After Sakura went through the reading Reito needed to do and provided him with the required books, the bell rang to signal the end of the lunch break. Reito moved to the closest empty desk as students began to arrive, just eight of them in total. When he spotted Haru among them, he felt his heart skip a beat and had to employ his mental training once more to block out thoughts of Amaya Sensei.

Haru didn’t sit nearby, which Reito was thankful for. He wasn’t ready to talk things out yet. As difficult as it was to keep his composure right now, perhaps what he was feeling was just? A worthy form of penance for failing his teacher—Haru’s mother. Logically, Reito knew there was nothing he could have done to save her. He just needed his heart to catch up with his head.

As Sakura had explained, the first part of her lesson was a test for her students, none of whom complained when she announced this. She handed each of the students a sealed scroll, which they proceeded to unfurl across their long desks. After a short burst of popping sounds, Reito found himself lurching in surprise at the sudden assault on his sense of smell.

At each student’s workstation, lying still across their now-unsealed scrolls, was a small, dead fish. They were different kinds judging by their coloring—red, green, or silver—but all roughly the same size.

The boy to Reito’s right had a red fish, a snapper perhaps. He was fairly short, and much of his face was concealed by the high collar of his oversized hunter-green coat and the orange scarf he wrapped around it. Despite this, people probably didn’t have trouble identifying him owing to his thick head of bushy jade-green hair. He looked like a shrub.

Reito watched as the students got to work, holding their hands over their specimens with varying degrees of Chakra emanating from them. He frowned in confusion. Sakura had mentioned they would be employing the Mystical Palm Jutsu, but how did one heal a dead fish?

Five minutes later, however, his question was answered when his desk neighbor’s fish sprang up and began to flail about. Reito’s eyes widened as he tried to comprehend what this could mean for him, for those he had lost.

“Excellent work, Daishi!” Sakura praised. “That was a new record! The rest of you, don’t lose your concentration.”

As the rest of the class refocused their efforts, the green-haired boy took his seat. What Reito could see of his cheeks looked red with embarrassment.

“I didn’t know the Mystical Palm could bring animals back to life,” Reito marveled. “Does it work on humans?”

Daishi turned to him briefly, his hazel eyes peeking out over his collar. “It’s not,” he mumbled in reply.

“It’s not what?”

“Alive,” Daishi clarified, turning back to the fish, which ceased flopping a few moments later.

“You mean because it doesn’t have water?”

“No. It wasn’t alive. They’re dead,” Daishi explained abruptly, not making eye contact again.

Reito cast his gaze downward. The boy obviously didn’t want to talk to him. He had probably heard about the Town Hall meeting.

However, a few seconds later, Daishi volunteered in short, succinct sentences, “We don’t bring them back to life. We temporarily reactivate their cells. It’s not about lack of water. It would have stopped moving anyway. It’s dead.”

“Oh,” said Reito, deciding that the boy wasn’t ignoring him purposefully and putting the silly thought he had been considering out of his mind. He wasn’t going to be bringing anyone back from the dead. That was far beyond the limits of Medical Ninjutsu. “Thanks.”

It was another few minutes before anyone else managed to revive their fish, or activate its cells as the case may be—Marin, a girl with dark glasses that reminded Reito of Shino—then it started to happen one after the other, with Haru finishing second to last. Daishi didn’t speak again while they were waiting, he just sat unnervingly still, watching his dead fish.

Reito couldn’t decide if the boy was shy, strange, or both, but he surely had a talent for Sakura’s subject. When they moved on to making Food Pills, Daishi made his batch without consulting the recipe while simultaneously correcting Reito every time he reached for the wrong ingredient. He didn’t speak. He simply pointed to the right item, but Reito appreciated the help.

He didn’t get a chance to thank Daishi for his assistance, however, as the boy rushed out of the room as soon as the end-of-day bell rang. Haru also left the room before Reito, giving him a much-needed reprieve. They would need to speak at some point, but now wasn’t the time. Even if he had been confident about what he would say to Haru, it had been a long day. Well, it felt like it, anyway.

“Don’t forget to do the reading,” Sakura called as he made for the door.

Reito smiled meekly and gave her a nod. Happy to be lost in the sea of other students, he passed through the school and out to the gate, planning to get in some training with the aid of his freshly made Food Pills. They smelt awful and looked darker and lumpier than Daishi’s, but he would surely garner some benefit from all the vitamins packed into them.

“There! There he is! See? My God, he hasn’t aged a day!” Reito heard a man call out over the din of students heading home, then felt a hand jostle his shoulder.

“No, dear, you mustn’t! The Hokage told us—” a woman protested.

