Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
A spiky-haired boy and a sunglasses-wearing Ryoma crouched together, digging through the soil, carefully pulling out earthworms one by one.
"Why are we digging up earthworms?" the boy asked, only thinking to question after they'd dug a deep pit.
"They're always burrowing into the dirt. I thought they could use some sunlight," Ryoma replied.
The possessed Aburame Ryoma watched his younger self line up the wriggling earthworms under the sun to dry, a faint smile curling his otherwise cold lips.
"Earthworms die if you leave them in the sun," the boy warned with a smile, scooping up a handful of soil to cover the struggling creatures.
"Isn't it sad if they never get to see the light?" Ryoma said, letting Danzo bury the worms they'd worked so hard to unearth, his head lowered in quiet loneliness. "Is that really the fate of bugs? To live forever in dark, damp shadows, never knowing brightness?"
"Is that what you think?" the boy asked, uncovering the buried worms and placing them on a soft mound of earth.
The bright red worms, exposed to the scorching sun, writhed and curled, frantically burrowing back into the soil, inching deeper into the earth.
"Isn't it?" Ryoma said, arms wrapped tightly around himself, watching the worms flee the light as if feeling their pain.
"Of course not," the spiky-haired boy said with a grin, gently lifting the mound of soil and holding it under Ryoma's lowered gaze. He rubbed the dirt between his hands, loosening it as the red worms slipped through the cracks, burrowing downward. "Look, they're searching for their own sun."
"Their sun?" Both the young and older Ryoma looked up in sync, as if time itself aligned in that moment.
"Bugs have their own sun, too. But theirs isn't up in the vast sky—it's down in the cold, damp earth," the boy said, pointing at the worms tunneling deeper. "Ryoma, darkness is their sunlight!"
Darkness is sunlight. Aburame Ryoma mulled over the boy's words, his violet eyes growing brighter, mirroring the innocence of his childhood self.
Before he could dwell further, the memory shattered. Light and shadow flickered wildly, fragments of the past dissolving.
The scene froze as a young Aburame Ryoma stood and grew taller, the image locking in place.
Thud!
Ryoma stared blankly ahead.
A dark, quiet basement. A flickering candle cast light on a man's stern face, his eyes glinting with orange firelight, as if wrestling with a difficult decision.
"What's wrong?" Ryoma's voice came unbidden, signaling he'd slipped into another memory.
The man's expression softened at Ryoma's arrival. "Hiruzen wants me to form another organization to help him manage the village."
"Isn't the Anbu enough?" Ryoma asked, baffled by the Third Hokage's thinking.
"You don't get it," the man said, shaking his head, his gaze fixed on the darkness ahead. "The Anbu are Tobirama-sensei's old guard and members of the clans. Hiruzen has no faction of his own, and his strength and achievements don't command enough respect. Right now, only the two of us working together can keep the clans in check."
"So he wants me to create an Anbu within the Anbu—a shadow within the shadow—to eliminate anything threatening the village's stability."
"Politics isn't my thing," Ryoma said, removing his Anbu mask and sliding it across the table toward the man. His purple eyes flickered in the candlelight. "Just tell me what you need."
"Straight to the point, huh?" The man grinned, his warmth cutting through the dark room. To the present Ryoma, Danzo's face felt both familiar and foreign.
"I've decided! The organization will be called Root—the foundation of the Hidden Leaf!" Young Danzo beamed, proud of his naming skills, glancing at Ryoma expectantly.
"Mm," Ryoma replied flatly.
Danzo's laughter stopped abruptly, his smile fading. "If you join, how about you lead Root as its captain?"
"Whatever you say," Ryoma said, his usual indifference making Danzo shake his head in exasperation.
"Then, as Root's captain, pick a new codename for yourself."
A codename? Ryoma frowned. In all his time with Root, he'd never used one. On missions requiring anonymity, he wore a mask, and everyone just called him Captain.
"Earthworm," young Ryoma said without hesitation.
"No way!" Danzo waved him off, cutting him short. "The captain of Root called Earthworm? Are you trying to scare off recruits? Your real name's got enough weight. From now on, your codename in Root is 'Ryoma'!"
"Same thing," Ryoma said.
"How is it the same?!" Danzo exploded, his spiky hair practically bristling. The future Ryoma scratched his head, still unsure why Danzo had gotten so worked up. To him, it was the same.
