[Rei's POV.]
Every day used to be the same. Wake up, eat, help around the orphanage, play with my friends, sleep, repeat.
I didn't mind, though. Every day was just so fun! There was always something to do, someone to talk to, and even if we just had the same old games, even if we had chores, even if the caretakers sometimes got mad, it was still really fun.
Something felt wrong, though.
My friend, Amai, recently started acting... weird. Different from the Amai I'm used to. She used to almost always be open to playing with us, even though she was a bit more shy than the others.
Now? She was still shy, but it was more... controlled, is that the word? Yeah, like those fancy words the adults use!
She always looks like she's thinking really hard about something, and it feels like she's actively trying to refuse playing with us. It makes me a bit sad, but I still find it fun when she does decide to join in.
It's kind of hard to know how to approach her, too. But she's really fun when she does talk. She doesn't sound nervous like before, and sometimes, she says things that even I can't understand. Things that sound way too grown-up.
The other day, when we were running around and playing chase—which was apparently, uh... training? I didn't know running was something you could train for. She also started talking about how muscles worked and...
Honestly, I didn't pay attention to even half of what she said. Understand it? Even less.
Amai is not only fun to be around, but she's smart. Like the caretakers or something.
What I didn't get, is where she learned about it or how. She wasn't this, um... super smart girl, before.
It all started changing when she got this really weird pain and started screaming at the top of her lungs out of nowhere. I remember it like it was yesterday.
She was fine one moment, playing a game with me, and then she started clutching her head.
It scared me, and it worried me.
I had no idea what to do, and it happened while we were alone in one of the rooms. Luckily, the matron was around. I ran to get her, but when we both came back, she was already out cold.
It scared me to death, really. The matron rushing to check on her while I stood frozen, with no idea on what to do.
She promised me Amai would be fine, and I wasn't very sure at the time. I'm still dumb, but I know for a fact that you don't just start screaming like that out of nowhere.
After hours and hours, she had finally woken up. The caretakers told me boys shouldn't cry, but I couldn't help it. A hug was the least I deserved after making me worry for so long, and hell, I even broke down right there on the spot.
It was embarrassing, but boys are allowed to cry when someone close to you isn't fine, right? It must be.
Amai wasn't fine. Her skin was all light when I saw her, and she seemed... different, in a way I couldn't really describe.
How did the caretakers not notice the way she changed? Or the others? Either way, I didn't mind.
I remember what she had said to me that day, while I was bawling in her arms.
"Sorry. I'm okay, really."
Liar.
Amai, you liar.
She said it like she was trying to convince herself more than me, like she was trying to hide something.
Anyhow, I didn't mind. As long as my friend was fine, I was happy. She's kind of like my best friend, even more so than the other kids. I guess that was what mattered the most to me.
Today, everyone was especially chatty and talking about something. About what? I don't really know.
"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, one of the legendary three ninja just defected from the village!"
Legendary Three? What's that?! It sounds really cool.
"Yeah, it's awful. Orochimaru did some really bad stuff, from what I've heard from our caretakers."
I approached Daichi, "Hey, what are you guys talking about?! Who's Orochimaru?"
He turned to me as if I had asked whether the sky was blue or not. "Have you been living under a rock?"
"We live in the same place!" I grinned, crossing my arms. "If I've been living under a rock, then so have you!"
My other friend, Takuya, snickered. "Yeah, but at least we listen when the adults talk!"
I pouted. "I listen! I just don't get half of what they say."
"Orochimaru is one of the Legendary Three Ninja, the Sannin," Daichi added, "He's like, super duper strong but also really creepy. Apparently, he did a bunch of bad things, so the Hokage kicked him out of the village."
Bad things? Why would someone as cool as that be a bad guy?
"Whoa, like, really bad things?"
"Yup, they say he was doing all kinds of weird stuff to ninja." Takuya whispered, as if he was sharing information about a top secret mission.
A shiver traveled down my spine. That definitely didn't sound very nice.
"That sounds... messed up," I muttered, taking a step back.
"I know, right?" Daichi said, nodding to himself. "He's a traitor now, and he's very dangerous. If anyone ever sees him, they have to report it immediately."
"Not like any of us would actually see him," Takuya added with a shrug. "I wish we could see strong, cool ninja like that in the future. Just not the murderous and creepy kind."
"Yeah," I replied, still thinking about it. It didn't make sense, and it was weird. Why would someone as cool as a legendary ninja do bad things? Shouldn't strong people be heroes?
Then, a thought crossed through my mind. "Hey, do you guys think Amai knows about this? She's smart, so she probably knows."
Daichi and Takuya exchanged looks before Daichi glanced at me. "Maybe? She did talk about that sciencey, nerdy stuff about muscles you told us about, so she must know about ninjas too."
Takuya chuckled. "Yeah! Maybe she could even teach us about ninja stuff if she wanted."
I felt a little better hearing that. Strange as it was, Amai was one to surprise us with what she knew, even if I didn't get to make sense of it.
"I'll ask her later, I guess." I smiled at the thought. She was preparing specifically for the Academy with me, so she probably knew some stuff.
"If she does teach you, ask her to teach us too. We wanna become ninjas too!" Takuya said, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
Daichi chimed in, "Yeah, we could be like the legendary squad of, uh... The legendary squad of danger!"
Oooh, cool!
"Think about it. The four of us being known around the world." He continued, pointing at me. "You," then at himself. "Me," "Takuya," and finally, "Amai!"
"Yup, we'd be unstoppable. Although..." Takuya slumped over, "We'd have to train really, really hard, and it's just really boring. I wanna skip straight to the good stuff, like the lightning jutsus or fire."
I gave a laugh, nudging him, "If only it was that easy, right? We need to know about the boring stuff before we can move on to the cool things. You can't just become a ninja who can shoot lightning but is unable to run even a few miles before passing out."
"You're right, I guess." he looked back at me. "What do the adults say, again? You have to walk before you can run, right?"
"Uh... I think so." I don't really pay attention to what the adults are saying, honestly. They always go on about stuff I don't really get.
"Either way, let's go ask Amai already! I wanna know who this Orochimaru guy really is. She's in room A3, right?" Takuya continued, clearly thrilled.
"Yeah, that's the one where she's usually in," I responded, "Let's go ask her."
Time to find out who these people are.