The fight ended almost immediately as Kotetsu was laid out flat from a single punch. He awoke to find himself alone, the sky fading to black. A wave of deja vu hit him as he lay there, looking up at the slowly revealing stars. His body was bruised all over, and his muscles refused to move. He pushed himself slowly to one side, finding his bag placed right next to him. He panicked, getting up and rifling through his stuff, relieved to see that everything was still in place, including his sword. Without a seconds’ thought, he pulled out his sleeping bag and swiftly passed out.

  —

  Atsuo had left after knocking Kotetsu out cold. He was simultaneously angry and confused, trying to figure out why the stupid boy would be willing to stay here, risking his own life just to fight him. He moved between hidden armed traps with little thought as he made his way into the clan hideout. He found Dan leaning against a post at the entrance. He spoke before Dan could.

  “He’s still out there. I don’t want to talk about it.”

  He pushed past Dan’s inquiring self and marched toward the hotspring. Dan sighed as he watched the fiery teen walk off, clan members moving out of his way after glancing at his rigid face.

  Atsuo spent a full hour in the hotspring. The clan had chosen this spot for camp many years ago because of the spring, making full use of the valuable relaxation spot. Since the location was secluded, many sought the spring for access to sulphur. They tended to turn tail quickly after discovering who occupied it. After all, who would dare fight the Uchiha clan? Atsuo felt his tension melt away in the hot water, letting the experiences of that day simmer in his head. The more he thought about it, the less he understood why Kotetsu would push to stay. After eating and retiring for the night, he found his slumber restless.

  —

  Kotetsu woke up slowly, eyes shut. He tried to coax his mind back to sleep, but the early morning sun had somehow found an exact path through the trees and right onto his face. If he moved, his body would hurt all over again, and then he’d really have to wake up. He gave in after needing to pee. He got up with a handful of groans and started his business.

  “You’re awake.”

  The voice from somewhere behind startled him so much that he almost fell over. He luckily caught himself before any permanent damage to his pride could be inflicted. After a second, he recognised Dan’s voice.

  Dan stood there casually leaning against a tree a distance from Kotetsu, a small evil grin on his face. He had watched Kotetsu sluggishly wake up and waltz over to a bush and do his business. He had been silently watching Kotetsu for most of the early morning after picking up his watch shift. Dan was alone for the day, since Shingo and Okita weren’t scheduled until later that night. The night watch was usually a quiet period, and Dan had considered plugging Kotetsu’s mouth with a pinecone after discovering that he snored. He wasn’t meant to switch with anyone for hours.

  “What, you want me to beat you up again?” Kotetsu sputtered, keeping the pain from yesterday off of his face but not out of his voice.

  Dan had not been surprised at seeing the battered and bruised form of Kotetsu. The challenge, however, did surprise him.

  “You shouldn’t talk so rashly right after waking up. It’s not good for your health.”

  “Yea, well your… Gah, nevermind.” Kotetsu couldn’t even think of a good insult. He blamed it on almost dying the previous day.

  The two traded verbal jabs for a short while. Kotetsu dug through his pack looking for something edible, and Dan watched in horror as he took out what looked like a piece of rubber and started chewing on it. Kotetsu mumbled as he picked up his waterskin and forced the rubber down with a swig. When Kotetsu tried to offer some of the dangerous substance to Dan, he vehemently refused, using the claim of having eaten earlier.

  “Look. I know I probably can’t convince you to leave at this point. So instead I’ll ask that you don’t move from this spot. I have a route to follow, and I can’t have you snooping around. If you’re caught anywhere else, it won’t just be Atsuo you have to worry about. Understand?”

  Dan spoke his instructions and Kotetsu nodded after a moment. He had hoped Dan would stay and they could talk some more. Dan bid farewell and a cryptic “Good luck…” before taking off into the trees above.

  Left alone with his thoughts, Kotetsu finally allowed himself to review the fight with Atsuo the previous night. There were plenty of clear holes in Kotetsu’s technique, which Atsuo had thoroughly explored and abused. After sitting alone for a few minutes, simply letting his mind wander, he got up and began to train.

  —

  Atsuo awoke with a start. He had tossed and turned all night, not being able to find a good sleep position. He performed his morning rituals, then left his personal tent. The camp was almost empty this early in the morning. He idly wondered at how his father and their group were performing on the latest clan assignment. He had been left in charge of the clan until then, despite there being other adults. Aside from having plenty of experience in combat and leadership, his father was the current clan Patriarch. Someone else attempting to take even a temporary role of leadership would almost constitute a challenge, and nobody wanted that. So, Atsuo was left in charge, while his father took a group of almost 20 adult men of the clan with him to support their latest client.

