Song: Won't Give Up

By: Manafest

"Do you really think it'll be useful to have that… demon in our Gang?"

"Sure it will. Look, we've all heard the whispers, but I know the real story. It's what contacts are for, after all. He will be powerful; I think it's time we started thinking ahead."

There was a pause.

"…Ok, I'll think about it."

"Just remember, if we want to get out of the gutter, the only way for us is power. And with Sasayaki and Naruto in the academy, we're finally going to get a chance to learn the real stuff."

"Yea, I know. When they get old enough, and when the rest of us are strong enough, we're going to get out of this village for good."

I smirked.

That was so good! I'm a genius!

I had just created two two-metre chains, one from each hand.

"Not bad," Yugi-sensei drawled.

Hah, that was better than 'not bad', it was AWESOME!

"We're going to need you to start practicing circulating chakra through the chains, however since this style only works on tailed beasts, there is no way to do that. However, it helps if you practice feeling the flow of your own chakra. Meditating twice a day, in the morning and night for an hour will help."

I sweat-dropped.

Really? Meditating?

Great. Just great, I groused silently. Then again, what was I complaining for? I was on the path to power! I should have been jumping at the chance to, uh, meditate.

Yea but…

Meditation.

"Alright, brat. The last thing for today; Danzo-sama has a mission for you. Report to Farukon later this afternoon."

The blood drained from my face, and I swallowed. Lucky I was wearing my mask.

"H-hai…" I muttered.

"Good luck, brat," and with that Yugi-sensei teleported away.

"Where were you?" Naruto demanded the moment I got back from training, some seven hours later. "You left me alone on the second day of the academy! I ended up skipping after recess, it stank!"

I had found him tossing rocks off the top of the Hokage Mountain. A gentle breeze was blowing, ruffling the hair of myself and the person in question.

I had expected he'd be up here, after I had failed to find him at his orphanage or at Ichiraku's. Beside him sat the sealing book, 'A Guide to Level One Fuuinjutsu for Aspiring Masters of the Trade'. It lay open at page 22.

Naruto looked angry when he turned to me. Actually, he looked more hurt than angry. I felt my heart tighten with guilt.

I'll be… sort of truthful, like I was with Kiyoshi and Takeshi…

"Well… See, I have this personal trainer lady that, uh, teaches me stuff and… yea…"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and confusion.

"What kind of stuff?"

Oh crap!

"Um, just… stuff…" I trailed off lamely. Naruto's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Damn it, I have to tell him something!

Clearly, I couldn't tell him about my chain style since it was forbidden and I didn't really want him knowing I was learning to repress bijuu… but…

"I'm learning to create chains!" I exclaimed. "Look!"

I focussed my chakra and formed a chain.

"Wow! That's so cool!" Naruto actually squealed, the anger and hurt all but disappeared in an instant. "Can I learn?"

"Sorry, it's kind of… special for me…" I mumbled lamely. Well, considering it was a forbidden technique only the hokage and Danzo had the right to assign to a select few, technically it was true. "Plus, all I can do right now is that. I've been using CC chains up until now, to get used to channelling chakra through chains so I can actually move them. I only recently managed to make my own chains."

"CC chains?" Naruto asked in confusion.

"Oh, that's short for 'chakra-conductive chains'. They're like ninja-wire, except chains instead. They're not very common, but you can find them in some ninja shops around Konoha," I explained.

Naruto's face slackened, his gaze becoming unfocussed as he stared at something over my shoulder.

I frowned in confusion, turning around to see what he was looking at. But there was nothing out of the ordinary, only the view of the village.

"Uh, Naru?" I asked hesitantly, waving my hand in front of his face.

He suddenly blinked, snapping out of whatever it was.

"With a bigger surface area than wire… a simple storage seal will fit… meaning…"

I remained silent as he looked at me.

"Poison gas," he whispered, eyes widening. "Maybe even explosives… the possibilities…"

Poison gas? Explosives? What?

"Or better yet…"

Then his eyes, unerringly sharp, landed on his book.

"The Fourth Hokage… log!"

Log!?

Naruto gasped, and I watched in confusion as he snatched his book from the ground and hurried away.

"Hey! Where are you going?" I yelled after him.

"Nowhere!" he yelled back gleefully, before disappearing down the path that lead back to the village. "But I'll be back tomorrow to train with you! We'll learn the substitution jutsu together!"

I shrugged to myself.

…weirdo. He never trains!

Anyway, it worked for me because I had to report in for my mission.

"Ushi, Usagi," Farukon acknowledged.

