was attacking Konoha to get me. Then later, I dreamt that they were extracting Matatabi out of me in some sort of ritual. Danzo told me to deal with threats before they could harm me or my friends, so when I saw that Deidara was alone, I took his advice, but I got stopped by Raidou before I could do anything."
"See, a pretty natural explanation," Danzo said. "I did of course not intend that he'd try to kill someone based on nightmares. But we cannot fault him for taking my lessons to heart."
Why couldn't this come from someone else? He'd just use this against you later. 'I scratched your back so now you better do something for me in return or else.'
"Based on that I will conclude no wrongdoing by Sota or Danzo on this mission. I will have a talk with you in private later Raidou about your behaviour on the mission," Hiruzen said.
"My behaviour?" Raidou asked.
"You should have known better than to bring Sota to that inn," Hiruzen said.
"We got ordered to it, I had other plans in mind," Raidou said.
"You could have protested harder, used our connection as leverage."
"You know I don't like to abuse it," he said.
"Your recklessness almost caused two wars, we'll talk about that later," Hiruzen said.
"Not so fast," Danzo interrupted. "I think we need to do something about this now. I recommend an investigation of Raidou here and Aburama Shibi for conspiracy to commit treason."
"That's a very serious accusation Danzo, one that you shouldn't just throw out like that," the Hokage said.
"It's not an accusation, it's a request for an investigation into the matter," Danzo said and threw a stack of paper onto the Hokage's desk. "I have got the paperwork filled out here."
"What's this about?" Raidou asked.
"Everything is in that report. But the most damning case for you is the constant mismanagement of your missions to discredit me. Then comes you covering up Amurame's failed Genjutsu on Sota. That he attacked you was a mistake. He intended for Sota to try to kill me, but instead, his genjutsu mistakenly made Sota think you were me. You can read through the report before you decide Hiruzen, but I don't see how an investigation would hurt."
You didn't like Raidou, but you didn't want to let Danzo get away with his lies either. "Neither Shibi nor Raidou has nothing to do with that. It's all due to the nightmares you gave me after you made me kill Crow!" You yelled at Danzo.
You saw Danzo forming, some hand seals, was that to activate the seal? It was good that you had just had it removed.
"Sure, I had trouble sleeping before that too, but the nightmares came after what you did," you said.
"Shut up!" Danzo yelled at you.
"He tricked me into walking home all bloody, making everyone…"
Danzo bashed his cane into your temple, and a sharp burst of pain ran through your head like a train as you feel off your chair into the floor, head first.
"Danzo!" Hirzuen yelled out.
"I'm just disciplining him. He needs to learn to respect his elders."
"I'm disappointed in you," Hiruzen said. "Based on this and what Raidou has provided me with before, I've decided you to forbid you from any more contact with Sota."
"We've already talked about this, it's not safe from him to experiment with his seals in his apartment."
"Yes, we talked about it and I've not been sitting idly by. I've found some alternative solutions where he won't be a danger to his neighbours, I'll hopefully have it ready in not too long."
"Very well, if you've everything under control I don't mind getting Sota off my hand. I've never had a more ungrateful and spoiled student than him," Danzo said.
"I'll ask you to leave us now and I repeat, stay away from him," Hiruzen said.
"Don't worry Hiruzen, I'm going to be absent from the village for a while so I won't have time for him anyway. If I'm not back in a month, assume me to be dead and follow the required protocols," he said and left the three of you.
Hiruzen turned to your sensei. "And for you Raidou, after the Chuunin exam, you will step out of your role as Jounin-sensei. I also forbid you to have any contact with Sota till then. You're not suited for the job."
"You cannot be serious, I had no problems before Sota joined the team," he said.
"Sota isn't the problem Raidou, he has been on three mission, and the one without you he acted exemplary. He did everything he was told and did not cause any problem when he was alone. I think it is safe to conclude that you're the problem," Hiruzen argued. "And no, this isn't just coming from Danzo. I have had Uchiha Shisui confirm this for me."
"Yes I might not be able to handle him, but that doesn't mean I don't know how to do my job. Inuzuka Hana did a great job during the last Chuunin exam," Raidou said.