“I don’t care what she said, I want the truth!” the man said before striking Reito across the face. “Now, tell me, demon! Tell me what you did to my boy!”

Reito was too stunned to react. The surrounding students were backing away, watching as he was being shaken by the scruff of his shirt by the stranger. It was a few seconds before he realized that the bald man, dressed in a white kosode robe with black hakama pants, wasn’t a stranger at all. He was the village’s spiritual leader. He was Yuji’s father.

There were more lines on his face, which was contorted with a manic rage, but this was definitely the man Reito recognized from the occasional services his family attended on holy days. Next to him stood Yuji’s mother, pulling uselessly on her husband’s sleeve as he continued to manhandle the boy, tears in her eyes. “Confess!” Mr. Saito yelled, raising his arm to deliver another blow.

Reito didn’t resist. Even if he could have summoned the strength to, he didn’t have the will, not after what had occurred that morning. If Mr. Saito needed to hit him to work through his grief, to avenge Yuji, to please his God, who was he to object? He closed his eyes in anticipation of the slap, but the pain never came.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“Begging your pardon, Saito Kannushi,” spoke a familiar voice with deference but resolve, “but I must ask you to release your hold and leave at once.”

“You dare lay a hand on me?” gasped Mr. Saito.

Reito opened his eyes to find Iruka Sensei gripping the man’s wrist, which was an inch from making contact with his face.

“It’s no more than you have done, and in front of many witnesses,” Iruka Sensei said in the calm but stern manner he so often employed in class. “I will be reporting this matter as it is. Please do not make the situation worse.”

Mr. Saito looked livid. “Don’t you know who he is? Can’t you see what he is?”

“Reito is one of my students, and I cannot allow you to harm him.”

“Do not be deceived! That thing is not Reito Tsu! Look at it, it hasn’t aged. It’s a demon, a changeling, a Yōkai! It took my boy, and now it’s come for the rest of Konoha’s children!”

Just then, a pair of ninjas arrived on the scene. With Mrs. Saito’s help, they pulled her husband away as he continued to yell warnings about Reito.

“Be on your way, all of you,” Iruka Sensei told the onlooking students, who Reito hadn’t noticed were still watching him with fear etched across their faces. They started to shuffle away when he added that they surely had homework or revision to do. “Reito, are you alright?”

“Yes,” he replied in a daze.

“Do you want to come to the office for a mo—”

“No, I’m fine,” he said quickly, “I just want to go…” Home was what he had been about to say. His home wasn’t there anymore, though. At least, he presumed that was the case.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Thank you, Sensei. I’m sorry to have troubled you.”

Iruka Sensei looked conflicted but didn’t prevent the boy from leaving.

Reito didn’t feel like training anymore, so he headed for the orphanage by a route that took him out of his way, his feet moving as if of their own accord. He was so far beyond knowing how he was feeling. He was numb to his emotions at this point, and his thoughts were like white noise. There was something peaceful about that, though.

He had been bullied, accused of murder, betrayed, pushed to vandalism, slapped by his dead friend’s father in front of half the school, and labeled a demon by the same man, who happened to be the village’s head priest, all on his first day back at the school he already graduated from five years ago. It might be funny if it wasn’t so absurd.

When Reito arrived at his apparent destination, he took in his surroundings. Things didn’t look quite the same, but there were enough familiar neighborhood buildings for him to know he was in the right place—a grocery, a barbecue restaurant, the Fire Estate in the distance. As suspected, his family’s tea shop was long gone. In its place, or roughly where Reito imagined it stood at one point, was a store selling furniture and other wares. The home above it belonged to some other family now.

***

Reito fell asleep shortly after he reached his room at the orphanage. It hadn’t been a physically strenuous day, but mentally speaking, he had been exhausted. When he awoke early the following morning, he felt a little more like himself. He also felt very hungry, but with it still being near-dark outside, breakfast wouldn’t be for hours. So, with no other option and a sudden urge to do the training he had put off yesterday, he ate one of his Food Pills.

It was vile. Even so, his face scrunched up from the bitter taste and grainy texture, Reito forced himself to swallow it, then quickly poured a cup of water from his pitcher to wash it down. The main door would still be locked at this hour, so he carefully dangled himself out of his third-floor window, then dropped to the window ledges below before hitting ground level.

With the sun just coming up, Konoha’s streets were deserted. There was no one to point at him, stare at him, or bother him in any way, so Reito drew on his Chakra and took the opportunity to run at top speed, his arms flung out behind him. It felt good to have the cool air on his face and in his hair, peacefully quiet but for the chirping of the birds. It was…freeing. So, he ran. He ran all the way to Training Ground Three.

