The morning light shone gently on my face, as the sweet sound of bells massaged my ears, accompanying my sweet awakening.

I felt light, serene, relieved.

After a night full of nightmares like the one I had passed, finding myself in my bed, waiting to taste the breakfast prepared by the golden hands of my dear mom was even more beautiful than usual.

Too bad I ruined everything by opening my eyes.

I was lying on the floor of the kitchen, with my back against the door. A few inches from my face were the charred remains of Danzo's letter, along with the match I had lit to read it.

Midnight... ?!

I felt myself pushed forward.

"Something is blocking the door!"

"It must be Choji. Push harder."

I quickly hid the remains of the letter in my hand and rolled to one side, to let Yori and Mistress Azumi in.

"G-good morning" I greeted them, while still sleepy I got to my feet. "I-I'm sorry, it wasn't my intention to stay here, it's just... sleep, you know, I couldn't resist..."

"Silence." Mistress Azumi proceeded to examining the kitchen from top to bottom, poking her nose into every drawer and running a finger over every surface, then walked back in front of me.

After a few seconds, she smiled.

"You did a good job, Choji. Not perfect, but the effort you put into it shows that you have learnt the lesson, and you really care about living with us. Consider yourself pardoned!"

"R-really? I don't know what to say... Thank you, Mistress Azumi."

The woman put a hand on my shoulder in a maternal way.

"I'll personally take care of breaking the good news to your brothers and sisters, so that they too can forgive you right away. You're free to take a seat in the cafeteria."

That said, Mistress Azumi left the kitchen, while letting Miss Hiromi in.

After greeting me as usual, the woman flew to the cellar to get the ingredients for breakfast.

"Why the long face?" Yori pressed on, patting me on the back. "Not everyone can be forgiven by Mistress Azumi so quickly, you should be proud of it!"

"...huh? Sorry, Yori, but I'm still rather dazed to fully enjoy this triumph."

"I see..."

"Yori, darling, can you come for a second?" Miss Hiromi shouted at that moment from the cellar." There's a teeny tiny problem and I would need your help!"

"I'm coming! ...then you can go, Choji. Ah, can I have my apron back please?"

"What apron... Ah, right! I was almost getting used to it, eh eh!..."

And so Yori too disappeared downstairs, leaving me alone with of my thoughts.

I still couldn't believe it.

I already knew Counselor Danzo was not an easygoing guy, but I had still hoped that he could be understanding... if not towards me, at least to all the orphans who had nothing to do with the Masquerader...

Instead, at exactly midnight the patrolling ANBUs would invade the orphanage and exterminate all its guests without hesitation.

The criminal would be killed once and for all, but so would many innocent lives.

Lives that depended on me.

I have about eighteen hours left to capture the Masquerader, and I still have no idea who he might be. There are at least five or six people I suspect, but how do I double-check them all before time runs out?

I swallowed hard.

Alternatively, I could go back to the west wing again tonight and ambush the Masquerader, which I couldn't do yesterday because of the sleeping drug...

Right, the sleeping drug, I have to worry about that too! Maybe I can pretend to drink it without anyone noticing... !

I clapped my right fist hard on my left hand. I just had a brilliant deduction.

Of course, it's so simple! If the Masquerader spends his nights in the West Wing, it means he doesn't drink the sleeping drug like everyone else! Therefore I just need to keep an eye on who pretends to drink the so-called "digestive" and I will know the identity of the killer!

What a stroke of genius I had! Shikamaru would be so proud of me... !?

A very loud noise from downstairs whiped my enthusiasm away.

I rushed down to the cellar to check.

"Miss Hiromi! Yori! Are you... hurt..."

Those two were fine. On the other hand, they had just tipped the barrel containing the digestive/sleeping drug to one side, to drain all the liquid into a grate in the floor.

"What... What are you... What are you doing..."

"A fatality, my little angel!" Miss Hiromi explained. "Someone carelessly put a glass on the shelf and pushed the coffee bag which, little by little, overturned and fell straight into the barrel! As it is, the digestive is completely useless now!"

"...oh."

I felt as if the whole world had purposely moved from under my feet and then collapsed on my head.

"My little one, don't be sad! We'll find a solution! Yori, can you continue without me for a couple of minutes? I'm going to inform Azumi and be right back!"

Holding her skirt up to run faster, Miss Hiromi went upstairs.

Even though Yori was still there, I couldn't help but repeatedly bonk my head against the wall.

It! Was! Too! Good! To! Be! True! I had! The! Solution! Right! Away! But! NO! And! Now! I! Am! Back! To Square! One!...

