34 Hunted

[THIRD PERSON POV:]

"Alright… who's gonna be the Hunter this time?" asked a blonde boy, his green eyes darting around the group.

"Not me!" shouted Ryoma, his blue hair flapping as he shook his head.

"Dibs not!" yelled out Arashi, the shortest of the bunch.

"If I'm the hunter I'm not playing..." said a boy, yawning as he stood up to play. He looked tired but had positioned himself to sprint away at a moment's notice.

"Never." a girl said, her dark hair falling over her eyes.

One of the children stayed silent however, he looked around for a while, assessing the kids before speaking up.

"I volunteer." said Aoki, a pleasant smile forming on his face.

The kids were thrilled that they wouldn't have to fight each other to pick a Hunter, they were about to explain the rules to Aoki when he shook his head, his smile growing a little wider.

"No need, I know the rules."

The boy had been pretty reserved when he asked to play with them for the first time, none of them had any insight into Aoki's personality other than that he was smart and stayed by himself most of the time; the change in his mood was apparent even to Ryoma who's normally dense when it comes to situations like this.

Aoki cleared his throat and looked at the kids in the eyes before speaking again.

"Run." 

'?!?!'

The gang stayed still for a second before the boy who was previously yawning burst away with surprising speed, the others quickly followed.

"1…" Aoki spoke out loud, causing the kids to run even faster.

"2…3…4…" he continued.

Aoki looked around to make sure that the kids weren't in earshot anymore.

"5… skip a few… and 10!" 

His eyes locked on the boy who ran off first, from the moment he had readied himself Aoki had marked him as his first victim but he worried that the Nara might be counting in his head, so instead he targeted a bush that had sprouts of blue hair erupting from behind it.

*THUMP!*

Aoki slammed his feet forward and ran as fast as he could towards the bush, not trying to hide his intentions, the closer he got, the more his heart beat in anticipation. 

The sounds alerted the hidden child.

Ryoma peeked out from behind to see a red-eyed boy with short black hair smiling widely, reaching forward with his hand splayed out.

He had no time to react before a hand thunked his shoulder, Aoki didn't wait to check the boy's reaction, instead, he jerked his head to the right, having spotted a blondie watching the "hunt" with wide eyes.

"Huhuhu…" Unintentionally Aoki started to giggle a little. He had never expected to have fun.

"Come back here Denki…" he said, causing the blonde boy to sprint away.

And so, a chase began!

Before abruptly ending a few seconds later. To some, it seemed anticlimactic but Aoki knew this would happen after he saw the first few steps of Denki's run.

Denki tried, he really did.

If you asked the boy what the worst part of running away from Aoki was, he wouldn't tell you that it was how fast he ran, or how quickly he had spotted him, but rather the sound of his little laughs as he got closer and closer…

*SMACK* 

Aoki hit Denki on the shoulder but kept running. Out of fear, the shortie Arashi had also run when Denki did, and the red-eyed child had honed in on his location from the small sounds of his feet slamming against the ground.

He was promptly smacked on the back.

The girl was harder to find, cradled between two bushes while she watched what happened with wide eyes. Aoki surveyed the playground, inspecting the hidden crevices where a child could hide when he locked eyes with a pair of black irises in a bush.

"Uchiha! I got yo-" Aoki began to yell as he ran to get her, before he made any headway towards the bush, she jumped up.

"I surrender!" she yelled, hands up with a couple of leaves stuck to her hair.

Aoki felt a little disappointed when she gave herself up, it wasn't nearly as fun if he couldn't hunt them, he thought. Although he wasn't going to antagonise the girl as much as Denki, some small part of him would prefer not to be around her or her kin at all. 

Aoki focused on the game, there was still one more to be found.

The boy retraced his steps, going around the playground, peeking into the school windows to check whether the Nara had cheated, but no dice. It took him over 5 minutes of searching before he spotted the Nara.

The boy was lying beside the tree Aoki sat by almost every day, he never thought to look there.

Unfortunately, Yami Nara didn't give him a chase either, when he spotted Aoki he simply closed his eyes and wore a relaxed smile, knowing he was the last found. Aoki smacked him a little harder than the others to vent a little.

"That was fun!" Aoki said with a grin, the gang having congregated where the game started. The others gave stiff replies along the lines of "yeah" and "sure", their perception of Aoki being altered forever; the image of a quiet boy who silently achieved good grades was shattered beyond repair.

In particular, Ryoma looked a little traumatised; being jumpsacred by Aoki with his red eyes wide open and a maniacal smile brought back memories of him annoying the boy. Ryoma made a silent vow to tone it down.

Denki cleared his throat, calling the group to attention, "Alright, let's go again, maybe this game can be a little longer… who wants to be the Hunter?" he asked. One of the kids was eager to go again.

"I voluntee-"

"""NO!"""

-----

Unbeknownst to the children, there was one person not in their group who watched the entire game, amused at how things had turned out.

Jinbei had never expected Aoki to fit in so well, it was now clear to him that Aoki was intentionally staying away from the children as opposed to being too nervous to interact with them, the fervour in which he "played" with them made that clear.

The teacher got a little worried for Aoki's mentality considering how giddy he was watching his classmates run in fear, but he didn't place much importance on it.

Most ninja have their quirks, sadism wasn't particularly rare. 

Although he may have been jumping to conclusions about the boy, he had rarely seen such joy on any child's face than when Aoki spotted Denki looking at him scared, the boy's grin almost split his face in half! No wonder the poor Denki ran so fast.

He thought back to his conversation with Lord Third, although he greatly respected the man it did slightly disillusion him when he was told to give Aoki special treatment, no, it wasn't explicitly said but as a veteran ninja he could read between the lines.

Jinbei had retired from duty due to an injury and decided to pursue his passion for teaching, being told to favour one student over the others didn't sit right with him but he had agreed nonetheless.

"Ensure that Aoki forms close bonds with his peers," he said.

Jinbei had tried to get Aoki's file from Hiruzen but it was classified, all he was told was that the boy was an orphan, and a "person of interest" to the Leaf. 

The teacher was intrigued but knew not to question any more.

Jinbei had some theories, most relied on the basis that Aoki was not from the Leaf at all, and that the Hokage wants him to develop ties to the village indirectly; if Aoki comes to care for his friends, and his friends are bound to the village, Aoki inexplicably finds himself tied to it as well.

'Definitely an interesting one…' he thought as Aoki and his friends spread out for another game, never had a student of his made a "deal" with him, but there was a first time for everything.

Jinbei turned away from the window, satisfied with Aoki's new attitude.

-----

[A/N: Manhunt was my favourite game as a child, having your friends scream in fear as they ran away always brought me such jubilation.

Words: 1451

P.S. Do you think author notes break immersion? I'm considering ending them, only bringing them back when an announcement has to be made.

P.P.S. Is the fic fun? I hope you guys are enjoying the read so far, if you are then I'd appreciate a review or two ;)]