Crack!
The scene froze, spiderweb cracks spreading across it. The old memory shattered, giving way to a new one.
Unfazed, Ryoma stood still, waiting as light and shadow shifted.
Soon, the light grew bright. Overhead, harsh fluorescent lamps stung his eyes. A cold breeze carried the sharp smell of disinfectant.
"Lord Ryoma, excuse me," a voice said.
Ryoma snapped back, stepping aside. A nurse pushing a cart of clinking medicine bottles passed by, nodding before hurrying toward a ward.
His body moved on instinct, following her.
Click.
The door opened, and they entered the room.
A shirtless man lay on a hospital bed, his bloodied chest heaving weakly. A frail, monkey-like Chihaya Tō, drenched in sweat, pressed glowing green hands to the wound, pouring Yang chakra into it.
Nearby, Danzo sat with a grim expression, silently watching his unconscious friend.
"Who is he?" the past Ryoma asked for him.
"He's Uchiha Kagami, my closest friend," Danzo said, hands clasped under his chin, eyes dull with grief.
The Second Hokage's disciple? The spectral Ryoma stared at the blood-streaked Uchiha Kagami, shocked. Who could've done this to him?
His past self answered the question. Ryoma pulled out a report: "Uchiha Kōshi, male, elite jōnin, skilled in kenjutsu. His father was Uchiha Setsuna, former leader of the Uchiha's hawk faction. After Setsuna's failed rebellion was uncovered by the Second Hokage, he was imprisoned. Since then, Kōshi has harbored hatred for the village, often stirring tensions between the Uchiha and Konoha. Recently, he's been spotted near the prison, intentions unclear."
Danzo's eyes burned with murderous intent. "Those ungrateful curs. Back then, it was Kagami who uncovered Setsuna's plot. Tobirama-sensei showed mercy, sparing him, and this is how they repay us? By attacking Kagami?"
"We have no proof, and he's an Uchiha. Technically, it's their clan's internal matter. We can't just arrest him," Ryoma said.
"They don't deserve to share Kagami's name. Root doesn't need proof," Danzo replied, standing slowly, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Kagami's fading breath.
Chihaya Tō sweated profusely, but the pierced heart was beyond healing. Blood dripped down the bed, the green glow dimming.
"Gather the team. I want him dead," Danzo growled, his voice thick with vengeance. Young Ryoma bowed his head, saying no more.
---
That night, thunder roared, and rain poured in sheets.
Aburame Ryoma and a dozen masked Root ninja formed a semicircle, the spectral and real Ryoma merging. Danzo stood at the center, slamming Uchiha Kōshi's head into the ground, beating him to a bloody pulp.
A woman, soaked and trembling, clutched two crying children, kneeling in the mud.
"You said you had nothing to do with it, right? Speak! Where were you that day?" Danzo roared, his fury drowning out the storm.
Kōshi's once-handsome face was caved in, blood and mud mixing into a grotesque mask. "Uchiha Kagami… betrayed the clan… a lapdog of Konoha… he deserved to die!" he spat, teeth missing, voice slurred but defiant.
"Good! You admit it!" Danzo nodded, his killing intent surging. "For murdering a comrade, I sentence you to death!"
"You have no right—argh!" Kōshi's scream cut off as Danzo's fingers gouged out his Sharingan, gripping his skull like a claw and lifting him off the ground. Kōshi writhed in agony.
"I deal with scum like you. Understand?" Danzo snarled, flinging Kōshi into a puddle, blood and mud spreading.
"Kill them," Danzo ordered coldly.
A kunai pierced Kōshi's chest, silencing him. The woman's infants wailed louder, her lips purple with fear, too terrified to beg, tears streaming as she bowed her head.
The Root members exchanged glances, hands gripping kunai but hesitating. Kōshi was guilty, but his wife and children were innocent. Killing them went against Konoha's principles.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Three shuriken sliced through the rain, striking the throats of the woman and her children. Their cries stopped, blood pooling under the downpour. The Root members froze, stunned.