"Would you stop hurting yourself, Choji?" Yori scolded me, pulling me back. "It's not a tragedy. Until the supplier returns for a new order, we will replace the digestive with a super-concentrated chamomile or something that has the same effect. You will not be punished a second time for this, since technically it wasn't your fault. We got distracted by the appearance of Naoki, remember?"

"...that's right, Naoki!" I suddenly exclaimed, subconsciously happy to have something else to think about. "Did you talk to her? Did you find out something? You didn't scold her too much, did you?"

"I didn't hurt a hair on her head. After we woke up I took her and her brother Nao aside. He seemed oblivious, then he got angry and scolded Naoki, telling her she must never get into trouble again."

"That's all?"

"That's all. Nao seemed genuinely angry. Naoki won't forget the lesson so easily, so I preferred to drop it and say nothing to Mistress Azumi."

Yori couldn't find anything. It means that I'll have to think about it myself... "I understand. It's better this way, then... Then I'll go."

I was already with one foot on the stairs, when I thought I couldn't get out without confirming at least one of my suspicions.

"Listen, Yori... Was there any sleeping drug in that digestive?"

Yori, who had just bent over the now empty barrel to lift it, dropped it with a thud.

"How... How can you think such a thing?"

"Well, it seemed strange to me that I fell asleep a little later than usual, on the same night that I drank the digestive later than usual..."

"It's just a coincidence."

"Just as it seemed strange to me that it was not possible for you to wake up little Naoki to scold her immediately..."

"Because she's small child, she has to be a heavy sleeper."

"And finally, what did you say before? That you will replace the digestive with chamomile, a drink known more to make you sleep than digest..."

"I have already told you enough secrets, Choji. Goodbye."

Unceremoniously, Yori turned me around and kicked me back up the stairs.

Ouch... She could've just said yes or no...

...

When I entered the canteen, the children and young boys and girls who had already taken their seats at the tables greeted me with a warm good morning, as if the accident at the springs had never happened. Evidently Mistress Azumi had actually stopped to inform them, before returning to her rooms.

Thank goodness, I couldn't endure another cold atmosphere like yesterday.

"Hey ... Hey everyone! How are you? Did you slept wel-UGH!"

Someone wearing a thick, stuffy sweatshirt grabbed my shoulders and ruffled my hair, making it fall over my eyes.

"We're the ones supposed to ask you how you slept! What did you do, did you lie down in the sink? Or did you put together three hams to make a mattress? In that case, I hope you washed them later!"

"Listen Iwao, leave me alone, I'm not in the mood for... Huh?"

Taking my hair out of my eyes, I was stunned. Compared to the day before, Iwao seemed a totally different person: apart from the fact that he no longer wore a mask but just a huge plaster on his nose, he had a serene expression on his face.

Friendly, even.

"Iwao, are you okay?"

"I'm on seventh heaven! I was afraid you still had a bad mood, but just now Mistress Azumi told us you learned your lesson and took it easy! Does that mean we're still friends, huh, Choji?"

...still friends? What the hell is he talking about? "Iwao, listen" I said in a whisper "I'm sorry for almost breaking your nose, but if you think I can get over all the horrible things you said yesterday you're sorely..."

"DOES THAT MEAN WE ARE STILL FRIENDS, HUH, CHOJI?" he screamed in my face, gripping my shoulders even harder.

Seeing that I wastaking too much time to answer, he then made me turn with him towards the wall, so that no one could see us talking.

"I thought I heard from Mistress Azumi that you had calmed down. Was she saying a lie?" he whispered, rubbing his teeth with each word.

Here, now I recognize him... "No, I've learned my lesson, but..."

"You already saw firsthand what happens to those who turn against me, do you want to do try it again? Do you really want to fight again? Do you really want to go back to detention and ruin everyone's day again?"

I clenched my fists so hard that my arms trembled up to my shoulders.

"IWAO, YOU CAN'T..." I started screaming, before common sense helped me come back to myself.

How I wanted to tell him the truth to put him in line! How I wanted to tell him who I really am! How I wanted to tell him that the lives of all orphans, including his own, were hanging by a thread and I was the only one who could protect them!

Unfortunately, I had no choice but to suck it all up.

"...you can't be more convincing, Iwao. You're right," I concluded, sighing.

"See? It wasn't so hard. Come on, now answer the question I asked you before."

"Okay. Uhm... Yeah, the two of us are still friends. I promise I'll never try to bother you again. Are you happy now?"

"Yes... but not entirely, so this morning you sit on my left. Come on, smile for the crowd!"

