First thing I felt was pain.
It spread through my body in dull waves, like every muscle had been beaten with a hammer.
Slowly, I forced my eyes open.
A white ceiling greeted me.
The sharp smell of antiseptic drifted into my nose.
Hospital.
The conclusion came almost instantly.
I pushed against the bed with my arm and tried to sit up.
The moment I did, my head spun. It felt strangely light, as if it were stuffed with cotton.
After a moment of steadying myself, I finally managed to sit upright.
That was when I noticed Aoi.
She was sitting in the chair beside my bed, fast asleep. Her arms were folded on the edge of the mattress, her head resting on them.
Her hair was slightly messy, strands falling over her face as she breathed quietly.
It looked like she had been there for a while.
As if sensing the movement, Aoi stirred.
She shifted slightly, lifting her head. Her eyes slowly opened—and then widened when she saw me sitting up and looking at her.
"Good morning," I said, trying to break the silence.
For a second she just stared.
Then suddenly she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me.
"I thought you were going to die because of me!" she said, her voice shaking. "Thank God you're okay!"
"Yeah… yeah… everythi—"
She squeezed tighter.
Pain exploded through my ribs.
My breath caught in my throat as a wheezing sound escaped my mouth.
Aoi blinked and pulled back slightly, finally noticing the expression on my face.
"W-what's wrong—"
I forced out a strained whisper.
"…Doctor."
My vision darkened around the edges as I slumped back against the pillow, dangerously close to passing out again.
When my sight cleared, a medic-nin was already standing beside the bed, shining a small light into my eyes.
"Follow the light."
I did, blinking slowly as the beam moved from side to side.
"Good," he muttered.
He checked my pulse, then gently pressed along my ribs.
Pain shot through my chest and I hissed.
"Bruised ribs," he said calmly. "No fracture. Minor concussion."
He straightened slightly.
"Your body is weak. You were unconscious for two days. Try not to strain yourself for a while."
The words were meant for me, but he was clearly looking at Aoi.
Beside the bed, Aoi stood stiffly with her head lowered. Her hands were clasped together like a criminal awaiting sentencing, and two large tears clung stubbornly to the corners of her eyes.
The medic-nin glanced at her briefly before turning back to me.
The nurse beside him struggled to hide a smile as she wrote something on her clipboard.
"Rest for today," the medic-nin said, turning toward the door.
With that, he left the room.
The nurse lingered a moment longer, glancing between Aoi and me.
Then she gave Aoi a knowing look.
She turned to me and said, "You have a very dedicated girlfriend. She's been visiting every day."
Aoi's head snapped up instantly.
"I-I'm not his girlfriend!" she protested, her face turning bright red.
The nurse laughed softly.
"Of course."
Still smiling, she stepped out of the room and closed the door behind her.
Aoi stood there for a moment longer, completely flustered.
"Kazu, say something!"
I shrugged.
"She seems nice."
Aoi's face turned even redder.
I had just woken up after almost dying.
Debating my relationship status was not high on my priority list.
From the hallway, the nurse's snickering drifted faintly through the door.
Aoi stood there with what looked like steam practically rising from her head—whether from anger, embarrassment, or both, I couldn't tell.
After a moment, I decided it was safer to change the subject.
"What happened after I fainted?"
Aoi blinked, still recovering from embarrassment. Then she took a small breath and adjusted her glasses.
"Those masked shinobi," she said. "The ANBU."
She paused for a moment.
"They took him away right after you fainted," she continued. "I didn't even get a proper look at them."
"Any news about what happened to that thief?"
She thought for a second, trying to remember.
"Honestly, I didn't hear anything about him again."
Her expression turned slightly uneasy.
"It's like he just disappeared. Like that whole thing never happened."
That made sense. Incidents like this didn't become public news—a former shinobi rampaging through the streets was bad for business, and Konoha had an image to maintain.
Aoi continued.
