[THIRD PERSON POV:]

"Lord Danzo, the report has arrived."

A Root operative with a mask covering his features kneeled on the floor as he presented Danzo with a scroll laid on both hands, the man had his neck craned down to show his subordinacy.

Danzo grunted in response and snatched the scroll, unfurling it with measured impatience.

Hidden within the innocuous sheet of paper was the potential of Root's future operatives, the lifeblood of the Leaf's darkness. Danzo undid the seal that encrypted the information within and began scouring the scroll with a focused gaze.

Danzo first paid attention to the clans who had offered up some of their children to be recruited into his organisation, the benefits the clans would receive were immense but there weren't many standout talents offered; most were orphans with only extended family remaining in the clan.

'Good, more from the Aburame... they're a useful bunch.' he thought, satisfied with this year's batch.

He kept looking, focused on scouting out one name in particular, but his search bore no fruit.

'Hiruzen intends to keep the boy, I should've known... it was foolish of me to hope he'd see the truth.' Danzo thought, scoffing internally at Hiruzen's "mistake" of not sending Aoki to him as he requested.

Danzo moved on from the boy whom he'd already abandoned the thought of owning and continued to scour through the report, searching for another child specifically.

After some time, Danzo grew increasingly frustrated as a name he secured for Root wasn't present, this angered him especially since his request for the child had been accepted a while ago. The boy was well above average in talent, especially for a civilian, but there was much more that attracted Danzo to the boy than mere skill.

He wanted him due to his connection with a person of interest. That person being the child who had just now slipped through his fingers due to Hiruzen's supposed ignorance.

'Ryoma Akane... why are you not on here?' he thought internally, gripping the scroll in frustration. He was about to order his subordinate to send a message to Hiruzen when his eyes locked onto a small statement at the bottom of the report, informing him that a few changes had been made to his recruitment scheme and that he'd be compensated for Root's losses in the future.

It took all of Danzo's patience to not rip the scroll in half when he read this.

First, the Hokage slashes Root's budget due to his tampering with the Jinchuriki and now, he was directly poaching operatives he had asked for in advance; operatives that Hiruzen had already accepted being inducted into Root! For a man with as much self-respect as Danzo, this transgression could not be ignored.

Danzo had asked for Ryoma within the first week of the child joining the academy, one of his agents had informed him of his friendship with Aoki, and Danzo had swooped in with an investment he hoped to harvest later. Danzo was satisfied when he learnt that Ryoma and Aoki had only gotten closer over the years, but it seemed that all his patience and planning were void of meaning.

'Hiruzen... how little do you think of me...' Danzo thought, gripping the scroll tighter as it began to tear near the edges.

The graduation exam was merely an insight into a student's strength, whether the child graduated or not depended mostly on their teacher's reports as opposed to the actual exam; it served to give the children more exposure to life as a Ninja while still being protected by the Academy. Danzo was under the impression that regardless of whether Ryoma's instructor passed him or not, he would be given to Root regardless.

Once he learnt of Aoki's impressive feat of fighting a Chunin to a standstill, even if the Chunin was specialised as a medical ninja who had minimal Taijutsu training, he started paying attention to Aoki again after abandoning all hopes on him due to his inability to cast Jutsu.

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The physical endurance needed to keep up with the instructor for as long as they fought was telling of his potential. But now, his one link to Aoki had been broken.

The operative shook in fear as Danzo's Chainkra went haywire, his displeasure being sounded throughout the compound, every operative hidden within now learning of their Lord's anger.

Danzo placed the scroll back on the masked subordinate's hand silently, the witch's broil of emotions in his heart spilling over as flames of anger erupted within.

It was time for him to expedite his plans.

Danzo tapped on his seat's armrest twice, alerting another operative to his Lord's call who flickered to Danzo's side.

The man looked at his subordinate with an impassive face, concealing all the rage and vitriol he felt at that moment, and croaked out an order which would go on to wreak havoc on the political landscape of the Leaf, sentencing many to a cruel fate.

