___________ POV Narration ___________

Ken took a deep sigh as he walked the winding roads of the Dark Brotherhood's Mountain Range.

He exhaled, his hot breath coming in contact with the cold air and turning into steam.

The assassin had taken off his mask a while back, he didn't like the feeling of steam turning to water within his mask and getting his hair mask and face wet.

Out of principle, he had once again overgrown two bangs of hair to completely cover the upper part of his face.

Most of the children didn't know what he looked like without his mask. Not even Yue or Tatsukio. And Ken didn't want to give them a scare first thing in the morning.

Ah, he could already feel them. The walls of the place that was now his home.

The Dark Brotherhood compound had grown significantly over the years, it's now impressive stone walls stood tall and protected them perfectly against any wildlife.

The walls were adorned with watch spots, in which Saburo's clones resided 24/7.

There were also plenty of seals around the walls and beyond.

Ken stepped into the range of their detection array long before he had even reached the walls, the Brotherhood knew he was coming.

The Blind Swordsman could feel the children bustling and doing their best to form some sort of greeting after Tosho had most likely let them know of his approach.

Feeling their excitement when returning home had become somewhat of a therapy session for the blind monster.

But this time, that excitement and happiness were tainted by different emotions as well...

Anguish, fear, jealousy. Several of the children, especially the older ones, were starting to lose their excitement.

Ken had somewhat expected that to happen at some point. After all, the children were bound to grow up.

But not in this way. He didn't want their happiness to turn into bitterness and jealousy. He wanted it to remain unchanged if possible, only change their excitement into respect.

He had fostered an atmosphere within the brotherhood that he had hoped would hold out without any issues.

But now?

'I guess teenagers are more prone to senseless drama...'

In truth, it was Ken's mistake to not have expected that.

He didn't have much experience in raising children, nor did he have any examples he could use when it came to raising teenagers.

Tosho wasn't much better, as he was a child soldier turned village drunk turned bounty hunter/assassin.

Akira was also an orphan, with plenty of issues and not a lot of maturity.

And Saburo... Well, it was unlikely that the Strawman even cared for the well-being of the children enough to help, if he even knew how to.

'Maybe we should look into someone that has more experience with raising children... But where do I even find that?'

The nature of the Dark Brotherhood was already shady enough. Essentially scouting out only young orphans to join them most of the time.

Where exactly was Ken supposed to find someone trustworthy enough to want to join such an organization and have parental instincts and knowledge good enough to take care of multiple children?

Well, it was more realistic to think about hiring several people. But that only made things worse.

There was also the fact that Ken didn't like the idea of an untrained person joining the Dark Brotherhood, it was simply going against his ideals.

Even if he was trying to work towards changing his thoughts regarding Shinobi, he still didn't think that it was wise to allow civilians to join his organization and potentially put them in danger.

So the list of requirements for a caretaker was growing larger and larger, and the list of potential candidates became near nonexistent...

There was also the option of inviting the caretakers and training them, but there also existed chances that other villages would take advantage of that recruitment and send spies to attempt to join.

After all, most civilians in nearby villages just wanted to live a calm life. Unbothered by shinobi and their wars.

It certainly didn't help that the Brotherhood had already created a safe zone for the villages, so it was unlikely that any of them saw the need to join the bounty-hunting organization.

So the brotherhood would have to look further out. Things were complicated overall.

'Well, I can think more about that after we recruit the next batch of children... For now, let's see what worries the children have.'

The assassin stepped through the gates with confidence, his mask hanging off his belt, visible as he had opened up his coat.

As soon as the children's eyes landed on him, he could feel many of their doubts and worries fading away.

'Oh, abandonment issues... I guess that's to be expected.'

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

But there were still some worries in the air, all of which were replaced by surprise, as they finally witnessed their father's face... Well, half of it anyway.

But seeing his warm smile seemed to be enough to calm all of them down.

Yue almost squealed when seeing it, she was thankfully able to contain herself, but her thoughts were running wild.

'Yes! I knew the teacher would be handsome! No way he wouldn't be, he's my teacher after all!'

A strange and misguided sense of pride seemed to fill her.

It was the same for Umi and most of the girls that idolized their usually masked father figure.

Meanwhile, the boys were looking either intrigued, like Tatsukio and Morita. They were both curiously trying to peer through the bangs that hid the rest of their father's face.

But the hair seemed to be impossible to see through.

"Lord Ken..." Tosho stepped forward, being the first one to formally greet Ken as he bowed respectfully to him.

"Tosho, I'm glad to 'see' you've made it here without any troubles. I can 'see' that the children are doing fine as well..."

Ken's head turned towards the recruits, making many of them smile warmly when hearing his voice.

All of a sudden, it almost seemed like they no longer had any complaints.

"The children are doing fine, yes... But there have been some misunderstandings lately. I'm sure they'll be glad if you could clear things up for them?"

The First Blade rose slowly, his warm smile directed towards Ken's face.

"Hm... I guess you're right. Let's address them right away, no use in letting our frustrations fester over time." Ken crossed his arms, his smile not vanishing for a second as he once again turned his head towards the children.

They looked at each other for a while, before their eyes settled onto Morita. the one that had been the most outspoken about his misgivings.

The child in question seemed to have lost most of his boldness now, as he could be heard audibly gulping.

This roused a strange and confused hum from the Blind Assassin.