"She's the only success of the four students you've had and that's more thanks to her clan than you. Torune doesn't like being away from home, Kabuto refuses to get promoted and both of them shows pacifistic tendencies. And Sota here has almost got killed twice under your watch, only saved by the fact he's a Jinchuuriki. You're a good ninja, Raidou, but you're not suited to this. After the chuunin exam no matter the outcome, you'll be back to your position as my bodyguard. Till then, I want you to focus on preparing Kabuto and Torune for the exam. Is everything clear?"
"Yes my Hokage," Raidou said.
"Both of you leave my office. Sota, someone will show you where you can study when everything is ready. Though if you get caught experimenting on your own before that, the offer will be withdrawn, so behave," Hiruzen said.
You nodded and hurried back out.
As you got outside in the waiting area, your body decided that enough was enough and you laid down on one of the benches.
"Hi Sota, you cannot sleep out here. But I can carry you home if you want?" Genma offered you as he was passing by.
"Yeah," you nodded and climbed up on his back.
"I'll just put a cloak over us so we don't get wet, it's quite stormy outside now," Genmu said. "Okay?"
"Yeah," you mumbled and he proceeded to cover you with his cloak.
"So senpai, how did you mission go?" he asked you.
"You don't know already?" You asked.
"No, should I?" He asked.
"No, please keep it that way. I don't want you to know," you said. "The fewer that know the better."
"I don't usually snoop around in other people's missions, but I'll try to avoid any rumours, I get what you're trying to tell me."
"Thanks," you mumbled.
"Do you need help with anything?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" You asked.
"You don't seem to be okay," he said.
"Would you help me assassinate someone?" You asked.
Genma laughed. "I mean cooking, keeping things tidy etc.?"
"Not really, I just want to go to sleep I think," you said.
"Sure you're not hungry? They sell some delicious tsukune on the way, kind of like dango, just that they're made out of chicken," he offered.
"I want some yeah," you said. "Thanks."
The smell from the food stand told you that you were in for something good. And you had a weakness for food presented as impaled balls.
"Here you go," he said and handed you your stick. "Try not to get too much sauce on my clothes, but if you do, don't worry, they need a wash anyway now."
"Thanks," you said and put one of them in your mouth. They were kind of hot and this was a bad idea. You quickly swallowed it and tried to breathe in as much of the cold air you could.
"I hope you're not eating them whole Sota, it's not dango," Genma said.
"Of course not, I'm only taking small bites at a time."
A bit later you arrived at your doorstep.
"Are you okay with me leaving now?" He asked.
"Yeah. Good night Genma," you said.
"Good night Sota, take care," he said and put you down on the ground and you went inside and jumped in bed.
-x-
You were suddenly back in the rain and then you heard the sound of thunder and saw the lightning flashing.
But unlike before, you were not afraid this time.
"Sota, I want to go home now. I'm afraid," Tomomi said. Wait, how did you know his name?
"Come on, just a bit more, I don't want to go back to the orphanage yet. And you cannot be scared of thunder if you're going to be a ninja with me. You think the fourth was afraid of the weather?" you asked.
Why did you talk about the orphanage? This wasn't a dream, this was a memory. You had no control it seemed like, you just had to watch.
"No, but my family will probably look for me soon, and if they find out that I'm friends with an orphan, they'll…"
"One more time, please?" You asked.
"Okay, but no more. You'll be Oni okay?" He asked.
"Yeah," you said and went to count by a tree.
"One, two, three," you started to count. As you uttered the word "Four", the entire sky lit up and the bouldering sound of the thunder was instant.
"That was close," you mumbled to yourself before continue counting. "Five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."
"Ready?" You yelled out. No reply. You waited a few seconds before trying again. "Ready?"
He was supposed to call back, he wasn't cheating, right? He better not have ditched you and gone home.
You shrugged and turned around to look for him. Around 15 meters away, you saw him lying on the ground with everything around him was chared.
"Wake up Tomomi, it's not funny," you said and walked up to him. On closer inspection, he was… No… No… No…
You had killed him. You had killed your only friend, just because you wanted to play one more round.
-x-
You woke up shaking and crying, and not too long after another strike could be heard.
"Please, please stop," you mumbled and your breathing became heavier.
But the weather gods answered to no one, so as the next strike hit your ears, you crawled under your bed.
Over the next hour, it just kept coming and you were trembling. Then something began to shake in the door.
You grabbed your kunai and laid prepare as your entire body was shivering.
A hooded figure from Root was walking in and it took just a second before they noticed you.
They got down on the floor and looked at you under the bed. "Hi Sota, I'm your friend remember? I didn't expect you to be here."
