The clouds over Konoha were thick that morning—swollen, dark, and unmoving.
Ayanokoji Nara stood beneath the edge of the Academy's rear courtyard, arms folded, his deep grey eyes scanning the horizon beyond the rooftops. The other students hadn't arrived yet. He had little interest in them anyway.
From the corner of his vision, a thin trail of smoke curled lazily upward from the shade of a nearby rooftop.
Someone was watching.
Again.
But unlike the previous observers—curious Chūnin instructors or Kakashi's amused surveillance—this one was different. No killing intent. No chakra spike. Just patience and subtlety. The type of presence that existed to be *unnoticed*.
He didn't turn his head. Just waited.
The silence lingered until a bird landed near his feet. It chirped once—then burst into a puff of smoke.
Ayanokoji's eyes narrowed.
A summon tag. From ROOT.
He looked down and saw a note left behind where the bird had vanished:
> "We know what you are. The Hokage's leash won't hold forever."
He folded it neatly and slipped it into his sleeve. No surprise. Only confirmation. ROOT had taken notice.
He was a variable they hadn't accounted for.
And Danzo never liked variables.
---
Later — The Hokage's Office
The room smelled of ink and burning pipe tobacco. Stacks of scrolls were carefully arranged behind the large oak desk, where Hiruzen Sarutobi sat, reviewing a report.
Kakashi stood near the window, hands in his pockets, watching the smoke drift toward the ceiling.
"He received a message this morning," Kakashi said without preamble. "Disguised as a bird. Standard ROOT summoning technique."
Hiruzen sighed. "Danzo grows bolder. I warned him when we shut ROOT down, that if he continued his games…"
"He won't stop," Kakashi said. "He sees Ayanokoji as a threat to his ideals. A product that evolved past its containment."
The Third Hokage stood up, turning toward the village below. "I wanted that boy out of the White Room years ago. You saw what they turned him into."
"I saw someone who should've broken long ago—but didn't," Kakashi said.
The old man gave a faint nod. "Then we do what we must. Keep him close. ROOT operates in shadow, but they fear being exposed."
Kakashi paused. "Permission to mentor him outside Academy hours?"
Sarutobi turned. "Granted. But be careful, Kakashi. The closer you get to him, the more likely Danzo will try to exploit that bond."
Kakashi didn't flinch. "I'll watch my back. And his."
---
Afternoon — Training Ground Nine
Ayanokoji stood with his arms extended, focusing chakra into the soles of his feet. Water from a nearby stream twisted up in a spiral, hovering as he cycled it through a wind-infused vortex, then crackled it with lightning before collapsing the flow into earth-heavy mud.
He hadn't even broken a sweat.
Kakashi clapped once. "That's terrifyingly clean chakra control."
Ayanokoji let the mud slide off his arm like a sleeve. "Efficiency is survival."
"Ever try failing something for once?"
"Only when it creates a tactical advantage."
Kakashi chuckled. "Remind me never to play shogi with you."
"You'd lose," Ayanokoji replied, completely serious.
Kakashi walked over, flipping a scroll open. "We're stepping up your training. Not just chakra natures—but infiltration, tracking, and tactical suppression. If ROOT's starting to sniff around, you need to be three steps ahead."
"I already am."
Kakashi looked at him. "Don't get cocky. Even geniuses can be blindsided."
"I'm not a genius. I'm just what happens when people are broken down and rebuilt efficiently."
There was no bitterness in his tone. Only cold truth.
---
That Evening — Nara Compound
Shikaku Nara rarely said much around Ayanokoji. He wasn't cold—just distant, like a strategist who couldn't show too much attachment to a key piece on the board.
But that night, as they sat together under the veranda watching deer graze the edge of the woods, Shikaku finally broke the silence.
"You've been marked," he said flatly.
"I'm aware," Ayanokoji said. "ROOT."
"Danzo's little ghost army. Thought they were dismantled years ago, but rats always survive under the floorboards."
Shikaku lit his pipe. "If they come for you, they won't make noise. You won't see them in the day. You'll wake up with a kunai in your throat—or not at all."
"I'm not afraid to die."
Shikaku gave him a sharp glance. "I didn't say anything about fear. I said be ready."
"I'm always ready."
The older Nara leaned back. "Then let me ask you something, Koji. Do you know why I pulled you out of that hellhole?"
Ayanokoji blinked. "Because you pitied me?"
"No. Because I saw something in you Danzo didn't."
"Potential?"
"No. *Will*."
Shikaku turned to him. "The kind of will that can change the board—not just play it. Danzo wanted a weapon. I wanted a son."
Ayanokoji said nothing for a long time.
Finally, softly, he replied, "You've never called me that before."
"I'm not good at this kind of thing," Shikaku muttered. "I'm better with numbers than names."
A slight, barely noticeable smile touched Ayanokoji's lips. Then vanished.
---
Night — A Rooftop in Konoha
Under cover of night, two masked figures perched above the rooftops.
"He's showing rapid elemental progression. Multi-nature control before graduation. That's unheard of."
"Orders?"
"Observe. Don't engage."
One of them hesitated. "And if he discovers us?"
"We vanish. For now."
They both looked down at the window below—where Ayanokoji sat at a desk, reading again from *Icha Icha Tactics*, face calm and unreadable.
One whispered, "He doesn't look dangerous."
The other replied, "Neither did the Fourth—until he moved."
---
The Final Scene — A Quiet Moment
Ayanokoji lay in bed, candlelight flickering over the edges of the room.
He stared at the ceiling, recalling Kakashi's words. The Hokage's warning. Shikaku's rare honesty. And the shadows watching from afar.
He had wind to slice. Lightning to pierce. Water to drown. Earth to trap.
But none of that mattered now.
What mattered was the game board.
He was no longer a pawn. And he'd never be a rook or a knight either.
He'd be the hand that moved the pieces.
One day, even Danzo would see it.
And then—he'd regret ever letting him live.
---