We walked casually though the streets of Konoha, Naruto cheerfully chattering away about his day, while I only payed half-attention. I could still feel the ninja, just the barest trace of him. They weren't directly behind us, instead they were walking besides us, on the roof tops of nearby buildings, on Naruto's side.
I fought to remain calm, my mind racing as I considered the possibilities.
Far as I could see, the root ninja was there for two possible reasons: it was either a routine intelligence gathering mission, or they were scoping me out as a possible recruit.
If it was the former, it probably wasn't a big deal. My notes and journal weren't actually kept in my room, as I had the foresight to store them in a rusted mailbox that I kept in an old part of the sewer I had found when I was five. The sewer itself was old and hadn't actually been used for quite a few years. Didn't help with the smell, though.
If it was the latter, that was more concerning.
A year after I had woken up to this reality, after I had managed to leave the acid trip behind, it hadn't taken me long to figure out where I was. The Hokage monument was pretty prominent from everywhere in Konoha, actually, so you couldn't really miss it unless you were blind.
Once I had figured that out, I decided to write down everything I knew about the Naruto universe. Locating a notebook and pen wasn't that hard, the orphanage had an office after all. It was when I was writing everything down that I remembered Danzo.
Danzo and his Root Anbu. While it was never explicitly stated how Danzo recruited members for his Root Anbu (At least, as far as I was aware), most of the members appeared to have grown up in Root in the series. That implied that Danzo most likely recruited them at a young age.
I didn't know exactly how Danzo recruited them, but it stood to reason that it wasn't just anyone who was a viable candidate. Danzo struck me as a person who wanted only the very best and brightest for his Root, so he wouldn't pick up an average child on the streets. No, he would target children that were regularly observed and could be analyzed for potential candidacy, yet wouldn't be missed if they disappeared. In other words, children from orphanages.
It wouldn't be that hard to pay off the staff of an orphanage (they probably didn't have particularly big pay-cheques), and it wouldn't be that hard to slip some people in there to keep an eye on the children (more staff that you didn't have to pay for), perhaps even test them for intelligence and strength (playing games with them).
And so it was with that conclusion in mind that I resolved to hide my advanced mental state, and any leg ups I might gain as a result of training early. In addition, it didn't take me long to figure out which of the children in my orphanage were the most likely to be targeted, so I kept a close eye on them to see if they would disappear as time passed.
But as the months passed, there didn't appear to be any changes or disappearances. The children I had identified didn't seem to be gone the next morning, or the next, or the next, even though they displayed remarkable intelligence, and a few were much larger and stronger than others.
I even kept an eye on the staff, looking to see if any of them played with the children, or missed one of their scheduled work days, but none of them did, save for those that were visibly sick.
And so a few years passed, and the day came that Naruto and I signed up for Ninja school and moved into the boarding house, and not a single child disappeared from the orphanage overnight, and I resigned myself to the idea that my conclusions must have been wrong. Danzo probably recruited members for his Root at a different age, which was the next conclusion I had come to, and now that I thought about it, it made sense.
It probably wasn't just enough for a child to display intelligence or strength. All the intelligence and strength in the world wouldn't do you much good if you sucked at being a ninja, and that was what ninja school was all about, weeding out those who were bad at being a ninja.
So the question was… why would they be scouting me out as a recruit so early?
"Hey, are you even paying attention to me?" asked Naruto irritably, jerking my shirt.
I blinked, looking over at him. "Sorry, Naruto, I was just deep in thought."
"Huh?" he cocked his head. "What about?"
"Some freak broke into my room," I said quietly. "I didn't notice anything missing, but still. It's kind of disturbing that someone could just break in without much effort. I didn't notice the door being forced, so they must have had a key. I will have to report this to the dean."
"Oh, I forgot about that," Naruto replied, looking up in thought. "So you think someone stole a key to break into your room? Why would they do that?"
"That's what I've been asking myself," I said, looking down the road. We were close to Ichiraku Ramen. "Look, we're here."
After we had sat down and ordered our usuals (miso ramen for Naruto, chicken ramen for me), I turned to look at Naruto. If I was honest with myself, I didn't really like Naruto that much. Honestly, he was a good kid, but was too hyperactive and had too much of a fondness for pranks for my taste. I had befriended him for one reason, and one reason only: his closeness to the Hokage, a relationship that I hoped to use to my advantage.
If I was forcibly recruited into Danzo's Root, Naruto was my ticket out. He could and would go to the Hokage if his one and only friend were to disappear suddenly overnight, and the Hokage, knowing that I was Naruto's one and only friend, would spring me out of Root out of sympathy for Naruto.
However, I would rather avoid the whole kidnapping spiel if I could, so I would have to act now, while the Root ninja was in earshot. As a matter of fact, I could feel him on the roof of Ichiraku Ramen now, so he could hear us loud and clear right now.
"So," I started after finishing my bowl. "I have to admit that this whole breaking and entering thing has me a bit worried."
"How so?" asked Naruto after he slurped up some ramen from his second bowl.
"Well, I think who ever did it was probably looking for information on me," I said carefully. "Do you remember what the caretakers at the orphanage said about children who run off on their own, leaving the orphanage?"
Naruto shuddered. Everyone who had lived at the orphanage remembered that story, about how children who ran off would inevitably end up at the red light district, forced into sex work. It was a story told with graphic detail, and meant to scare the children into staying at the orphanage.
"You think that… that someone wants to take you there?" asked Naruto with a wince.
"Maybe," I said quietly. "And if they got a key from the dean's office, the dean may be in on it."
Naruto gave me a look of horror. "If that's true, we should tell the old man!"
"We can't know for sure, Naruto," I replied, waving my hand. "At the moment, all it is is a theory. But if it is the case, we should prepare for the worst."
Naruto nodded and gave me a serious. "How?"
"If one of us disappears, the other goes to the Hokage," I replied. "He will be able to sort this out."
Not that anyone would dare try and steal Naruto, but still.
"Yeah, the old man can do anything!" Naruto smiled, before frowning. "but I hope he doesn't have to."
"Me either, Naruto," I replied. "Me either."
After that we lapsed into silence, and I waited while Naruto finished his third bowl, before paying. Then we got up and began to walk back to the boarding house.
"Naruto, why don't you go on ahead," I said after we were about two thirds of the way back. I sat down on a nearby bench. "I want to stay out a bit longer."
"Ok!" Naruto chirped. "See you tomorrow, Kazuto."
"See you," I replied, before turning to look down the road in the other direction. The Ninja was still following us. I wondered why the ninja hadn't gone back to report to Danzo.
As the ninja grew closer, I wondered if they were going to ignore my heavy handed advice and actually kidnap me. If that was the case, I would rather Naruto not be here, as he could get hurt.
As the Ninja rounded a corner and came within visible range, I realized that it was no longer concealing itself from sight, and next moment, I realized who it was.
It was Toyokuni, the kid who had offered to play with me this morning.
And if we consider the Root to be an organic drone, then yes, it would be Danzo legally speaking.