"Of course I'm here, I live here and I'm supposed to be sleeping, but the weather," you mumbled.
"I just didn't think your friends would let you be here alone at the moment. Everyone knows that you don't handle storms like this well. So I thought they'd come and get you by now."
"They've not," you mumbled. "But I'm fine." But as another thunderous sound could be heard, you crawled up in a ball.
"Come with me, the sound is much less noticeable underground," they suggested.
"I thought Danzo was supposed to stay away from me," you mumbled.
"Yes, Danzo, but not the rest of Root. Come with me please," they said.
"Alright," you mumbled and crawled out from the bed.
"I'm going to pick you up okay?" They asked.
You nodded and they slowly picked you up in their arms and put a cloak over you blocking all vision out but also protecting you from the elements
"Be careful, I don't want you to get hit," you mumbled.
"Don't worry, there is jutsu to protect yourself against lighting strikes, I can teach you one day if you want."
"Thanks, you mumbled."
You had no idea where you were going, but as the weather started to get quieter, you knew you were underground.
After a bit of more walking, they sat you down on the ground. "I just need to talk to someone first. You're not allowed to see anyone here without the mask on, so I'm going to blindfold you. Don't take it off, Danzo will punish both of us harshly if he finds out."
You nodded and let them do what they needed to do with any fuss. It was a bit uncomfortable sitting blindfolded alone in a place like this, but your friend wouldn't put you in danger.
A few minutes later they came back. "Do you need to go to the bathroom before you go to bed again?"
"No," you said.
"Alright, take my hand and I'm going to guide you to where you're going to sleep," they said.
A few seconds later they'd dragged you into another room as evident by a door closing right behind you.
"You can take it off now," they said.
It was good to see again and unlike your own room down here, this was much smaller, and the walls here were clothed with wooden planks and had a much nicer atmosphere.
In front of you stood a child around your height, if not a bit taller, with their mask on.
"Hi," you said.
"They're not supposed to talk to you," your friend said. "You'll take the bottom bed," they said at pointed to the bunk bed.
Before your friend left, they whispered in your ear. "Don't worry about them, unlike the people above us, they know little about what you've done. Here no one will look at you as a monster."
You nodded and jumped in the bed and after several days without proper sleep, it was no hard job falling asleep.
-x-
Next morning you felt quite well-rested as you woke up. You had almost forgotten how this felt and now you were hungry for some breakfast.
Your roommate was already up and was sitting on his desk. As he heard you waking up, he got up and told you, "follow me".
"Uh," you uttered before getting up. It was probably best to listen to them, not because you saw them as a threat, but because you didn't want to cause any issues for them or have them struggle to figure out what to do.
No blindfold this time, something was up here and you couldn't put your finger on what.
You followed them through the dirt tunnels till you reached who you hoped was your friend.
"Hi Sota, awake finally. Given how long you've been out, I assume you've slept well tonight?"
"Yeah," you replied.
"It's almost lunch now, I assume you're hungry. You mind eating with the others?" They asked.
You weren't exactly sure. Did you want to stay here more than necessary? Maybe you could get to know this place better.
"Sure," you replied.
"Alright follow me," your friend said.
"Is there anything I can call you?" You asked them. It was getting a bit annoying to just think about them as your friend. You'd lots of friends, or at least you'd like to tell yourself that.
"You can call me Sensei, it's what the others here call me."
"Alright Sensei," you replied as you entered the cafeteria.
"Sit with me at the end of the table and don't talk to any of them," Sensei said.
You nodded and sat down on the bench opposite them. About twelve other children were seated around the table, though the seat next to both your and Sensei was empty.
He greeted the food and people started to fill their bowls with stew and sent around the pans.
You filled your bowl and handed it over to the next person. It smelled good. It was nice to see that not everything down in Root was terrible.
"But as you ate, you couldn't fail to notice that the glanced your way, there were somethings their creepy masks didn't hide.
That was until one brave soul opened his mouth. "Sensei, who is that?"
"Have you already gotten the rules for today?" he asked them.
"No, Sensei," they replied.
You looked at him. What was up with that unfriendly tone?
You continued eating without saying anything, but the lack of answer only seemed to make them more curious.
"Is it true that he killed Crow?" Another one asked and it suddenly got quiet.