I tried not to fidget or glare, knowing that Kabuto stood less than a metre from me. Farukon observed the two of us from behind his desk.

"Danzo has requested that you complete a mission," Farukon said in his usual monotone. "The mission will take place in two weeks from now. You will be expected to team up with the Anbu team, Team Ro, headed by Kakashi Hatake."

My breath caught.

I was going to meet Kakashi.

I was going to meet Kakashi!

Holy crap, I was so friggin' excited! Although my excitement was cut short with Farukon's next words; "The objective of the mission is to investigate a sighting of missing-nin Orochimaru in a small village."

For a moment, the world seemed to freeze in time as I processed this bit of info.

I am a six year old with barely any training, I have never even left this village before let alone had any fighting experience.

Clearly, there had to be a mistake.

"Farukon, excuse my interruption however I do not believe I-"

"I did not give you permission to interrupt, Usagi," Farukon reprimanded and I shut my mouth, hoping the confusion wasn't showing behind my mask.

Well, this was even worse than I was expecting, and that was saying something.

And why Kabuto? Did he manage to worm his way into this mission, or does Danzo know he corresponds with Orochimaru and deliberately put him on this mission? Or coincidence?

I felt sick. If I came into contact with Orochimaru, who knew what would happen? I could be killed, and that would be the end of my plans to save the universe. Just great.

"The rest of your instruction will be given by your team. You will be required to wear your Root gear which corresponds to that of the ANBU, along with your masks. Usagi, you do not have your mission gear and will be fitted after this meeting. Ushi, you are dismissed."

"So, why the sudden urge to study the substitution?" I asked as Naruto tried and failed to substitute with the log across from us. We were in the academy grounds, borrowing the training area after school hours. Not that we'd actually gone to the academy today. Or the day before. Pranks were much more important, and helping the Gang.

The academy, I'd realised after only a few days, was useless. Naruto and I were clearly too smart to be forced to learn at the rate of average six-year olds.

(I carefully didn't think about the fact Naruto had been failing. Pfft, details.)

No one missed us. Except Iruka, but he didn't really count.

"Just… because…" Naruto said through gritted teeth as he attempted to focus his chakra, hands clasped together in front of him to help focus his chakra.

It was day four already of practicing the substitution jutsu. I'd managed to grasp the concept in two days, and had managed to perform it on the third day. I found it really easy actually. I was pretty sure I'd be able to do it only one-handed within the week, perhaps even no-handed like the actual ninja.

Naruto, however…

I knew he had been practicing every night since we'd started trying to learn, yet he'd only managed it once.

It must be because he has too much chakra, that's normally the explanation.

"Maybe you should-"

Poof.

I blinked as suddenly a log took the place of where he had been standing.

Well, I suppose there was still hope. He normally managed these things through sheer hard work and practice, case in point rasengan and wall-walking. It was probably just taking a little longer than usual because he was only six, after all.

Naruto cheered after getting over his initial surprise.

"I'll have this down in no time, dattebayo!"

"Hey Sasayaki?"

"Yea, Kiyoshi?"

"Not that I'm being nosy or anything, but what are those weird clothes and mask you have stashed at the back of my cupboard?"

I froze, eyes wide as I stared at the opposite wall in the darkness of night. I shifted under my covers, hoping Kiyoshi and Takeshi couldn't sense my unease.

He's talking about my Root gear… Damnit, I hid that well! How did he find it?

Well, I thought it had been well hidden. Maybe stuffing into the furthest corner of an empty cupboard wasn't good enough.

I stayed silent for several moments, trying to figure out an answer.

"…No, don't bother explaining. I know what they are," Kiyoshi finally broke the tense silence, voice sounding dull but with a hint of… something.

He… knows?

Then again, Kiyoshi always seemed to know. I guess that happens when you are a paid informant, because I was almost 100% sure that Kiyoshi was corresponding with a few… questionable sources. He might even be a spy for outsiders. I knew he sourced some unsavoury things to a few people, but there was more going on than that I was sure.

Poor kid, I wonder how he got into this mess? Then again, all of us Gang do whatever we can for food and money… If an opportunity like that came up, would even I have resisted?

But the question was, how much did he know? Did he know about Root, or did he think I had somehow been chosen for ANBU? After all, the uniform is basically the same, except the Root masks are always plain white.

"What is it?" Takeshi asked, voice thick with sleep.

"Nothing you need to worry about," Kiyoshi murmured, wrapping his arms around the blue-haired boy and pressing his lips to the back of his head. Takeshi mumbled something incoherent and relaxed into his arms.