"After they left, the Konoha Military Police arrived. They took both of us to the hospital."
I let her continue.
"They asked some questions about what happened—how the fight started, what the thief did… things like that."
"They took my statement and wrote everything down."
She glanced at me.
"I told them everything I saw."
"And that was it?" I asked.
Aoi nodded.
"They thanked me for cooperating and said they'd handle the rest."
That sounded about right.
Still…
Something about it felt a little off.
ANBU didn't get involved in things like this. They moved only when the Hokage ordered them—not for a street fight.
So why were they the first to arrive?
Unless they had already been looking for him, and our little rooftop chase had collided with their operation.
I wasn't sure whether to feel relieved or annoyed. They did save me—but it also meant I might have ended up on someone's radar.
Either way, the thief had been in far deeper trouble than he realized.
The door suddenly slammed open.
"KAZU!"
Akito burst into the room like a hurricane.
"Please wake up!" he wailed, his voice almost breaking. "I haven't eaten anything in two days!"
I stared at him for a moment.
My eyes slowly drifted to the corner of his mouth.
There was a small smear of sauce there.
I couldn't help the deadpan expression that settled on my face.
He should win an Oscar for this.
After another few seconds he finally paused, noticing me staring at him.
He blinked.
"Oh."
Another blink.
"You're awake!"
He rushed toward the bed with his arms spread wide.
I raised my foot and planted it firmly against his face before he could come any closer.
"Hospital," I reminded him.
Akito stumbled back, rubbing his face.
"You heartless bastard!" he complained. "I came here worried sick and this is how you treat me?"
"You were worried about food first," I said.
"You're saying it like it's a bad thing!"
Yes. It was.
Then he finally noticed Aoi.
"Oh. You're here too."
Aoi adjusted her glasses and gave a small nod.
"Yes."
Akito immediately started babbling about something—probably dramatic nonsense—but I stopped paying attention halfway through.
I watched the two of them for a moment.
It looked like they had gotten to know each other over the past two days, probably bonding over the fact that I was hospitalized.
Still, I noticed something interesting.
Aoi spoke freely when she talked to me. With Akito, she was noticeably quieter—more careful with her words, almost like she did in the academy.
He suddenly stopped mid-sentence and turned back toward me.
Dragging a chair closer to the bed, he sat down backwards on it and leaned his arms over the backrest.
"Sensei was worried sick about you," he said.
"That's unfortunate," I replied.
Akito frowned.
"Why?"
"Because now he'll probably increase the training."
Akito groaned loudly and immediately started complaining about how unfair that would be.
I let him ramble.
Most of what he said blurred together into a stream of exaggerated complaints and dramatic speculation.
Before I knew it, the sun had shifted lower outside the window.
Akito finally stood up and stretched.
"Alright," he said. "I'll come back tomorrow."
He pointed at me.
"Try not to almost die again before then."
"I'll do my best."
He nodded once, satisfied with that answer, and headed for the door.
"See you tomorrow, Aoi."
"Goodbye."
With that, he left.
The room fell quiet again.
The only sound was the steady rain outside.
Aoi stepped closer to the bed, holding a book in her hands.
"Here."
She held it out to me.
I took it.
The title on the cover read Pressure Points.
"I found the book you bought that night," she said quietly. "It was lying on the ground… most of the pages were torn out."
She adjusted her glasses.
"And… you did save me."
"This is my way of saying thank you."
She glanced up at me.
I was still staring at her with the same blank expression.
The tips of her ears turned red.
She quickly adjusted her glasses, clearly avoiding eye contact.
"Anyway… I should go," she said.
And before I could say anything else, she hurried toward the exit.
A moment later I heard a dull thud from the hallway.
"…ow."
I blinked.
What was that about?
After a moment, I slid to the side of the bed and stood up.
My body protested, but I managed.