Sensei sighted. "You're going to get toilet duties for this, but guess I'll answer what questions you have. "This is Sota, and yes he killed Crow."
"Why did you tell them that, you want to make them hate me?" You whispered to them.
"Why do you think they'll hate you? Do you know why your roommate was alone tonight? Crow sent them to the infirmary a week ago after a quite brutal training session. He was universally hated among the other kids here," Sensei whispered back.
Sensei stood up to address them. "Crow acted with his own selfish interests in mind and abused his position so got punished for it. Anything more you wonder about?"
No one said anything but just went back to their food.
It was almost as you didn't notice it, but the Root kids on your side of the bench had moved further away from you. Why?
After finishing your bowl and getting a second serving. You sat there and waited for the other to finish.
When it was just one left eating, Sensei stood up. "Mealtime is over, everyone, do your chores and meet up for training in an hour."
As the other left the table you looked at Sensei. "What did you do that, he wasn't finished?"
"He was making everyone else wait, he should learn to be quicker next time," he answered. "Your roommate is responsible for cleaning up in here, will you help him since he's alone?"
It didn't look like much so you nodded.
"Thanks, put your dishes in the opening over there," he said.
"Sota will help you clean off the tables and benches while you're mopping the floors," he explained to the other boy.
On the table into the kitchen stood a bucket with soapy water. You grabbed it and got to cleaning.
After everything was cleaned, you followed Sensei to their room.
"Do you want to go back home now, or do you want to follow us on the training exercises. You have got an exam to prepare for in not too long, it can be helpful. You need to show that you've more skills than just blowing people up."
"I know more than that," you mumbled back.
"Then show them what you can do," they said.
"Alright, I can stay a bit more. But first here is something I want to ask," you said.
"Go ahead."
"How can you live with yourself, leading them, when you know that half of them will be ordered by Danzo to kill their partner to remove their emotions?"
"Sota, where have you heard this?" They asked.
"Answer me!" You yelled at them.
"Sota."
"Answer me before I break them out from here!" You yelled.
"Alright, if you're fine with me getting punished by Danzo if he finds out," they said. "You don't see me as a friend?"
"I'm not sure anymore. I'll take the blame if Danzo figures out, I'll tell them that I threaten you and I'll take the punishment for you," you said.
"I'm disappointed with you Sota, but fine. Just don't tell any of the others, okay?"
You nodded.
"It is all a lie, smoke and mirrors," they said.
"So you're saying that Danzo won't make them fight to the death?"
"Yes and no. He'll make them think that they're fighting to the death. But the fight is fake, either done with genjutsu, clones or whatever other trick Danzo decides is the best for the duo in question. The test is to see if you put Root over your partner. If both passes, you'll stay as parters through the next stage. If one fails, you're split up. That's simple. Danzo cannot afford to throw away half of the kids here just to mentally scar the other half."
"How do you know that Danzo is telling the truth? That he didn't claim that your partner failed the test and separated you to cover up that you killed him?" You asked.
"Why would he do that? Besides, both of us passed and I know for sure that he survived," they said.
"I haven't seen them down here so I assumed they…," you said.
"They died a few days ago," Sensei said.
"I'm sorry," you replied. "What happened?"
"You killed them," they replied.
"Crow was your partner?" You asked. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, I didn't mean to."
"Didn't I say to not be sorry? Crow was a sadist that put his own urges above Root, he changed a lot since we were young. One of the problems with Danzo's test is that it doesn't separate sadism from loyalty. So Danzo intended his fights against you to be a death sentence."
"But what if I didn't manage to kill him?" You asked.
"Danzo is nothing but persistent."
"How are you able to tell me all this, doesn't the seal stop you from talking about things like this?" You asked.
"The seal is quite bad at its job. It's more the physicological effect. Danzo can activate it manually when in your presence to make it seem like it is more effective than it is. I'm sure you've noticed the same?"
"Yeah, it seemed to fail most of the time. Still glad I got it removed through."
"Do Danzo know?" They asked.
"Yeah, he hit me with his cane, as usual. I hate him," you said.
"Danzo would probably be less harsh towards you if you joined us."
"How would he be less harsh with more control over me?"
"Punishing you too harshly will affect the other children here. Danzo would never order any punishment that the rest would see as unjust. It would just lower morale and make them less loyal to him. He prefers making his agents feel they deserve the punishment.
"But when you're alone, he has no boundaries," Sensei explained.