  Atsuo paced through the camp, checking off his mental list of tasks for the day. Inspecting and checking on his peers that were in charge of food, or managing equipment, or any other various task that required someone monitoring the situation. He overheard some talking amongst themselves, but they would go quiet when he strayed close. He couldn’t make out what they were talking about.

  “He was fighting…”

  “...The camp? Outside?”

  “I didn’t think he would let them…”

  After enough comments, he began to understand. One of the three from yesterday must have gossiped about Kotetsu. He suspected that Okita was more willing to spread such information. He made a mental note about enacting serious punishment later. Looking like he had somewhere to be, Atsuo walked back to his personal tent.

  —

  Kotetsu had spent his morning going through a basic routine. He didn’t want to hurt himself too badly, plus his sore muscles didn’t allow him much in the way of movement at first. Only two hours after waking up, he had a visitor. First came the noise, then the feeling of being watched. He kept his face neutral as he worked away at his exercises, trying to pinpoint where the stranger might be. The sight of a boy barely older than himself ducking from behind a tree gave him his answer.

  “Come out.”

  Kotetsu spoke in his best ‘stern Masato’ voice. After a few seconds, the boy crept out from behind the tree, looking Kotetsu up and down warily. He did the same to the kid.

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  “What do you want?”

  After a few more awkward seconds of staring, the boy spoke. His words were halted at first, but picked up as he grew more confident.

  “Uh… I… I heard that you… Uh, fought. Some others. And you… Won. So I came out here.”

  “Came out here to… What?” Kotetsu asked with suspicion.

  “Uh… To fight you.”

  Kotetsu’s mind blanked at the question. Then, he had a realisation.

  “You want to spar?”

  The boy simply nodded.

  “What’s your name? I’m Kotetsu.”

  The boy only hesitated for a moment. “I’m Teruo.”

  “Alright, Teruo. You, me, three rounds. If you get knocked off your feet, you lose the round. Ready?”

  Teruo was surprised by the rapid nature Kotetsu took to the hesitant challenge. He started to wonder if this was even a good idea. Just before he was going to back out and leave, his worst fear manifested. Other boys began to show up. Now, if he left, they would know that he chickened out, and his reputation would be in the dirt for weeks.

  While Kotetsu waited for the nervous Teruo to make his decision, others began to appear from above and around trees, coming from the same general direction. First he counted two, then three, then five, then he stopped counting. The group was an eclectic mix, ranging from boys barely older than himself and Teruo to boys that were almost men. They all watched the two with neutral faces and half attention. Kotetsu suddenly felt himself grow slightly nervous as well, though he wasn’t sure why. Teruo finally stepped forward, arms raised in a similar fighting stance to Dan and Atsuo, signaling readiness for the fight.

  With a thump, Kotetsu put Teruo on his back for the third time in a row. The boy was unusually slow, slightly lagging with his attacks, as if regretting his movement the moment he made it. Teruo looked up in surprise and slight anguish on his face. Kotetsu understood after a moment as the other boys around the two began to whisper and snicker to themselves. Teruo pulled himself up with a sour expression, and another boy stepped forward. He was easily older than Dan or Atsuo, which made Kotetsu question what he looked to gain out of fighting his 11 year old self. Regardless, he prepared to fight yet again, a grin spreading from cheek to cheek.

  —

  As the day dragged along, Atsuo began to notice something… Suspicious. It started when he found a discarded sewing needle left mid-stitch through a ripped shirt. Its occupant was nowhere to be seen. Then, he found the set of wooden training dummies miraculously vacant. Usually, they would be fought over by the younger clan members to train with. He suspected a mass abduction when he found the cooking pits empty, except for the few mothers that were working on that day’s lunch. In fact, there were only women left in the entire camp. He ran into his mother, Fui, on his way to the sleeping tents.

  “Mother. Have you seen…”

  He paused at the amused look on her face.

  “What?”

  Fui smiled and looked around conspiratorially.

  “You seem to have been the target of a secret, dear.”

  “What secret?”

  But even as Atsuo asked, his mind offered the answer.

  “Kotetsu.”

  Fui looked down worriedly at her son’s sudden stern face. Atsuo felt a headache coming on.

  Fui continued. “They mentioned that name, yes… I heard something about sparring, as well.”

  Atsuo groaned.

