NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 4: First Day in Root
* 2 Weeks Prior *
The great hall of the Inuzuka compound was packed wall to wall, the air thick with the scent of fur, sweat, and burning torches. The lighting of freshly burnt meat, herbs smoking near the pillars. And in the middle of the building was a giant pit, with an open window to look up to the stars and past the heavens. It looked and felt like a culture of people closer to Native Americans more than anything. It was a tribe of warriors, nearly five hundred clan members stood shoulder to shoulder, their ninken at their sides, some growling lowly in response to the growing tension in the room.
At the center, Raiga Inuzuka stood atop a raised platform, bear-chested with a fang neckless around his neck, his arms crossed, sharp eyes scanning the gathered pack. Sitting next to him must be his daughter Tsume Inuzuka the mother of Kiba and Hana, age 26, mirroring a face just as sharp as her father.
Apparently, the reason she has such sharp eyes and is so fierce even for a woman is because of how her mother and father mated. From what I heard from the other clan's member is that there's a special ritual clan heads can do with their wife to make their offspring more powerful, but it hurts the woman's chances of producing multiple children. I can't exactly confirm this, but they drink some weird Shamon drink then transform into wolves then fuck in their wolf form. Freaky shit I know, but then the woman would give birth quickly after and the amount she poops out is the max she can have as all her chakra is given to the pups.
And they only got two, one male, one female. And her brother got himself killed coz he was a hot head.
I think it was the Mist Village in the last war when they were Genin. Damn piss drinkers, aka what we call people from the mist village.
From what I know from the anime is the woman is tough, arrogant, and has a sharp tongue who scolds you for the slightest misstep. At some point, she apparently scared off her lover and was left to raise her children alone.
'Humph pathetic. All I hear is she's breedable.'
In a brief second, our eyes meet for a moment, and I don't flinch or look away, which catches her up by surprise I as she blinks for a moment.
Okay yeah, her daughter is like way hotter than her but she's okay, I guess. I mean I'd still poke her with my kunai if I could.
Raiga's voice, deep and commanding, cut through the murmurs like a blade.
"The time has come," he announced. "Konoha goes to war."
Gasps rippled through the hall, followed by hushed whispers. Some expected it; others prayed it wouldn't come to this. The older members nodded solemnly, while the younger ones shifted uneasily.
Raiga let the noise roll for a moment before slamming his fist against the wooden railing in front of him.
"Order!" he barked. The crowd stilled. "The Inuzuka Clan fights to protect our home and our pack. That is our way, our duty! We will stand beside Konoha as we always have."
A chorus of agreement, some hesitant, some full of pride, spread through the clan. But before the embers of unity could fully catch fire, Raiga's tone darkened.
"There is another matter."
Silence.
"During the clan council, the Hokage requested that we send members to Root."
A wave of protests erupted at once. Shouts of disbelief. Disgust. Even the ninken began to snarl.
"Root?!" someone spat. "You want us to hand over our own?!"
"That isn't just a request," Raiga cut in, his voice harder. "It is an order."
The protests didn't die down completely, but a new wave of apprehension passed through the crowd.
"Who?" an elder asked, eyes narrowed.
Raiga exhaled. "Orphans from past wars. And... weaker members from the side families."
The uproar was instant. Growls of outrage. Angry shouts. Some even took a step forward as if challenging the clan head.
"This is madness!"
"Root will destroy them!"
"They take children and turn them into ghosts!"
Among the chaos, two figures stood firm, their faces set in stone—Thorfinn's parents. His mother, arms crossed, lips curled in defiance. His father, standing tall, eyes blazing with fury.
"No." His father's voice was like steel. "Our son will not be offered to those butchers."
"Nor any child of ours," his mother added.
'Damn mom and dad are awesome! You tell him.'
More voices rose in agreement. One by one, members of the Inuzuka side families shook their heads, some outright refusing, others growling under their breath.
Raiga's face twisted with frustration. "This isn't just about any one of us!" he snapped. "It is for the good of the family!"
"What family are we if we send our weakest to be broken?" an elder shot back.
Raiga slammed his fist down again, silencing the room with sheer force of will.
"This is an order from the higher-ups. You all know what that means." His gaze swept across them. "We disobey, we risk the clan itself."
No one spoke, but the resentment hung thick in the air.
Raiga straightened, his jaw tight. "The meeting is over."
'This guy is a hypocrite as its not like Tsume is going to offered up to root. I can't respect this guy, if you can't protect your family than what good are you. Not to mention he's weak, if he had more than the strength of a Tokubetsu Jōnin this clan could be something that could rival the others in power.' Thorfin thinks.
Sure, were a top 10 clan but we could never break past 8 as we our right now.
Without another word, he turned and walked off, leaving behind the echoes of defiance, sorrow, and a pack that, for the first time, felt like it was being torn apart from within.
30 feet under Konoha in Root chambers
'And that's how I ended up here.'
The cold, oppressive walls of Root's headquarters surrounded Thorfin, each step echoing through the empty halls like the beat of his own heart. It had been a long time since he had been part of a family, a pack, something that made him feel whole. The Inuzuka clan had raised him with care, but that was before everything had changed. Now, he was here, in a dark and sterile room, and his parents were dead because they had refused to give him up.
The memory still burned—Kenta and Hana fighting fiercely against the Root agents. His father, strong as ever, had gone down swinging, his father was a chunin, but they were no match for Danzo's men. Hana had been fierce too, but they never had a chance. Thorfin had been there, hiding in the corner, terrified and unable to do anything as the blood of his parents stained the floor.
The last thing his father had said to him was, "Stay strong, pup. Never forget who you are."