"Maybe you're right. But I still don't want to lose my friends on the outside."
"You've three friends on the outside that you're growing more and more distant to, and here you've potentially fifteen that share a lot more experiences with you. Root doesn't mean you cannot make friends, it just means you cannot put those friendships over Root."
"I'm not sure, maybe this is the solution. But Danzo is not allowed near me anymore," you said.
"You just have to convince the Hokage that this is the right thing. That's what Danzo has been waiting for all along anyway. And we both know that Danzo's little speech about how he was glad to get rid of you was just an act."
"I need to think about it. Maybe this is a chance to get a clean slate," you said.
"There is no need to hurry, it won't happen till Danzo is back anyway. So let me show you where we'll hold our training today."
You nodded and followed them out and through the corridors till you arrived at a bit smaller arena than what you had used against Crow.
One of the kids had already arrived and was sitting by the wall drawing.
Wait… that wasn't Sai, right? A closer look revealed his pale white skin. So yeah, it was most likely him.
You sat down next to him and looked down on his drawing. It was a smiling boy, one of the other children down here for sure. Though you could tell it wasn't Shin.
"You're good," you said. If we made any reaction you couldn't see it behind his mask.
Minutes went and he filled in more and more details. You didn't know who he was drawing, but they looked too innocent to be locked up her by Danzo.
When he was finished, he rolled the drawing over to a blank page.
Without saying anything, he pointed to a spot in front of him. It wasn't hard to understand what he wanted. So you sat in front of him letting him draw you.
Things turned out well for Sai in the end. But what would happen if you somehow let him free earlier or if you joined him down here?
It was impossible to tell, so you just kept looking at his mask, looking to see you could get glims of any emotion, but you got nothing.
As you sat there, more and more of the remaining children arrived in the room.
Just in time before Sensei was going to start the lesson, Sai turned around the drawing he had been working on.
He was good, but why did he have to draw you so sad? Couldn't he put a bit more life in your eyes?
You gave him a small smile before standing up again. "You're good."
No reply. Why couldn't they talk to you? Why was it so important for Danzo that you neither saw their faces nor talked to them?
Not sure what you'd talk to them about though.
As Sensei walked up to the front of the room, the other children lined up in pairs behind each other.
Should you join them in the line, should you wait for instructions, would everyone think you're stupid for just standing there.
"I hope everyone has their swords?" Sensei said. "Sota, please come up here please."
You did as told.
"Where is your sword?" He asked you.
"I lost it," you said.
"Since you're not a part of Root, I'll let it slide, but you will have to fight without one,"
"Don't worry, I don't need it," you said. And as you said it, it was almost like you saw the rest of them tense up. Probably just your imagination.
Sensei went up to Sai. "Come here," he said and lead him into the arena.
"You've kept secrets from Root and for that, you're going to get punished. Fight him," he said and pointed at you.
Sai tried to take a step back, but Sensei stopped him.
"Don't show him that you're afraid. And why are you even afraid, you have a sword and he's unarmed?" Sensei asked.
"He killed Crow, so how can I defeat him?" Sai asked.
"That's for to figure out. Sota lost twice before he could defeat Crow, no obstacle is too high if you can set your mind to it," Sensei said.
Sai nodded.
Sensei then walked up to you and whispered "Do not cause him any serious injuries or I'll have here everyone attack you. Don't use any explosives and focus on hand-to-hand. But don't go easy on them either, this is supposed to be training for both fo you."
You nodded.
Sensei got out of the marked-up arena. "Get ready… Start," he yelled out.
Sai had gotten ready in a defensive stance with his sword.
There was no point delaying it. You ran towards him, ignored the sword and landed a kick right in his stomach sending him backwards. You rushed towards him and put a foot on his back, preventing him from getting up.
"Sota, you win, you can get off him now," Sensei said and turned to Sai. "Get up."
Sai got off the ground without too much difficulty but was clutching his stomach. Sensei walked up to him and began to heal him. A few seconds later Sai looked much better.
"Now, where is your sword?" He asked.
Sai looked around, he hadn't noticed your little trick. "I… I don't know."
"You know the rules, you're not supposed to lose your weapon," Sensei said.
Sai stepped a few step backs, looking tenser than ever.
You sighed and tried looking for the seal that held his tanto and quickly emptied it.
"Here," you said and held it out for him to grab.