"Why would any of you be anxious to speak out your minds? You are here by choice, and you were never restricted in thoughts.

It doesn't matter what any of you say to me, you are not going to lose your place in this family." Ken decided to hammer in that point, while also giving the children a few seconds to take it in.

"In the first place, we would never force you all to bear with something you didn't wish. The training is the only thing that is truly mandatory in this Brotherhood."

The Assassin still drew the line at training, which was the only real requirement for the children, the only thing really asked from them.

'The willingness to improve.' Was necessary, but even then, improvement was never forced onto them. At any point, a child could give up in their training, and return to their previous lives.

Now, sure, their lives as orphans weren't much to return to, but they still had that choice.

At the very least, they needed to put in enough effort to be at least as powerful as Genin or Chunnin from the Hidden Villages.

The children were smart enough to see that, even the youngest among them like Ume could understand just how lucky all of them were.

And thanks to Ken's words and reassurance, Morita finally gained the courage to speak out.

"I-I have a few concerns, Le-Father..." His voice was still shaky, and the child couldn't help but call Ken 'Father' to his face.

"Go ahead, Morita." The assassin nodded to the recruit, once again surprising most of the children nearby.

'W-wait...'

"You know my name...?" Morita seemed utterly surprised.

Now, most of the children were surprised alongside him. Sure, Morita was a high-ranking recruit, number 2 even. But Ken had never once interacted with him directly.

There were after all, over 80 children in total. Although it was a bleak thought, most of them realized that the father they idolized likely didn't even know their name.

"Of course, I know it silly..." The assassin stepped forward and ruffled the young child's hair with a wide grin on his face.

"I guess this is confusing for some of you children... But as long as you are within this compound, even if it feels like I am distant, I am always with you."

This once again gained quite a few confused gazes from the children nearby. The only ones that weren't confused were Yue and Tatsukio, who were instead smiling widely, mirroring their teacher.

"Maybe this might sound a bit strange at first... But every move you make, I feel it, every word you speak, I hear it.

Even when you cry in pain, or in joy, or when you laugh in satisfaction when you eat and talk to each other..."

At this point, most of the children were staring at Ken with wide eyes.

"Be it budding romance..." As he said that, the Assassin pointed towards two of the older children, Kurou, a 13-year-old young boy, and Yuka, his 14-year-old girl counterpart.

The two of them couldn't help but blush, as their hidden relationship was immediately revealed to the rest of their family.

Their reactions alone told the rest of the children that Ken was actually speaking the truth. Seeing them turn red like tomatoes was both amusing and shocking.

"Or a hidden rivalry..." He then pointed to two of the other children. One of them was a 12-year-old little girl called Uta, while the other was another 12-year-old girl called Kaoru.

They both scratched their heads at about the same time, both looking to the side sheepishly.

"Although you cannot see me or hear me, I am there with you, and I am proud of you. Whether it's your progress in training, or in making friends with everyone else.

Honestly, just sensing you all interacting with each other is always enough to warm my heart. I can't help it... You are all my children at the end of the day..."

That last statement seemed to seal the deal for them. Many of them, especially those mentioned, ended up tearing up as well.

Even Morita, who seemed to have been repressing it for a while now. But he was, at the end of the day, just a 14-year-old child.

He felt comfort as his father's rough hand ruffled his hair.

Maybe to some, Ken's watch would feel invasive. Maybe it even sounded creepy.

But to them? It was the furthest thing from that.

They trusted their Father enough to not even think of it as creepy.

No, they were all moved by his passion, by his warmth. By his smile.

In the end, the little attention they were constantly fighting for as of late... They all had it.

Their Father was always watching. Be it through good or through bad. He was there.

The only people not surprised by this were Tosho, Yue and Tatsukio, they all smiled warmly when seeing the happy cries of the children.

Tatsukio and Yue both learned of his watchful eye during their training.

Their Teacher would occasionally stop and look to the side, and tell a random Saburo clone the state of one child that needed help.

Tatsukio still remembered the first time it happened...

He had just finished sparring with Ken when they were developing the 'Flash Step'. And Ken stopped abruptly and spoke out.

"Saburo, Ume just tripped and scraped her knee on the ground... Go take care of her."

It was only later that Tatsukio learnt that Saburo and his clones, the man that he thought was always helping them, were normally too preoccupied to pay attention to them.

And the only reason he was tending to them with such care, the only reason why most of the time he would reach an injured child before they even got off the ground, was because Ken was ordering him to.

Of course, there were also times when the Second Blade was attentive. But they mostly only happened when Ken was away, as the scientist trusted Ken to look after the children and inform him most of the time.

Yue had found out in a rather similar manner.

Needless to say, their teacher was a monster. But he was also a good father, or at least he tried to be.

Morita seemed to have forgotten any complaints he might've had, so he ended up just wiping his tears away and looking at Ken with a resolute gaze.

"Thank you, Father..." Was all he could muster before the Blind Swordsman just patted him on the shoulder and chuckled.

"No need to thank me, you've all worked hard enough to deserve this much.

But if you ever happen to have a complaint while I'm away. Never be afraid to tell me. Fear has no place in this family..."

Ken left the children with that line before he turned and started walking towards his office.

No one stopped him, Tosho ended up just nodding to the children before following his Leader's steps.

Needless to say, morale was now at an all-time high.