Without stopping to squeeze my shoulders, Iwao forced me to turn back to the tables and escorted me to the place he had chosen for me, which was the usual edge of the bench on which I was barely standing with a buttcheek and a half.

I don't believe it, does he really expect me to fall for it again?

Fortunately, breakfast passed by very quickly. Iwao did not tease me further, and even if he did I would not have noticed it anyway, concentrated as I was thinking about how to use the time I had left to complete the mission.

At the end of breakfast, however, I became alert.

I observed Yori with the corner of my eye, I saw her approach the bell... and as soon as she started to ring it I jumped up from the bench, simultaneously with Iwao and his companions.

"Even if we're "still friends", that doesn't mean I'll be fooled so easily by your pranks," I whispered, looking him straight in the eye. "By now I know you, you'll have to invent something else if you want to-OUCH!"

Just then, the bench shot up and hit me full on the chin.

"Sorry, my bad!" shouted the boy sitting on the opposite edge of the bench, fallen to the ground from the imbalance.

I almost didn't hear it, over Iwao's thunderous laughter.

"Why wasting time inventing new pranks? You can make a fool of yourself by your own!"

I glared at him as he left the cafeteria. If I hadn't had my hands busy rubbing my chin, I would have definitely obliterated all his teeth.

Damnit, damnit, damnit! Will I ever get the last word? ...Oh!

Almost by chance, among the last children who had risen from the tables, I noticed Isoka's back.

"Hey! Isoka!"

He turned slightly, but as soon as he met his gaze with mine he dropped a napkin to the floor and started running.

"No! Isoka, come back! I absolutely have to talk to you! Isoka!"

I set off in pursuit, but in order not to overwhelm the other children I had to slow down. By the time I got to the door, Isoka was already gone.

Dejected, I lowered my head and began to kick everything I could find on the ground.

Just what I needed. He's still mad at me for breaking the promise.

I also kicked the napkin Isoka had dropped, unfolding it.

I was about to change direction, when I noticed that something was written on it. Quickly, I picked it up.

"Let's meet at 2:30 pm under the tree with the roots that don't touch the ground, west side"

If Isoka left this message for me, then he wants to give me another chance!... or at least I hope so.

...

When I left the cafeteria, I first ran into the lobby to check the pendulum clock. It was already past ten.

I can no longer afford to stay idle. First things first I should collect more information, but from whom? Yori made clear that she won't say another word about the secrets of the orphanage; I'll meet with Isoka later; I don't know where I can find Nao and Naoki; Iwao is a lost cause...

My eyes fell on Miss Hiromi, sitting at her desk and doing her usual knitting.

Sure, why not?

I cleared my throat and approached her.

"Miss Hiromi, do you have a moment?"

"Sure darling, ask me... Angels of heaven! What happened to you?!"

The woman slapped both hands on my cheeks and lifted my face, to have a better view on something on my chin.

"What a hideous bruise! It must burning you to death! How did you get it?"

"What bruise... Ah, it must be from the hit with the bench. Don't worry, It's not painful at all..."

"Nonsense! I'm taking you to the infirmary!"

So I was dragged by the wrist, and without realizing it I found myself sitting on a table in the infirmary with a hot compress stuck on my chin by a thousand gauzes and plasters.

"That's it, my child! Keep the compress for at least an hour and don't move from here for any reason. You'll see, you'll be as good as new!"

After giving me a kiss on the forehead Miss Hiromi left, leaving me all alone.

"An hour without doing anything... As if I haven't wasted enough time already!"

I jumped off the table and ripped off that useless bandage... with too much force than necessary.

"AAAH! Great, now it really burns... Did she really had to overdo with the patches?"

"I know, right? Miss Hiromi always exaggerates with her care. But still, she is so kind that it's impossible to say no to her!"

"Kind? I would say overwhelming... Wait. Who am I talking to?"

"With me, Choji! Do you see me?"

The mysterious voice came from a bed covered with a sheet, hidden in a corner of the infirmary.

At first glance it all seemed normal, but then the skinny person who was lying on it suddenly threw the sheet off of him and jumped off.

"Rokuro?!"

"Hey there, Choji! It's been a while since we last seen each other, huh?"

"About two days... What is that stuff?" I asked, pointing at the half ton of ointment on his face.

"You noticed, huh? Miss Hiromi spreads it on me every day. She says that, thanks to it, sooner or later my skin will "go back to normal"... but so far it hasn't worked at all. You know what? For me it's better this way!"

"Really?"

"Really! Well" he explained, as he plunged his head into a sink to wash the ointment off his face, "I like myself the way I am! If I transform overnight, I would no longer be able to recognize myself in the mirror! I was born with this face, I wouldn't change it for any other in the world!"