"Are you sure about this Sota? If you take his, Danzo won't punish you for losing yours."
"Yes, I'm sure. I can take whatever punishment Danzo dishes out better than him."
Sensei turned to Sai. "You're lucky now, take it."
Sai slowly approached you and carefully grabbed his tanto. It looked like he wanted to say something, but changed his mind. He put his sword away and went to join the others along the wall.
"I think you should take on the rest too," Sensei said.
"Do I have to?" You asked.
"You are a strong opponent and it will be a good exercise for both you and them. The Chuunin-exam might have you engage in multiple fights in rapid succession," they explained.
You sighed and nodded. You weren't going to engage in much hand-to-hand during the exam, but rather scare them with explosives and any other trick you could come up with by than. Like fire. But maybe, maybe there was some use for it.
"Alright, who's next?" Sensei asked the group.
No one showed any sign of volunteering.
"Don't make me pick one of you," they said.
One of the children raised their hand carefully. "Excuse me, but how am I going to defeat him if he's just going to take my sword. I don't want to lose mine."
"I see you're volunteering. And to answer your question, don't use your sword."
"But, aren't we supposed our swords?" The kid asked
"And that's what we're doing here," Sensei said. "When facing someone like Sota that your sword doesn't work against, you need to adapt. You cannot just use it anyway because that's what you were supposed to do."
"But, he's still too strong."
"You and the others have eleven more tries to take him down, all you need to do is to make it a bit easier for the others to defeat him. Expose his weaknesses, tire him out. I won't heal him until it is over. So do your best and I'll give you all a reward if any you can take him down," Sensei told the kid before turning to you. "And I will know if you're letting them win, so you better not try anything."
You nodded.
The kid seemed to hesitate a bit, but he took one look at Sensei before getting ready to fight.
One after another you took them down. They were more skilled than you, but it didn't matter when you were much more durable and a bit stronger than them.
As the last kid was on the ground you went up to him and offered a hand and he grabbed it without hesitation.
"Good work Sota," Sensei said and walked up to the boy you just defeated to heal him.
After he was done he turned to the group that was sitting along the wall.
"Good work everyone, even if it was still not enough. I'll let you rest a bit before we continue with another round of fights, this time you'll be fighting each other with your swords like normal," Sensei said.
"Come with me Sota," they said and you followed them back to their room.
-x-
"What do you think about today?" Sensei asked.
"What was the point of making me fight all of them? They're afraid of me and you're only making it worse!" You yelled at them.
"Sota, you got it all wrong," they put a hand on your head.
"What?"
"I made them fight you to show them that you're not dangerous. They're all fine, not much harder than what they're used to against each other. You showed them compassion by giving back that sword even if that would cause you to be punished. And most importantly, they trust you as one of them now." Sensei said. Take this they said and handed you a new tanto. "You deserve it, I won't tell Danzo that you lost your original one."
"Thanks, I just feel it is cursed, it's just getting me in trouble," you said.
"I can't tell you if your previous sword was cursed or not, but I assure you that this one is clear of any curses," Sensei said.
"Can you really curse items?" You asked.
"I don't know, all I know is that Danzo doesn't know that you've been given that sword and I've not cursed it, so I wouldn't worry.
"I guess. Do you think joining Root is the best option for me?" You asked.
"I cannot tell you what to think. I might be a bit biased, as I've been here all my life. But looking at how you have it on the outside, I wouldn't trade my place with you. I cannot guarantee that you'll make friends with the rest, but if you put in the effort, I think you've good chances. Danzo might send you out on a few missions, but other than that I think you won't get special treatment from him, so you won't have to deal much more with his harsh behaviour."
"I think you might be right, but I need some time to make a decision," you said.
"No need to rush. I'll check come on you tomorrow if that's okay. If you want I can help you train for the exam. I can provide access to some more discrete training location, away from people if you so want?"
"It's okay, thanks," you said.
Sensei nodded and put on your blindfold. "Hold my hand I'll guide you out."
You nodded and grabbed their hand. Piggybacking was probably going to be easier, but you were not going to ask for it. So you just let yourself be dragged through the corridors.
Minutes later a door opened and you could feel the fresh air entering your lungs.
"You can take off the blindfold now," they said.
You had to squint as bright light hit your eyes. "See you tomorrow Sensei," you said and left.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
AN: Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you liked it.
What would you do in Sota's situation? If you have any thoughts, please leave a review :D!