miyako
six years ago
"How old are you, child?" The man asked, smiling by his wrinked eyes. He raised a bandaged arm and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Thirteen, sir." And his smile grew.
"Could you step forward, girl?" She nodded and stepped forward, just as the other kids did. "Now, I want you to remember this number, seven--can you remember it?" He smiled and she smiled and nodded.
And the man rushed down the line of kids, leaning down to their height and resting a hand on their shoulder. He'd ask, how old are you? And if they replied the right numbers, he'd smile again, ask them to step forward, and to remember a number.
The boy two spaces to her left was eight and the girl next to him was nine and the line continued until the man made his way back around and told his follower, there's fifty-two of them. grab them now.
And in one swift grasp, the man's smile froze and the fifty-two kids lining the street in the poorest area of Konoha were whisked back into the dark, following a man who promised a smile to somewhere the sun wouldn't dare to reach.
And upon entering the building, he'd turned towards them, smile as gone as the sun, and declared, "Welcome to ROOT."
YOU ARE READING
夢 - 2021 rewrite
FanfictionNOTE: rewrite of old fanfic, includes lots of new changes The Fourth Shinobi War has taken its toll on the Alliance. The Ten Tails continues in its rage, Madara still stands tall, and the ground they stand on is sucked dry. But Naruto has a plan. Th...