So what Yori said is true. Rokuro knows nothing of his childhood. It's better this way... "I absolutely agree with you! Why don't you tell Miss Hiromi too?"

"I just told you, she's so kind I don't even want to imagine how she'd react if I disagree with her... I've never even managed to convince her to let me go to the thermal baths with all the other guys. She's scared that the water there is so hot that it would hurt my skin. It's not fair!"

"Yeah, it's not fair... Hey, now that I think about it, I haven't seen you anywhere on yesterday's trip. So you missed the mess I made, thank goodness..."

"Thank goodness?! Are you kidding?!" Rokuro suddenly exclaimed, turning away from the sink and spreading water everywhere "I missed a phenomenal show!"

"Huh?"

"Everybody was talking about you when they got back from the trip! I heard you fought an over-muscled ogre and made him fly away with a solid headbutt to the snout!"

"What?"

"Mistress Azumi was so proud that she rewarded you by making you play the part of Yori for one night!"

"...oh."

"At least, that's what I heard while I was rehearsing my last song on the drums. I think I must have missed some details."

"...ah!"

"Anyway, you didn't look very happy at dinner, Choji. Were you expecting another prize?"

"Eh, well..."

Rokuro's version of yesterday's events was so absurd, so ridiculous, so exaggerated... I had to bite my lower lip to keep myself from laughing.

Laughing... with all the bad news that had rained down on me, I had almost forgotten what it was like to laugh without a care in the world.

"Ha ha! You heard right, Rokuro, it went just like that! More or less" I said, putting a hand behind my head. "I'm sorry you weren't there. If another ogre appears, I promise I'll bring you a piece!"

"A p-piece? No thanks, but thank you anyway! Hey, since you've been so busy, I guess you haven't checked out my song yet, or am I wrong?"

"You're wrong! I read it and reread it, and..."

The smile froze on my face.

"And? Choji, don't keep me on my toes! Did you like it or not?"

I felt myself shrinking out of shame, and began to fiddle with my fingers.

I also felt a serious deja-vu...

"Y-yes, I liked it, b-but..."

"Did you lost it?"

"Not exactly. I... I ate it."

I closed my eyes shut. I just didn't have the courage to look him in the face.

"You ate it... Are you kidding me?"

"No, it's all true."

"...cool!"

My eyes widened. I couldn't believe it. Rokuro was excited like a child!

"C-cool?"

"I remember, when I was little, that I once tried to eat some paper. Mistress Azumi made me spit it and told me it was harmful. However, if you ate my song and still lives to tell the story, she must be wrong!"

On the one hand I was relieved to know that Rokuro wasn't mad at me.

On the other hand, though, I could not allow him to ruin his stomach!

"Actually, she's right. Eating paper is bad, and the stomach ache I had at the hot springs can confirm that."

"Ah, too bad. Why did you eat it anyway?"

"It's... too complicated to explain. I didn't do it on purpose. But I'm sorry. I promised you to take care of it, and instead...?"

Smiling, Rokuro placed both hands on my shoulders and shook me slightly.

"Come on, nothing happened! You ate my song, so what? Supaida does nothing but eat all the flies I bring him to introduce him to new faces, but I haven't repudiated him as my friend!"

"Poor flies... So, do you forgive me?"

Rokuro nodded vigorously.

Then, out of the blue, his expression changed drastically.

"There's something else that worries you, Choji" he ruled, very serious.

"Huh? No, I'm fin..."

"You have the same dull look Yori has since the rats invaded the gym."

"The... same look?"

Rokuro nodded again, and to make me feel at ease he gave me a light pat on the back.

"So, what is it? You can tell me!"

"..."

I felt an overwhelming embarrassment. For the first time since the mission had begun, I was contemplating the idea of confiding in someone. Just as Yori had confided in me the night before, now I was wishing that someone close to me would share what I was going through.

Sadly, my situation did not allow it.

"I... I'm sorry," I replied. "There is in fact something troubling me, but I can't tell anyone, not even you."

As I expected, Rokuro didn't take it very well. In fact, he turned his back on me and started walking towards the door with his head down.

"How funny," he muttered under his breath. "It's the same thing Yori told me. I would like to help, but if you never let me do anything how can I... There, I got it!"

Suddenly regaining his energy, Rokuro grabbed the first thing he found on a desk to his left, whirled around and handed it to me.

"Here, Choji! A present, for me to you!"

It was a squared pad of paper.