  —

  Nine matches and over an hour later, Kotetsu’s impromptu fight club had grown from a few kids to over three dozen. Kotetsu was pretty sure he was going to die today after barely surviving the last match, getting put down on his back three times in quick succession. The girl he narrowly escaped from was only the second girl he’d fought, though the first was much easier. This girl was like fighting Atsuo, making fluid movements and wasting no energy, leaving Kotetsu scrambling as she brought him down time after time. She was the first that had beaten him and not gone down one time. Strangely, there were not many girls present in the crowd, only maybe five or six in total that Kotetsu could see.

  “Did you have to beat him up that bad, Keina?”

  The next boy said as he approached while the tough girl, who’s name was apparently Keina, returned to the group.

  “It’s an important lesson. Maybe next time, he won’t challenge…” Keina stopped herself. “Us.”

  Kotetsu was used to taking a beating by this point. He had gotten over the initial shock of so many wanting to fight him, and had revelled in the chance to test out his ideas on their combat style. He was lucky they all fought so similarly. He began to suspect that this fact was a strong motivator for them to fight him as well, getting to test their skills on someone that didn’t fight like them.

  —

  Dan was about to finish a full circle around the camp. The route he took involved a lot of sitting, waiting, and checking on traps. It had been a few hours since he saw Kotetsu, and he wondered what the brat was up to. As he approached the end of the circle, something made him pause. He strained his ears in an attempt to pick up what he heard. Then, the sound cut through the forest. Yelling and… Laughter.

  Dan moved from tree to tree above, rapidly approaching the place he knew Kotetsu was squatting. The scene he came across brought first confusion, then a deep dread. The confusion, because there shouldn't be this many kids out here. The dread followed quickly when he understood what they were here for, and what Atsuo would do to him when he found out. He gulped. Making up his mind, he jumped down into the chaotic fight arena.

  Kotetsu weaved around the strikes thrown at him by the older boy. He really thought that with age, skill would follow, but that clearly didn’t matter here against the oldest opponent he’d faced so far. The boy was practically a young man, and he was far worse than Atsuo and that tough girl, Keina. Kotetsu wondered if he had simply been spoiled with having to fight all the super skilled kids first. Then he thought about Dan, and rescinded his thought.

  Summoned almost as if by magic, Dan appeared right between Kotetsu and the young man. Kotetsu was quite relieved at the disruption. Even though the young man was not as skilled, he was significantly faster than the other kids, and dodging his simple strikes had taken all of Kotetsu’s concentration. He looked up into Dan’s distressed face.

  “Hey, if you want a turn, you’ll have to get in line.” One of the younger boys said.

  Dan turned a burning glare onto the boy, who wilted under the attention. He turned to Kotetsu.

  “You… We need to get them to leave. If Atsuo finds out about this, I can’t even begin to describe the danger you will be in. For that matter, I might as well be wormfood for letting this happen…”

  Dan slowed down, then stopped talking as he spoke to Kotetsu. He was astonished as Kotetsu stuck a finger up his nose. Retrieving his finger and giving it a quick inspection, he proceeded to flick the offending obstruction directly in Dan’s direction. Dan never felt more panicked in his entire life as he nearly pulled his back trying to dodge the flying glob of death. He fell flat on his back without grace, having barely dodged the projectile. The entire group had gone silent.

  “Looks like I won. Alright, I’m done for the day.” Kotetsu patted the dust off of his body. He was tired, hungry, thirsty, and ready for a nap.

  The group began to mumble. Before anyone could make the decision to leave, Dan’s worries grew into reality as Atsuo stepped into the clearing. Everyone froze.

  Atsuo peered around at the assembled group, levying his gaze on each clan member. His face was neutral, yet his eyes screamed death. Dan got up from the ground and carefully moved toward Atsuo.

  “I can explain…”

  Atsuo cut Dan off with a swipe of his hand. Dan’s heart raced as he awaited judgement. He didn’t dare move as Atsuo walked past him, through the group, and right up to Kotetsu.

  “Up for one more round?” Atsuo casually asked.

  Dan was fairly sure his heart convulsed. He now knew for certain that Atsuo had been replaced with a spy. There was no way the real Atsuo would ever have been so casual with an outsider. Everyone else sat in stunned silence.

  Kotetsu looked up into Atsuo’s face, grinned, then struck a stance.

  “I’ve learned a lot. You’re not gonna get off so easily this ti-”

  Before he could finish, Atsuo swept Kotetsu’s feet out from under him, sending him sprawling to the ground. Kotetsu immediately regretted accepting the challenge.