Before getting to work on his old Taijutsu exercises, Reito stopped at the memorial, where he sent out a prayer to his friends, along with an apology for his pitiful behavior the previous day. For him to allow himself to lose control, to be beaten, to be weak, while his friends were missing…? It was nothing short of a betrayal. If he wanted to graduate, if he wanted to find his friends, he needed to be strong, and not just physically. He needed to toughen up mentally, too.

The villagers thought of him as a killer. Mr. Saito called him a demon and would surely be telling all his followers the same thing. Well, maybe that’s exactly what he needed to become—a monster, just like the ones from Akatsuki.

He had less than two weeks left at the academy. He needed to put aside any foolish thoughts he had about making friends. All his free time should be spent preparing for the graduation exams, and that meant training before and after school every day, training until his arms and legs felt like they might fall off. And if he needed some downtime to rest, that would be spent doing the reading Sakura had set him.

An hour later, the sun was casting warm light over the clearing, and Reito was surprised to find himself sweating profusely from his workout but still full of energy. He laughed to himself, wondering if his disgusting Food Pill had actually worked.

Remembering that Iruka Sensei was going to be testing the class that morning, Reito decided to try the Clone Jutsu before ending his training session and getting in a shower before school. He took a couple of deep breaths and focused on molding Chakra. After his previous exam, he knew Iruka Sensei would be looking for three clones, so he focused on that while performing the ram, snake, and tiger Hand Seals.

“Clone (Bunshin no) Jutsu!” Reito recited, activating his Chakra, then looking to his left. He sighed with disappointment. Only two afterimages were mimicking his movements. He should have known he would need more than one good training session before he saw any improvement. Still, he could at least see how long they lasted before fizzling out. It was easier with fewer of them, after all, so he resumed his Taijutsu moves while maintaining the Jutsu.

That was when he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. To his right, two more clones were moving with him. Reito blinked in confusion, raising his arm to make sure of what he was seeing. The clones’ arms moved too. All four of them. There were definitely four. He had made four clones, not two, and he had only been trying for three. What the heck was in those Food Pills?

“Hmm, that’s pretty good for someone your age,” a nearby voice commented suddenly.

Reito almost jumped out of his skin, the distraction causing his clones to vanish as he spun on the spot to find a man standing ten feet away.

“Ah, sorry, my bad,” said Kakashi Hatake, absently scratching the back of his head.

“Kakashi Sensei!” Reito said in a high pitch. “I mean, err, Lord Sixth!”

“Oh, no, please, I’m not Hokage yet,” the man said, waving off the title with a chuckle. “Sorry for disturbing your training. I didn’t expect anyone else to be here this early.”

“Someone like you needs to train?”

“Of course, of course! I can’t let my skills get rusty if I’m going to be Hokage, but I didn’t come to train. I just wanted to visit the memorial.”

“Oh, I see,” said Reito mournfully. “I guess I should have booked the training ground. I was just about to leave if—”

“No need to rush,” Kakashi assured him. “And if the area’s not in use, I don’t see why you shouldn’t use it. Did you have a good session?”

“Err, yeah, I think so,” said Reito. “Sakura had us make Food Pills yesterday, and I think they really helped. I’ve never made four clones before.”

Kakashi paused before responding with interest, “Really? What’s your usual number?”

“Just two. Three at a push, but not for long. I won’t be able to take a Food Pill for the exam, though, so I need to get better at it.”

“Ah, yes, the blood test will pick up on something like that,” said Kakashi thoughtfully. “Well, if you need a sparring partner, I come here every morning.

Reito was taken aback by this unexpected offer. Spar with the Sixth Hokage? “I… I couldn’t ask… You’re too important to be spending time helping an academy student.”

“Nonsense,” said Kakashi with a wave of his hand. “I’m an early riser and don’t have anything better to do at this time of day, at least not until Lady Tsunade retires. Besides, you’d be helping me out with my own training.”

“Me? I don’t think I’d be much help to you, Sensei,” said Reito with a nervous laugh. “I was ranked at the bottom of my old class, and probably my new class too!”

“I don’t expect you to push me too hard; I just need to keep active. Truth be told, my regular sparring partner was injured in the war. Besides that, he was always a bit much to stomach so early in the morning.”

Kakashi appeared to be smiling, but he seemed to be serious about his offer. “Well, if you’re sure…?” Reito started.

“Great, I’ll meet you here tomorrow morning at six, then?”

Reito smiled and nodded fervently, then bade the man goodbye and departed for the orphanage. His smile remained plastered to his face for the whole return trip. He was going to be training with the Sixth Hokage!