Walking slowly to the window, I looked out over Konoha. The rain had swallowed most of it—rooftops disappearing into gray, the distant walls little more than a suggestion through the mist.
This wasn't an anime anymore.
This was real life.
Things that were never shown in the story could happen at any time. Knowing the original events didn't mean I could predict everything—and even if I wanted to stay out of trouble, I couldn't ignore someone I knew was in danger.
I glanced down at the book in my hand.
Maybe it was time I started taking training more seriously.
Outside, the rain continued to fall over Konoha, washing the streets in a dull gray haze.
Across the village, in a traditional Japanese house, another man was watching the same rain.
He sat on the engawa, the wooden veranda that overlooked a quiet garden now soaked by the steady downpour.
A thin stream of smoke rose from the pipe in his hand as he slowly exhaled. He wore a simple white robe.
Beside him, carefully folded, rested the red cloak bearing the 火 character—the symbol of the Hokage.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned slightly against the wooden pillar beside him, his expression calm as his eyes followed the falling rain.
On his left sat a tall man with tired eyes and a loose ponytail, a shogi board placed between them.
He was arranging the pieces with practiced ease.
Shikaku Nara glanced toward the Hokage.
"It seems those children were saved by ANBU," Shikaku said calmly. "According to the girl's report."
Hiruzen's eyes shifted toward him.
"They captured that gambler, Takuji, who was selling information about our operation near the Tōkawa River, along the Land of Fire and Stone border."
Shikaku adjusted one of the shogi pieces.
"Interestingly, it seems ANBU tracked him by following a trail one of the students left behind."
Shikaku noticed the slight change in the Hokage's expression.
"Is he someone you know, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen shook his head slowly.
"No. Not really."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"He's just… interesting."
"Well, he is interesting," Shikaku admitted. "He managed to delay Takuji—a former jōnin—using nothing but the environment around him."
Hiruzen exhaled softly through his pipe.
"He's clever," the Hokage said. "But far from a genius."
Hiruzen's thoughts drifted briefly to another child.
Itachi.
Shikaku paused for a moment before continuing.
"But ANBU only move when you give the order, Hokage-sama."
The old Hokage exhaled slowly through his pipe, smoke drifting into the damp air.
"Don't be ridiculous. I didn't give any order. I would never deploy ANBU for some street fight—you know that."
He paused briefly.
"Furthermore, we were planning to use him as bait… to lure out the spies."
Shikaku's hand rested lightly on a shogi piece.
"Then it can only mean one thing," he said.
He looked directly at the Hokage.
"…they were Root."
The word lingered between them.
For a brief moment, Hiruzen flinched.
Then his gaze drifted back toward the rain falling beyond the garden.
"…Danzo moved before us."
Hiruzen turned from the rain and looked down at the board.
Shikaku moved the first piece.
The game had begun.
Deep beneath Konoha, the air smelled of damp stone and old iron.
A single lantern flickered against the walls of the underground chamber. Somewhere in the dark, water dripped in a slow, irregular rhythm—the only sound besides the prisoner's breathing.
The man hanging from the chains was barely recognizable as a shinobi anymore.
His clothes were torn. His face swollen. Blood dripped from his chin onto the stone floor.
Takuji—the former jōnin who had fought along the border in the third shinobi war.
The gambler who thought he could sell secrets and walk away.
Footsteps echoed through the chamber.
Slow. Measured.
The struggling stopped.
A cane tapped once against the stone floor.
Danzō Shimura stepped forward into the light.
His visible eye moved over the prisoner without expression.
"You not only sold your village for gambling debts," he said quietly.
A pause.
"You were bested by two academy students."
The prisoner tried to speak.
"Go… bi… su…"
Danzo had already turned away.
"Bury him."
Several masked Root operatives appeared from the shadows.
Danzo picked up the report resting on the table and scanned the page once.
"The two academy students."
He set the scroll down.
"Pity."
"Too old to be shaped."
He walked into the darkness without looking back.