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On the first day of their official induction to chuunin, he killed everyone.
Or, well, crippled them. But since they were shinobi it was the same as death sentence. You assumed he administered the antidote to you and the other survivors. Only the not-yet-chuunin... Of course, he could probably take on all of you by himself easily.
You were fascinated by how he brutally broke Sensei's face just by kicking and stomping on him. He was angry, it showed freely on his face, which stunned you. He was usually better at hiding his emotions. He then turned towards you and the other survivors.
"You are awake. You can leave or you can follow me." He stated with his usual no-nonsense tone.
"How...?" Number 5 asked weakly. How did he manage to make a poison like this? How were they gonna survive on their own now?
"We are going to meet my benefactor." There was a pause. "My name is Momojuuro." He looked at all of you expectantly "You better choose your names too, soon."
You followed because, as the now named Goro had said, "Not like we have any other place to go." You haven't choose your name yet. You couldn't decide, even though you know it probably wouldn't be of much use later. Whoever Momojuuro's benefactor was clearly wanted their own shinobi. A shinobi had no need for a name. Momojuuro's advice didn't make sense.
"Are we going to Koga?" The weakest of them, now named Mori, couldn't help but to ask.
"No." Was the only reply given by Momojuuro.
Pushing his luck further, Mori asked another question, "...Oda Nobunaga?"
You and Goro tensed a bit, thinking the idiot was going to bite it, and preparing to react properly. Momojuuro just scoffed. "No. You'll see."
He smiled for the first time in front of you and none of you could tell yet that it was real.
You were going to Kyushu, you realized. But away from the Powers That Be, and into the boonies. Momojuuro was different from Number 10. Number 10 was a cold, hard steel of a katana. You couldn't decide 'what' Momojuuro was. Not yet. He was strong, as strong as when he was Number 10, but he had no shame in expressing his emotions. A smile, a scowl, a couple of eye-rolls here and there.
You thought you should have been able to read him. Especially with how loose he was right now. But all you had right now were contradictions and mysteries. Goro and Hibiki--who used to be Mouri but decided he wanted to be Mamoru but turned out there were too many M there- just followed along for survival. While you? You told yourself not to be intrigued, but women were easily swayed by strength, after all.
You stopped at a mountain, behind the castle of Harima Clan, whose crest was in the shape of a peach. Ah, so that was where Momojuuro came from. Did they promise him freedom? A chance to be someone? To be more than a tool? Surely Number 10 wasn't that naive.
Number 10 told all of you to rest, his benefactor should be here anytime soon. You wonder which one was it. The current Head of the clan, Yoshitaka? His heir, Yoshihiro? Or perhaps one of the retainers? You amused yourself by imagining various scenarios with different benefactors, but you didn't have to wait for so long. "Momo!" There were the tip tap sounds of a small boy rushing as fast as he could to reach them.
Now, that couldn't be right, could it?
He was obviously younger than all of you, with a hakama far too big for his body. He looked goody and there was snot running from his nose, yet Number 10 looked at him like he was a heaven-sent angel. "You are late, moron."
"Sorry!" He launched himself to tackle Number 10, who caught the boy with a hug. "I had to make sure my mom wasn't poisoned!"
"I see." Number 10 hugged the boy tighter, a strange comforting gesture to come from someone like him. But then again, you didn't think you know what Number 10 was anymore.
The boy took notice of the three of you and gasped "You brought friends!"
"They are not."
"Comrades, then!"
Goro narrowed his eyes, "This can't be your benefactor."
"I made the poison." The kid's face turned from cheerful to cheerfully blank. "And the antidote. I gave enough to Momo to make sure he was immune from the effect. I'm glad he decided to spare you."
You didn't sense any bloodthirstiness coming from him. Not cold-blooded cruelty either. You think about it and you ended up reminded of Sensei's professionalism. "I see." you said. "And who are you?"
"My name is Harima Harunobu! I am Momo's bbbeeeeey---nefactor." You, Goro, and Hibiki raised your eyebrows from his slip up.
Hibiki furrowed "Boyfriend?"
Goro, however, had his priority straight, "I never heard of you."
"I don't think people are overly invested in Yoshitaka-dono's ten years old bastard son." he replied easily.
How curious.
You decided perhaps Number 10 deserved to choose his own name, after all.