I rolled onto my back and stared at the low ceiling.

Oh joy.

I could only hope Kiyoshi wasn't planning on using this information. I trusted him though, he wouldn't betray one of the Gang (would he?).

And he must know that sometimes, there are things we just can't explain, for the safety of others and ourselves. He himself was a prime example.

I raised my hand before my face, staring at the silhouette.

I guess we're both in the same boat…

"What's this?" I asked Naruto, not believing my eyes. We were at the ramen stand, he'd invited me for lunch. Our meals lay before us, forgotten.

He went a bit red, but still he held out the two metal objects out to me.

They were about three metres in length, chinking together from the movement.

"They're, um, I had this awesome idea and… you said you use chains, so I figured if I could engrave a storage seal onto the end, because they are chakra conductive you should be able to activate it with chakra," Naruto explained in a rush.

Engrave a storage seal? He's advancing so quickly with fuuinjutsu! What on earth?

For a moment though, what he was trying to say didn't click. I simply stared at him, mouth agape, completely bewildered.

And then it hit me.

Log… The Fourth hokage…

Or possible explosives and poison gas…

My mouth snapped shut.

"Happy birthday?" Naruto offered, staring at my expression uneasily.

My mouth curled into a smile. I didn't even know my birthday and Root didn't assign me one, so today was as good a day as any.

February the eighth.

"Naruto," I said gravely, feeling faint "you're a genius."

He broke into a massive smile. "Dattebayo!"

"OI! Those meals are going cold! We put effort into them, so eat up!" Ayame interrupted from behind the counter, cutting our conversation short.

We both obediently dug in, though it was a bit hard to eat while smiling so hard.

But I managed.

"You gotta try and stick it to your forehead," I explained, Naruto stood beside me as we demonstrated the 'stick the leaf to your head' technique Iruka had shown the class. We'd decided to start them off with something simple, and this was basically the most basic of the most basic, focussing on chakra control.

Takeshi's mouth pursed with concentration as he held the leaf to his head, Emi and Eri similarly attempting it.

Akemi was not participating. It was unfortunate, but we all knew he would never have the capability to be a true ninja. Not as a mute. He wouldn't be able to say jutsu names, which were essential when learning jutsu. It was possible to do jutsu without saying the name, but it was extremely difficult without first learning by speaking it.

On top of that, Akemi had always had a frail body and poor eyesight.

Akemi didn't make a fuss. He simply sat to the side and prepared flyers for the next day.

Junko and Kiyoshi were also participating. As the eldest, they seemed to be grasping it slightly better than the other three, but no one had yet managed to twirl the leaves on their head, though Junko had managed to make it stick for over five seconds.

I needed to speak to Kiyoshi though.

I grabbed him by the arm and took him away from the 'class'.

"Kiyoshi, I uh, I need some help," I admitted uncomfortably, fiddling with the CC chains I had tucked up my long-sleeved white shirt, out of sight.

He eyed me curiously, flicking his brown hair out of his eyes which was slightly damp with sweat from practicing.

"Yea? What is it?"

"Well, you found out about… my mask and stuff… and I need to do something for the, uh organisation," I was trying to be as vague as possible, so as not to give anything away in case he didn't know.

Kiyoshi's eyes narrowed.

"Ok… What, exactly?"

"Well, I just need you to make up an excuse for me. I'm going to be away for a little while in a couple of days, can you help me come up with something?"

Kiyoshi nodded slowly.

"I can. I'll tell everyone I asked you to complete an errand for a 'friend' of mine, something you were best suited for. We'll tell everyone tomorrow, then you can go. Sound good?"

"Yea…" I nodded weakly, suddenly the reality hitting me like a ton of bricks.

I could be seeing Orochimaru. The Orochimaru. Pedo-murderer-vampire-mad scientist-genius-sannin.

My breath became shallow.

"Sasayaki!" Kiyoshi interrupted, eyes flashing. "You need to calm down. Just do your best."

And hope not to die.

Kiyoshi turned to return to the others, who were giving us weird stares.

He paused, turned and ruffled my hair.

"You'll be fine. You have a good head on those shoulders, so don't lose your composure like that. It won't do you any good. And… whatever happens, just stay safe."

Then he was gone, back to the group and acting like nothing had happened.

I rubbed my head, feeling the last of the warmth of his hand fade away.

I sighed.

Song: Won't Give Up

By: Manafest

Question:

If you could ask Sasayaki anything at this point, what would it be?