Danzo lowered his hand, hiding it behind his back, his piercing gaze cutting through the group. "Tobirama-sensei's mercy spared Setsuna's child, and it cost Kagami his life. I won't make that mistake again. Root exists for one purpose: to ensure Konoha's stability, no matter the cost. I know this is hard for you, so I'll bear it all. From now on, you are merely my blades. The sins fall on me, the one who wields you. Only I, Shimura Danzo, will face damnation. Understood?"
His commanding presence silenced doubts, the Root members' eyes hardening. "Yes, Leader!"
"Now, raise your blades and carry out my orders!"
"Yes!" they roared.
Thunder flashed as the Root ninja plunged their kunai into the lifeless bodies, blood staining the puddle red.
Danzo turned, walking away, his clenched fists trembling behind his back.
Ignoring the mutilated corpses, Ryoma stepped behind Danzo, shielding his shaking hands with his body. Neither spoke, walking silently through the rain.
"Ryoma."
"I'm here."
"You're the only one I trust."
"My honor."
Their low voices echoed in the storm.
"If…" Danzo began.
"If what?"
"If one day I'm consumed by darkness, unable to return," Danzo stopped, turning to Ryoma, his eyes resolute. "You must kill me."
Lightning illuminated their faces. For once, Ryoma didn't respond to the man who was his sun.
"That's an order!" Danzo pressed.
"…Yes," Ryoma rasped, teeth clenched, head bowed in silence.
Thunder froze the scene, raindrops suspended like pearls. The world spun, darkness swallowing Ryoma.
---
Splash!
Ice-cold water crashed over him, jolting him awake. A whip cracked, its barbed tip tearing into his chest, the hooks ripping flesh as it pulled away, burning like fire.
"Hiss!" Ryoma gasped, pain searing through him.
Before he could react, a rough hand grabbed his wet hair, forcing his head up. He faced a grim cell, bound to a stone pillar, surrounded by knives, needles, and branding irons.
A red-clad Iwa ninja glared at him, one hand gripping his hair, the other pressing a cold dagger to his cheek. "I ask, you answer. Saves us both trouble. Got it?"
"I don't know anything—argh!" Ryoma screamed as the blade dug into his face, the ninja twisting it, carving out a chunk of flesh.
"What's your organization? Who's your leader? The Wind Release ninja who blew up our armory—what's his name, and where'd he go?" the ninja demanded.
Ryoma panted, trying to dull the agony. "I… I don't remember!"
Speaking with the dagger in his cheek sent waves of pain through him. The blade was yanked out, blood and white insect eggs clinging to it.
"Don't remember? No problem. We've got plenty of time to play," the Iwa ninja sneered, tossing the dagger into a basin and picking up a steel needle, pressing it against Ryoma's fingernail.
Ryoma trembled. "Just call me when you remember," the ninja said with a cruel grin, snapping Ryoma's finger and driving the needle under the nail.
Ryoma's scream echoed, his body thrashing against the restraints, but his chakra was sealed, useless. He bit down, refusing to speak.
What followed was a nightmare—waterboarding, whipping, cutting, electric shocks. Darkness consumed him, pain the only reality, stripping away time, space, and meaning. Only one thought remained: I can't betray Danzo.
---
Boom!
The bloodstained door shattered, white light flooding in. Dust swirled as Ryoma, caged and broken, squinted toward the figure stumbling inside—a man with a charred arm, a bloodied eye socket, and a cloak soaked in blood.
"Ryoma, I'm here," the man said.
"I… I don't know," Ryoma muttered, eyes wide with fear, body shaking. "I don't know, I really don't know…"
"You don't recognize me?" The man stared at the mangled figure, a tear tracing down his remaining eye.
"I don't know," Ryoma repeated, like a broken record, even his reason for enduring forgotten.
"It's okay," the man said softly.
A gust of wind shattered the cage. The man's charred hand gently stroked Ryoma's bloodied hair, his scarred face breaking into a warm, sunlit smile, just like their first meeting.
"Let's start over. I'm Shimura Danzo. And you?"
"I don't know…"
"I know. You're Aburame Ryoma!" Danzo said firmly.
"Aburame… Ryoma…" Ryoma whispered, lifting his head to the faintly lit figure.
A lowly bug, unable to reach the sun, had found its light in that moment.
The figure faded. Bloodstains on the ground turned to dark reflections, a scarlet moon rising. Tears in his eyes, Ryoma faced the void.
I remember!
Everything!
Danzo!