Thorfin clenched his fists tightly as he stood in the corner of the room, a cold, empty feeling inside. His parents were gone. He had been taken from his home, from the clan he was supposed to grow up in, all because Danzo wanted to mold him into one of his tools. And now, he was just another orphan, like the others who stood or sat around the room, their eyes red and puffy from crying until the root agents beat them into submission.
"Thorfin Inuzuka."
The voice of a Root agent cut through the silence, the sound sharp and emotionless. Thorfin turned to face the masked man, feeling his stomach tighten.
"Follow me," the agent ordered, his tone not leaving room for resistance. Thorfin hesitated for a split second before obeying, not daring to question the man. He had learned the hard way that questioning was a path to suffering.
The agent led him down narrow, winding hallways, the only sound the echo of their footsteps. Eventually, they came to a door, and the agent swung it open, ushering Thorfin into a dimly lit room. The walls were bare, the atmosphere cold and harsh, filled with the same oppressive weight as the rest of the headquarters.
Inside, there were other children—orphans from different clans, though Thorfin immediately noticed that none were from the Uchiha or Sarutobi clans. I'm sure those two clans had refused to comply with Danzo's demands, and their children were too valuable to be taken by Root.
The others were a mixture of ages, from younger than Thorfin to slightly older, all with expressions that seemed hollow, lifeless. There was no warmth here. No familial love. Only the cold indifference of Root.
Thorfin took a step inside, scanning the room, the moment he did the door to the room was slam shut with the metal click of a lock being heard.
The other children barely acknowledged him, some sitting in the corners still sniffling, others standing in silent groups, doing it in the hopes of finding comfort being around others. They all had one thing in common—an absence of the spark that once defined them. Some had been taken young, while others had been forced into Root after their families had been wiped out by the organization. But none of them had chosen this life.
As the door opened behind him, another agent entered the room. He didn't say a word, just gestured for the children to line up. Thorfin obeyed without a second thought, his heart beating faster now. He could feel the weight of their eyes on him, the judgment in their silence. He was one of them now, no different from the others, though a part of him still clung to the memories of the life he had before.
His gaze wandered across the room. There was a boy, no older than him, with dark hair and sharp eyes that seemed to be watching everything. There was something about him that felt familiar, but Thorfin couldn't place it. The boy didn't look at him, though—his focus was entirely on the agent who now began to speak.
"From now on," the agent said, "you are to forget your past lives. You will not remember the families you came from. You are here to serve the village. Root will train you to be tools for the mission. You will be silent. You will be obedient."
Thorfin's jaw tightened, but he didn't speak. He would not show weakness, not here, not now. He had seen what happened to those who did.
The agent continued. "You will be taught everything you need to know. Every technique. Every strategy. Your purpose will be clear. Do not question the mission. Do not question us."
A chill ran through Thorfin. He could see it in the other children's eyes—this was what had broken them. This was what Root did to people.
The training began immediately. Thorfin was thrown into a room with the others, where they were subjected to rigorous physical drills, designed to break them down and rebuild them into obedient weapons. They practiced silent combat, hand-to-hand techniques, and stealth maneuvers—all of it cold, precise, and mechanical. The instructors pushed them relentlessly, knowing full well that fatigue would be their first step toward breaking.
Thorfin struggled to keep up, his body aching as the hours wore on. He refused to show weakness, but deep down, a part of him wanted to give in. He remembered the warmth of his parents' arms, the comfort of his pack, the way his mother had smiled at him when she promised to protect him. But all of that was gone now. They had taken it from him.
Bang
One of the kids were caught dowsing off during a strategy lesson and his head met the fist of a older root agents closed fist. His body making an indent in the wall.
You! Kikio Nara Straighten the Hell up! No one told you to sleep! Now get back to your seat!
The Nara wiped the blood from his forehead and struggled to get back to his seat as that chakra infused punch was enough for a chunin. Let alone an 8-year-old.
At the end of the long day, they were given a strange mixture to help recover their body and strengthen their bones.
It smelt like cowshit and probably tasted like it too
But Thorfin was too exhausted to care. His body bruised and sore from the constant drills. He found a corner of the room and sat, too tired to do anything else. The other children were doing the same, their eyes vacant, their bodies broken by the day's training.
Thorfin closed his eyes for a moment, letting the darkness of the room swallow him up. He could still hear his father's voice in his mind, still feel the warmth of his mother's love. They had fought for him, and they had died for him.
He wouldn't forget them. Not here. Not in this place.
Tomorrow, he would be forced to train again, to submit to the whims of Danzo's agents, but for tonight, he allowed himself a brief moment of peace, knowing that, no matter what happened, he wouldn't become a tool like the rest of them. He was still Thorfin. He would find a way to escape. He would survive.
Okay so my isekai-harem journey isn't going so well.
Scratch that it fucking blows
not only did I come from a piss-ass clan that smells like dog shit everyday and smile about it
My family is killed like cattle and I'm sent to one of the sickest depraved men of the enitire naruto verse
I guess it could be worse as they could take butt-hole for currency here
Oh god I hope they don't, I'm not big enough to defend myself yet.
It be like prison all over again for me, I guess they'll learn they have to kill me to put a present in my chimenea.
I vow when I get out of here I'm putting 18 long fucking years' worth of presents down Tsume's Christmas stocking. Do you hear me you fucking bitch! I will have my revenge for what your father did to me. What he did to my family!
I swear I'll have your ass bouncing, tits jiggling, you would never be such a pain to deal with like your canon self. Now that I think about it you'd probably love shit wouldn't you. No wonder you were yelling all the time, you were just letting out frustration because you wanted to get fucked.
Fine then don't you worry your spikey little head by the time I'm out of this prison you'll be acting more like Hana.
Huff Huff
okay I'm better now.
Had to get that all out my system, now I can focus.