"You can do whatever you want with it! Draw scribbles, write songs, eat one piece at a time when you feel a little hole in your stomach! Maybe it won't solve the problem you don't want to talk about, but I hope that at least it can cheer you up!"

I skimmed through the pad, noticing that several pages had already been messed up and ripped off by other children.

Certainly it was not a gift I was expectig, hey, technically it wasn't even a gift since it belonged to everyone...

But, heck, it was the closest thing to the comforting gesture I desperately needed.

"I accept it very gladly. Thank you, thank you very much!"

As I took the pad from his hands, Rokuro's eyes sparkled.

"Y-you're welcome!. Tell me later if you like it, okay? I'm always in the Music room, bye!"

That said, he ran out of the infirmary, not before turning to greet me once more by waving his hand.

...who would have thought? If I didn't have the urge to find that dirty killer, I wouldn't mind the idea of spending all afternoon with Rokuro. Even at the cost of making my eardrums disintegrate.

As I turned away absentmindedly, I saw my face reflected in the mirror hanging over the sink. I was still smiling.

Yori was right. In the whole orphanage, Rokuro is the only true source of lightheartedness. Within his company, I feel like my problems do not exist at all. It's just like... Like...

No, I didn't get nostalgic like last time.

But still, I couldn't help thinking about the days spent watching clouds and eating chips with Shikamaru.

Shikamaru... If he were here, in my place, the case would have already been solved two days ago.

Sighing, I let myself fall backwards into a chair.

But I'm not Shikamaru. I'm Choji. This is my mission. It's my last chance to prove I'm worth something.

I borrowed a pen from a desk, and in my mind I went back to the day when it all began. The day Danzo assigned me the mission that would forever decide my fate.

What do I know about the Masquerader? First of all... the killer cut the skin off that kid's neck, so that his fingerprints were also removed. As that counselor whose name I can't remember said, this detail proves that the Masquerader is the kind of guy who pays attention to detail.

Moreover, having strangled his victim with bare hands, he must obviously possess a physical strength above the norm. Very well, and then what?

As I was pondering, I began to write every clue that came to mind on the first sheet of the pad that Rokuro had given me.

The other counselor said they had found traces of gold under the victim's fingernails, which would lead to the suspicion that the killer carries a golden object. And that makes three clues.

Then, they mentioned something about clockwise... Of course! To ... do what he did, the killer made a clockwise cut! How can this news be useful to me?

Thinking and re-thinking, I concluded that the only way to get anything from that information was to imagine the scene from the point of view of the Masquerader. I had to make a great effort not to throw up at the thought. So, I peeled off a sheet of paper and drew an oval on it.

No, this won't do. I have to pretend that I have a knife in my hand.

I drew another one, clockwise, but I didn't notice anything different.

What if I switch the hand?

I passed the pen from my right to my left hand and drew yet another oval, but confusing clockwise with anti-clockwise.

I was about to try again, when I realized there was no need to try again.

It feels more natural to go clockwise with my right hand than with my left. Therefore, the Masquerader must be right handed. I can't say I'm one hundred percent sure, but... let's make it eighty percent!

I added that clue to the list as well.

Finally, the Masquerader uses Soldier Pills. He has to, or he would risk running out of chakra and losing his disguise. I know something about it... Well, I think that's all.

I put my pen aside and concentrated on the little list of clues before me.

Five clues. Now that I reread them... !

I was seized by a sudden euphoria.

As if my body was moving on its own, I tore off another piece of paper and without thinking twice I drew a table of five columns, corresponding to the five clues I collected, and as many lines as the people I had met in the orphanage.

Then, I checked with an "X" the boxes where the column of the clue and the row of the corresponding suspect crossed.

I was very excited and focused at the same time. As soon as I put five crosses on the same suspect, I would have the certainty that that was the culprit.

It was a bit like playing Bingo!

...unfortunately, at the end of the draws, I found out that I had made a couple of three at best.

None of the lines contained all five crosses.

Damn it! I was certain I got it this time! At least, now I have the certainty that these two cannot be the Masquerader, but the other suspects are still too many!

If only... If only there was a sixth clue, something that the killer has in common with only one of the suspects!

I added a sixth column to the table and tapped my pen on the paper, waiting for something to come to mind.

Maybe, if I thought the other way around... Think, Choji! THINK! Each of the suspects must have something that makes them unique from one another, and also connects him or her with the Masquerader!

I felt my brain overheating, one more second and it probably would have exploded.

I was under so much pressure that I almost thought about following Rokuro's advice, and eat a paper sheet to calm myself down.

In fact, I was just about to do it.

When, suddenly, I came up with the perfect idea.