"Contact Shisui Uchiha..."

-----

[AOKI POV:]

"Kid... anywhere's fine, just hurry up already!" a man shouted, flailing his camera in annoyance as he sighed out loud.

I nodded and tried to stall for more time, "Sir just hang on one second..." I said, taking the headband and wrapping it around my arm.

'No... this inhibits mobility, plus the knot rubs against my ribs.' I figured out, untying the headband and looking at the shiny thing in frustration.

'Maybe around my neck? Nah, with the ninja pouch I have on I'd look like I'm cosplaying Dwayne Johnson in that one photo where he wore a turtleneck, hell my pouch is even the same colour as his fanny pack...'

The man was starting to get properly annoyed and tried to give me some advice, "How about you tie it around your hips? That's all the rage with the young ninja nowadays!" he said with an obviously fake smile on his face.

I hummed thoughtfully before answering him, "No way! Imagine what a hassle that'd make going to the bathroom!" I pretended like I just came up with this reasoning instead of having found out by myself the hard way.

I thought it'd look cool but I ended up having to jump out of my pants after one of Tomo's speciality soybean dishes, she was just trying to congratulate Sasuke and me for graduating but it led to me almost having an unbearable stain on my legacy.

Almost literally.

Acknowledging the man's growing impatience I wrapped the headband around my forehead like most ninjas and straightened up for the photo, a light smile playing on my lips as he took the picture.

I was ushered out almost immediately as the man had many more pictures to take, there was a long line standing outside so I began to duck and weave through them, only to be stopped by a few familiar faces.

"Congrats Aoki!"

Denki slapped my shoulders and congratulated me with a wide smile, laughing a little as he said the forehead protector looked small on my giant head. The boy was still slightly miffed about failing the exam so I just rolled my eyes in response, stashing the clap-back I made in my mind for a later date.

Ryoma was there as well, but he was a lot more quiet.

I lightly punched him on the shoulder, "Next year I better be the one waiting for you... you too Denki." I said turning my head to both the boys.

Ryoma sighed a little and forced a smile, asking me questions about what the photoshoot was like, I appreciated his maturity at times like this so I entertained them both with the story of the impatient cameraman.

"The bathroom?!" Denki laughed in response as I told him my reasoning.

"Hmph. Laugh if you want, but if you're out on a mission and get caught with your pants down, don't blame me!"

Ryoma started to laugh too, caught up in the moment and forgetting about his results for a moment.

"So, why'd you choose the forehead?" he asked, calming down from the fit of giggles he was in.

"It's a classic! I think it looks quite good, no?" I answered, jabbing my thumb at the headband with a wide smile.

"Good hm? Why?" Asked Ryoma, sagely stroking a fake beard.

"It shows my allegiance to the village and it helps keep my hair out of the way!" I answered.

"Allegiance huh... why?" Ryoma asked, a crude smile beginning to form.

"..."

I said nothing for a moment but got a smile of my own as I stopped walking, making both the boys stop and turn to me.

"I'm feeling nostalgic today... who's up for one last game of Hunter?" I asked, my innocent smile only making the boy's sweatdrop.

Ryoma and Denki both widened their eyes and were about to begin their protest when I started counting down, soon after I heard their feet slam to the ground as they ran away in fear.

I was glad they were feeling better, but that wasn't a reason to go easy on them.

After the short yet traumatising game, we met up with Byakko near the Uchiha clan compound and I even exchanged a few words with Yakumi who informed me that he'd train harder to surpass me. The boy had taken his failure even harder than Ryoma did, but from the short talk we had, I knew he'd be fine.

I relished every moment I had with everyone, I knew that my days were only going to get a hell of a lot more difficult in the future. Whatever awaits me in the coming years, I'll face it head-on.

But then again, that's only natural, because from this day forth...

'I'm a ninja.'